Human Experience: Miracles Essay

In our society today, through medical and scientific breakthroughs, to extensive and higher levels of knowledge, the idea of miracles becomes overshadowed by explanations. There are many people who could be described as â€Å"doubting Thomas'† because to believe, they feel that they â€Å"need to see†. Almost anything can be explained if one tries hard enough. Most of the cure miracles in Luke’s Gospel can be shown to have happened to people with diseases, traced back to mental and nervous disorders. However, it is still evident that lots of people across the word still believe in miracles, as over 200 million people visit Lourdes each year. All of the Miracles found in Luke’s Gospel, are signs of the Kingdom of God as it is obvious that the divinity of God is present, when the lame can walk, and the blind can now see. These miracles give hope to those who are themselves, in need of healing, as they show that Jesus will help them in their time of need, it also helps to strengthen their faith. Through the study of these miracles, it is easy to see that universalism is a main characteristic of Luke’s gospel, as in every miracle, it is the outcast, the marginalised, who is healed. Jesus often paired the healing with forgiveness of sins. There are many Holy sites throughout the world, that are renowned for the miracles that have taken place there, such as Lourdes, Fatima, and Knock. Lourdes is probably the most visited of these sites, garnering over 200 million pilgrims every year. Over 7000 cures have taken place in Lourdes, but only 67 have been recognised as â€Å"miraculous† by the Catholic Church. The latest recognised miracle was that of Anna Santaniello, who on a visit to the Baths of Lourdes was healed of her acute heart condition on the 19th of August, 1952. She was brought to the baths on a stretcher, and left walking by herself. â€Å"In front of the Grotto, I prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would restore this young man to full health so that he could at least continue to work.† Anna was a kind, selfless woman, who then went on to help unfortunate children find families and homes. Often, those healed went on to help others who were in need, following on in the example of Bernadette Soubirous, who joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers convent, as an assistant infirmary and then a sacristan. It is clear that the numerous charities in action today, who are responding to those in need, are following in the example that Jesus set. Charities such as Trà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½caire, and Children in Crossfire, are constantly trying to help children and families in under developed countries. An example of the kind of people that Trocaire helps every day, is that of Juan Francisco Trujillo, aged 16, from a remote village called Caserà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½o Chilama in El Salvador. His family live on the opposite side of the river to the rest of the village. Flooding cuts his family off from their village. When this happens, Juan Francisco cannot go to school. ‘There is a large boulder in the middle of the river. If the water is over this boulder, I know it is too dangerous to cross’, says Juan. Another example of someone helped through the work of Trocaire, is Mary Akai, who suffers from Aids who is a member of the HIV/AIDS support group at Love and Hope Centre, three of her children died of AIDS. She calls the founder of the centre, Sister Patricia Speight, her new mother. â€Å"I thought I was dying,† she said. â€Å"I owe my recovery to Sister Patricia. She fed me from a spoon when I was too low.† Many of those in need, visit â€Å"faith healers† and though some genuinely believe that they can cure people of disease, many are con-artists who steal innocent people’s money, or some actually try to â€Å"heal† or get rid of â€Å"demons† from children. ‘Ndoki’ was said to target children particularly either when still in the womb or in early childhood through a piece of food infected with the evil spirit, said Dr Hoskins who has made an extensive study of traditional religions in Africa. â€Å"We know that ndoki does exist. Back home and everywhere else too there are people who are used by the devil to bring a curse or bad luck to other people’s lives, even to kill them,† says Pastor Modeste Muyulu. Dr Hoskins, is a consultant to the Metropolitan Police on religiously-motivated ‘ndoki exorcisms’, agrees instances of extreme violence are rare. â€Å"My experience of Africa and the Congo where I’ve lived for years and travelled a lot is that Congolese people love their kids,† he said. He also believes that some of the churches and charities set up by Congolese people in the UK were simply â€Å"money-making schemes†. Antoine Lokongo, the editor of a Congolese newsletter, Congo Panorama, believes the growing violence in exorcisms is due to western influence. Two women and a man from England were arrested for the abuse of an eight year old girl who they suspected of having ‘ndoki’. The girl testified that the adults slapped, punched and kicked her repeatedly. One pushed a kitchen knife into her chest until it drew blood. She told police, â€Å"It’s because my auntie says I have witchcraft. She dances and laughs when she hits me.† AB was beaten with belt buckles and a high-heeled shoe. She was only fed tea and bread. The adults seemed particularly concerned that the girl would practice her evil powers at night time. So they woke her up twice and rubbed chilli-peppers into her eyes. They forced her into a large plastic bag, allegedly to â€Å"throw her away for good† by drowning her in a nearby river. But they changed their mind at the last moment. In conclusion, miracles will always be relevant to today, as at some point in our lives, we are all in need of some miracle, whether it is the strength to make it through another day, or the forgiveness of sins to heal our conscience. Although some may find it hard to believe, almost anything can be changed into something cruel and evil, in comparison to what it was before, even the miracles in the bible. But Pastor Modeste Muyulu says â€Å"But disciples should only do what the master did, I never read in the bible about Jesus Christ being violent with anybody to cast out any spirit.† Therefore we should always try to be like disciples of Jesus and help those who are in need, and never intentionally hurt another human being, as we know that Jesus himself would never do something like this.

Drug Research Paper

Drug Research Paper Inhalants are wide variety of substances that young adults use as another way to get high. Inhalants cause mind-altering effects and typically someone would not think of these products as drugs because they were never intended for that type of use. Inhalants are very easy for young adults to find and many different types are even in their own homes. Inhalants can be anything from household cleaners to aerosols to gases. Inhalants are administered by breathing in through the nose or mouth in a variety of ways sniffing or snorting the fumes from the containers.People who use them can also inhale fumes from a balloon or a bag which would be filled with the inhalant of choice. The high from the inhalant only lasts a few minutes which causes users to continue to inhale substances many times over a short period of time and having greater effects. The physical impacts caused from inhalants are very similar to what someone would be like if they were to get drunk from alco hol. Symptoms would include slurred speech, little to no coordination, euphoric, and dizziness. Users may also experience hallucinations, and delusions.Users who frequently inhale will feel less control of their body for a longer period of time and may feel drowsy and have severe headaches for several hours and can possibly carry over to days with the same headache symptoms. Depending on the chemical inhaled users will experience added effects such as confusion, nausea, increased heart rate, and throwing up. The behavioral impact from inhalants can be a short state of excitement and also confusion and hallucinations. Users also will have sudden mode swings and the inability to made clear and smart decisions.Long term effects from inhalants that are very harmful and some irreversible effect areas all over the body. One of the long-term effects that is very serious and is from excessive inhalants is the break down of myelin. Myelin is a fatty tissue that surrounds and protects nerve f ibers and helps messages get sent all over the body. Due to excessive use of inhalants will cause serious damage to the myelin and that will lead to muscle spasms, tremors, and the high possibility of losing basic abilities such as walking, bending down, and talking.Other serious irreversible long-term effects from inhalants are hearing loss, limb spasms, severe brain damage, and bone marrow damage. The use of inhalants among teens and adults is very high due to the easy access they have to wide varieties of them. Over 17 million people have experimented with inhalants. Inhalants are also the fourth most abused substance in the United States. Rohypnol is a drug that is very common and targets the central nervous system. It is used as a depressant medicine and is currently illegal for all use in the United States. Rohypnol has many names but is most commonly know as roofies or the â€Å"date rape drug†.Rohypnol’s sedative effects are about 7 to 10 times stronger than Va lium. Effects hit the victim within 15 to 20 minutes after being taken. Rohypnol is administered by young adults recreationally but most often and most commonly given to someone without them knowing they have just taken the drug. Due to its odorless and tasteless characteristics it can easily be slipped in a drink and dissolve quickly and therefore the person being administered the drug has no idea was has happened or that they have or are about to take it. The physical impact of rohypnol is it is known to cause temporary muscle relaxation, sleep, and impaired motor skills.Rohypnol also increases the effects of alcohol and other drugs without your knowledge. Also rophynol causes people to no remember certain things that went on such as events at a party or bar. Rohypnol also causes drowsiness, dizziness, loss of motor skills control, lack of coordination, blurred speech, confusion, all lasting up to and sometimes beyond 12 hours. The behavioral impact from use of rohypnol is depende nce for the drug and the withdrawal syndrome when the drug hasn’t been taken in a period of time. The most common effect from rohypnol is memory loss and the feeling of not being able to control yourself.Although rohypnol is most commonly used a sedative, chronic use of the drug can cause very aggressive behavior and possibly seizures. Also if a person has overdosed on rohypnol it is possible they can have problems breathing and fall into a coma. Long term effects from rophynol use are physical and psychological dependence. People who suffer from excessive use of the drug feel like they can’t live without it and are unable to do anything or feel good and have major withdrawal effects. The drug is most prevalent with teenagers and adults from ages 13 to 30.Due to its low cost only about $5 dollars per pill it makes the drug more available to people and then making it more abundant in the areas such as parties and bars. My assigned treatment plan is the Motivational Inte rference Therapy. What this treatment plan does is it offers counseling session’s motivational therapy and multiple step programs to help pull the patient out of addiction and back to living a healthy life. The first stage involves encouraging the patient to overcome their dependency behavior and tries to help them see the life without their addiction and try to convince them it is possible and build their confidence up slowly.The second step is to show the effects of their addiction on themselves and how they can remove it from their life just like it came in. This session is done 2 to 4 times depending on the patient’s addiction. The final step is to motivate the patient to completely give up on drugs and show them it is possible and that they can do it. The pros to this method are that they are consistently motivating, reminding, and showing you the positives to getting out of addiction.The cons to this method are that I think this style might not work for everyone and that some people may need a different type of program one that moves at a slower pace that allows them to really see themselves and what addiction has done to them. Also I think patients would need to spend more time at each stage to really break through their addiction. The drug addiction this method is made more is all cases of addiction but not so much the heavy addictions of drugs and alcohol but it can definitely help most cases of addictions.

Gustav klimt

They may be completely different to another figure. Josephine Wall is a popular British artist and sculptor. Famous for fantastical works. This painting shows a beautiful girl with strawberry blonde hair out and about on a summer afternoon. The young girl enjoys the sun on her face on a warm midsummer day. The top of her head is covered with a straw hat, and she is surrounded by vibrant summer flowers and trees, and vivid butterflies. But perhaps the most wonderful part of this painting is what is happening right on top of the girl's hat.The Tara around her hat turns into a field where people are enjoying the summer and one another. I find this painting to be wonderful. There is such simplicity behind this painting that helps u feel relaxed when looking at it. The simple lives of the people on top of the girls hat are relaxing because we can easily make out that they are having a wonderful time in the summers sun. It captures the soul of summer and what summer should look like in a s ense. Rob Gonzales is a Canadian painter of magic realism with a unique perspective and style.The Sun Sets Sail is a smooth and calming painting that is also a wonderful optical illusion. Surrealistic paintings which show two seemingly different realistic scenes that magically merge into one. Gonzales exhibits his talent to trick the audience's perception by establishing the ships as the negative space of the arches under the aqueduct. His treatment of details on the ships and the aqueduct create an optical illusion, and a wonderful piece of artwork.Gonzales used shape in order to define the contours of the sailing hips; the arches under the aqueduct are roughly the same shape as the ships. This diagonal composition strengthens the sensation of movement that the ships create. The space created in the painting extends well beyond the edges. There is no limit set by any object in the space. The aqueduct starts to define an edge, but the arches show more space beyond. The colors in the painting also play a role in defining the optical illusion.The aqueduct is a blue silhouette on the left, and that color becomes the sky on the right. The choice to use Just blues and whites make the illusion smooth and simple. Franz Saver Windcheater (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German painter, known for his portraits of royalty in the mid-nineteenth century. The Princess Leonia reclines on a low Turkish sofa on a veranda overlooking a lush tropical landscape. The style is naturalistic, and the detail is so precise, it looks like a photograph.It was painted in Rome when Franz met the Princess and her husband and made portraits of both of them. Princess Leonia she was a daughter of one of the most influential families of the Russian nobility. Known for her great beauty and intellect, the Princess is resplendent in a luxurious gown of ivory silk moor ©. She is lying on an open balcony and behind the column are plants, and further back, the ocean with a distant island and clouds in the sky displaying the colors of sunset. Windcheater used atmospheric perspective as he painted each receding item with less detail.The detail of the carpet in the foreground, and the large column and rapiers in the background, do not quite as precise, thus, not seem as important. This technique serves two purposes: to show the distance of the island and the horizon from the balcony, and also to ensure that Princess Leonia is the focus of the painting. I chose this painting because of the many different elements of design and principles of art used. The implied texture of her gown; the depth created with atmospheric perspective; the asymmetrical balance, as she is definitely more on the left side of the picture.

Assignment - Assistive Technology for Visual and Hearning Impairments

- Assistive Technology for Visual and Hearning Impairments - Assignment Example In addition, these devices are enabling students with such low-incidence disabilities thrive academically and contribute a great deal to their communities, despite any setbacks that they encounter. Teachers today are wise to learn about such devices and become an agent for helping students properly apply the technology to their daily personal and academic lives. What follows is a description and evaluation of several such devices that are currently available and in use today. It is estimated that 24 million Americans suffer from some degree of hearing loss. For students, this can be particularly troubling because, if proper modifications are not implemented, such individuals are placed at an academic disadvantage. It is important to use modern technology to assist students in leveling the ‘playing field’ as much as possible. According to research, students who are hearing impaired can exhibit a low self-esteem, lose interest in many learning activities, fail to participa te in social activities, and often have poor communication skills (DeConde-Johnson & Thibodeu, 2005). As such, looking incorporating assistive technology devices that help hearing impaired students perform better in school and become more sociable with their peers can only serve to benefit the entire academic community. While there are many such devices on the market today, three particularly stand out for their effectiveness, even in the face of certain inherent challenges that must be overcome. ASL software is a readily available program that can be used on either a PC Windows operating system, or on a Macintosh. This software allows students to learn advanced sign language skills in an interactive environment, thereby allowing them to communicate more opening and freely with their peers and other adults. In essence, the program promotes literacy skills for the hearing impaired student in much the same fashion as phonics does for the non-disabled individual. This assistive technol ogy device can be easily implemented into a traditional classroom setting. In addition, students can use the software independently at home or in other locations. The benefits are many, and the challenges minimal. One hurdle for the software is that the teacher will likely need to have some basic knowledge of sign language in order to assist the student in learning how to make full use of the program. That being said, such knowledge can only serve to strengthen the student/teacher relationship, which in the end should prove beneficial itself. ACL software requires only 3-4 hours of training time for the student learn how to make proper use of it, and the IT department at any school should be able to assist with its installation. Such devices and software can be used to enhance math skills, promote literacy and spelling, focus on the advancement of sign language, improve visual perception, and strengthen memory skills. From this evaluation, the software should be considered in any en vironment where there is a hearing impaired student. The cost is minimal, with most packages running only about $35. Another device designed to help hearing-impaired student is the speech synthesizer. Depending on the age of onset for the disability, many hearing impaired students cannot communicate verbally. They do not know how to make certain sounds and cannot hear what they are saying. A speech synthesizer enables the student to type out information that they wish to say and

Write the benefit part of the issue Is It Time to Think Seriously Essay

Write the benefit part of the issue Is It Time to Think Seriously About Climate Engineering - Essay Example and Atlantic ice sheets which pose a great environmental danger to the ecosystem thus an alternative measure to curb this â€Å"long term effects† menace. Carbon levels and other heat trapping gases have been on the increase and to some extent surpassed the tipping point; as of May 2012, carbon dioxide had reached 396.18 parts per million in the atmosphere which is way over the 350 parts per million upper limit, a stable climate’s relative point. With earth’s atmosphere monitoring stations over the last two decades indicating an increase in annual carbon emissions by 41% mainly from the fossil fuel combustions, indicate that the carbon concentration has approximately been increasing with 2 million parts per million each year; with this trend, it might be more than twice of the pre-industrial levels by the end of century resulting to further ecosystem damages. Geo-engineering measures more so the suggested strategies of pumping 5million to 10 million tons of sulphur dioxide in to the stratosphere; where they cannot be washed away easily by rain, intended to form microscopic particle to shade the planet from direct radiation, advancing bio-technological research on the algae fertilization to enhance carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere and invention of an alternative to fossil fuels, will go an extra mile in combating the global warming menace. Despite these measures being faced by a couple of limitations such as lack of effective understanding of ecological problems, increasing the acidity of the oceans, ineffective measure of full implication tests and barriers from the economically benefiting segments and organizations/governments with interests in these biodegrading activities, extensive research more so on the geo-engineering to curb the radiation and carbon emissions. A further global warming of 1 degree centigrade defines a critical threshold with the earth creating more Venus like conditions characterized by unhealthy and unlivable conditions

How do US elections differ from the Russian ones Term Paper

How do US elections differ from the Russian ones - Term Paper Example From this research it is clear that elections in the United States and Russia have their own unique features and characteristics that distinguish them from each other. Even though electoral processes share some similarities and characteristics, most contemporary democracies and jurisdictions have their own unique electoral systems that are protected by their constitutions. Most constitutions have detailed voting systems and arrangements that convert people’s votes into meaningful political decisions. The US has its own unique ways of dealing with election related issues, and, so does Russia. For example, in the United States, when the first round of elections does not produce a winner by absolute majority, the senate is given the power to elect the president. In Russia, when such a case occurs, a second round of elections between the candidates who had the most votes is held so as to determine the ultimate winner of the elections. These differences between elections in the US and Russia shall be the main focus of this research. In the United States, the system of government is the representative democracy, where representatives are elected by citizens to make government decisions on their behalf at different levels. In Russia, the constitution enshrines electoral laws that govern all election processes. The present study would focus on these differences between the elections in the US and Russia.

Dark Tourism in Prague Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Dark Tourism in Prague - Essay Example ke the basic scenario of a fire in an apartment, it is just normal many people will run towards the scene to either assist, get answers or simply just look. Such is the attention dark tourism has achieved amongst scholars, humanitarians and adventurers all over the world. In Prague, the Church of SS Cyril and Methodius is one such site and has even been ranked Best Dark Tourism site by the country’s Tourism authority. (Hannam & Knox 2010, 28).the site acted has a rich history content regarding the assassination of Reichsprotektor Heydrich. These are not the only centres in Prague. Evidently, the increased demand in dark tourism in Prague has been boosted by the number of the sites this country harbours (Martina 2011, 02). An increase in these centres simply means more place s to visit for the tourists. In a bid to access the rich history in Prague’s dark sites, tourists have flocked the country to have a piece of these fascinating stories. Some of these Dark sides include: The aim of this research is to explore dark Tourism in Prague, view all the effects of this practice of economic, social and political life in Prague. This is because of the vast stories every center holds therefore tourists are bound to learn a lot from their visits. Therefore, the ability of these sites to attract tourists must be outlined to discuss the increase demand for tourists in Prague. I am interested in dark tourism in Prague because I find it quite intriguing that areas associated with death could spur interest in people. Furthermore, I think these places harbor vast historical content that I aim at making

Writer's Memo for the final draft (letter) Assignment

Writer's Memo for the final draft (letter) - Assignment Example I made these changes because I felt that a letter to an Editor would have to have the necessary shift in perspective from being on the offensive to taking a softer line. This was done out of propriety as well as a desire not to join issue with the other readers. I wanted to get my point across and argue about the editorial without taking on other readers on what may seem to be a futile attempt to join issue with them. The intention here was to comment on the issue at hand and not get carried away in making my case strongly. I did quote on more than one occasion from the editorial. The quotation that I chose was to reflect the gravity of the issue at hand and make some suggestions regarding the same. The idea here was to show the author of the editorial the points where I agreed with her and the points where I felt she should have taken a more assertive stand. Hence, I selectively quoted from the article to reflect these positions of mine. I want to make the point that guns do not have a place in a civilized society and particularly in national parks. Hence, my target audience would be the kind of people who would join the Mothers against drunk driving and similar projects. I was trying to convey my sense of anguish about using guns in public places and particularly in the national parks and hence wanted to convey my desire to make my stand clear. If my letter has to be evaluated fairly, my stand against taking guns to public places must be made clear and that I have strong opinions regarding the same. To the best of my ability, I have made everything clear. I have stated the reasons for writing the letter as well as the position that I took. In this way, I have conveyed the reasons why I wrote that letter as well as what changed from the initial draft and what remained the same. Hence, I hope to be evaluated according to the merits of the letter and

Hospital Case Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hospital Case Management - Essay Example Hospital case management is a process to meet patient needs with the best use of resources to provide the best quality treatment at the right cost. Case management is used to ensure the right clinical and financial outcome. The data used for statistical quality analysis is the medical expense, clinical workload and utilization. The care request is allotted the required services. The medical information for comparison is available. The referral of the case to the correct physician is a part of case management. The communication involved is also a part of case management. The case management program at this hospital is simple and effective. A model hospital follows the well defined procedures of continuous quality improvement. The quality program is based on delivering the best services to the patient. The risk management department at the naval hospital performs all the functions of a model facility. It monitors patient satisfaction and tracks patient outcomes. Other important aspects of quality are team based. The sub-divisions of the quality management department include performance improvement, risk management, credentials and infection control. The excellent working of the quality management department shows that the naval hospital fares well as compared to the model hospitals. The case management standards involve co-ordination, control of environment and funding. Case management is also used to buy equipment and supplies required for the services. Information is provided to the patients and their families. Case management facilitates professional rapport in the team. Changes are made as required depending on the condition of the patient. The care plan should be coordinated with the disease source. The standards also specify support to the family. The standards used here are USNHGUAMINST 6320.19 series, BUMEDINST 6010.13 series and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards. The quality management department of the hospital has divisions for implementation of the work. The performance improvement division ensures continuous improvement. It also implements the total quality leadership. The quality procedures are included in the daily work in a systematic manner. The risk management division measures the quality of care and patient satisfaction. The credentials division evaluates the providers. It trains the health care providers and support staff. The infection control division identifies and reduces the risk of infection according to the established standards. The hospital has an educational program to promote health awareness. The utilization management division allocates the services and the resources. The case management division combines population health, managed care, quality improvement and preventive healthcare. The hospital applies disease state management. This is a process that encompasses the entire course of the disease from prevention to the completely healed patient. Thus we see that the hospital adheres to the best standards. A comparison with the model facility shows that the naval hospital exceeds

English Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

English Literature - Essay Example However, in the book, the overarching them is God’s providence and His role in determining the fates of the lives of men. This has something to do with the poet’s being a Christian, and thus the element of God ruling the lives of men. This is an important point to note since this has a very strong resonance all throughout the poem. In contrast, as one critic has written online on Christian Movie Reviews, â€Å"The most striking thing about the new Beowulf movie, though, was its ugliness.† The movie showed the ugly sides of the protagonists, which were, in fact, not how they were portrayed in the original poem. Before proceeding to an analysis of the characters, I will take note of the special technique used by the moviemakers. They employed the three-dimensional (3D) animation style wherein one has to wear special 3D glasses in movie theaters to be able to have a fully-enhanced experience of the gory battle scenes and killings. For the most part, this has added to the attraction of the movie, since there have been few animated movies produced which employed this special technique. As a critic from MovieFilmReview.com puts it: â€Å"Beowulf is a visually captivating movie experience.† However, on the contrary, another critic disagrees by writing in her blog: â€Å"†¦this example of the latest â€Å"advance† in animation technology is sterile, synthetic, almost completely unengaging on a human level. It’s animated but inanimate.† (flickfilosopher.com) The blogger simply found the way the movie has been done by Robert Zemeckis as totally devoid of real human expressions and emotions. Now, to an analysis of the characters. We begin with the identity of Grendel. In the book, it was written that he came from â€Å"Cain’s clan†, that is, to say, when Cain killed his brother Abel, it was purported that all the evil creatures which roam the earth were descendants of Cain whose sin was so vile that he could

Discussion question Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Discussion question - Research Paper Example istinguish the roles and jurisdiction for nurses employed in the areas of informatics, education, advanced clinical practice, research, health policy, and administration. I used face-to-face interactions, contextual materials (audiovisual elements), and other interactive methods to acquaint myself with and achieve the course competencies. These gave me a practical experience of some of the theoretical concepts covered in class and allowed me to marry theory and practice to create a sound foundation for achieving the competencies. I intend to grow further in the course competencies I achieved, and I have already created a plan to support this objective. First, I will be more active in classroom sessions so that I assimilate as much information as I can. This will also help me to nurture an innate understanding of the coursework (McCoy & Anema, 2012). Secondly, I will participate in more practical activities – including internships – that will equip me with the practical skills required to grow further in the areas of competence. Finally, I will participate in more group activities like discussions and assigned group work to sharpen my theoretical comprehension of the course

Assessment and Feedback Essay Example for Free

Assessment and Feedback Essay Assessment drives the choices students make about their learning. It is widely recognised that assessment and feedback contain the strongest potential to change how, and what, students do to succeed in their learning (Ramsden, 2003). This Effective Teaching Guide on Assessment provides practical suggestions on assessment and feedback. Assessment of Learning and Assessment for Learning David Boud, a recognised researcher and scholar of assessment in higher education, suggests that assessment has many purposes, but particularly to help students to improve their learning and certify students’ learning. These two purposes lead to different ways of thinking about what, how, and when to assess students: |Assessment OF Learning |Assessment FOR Learning | |Focused on learning that has already happened; |Focused on learning for the future; | |Making a judgement about final performance; |Goal is to provide useful information to students about how to learn | |Designed to discriminate between students’ achievement and performance; |more effectively; | | Focused on grades, precision and measurement; |Helps students to identify what they do and don’t know – focus is on | |Concerned that tasks are reliable and valid; |improvement; and, | |Testing usually takes place under ‘standardised’ conditions; and, |Develops students’ judgements about the quality of their work – and how | |Grade contributes to final certification. |to improve. | According to Boud and Associate’s Seven Propositions for Assessment Reform in Higher Education (2010), assessment has most effect when: 1. Assessment is used to engage students in learning that is productive (including the need for assessment to be designed to focus students on learning); 2. Feedback is used to actively improve student learning; 3. Students and teachers become responsible partners in learning and assessment; 4. Students are inducted into the assessment practices and cultures of higher education; 5. Assessment for learning is placed at the centre of subject and project design; 6. Assessment for learning is a focus for staff and institutional development; and, 7. Assessment provides inclusive and trustworthy representation of student achievement. The power of feedback Feedback plays an important role in improving students’ learning. A useful summary is that provided by Gibbs and Simpson’s (2004). In their meta-study of the research about how assessment and feedback support student learning, 7 of their 10 identified conditions relate to feedback, and students’ understanding of feedback. These are:  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail; †¢ Feedback focuses on students’ performance, on their learning and on actions under the students’ control, rather than on the students themselves and on their characteristics; †¢ Feedback is timely in that it is received by students while it still matters to them, and in time for them to pay attention to further learning or receive further assistance; †¢ Feedback is appropriate to the purpose of the assignment and to its criteria for success; †¢ Feedback is appropriate, in relation to students’ understanding of what they are supposed to be doing; †¢ Feedback is received and attended to; and, †¢ Feedback is acted on by the student. Hounsell (2004) also makes the following points about feedback: †¢ It can be extrinsic (assessment-focused) or intrinsic (activity and practice-based); †¢ It can be immediate and verbal (in order to address the potential lack of engagement when it arrives after an assessment); †¢ It can be provided to be a whole class; †¢ It can be many to many where students are involved in identifying the strengths and weaknesses (peer feedback); and, †¢ Feedback can be a loop – it can be offered on unfinished work. Another useful idea is feed-forward. Feed-forward encourages students to use something like a marking rubric (also captured by the idea of criteria and standards) to help plan their approach to an assessment. While a marking rubric is routinely used by university teachers to mark/grade students’ work (as an expression of what a student needs to demonstrate (and the level they need to achieve) to receive a particular grade), the idea of feed-forward is about encouraging students to use that same information in the rubric to plan their work, and perhaps even, to self-assess it before submitting it for formal feedback. In summary: Feedback example: Develop a marking rubric as a cover sheet. The rubric identifies the elements of the assignment, together with a breakdown of marks for each element or a description of the standard for an A, B, C, D, P etc. Feed-forward example: Provide the marking rubric to students before the assignment is due so that they clearly understand what’s expected, the levels of achievement, and can plan their approach accordingly. In marking student work, you’ll need a suite of feedback techniques. Remember, if you’re going to be spending a lot of time providing feedback, you want to make sure that students read, use and engage with your feedback to improve their next assignment. The best way to do that is to have a range of techniques that you can draw on, when you need to. The table below describes some feedback techniques. |Technique |Why use this technique? |How would I use this technique? | |Use a marking rubric that contains information |To encourage students to engage, wrestle |Set aside time to discuss the rubric with students| |about criteria and standards. Offer it to |with and develop an understanding of the |in class. Provide examples of what an A, B, C, D | |students so that they can use it to plan high |criteria and standards related to an |and P level answer /assignment looks like. Explain| |achieving work. |assessment task before embarking on their|the differences to students and engage them in a | | |work. |dialogue. Get them to mark assignments samples so | | | |that they have to engage with the criteria and | | | |standards before embarking on their own | | | |assignment. | |Provide verbal ‘global’ feedback to the whole |To emphasise the common achievements and |As you mark assignments, make a list of 3 things | |class. |errors made across all assignments within|done well, and 3 things in need of improvement | | |a student cohort. |across the whole cohort. Use the next available | | | |class to provide feedback to the whole cohort. Be | | | |specific and provide an example. Post a summary on| | | |Moodle. | |Provide written feedback only. The mark/grade |To focus students’ improvement efforts on| | |is released only after students demonstrate a |the written comment rather than the | | |plan for improvement. |number/grade. The technique assumes that | | | |the learning for students is located in | | | |the staff comments. | | |Invite students to tell you 2-3 specific |To develop students’ capacity to |Ask students to write these 2-3 elements somewhere| |elements of the assignment they would like you |self-assess the quality of their |on the assignment cover sheet before submitting | |to focus your feedback on. |submitted work. |it. Your feedback on these elements does not need | | | |to be extensive but they warrant comment. | |Ask students to indicate the grade (ie, A, B, |To encourage students to engage with the |Invite students to write a 100 word justification | |C, D) they think their assignment should |criteria and standards for the assignment|about the grade they’ve nominated. Your final | |receive. |as part of their planning. |feedback and grade does not need to align with the| | | |students but you may wish to note any differences | | | |in each of your perceptions about the quality of | | | |the work. | |Encourage students to demonstrate/write how |For students to demonstrate how they have|Make this aspect a ‘hurdle’ requirement – to be | |they’ve used your feedback as part of the next |used feedback to improve future learning. |submitted with the next immediate assignment. | |assignment. | | | One observation you might make about each of these techniques is that they are focused on: (i) engaging students with the criteria and standards, and (ii) with what the student does with the feedback they receive. If you’d like to read more about these two ideas (and others like them), two articles may be especially useful to you: Rust, Price O’Donovan (2003) and Price, O’Donovan Rust (2004). Consistency and fairness in marking and feedback Consistency in marking, or moderation, is aimed at ensuring fairness in marking, and requires finding or establishing agreement between markers. Making sure that assignments contain criteria and standards is a good start because the expectations involved are clear to the student and clear to the marker. Although this does not absolve the marker from interpreting students’ work, without criteria or standards, the job of marking ends up being much harder. The procedures for marking are set out in the University’s Assessment Procedures (an excerpt of the principles is below): Where there is more than one marker, selected pieces of work from each assessment task should be reviewed by the subject coordinator to verify the level and consistency of the marks allocated by the marker. This process, called moderation, increases the reliability of the assessment process and application of standards, promotes consistency, supports objectivity and establishes a shared understanding of standards and fairness in assessment. The university also has a grading schema with a range of Pass grades. |80-100% |A | |70-79% |B | |60-69% |C | |50-59% |D | |Ungraded |P (may also denote satisfactory completion of a Masters Prelim course of | | |postgraduate thesis) | Graduate capabilities Alongside the conventional grading schema, from 2012, all commencing first year students will receive a result on the achievement of the university’s six graduate capabilities at the end of the year: †¢ Writing †¢ Speaking †¢ Inquiry/Research †¢ Critical thinking †¢ Creative Problem-solving †¢ Teamwork There are some subjects which have been designated cornerstone, mid-point and capstone status. This means that their curriculum has been designed to teach, assess, provide feedback and report specifically on these graduate capabilities. For each graduate capability, students will receive one of three results: exceeded expectations, met expectations or did not meet expectations. Each faculty has carefully crafted a description of what these standards look like. It may be the case that you will be asked to provide feedback to students about their graduate capability achievement as well. Because faculties will have already done substantial work outlining those standards, it is likely you will be asked to offer students that feedback. Summary When considered together, assessment and feedback are incredibly powerful levers for influencing the direction of students’ efforts, and their learning. For many students, the assessment in the subject is the actual curriculum. It is largely students’ reading and perception of what the assessment demands of them which is a key determinant in how they spend their time in a subject. Therefore, the messages that students take away about assessment from the documents; the Subject Guide; from interaction with other students, are important considerations. In the second week, you will discover just how crucial feedback is to this process and how the adoption of standards and criteria will help you mark and grade more efficiently and effectively. References Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2004). Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Student Learning. Learning and Teaching, Issue 1, pp: 3-31. Hattie, J. Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112. Hounsell, D. (2004). Reinventing Feedback in the Contemporary Scottish University. Scottish Quality Enhancement Workshop on Assessment, University of Glasgow [available online at: www. enhancementthemes. ac. uk/documents/events/20040604/Hounsellpaper. pdf]. O’Donovan, B. , Price, M. , Rust, C. (2004). Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(3), 325-335. Orrell, J. (2006). Assessment beyond intuition. Central Queensland University [available online at: http://www. learning. cq. edu. au/FCWViewer/view. do? page=8896, accessed Feb 2011]. Price, M. , O’Donovan, B. , Rust, C. (2004). Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(3), 325-335. Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education. (2nd edition). Routledge, NY London. Rust, C. , Price, M. , O’Donovan, B. (2003). Improving Students’ Learning by Developing their Understanding of Assessment Criteria and Processes. Assessment Evaluation in Higher Education, 28(2), 147-164. Taylor, J. (2008). Assessment in First Year University: A model to manage transition. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 5(1).

Alien (1979) and Prometheus (2012) Comparison

Alien (1979) and Prometheus (2012) Comparison Introduction In this essay I will compare the visual effects of two movies an older movie and It ´s prequel. As a fan of sci-fi movies, for this writing I decided to compare Alien (1979) and its prequel Prometheus (2012). The Prometheus movie was nominated for an Academy award for visual effects in 2013 whereas Alien won an Academy award for visual effects in 1980. Many scenes in this first movie were so good that they had appeared in Prometheus too. Even the trailer consists of the same scenes. Moreover the plot of the both movies in general is about crew on a space towing vessel. They end up on a distant moon then the crew realize that they are not alone on the spaceship when an alien stowaway is on the board. 1. Alien 1979 Director: Ridley Scott Visual effects supervisor: Brian Johnson What worked best on visual effects for this movie are mostly modellers and prop makers. Models of the ship were very detailed and huge, for example the largest one Nostromo was 17 feet long. The team couldn ´t use the cutting edge technology of motion control to capture the seventeen-foot model of Nostromo   because the budget did not allow the time for shooting stop-motion. This led the special effects team to develop a camera that moved slowly on a drive mechanism. Furthermore, shots of Nostromos were mostly close ups. Interior sets of a spaceship were all connected and real so actors felt like they are in a real place. For the xenomorph they created a suit and found a slander tall man who wore it. He had to attend thaichi lessons because of the moves. The head of the xenomorph had mechanical parts and was made out of car parts, silicone and jelly for spit. The designer of the xenomorph and its previous stages ( facehugger and   chestburster ) and ship was H. R. Giger. There are only a few shots of the alien in the movie because Ridley wanted to create fear in a viewer, many times using dark places so viewer would not know where the alien is and what to expect. These are the most famous scenes: chestbuster scene A chest which was fake was used for John Hurts character Kane for the scene. It appeared as if Hurts neck was connected to the fake chest when He was underneath the table. The director tried to make the scene very much authentic and one of the steps was to use real organs which were bought from a butcher shop and were stuffed in the fake chest cavity. Another idea was to use hoses to help pump and spray the blood as the creature would explode from the chest. The actors were not told about all the actions that would take place and they definitely did not expect to be sprayed with blood as the alien creature arose. facehugger scene The Facehugger as seen in the opened egg are bits of cow innards and probably other animals. The tail of the Facehugger is an intestine and a blast of air is being pumped through it. The Facehugger dissection scene involved raw oysters in a plastic mold of the creature. Revelation of Ash scene In the scene where Ash is revealed to be a robot and has his head knocked off,   they   created a puppet of the Ashs torso and upper body which was operated from underneath by a small puppeteer.   The following scene of the surviving crew interacting with Ashs remains used both his actor, kneeling under the table with his head coming up through a hole cut in its top, and an animatronic head, made using a face cast of   Ash ´s actor. Unfortunately, the whipped latex made the head shrank as it was drying and therefore, the final item bore little resemblance to the real Holm. Ash ´s inner workings and fluids were made of   milk, caviar, pasta and glass marbles. Personally I didnt notice that the fake head is smaller than the actor ´s and I think that this shot was made really realistic. 2. Prometheus 2012 Director: Ridley Scott Visual effects supervisor: Richard Stammers Ridley created many elements and shots similar to ones in the Alien movie such as space suits, similar ship design, kept the original look of alien ship, the space jockey, similar interior of the ship, basic elements like hypersleep chamber, medical scanner, strong female leading role, breakfast scene, in alien the on-board ship computer is called mother and in promeheus they call it maam. There is also a humanoid robot on the board. Environment A lot of the final environment work is a combination of real photography and 3d set extensions. Real aerial plates are pictures of Iceland and Wadi Rum. Ridley wanted the amazing landscape feel believable. They analyzed the area using Google Maps and DEM satellite maps which give displacements, they put that into Maya and combined all that information and built up a rough 20 mile landscape. The pinnacles on the ground were taken from real rock in Iceland. They scanned and textured the shot and from that created CG variations. They used a program to randomly scatter them across the landscape based on manually painted intensity maps.   NASA helped with recreation of the environment by providing photos of ice being expulsed into the atmosphere of Saturns moon Enceladus and information about the potential look of different exo-planets. For the sandstorm in the movie they used Flowline to simulate natural looking pluming dust, then their own volumetric tool for visualizing and Renderman rendering.   In comparison in the original Alien the ship was covered in darkness and a storm with zero visibility. The set was created from motorcycle parts and matte paintings. Pretty much all of the sets in Prometheus were built practically and also modelled in 3D. And that includes the weird caverns and chambers on the moon, as well as the interiors of the ship Prometheus. Concept artists firstly built up sets in 3D so they would know right off the bat that it was achievable. Surgery scene I think this scene is somehow an recreation of the chestbuster scene from Alien but this time it is even more disturbing than the one from alien because Dr. Shaw finds out that she is infected and pregnant and has no choice but to perform a C-section on herself using the MedPod. The Med Pod was built and function in real life to make this scene looks realistic. Actress was filming this scene for 4 days then creature was added in post-production. They had to cover her belly with tracking markers as they had to matchmove as closely as possible to make the effect work in physical space. Conclusion In general, I really like both movies the making of them but also the plot. I highly appreciate that Ridley Scott in Prometheus stuck with creating real scene sets and did not just leave everything on post-production. The real sets added the feeling of realism into the movie also the fact that they cooperated with NASA in the effort of creating realistic environment.   Regarding to the Alien movie I really like the ideas that they came up with such as   camera on mechanism to create slow motion footage, using of real animal viscera to make creatures look real and disgusting and I highly admire the work of one of my favourite artist   H. R. Giger   in creating designs for the movie. I think I would be able to achieve some shots in the Alien but also in the Prometheus. In the Alien movie there are many shots in which mechanical parts had to be   included for instance   like in chestbuster   scene they had to create a pump for exploding of the chest so these kind of shots would be hard for me to achieve if I had to create them using the same technique but I would be able to create a model of the Nostromo and also the facehugger model .   Prometheus also used real size models but there was also SGI included. In order to SGI I think I would be able to create an eviroment like 3D set extensions ( create ground extension and 3d pinnacles and texture them). After all I think that both of these movies are made   really good, they have the same scary, mysterious feeling , the same visual look and   creative ideas were included not to mention the amazing plot. Bibliography Seymour, M. (2012). Prometheus: rebuilding hallowed vfx space. [online] fxguide. Available at: https://www.fxguide.com/featured/prometheus-rebuilding-hallowed-vfx-space/ [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Anders, C. (2012). Cite a Website Cite This For Me. [online] Io9.gizmodo.com. Available at: http://io9.gizmodo.com/5917639/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-design-of-prometheus [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Watkins, A. (2014). Behind-the-Scenes: Making of the Chestburster scene from Alien. [online] Cinemablography. Available at: http://www.cinemablography.org/blog/behind-the-scenes-making-of-the-chestburster-scene-from-alien [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017].   Ash. [online] avp.wikia. Available at: http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Ash [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Jacob, J. (2016). The Making of Alien Documentary. [image] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaHjNWzn73k [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017].

Analysis of 2010 Old Spice Campaign

Analysis of 2010 Old Spice Campaign Introduction This essay aims to analyse the 2010 Old Spice Campaign which began with the release of the â€Å"Man Your Man Could Smell Like† commercial and finishing with the interactive â€Å"Response† campaign. The first part of the essay will explain about the brand Old Spice and the stiff competition it faced which resulted in Old Spice having to change their brand image. The second part of the essay will explain the 2010 Old Spice campaign in detail by explaining the rationale behind its conception, its launching and its audience reception, which was further bolstered by the launching of the â€Å"Response† campaign. The third part of the essay aims to analyse the campaign’s overall effectiveness in terms of a rhetorical context and an audience, market and social cultural context. Finally, the essay concludes by explaining the impact and overall significance of the campaign. Old Spice Old Spice is a well-known brand of male grooming products that has been around since 1938 and was acquired by Proctor and Gamble (PG) from the Shulton Company in 1990, who soon shifted its target audience from the older generation of 40 to 60 year olds, to focus on the younger generation of 13 to 34 year old men. Old Spice soon grew in prominence after PG released several new products under its brand that grew to become leaders in the market, like its men’s deodorant line (Belch and Belch, 2012). Problem However, by 2003 competition arises from the Unilever Axe brand, who are market leaders in Latin America and Europe. Axe’s advertising campaigns relied on suggestive images of provocative woman and evocative taglines (Belch and Belch, 2012). By 2009, stiff competition have resulted in Old Spice falling behind and big losses in market share. By the time of the 2010 Super Bowl, Unilever would begin a campaign for Dove Men’s body wash during the event, which therefore endeavoured Old Spice to shift focus back to them in order to boost sales and inhibit further losses in market share (Gold Effie Winner, 2011). Market Research Severe competition from Axe prompted Old Spice to revitalize their brand image in order to keep up, and thus approached advertising company, Wieden + Kennedy (W+K) in order to achieve it. Research done by W+K found that Old Spice’s target audience of the 13-to 34-year-old males were perplexed from the many types of body grooming products. The target audience was quite withdrawn to spend time and explore the options thoroughly, deeming them too confusing, too lady-like, or frankly â€Å"unsuitable for them†. Most men also perceive body wash as being a female product which is unnecessary for them to use. Old Spice also lacked a manly image and has the fixed perception of being used by old people, which did not appeal much to their target audience of younger generation males. The results prompted W+K to relocate Old Spice as the easy, masculine choice for serious men amidst the complicated, crowded and confusing, body product category (Belch and Belch, 2012). Campaign In February 2010, Old Spice released the â€Å"Man Your Man Could Smell Like† campaign. Objectives: The main objective for this advertising campaign was to change the perception of Old Spice being the product of the baby boomer generation in order to fit and appeal with Old Spice’s new target audience of younger men, which resulted in the creation of the â€Å"Old Spice Guy† (former NFL sportsman, Isaiah Mustafa). Target Audience: Despite the targeted market of the Old Spice product being men aged 13 to 34 years, the campaign targeted women instead as research revealed that most purchases regarding body cleansing made by men were decided by their female counterparts. Old Spice decided to directly reach out to women by telling them that â€Å"I am the man your man could smell like†, which would prompt them to purchase Old Spice in order for their male counterparts to smell like the Old Spice Guy. The aim was to spark a discussion between women and men about the benefits of having masculine-smelling body wash (Old Spice) for men over â€Å"female-scented† brands (Gold Effie Winner, 2011). Commercial: A 33 second video was filmed featuring Isaiah Mustafa as the â€Å"Old Spice Guy† explaining the benefits of using Old Spice over â€Å"lady-scented† body wash brands. Description of commercial as follows: The Old Spice Guy faces the camera and greets the women, wearing nothing but a bath towel, prompting the viewer (in this case, ladies) to look at their male counterparts and back to him a few times in order to compare their attractiveness. He concludes that unfortunately, their male counterparts do not look like him but an alternative is, that they are able to smell like him when they stop using lady-scented body wash and switch to Old Spice. The set then transitions smoothly to a boat out at sea, in which he holds up an oyster that contains, â€Å"two tickets to that thing you love†, before turning into many diamonds flowing down from his hand, and then exclaiming again that, â€Å"anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady†, while the Old Spice product materializes from the diamonds, before the camera pulling back and revealing that he’s on a horse (Old Spice, 2010). Launch: It was decided that the video would be released on social media platforms, rather than the Super Bowl. W+K thus secured search engine keywords that would direct users to the commercial when searching for Super Bowl commercials in order to generate buzz. The video was soon released on YouTube on February 4th, 2010, before going on television soon after. Old Spice’s website and social media pages was altered in order to adapt to the commercial. The website displayed visuals of youthful males participating in various â€Å"masculine† activities. Their Facebook and Twitter pages also featured images of the â€Å"Old Spice Guy†. Print ads also accompanied the release. Post-launch, the advertisements aimed to fulfil another criteria which is: getting males and females to start conversations about the campaign. The media buy was thus aimed at environments where men and women would be viewing it together. Examples like American Idol, the Winter Olympics, the TV show Lost and most importantly, in cinemas during the weekend of Valentine’s Day. Soon, the campaign became increasingly widespread and popular, achieving millions of views and multiple parodies. The â€Å"Old Spice Guy† also made appearances on talk shows like Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres. The campaigns popularity, resulted in the â€Å"Response† campaign, an event which went on for two days, in which the â€Å"Old Spice Guy† recorded over 186 personal video messages to internet users who posted comments about the commercial on social media platforms, which was then uploaded online (Wieden Kennedy New York, 2010). Reception: *Both Sources from Golden Effie Award, (2011) As shown in the pie chart above, Old Spice managed to achieve its primary objective of the campaign by dominating online conversations about body wash with 76% of the majority share throughout the period of January and March, 2010. By April, â€Å"The Man Your Man Could Smell Like† video garnered more than 10 million views on YouTube, which was more than 10 times the amount of views accumulated for Dove’s Super Bowl commercial (Wieden Kennedy New York, 2010). The â€Å"Response† campaign reached 20 million views on YouTube in just three days, and Old Spice’s social media following increased substantially. After the â€Å"Response† campaign, followers increased about 2700% and 60% for Twitter and Facebook respectively. YouTube subscribers increased from 65,000 to 150, 000, as well as traffic to the Old Spice website increasing up to 300%. As shown in the graph above, sales of Red Zone Body Wash also increased up to 125% from the time of the campaign’s launch to July 2010. Old Spice soon became the number one All-Time Most Viewed branded channel on YouTube. (Wieden Kennedy New York, 2010). Own View Old Spice succeeded in reinvigorating its image by adding a youthful, masculine and alluring appeal to its personality and image. It also established a positive reputation for itself through the commercial’s use of humour by becoming, â€Å"the brand with hilarious commercials†. Audiences will now immediately assume that future Old Spice commercials will be entertaining and thus will pay attention to them. This has allowed Old Spice to break free of the crowd of other commercials and prompts audience to focus on the messages. Although subsequent commercials may not be as interesting or persuasive, audiences are still likely to be watchful for any Old Spice advertisements expecting entertainment. The commercial’s humour was sufficiently good and enough as well. Old Spice Guy’s exaggerated masculinity was the right amount of funny to stimulate the viewer’s sense of humour. The Response campaign was also brilliant in every way as it allowed for higher interactivity and a real intimate engagement and relationship with the target audience as well as providing quality entertainment value. Rhetorical Analysis This section aims to provide a rhetorical analysis of the first â€Å"Man Your Man Could Smell Like† commercial video (Old Spice, 2010). The campaign targets women, hence, Old Spice Guy initially addresses women in order to appeal to their desire of making their male counterparts more attractive, however, he indirectly targets insecure males who themselves want to BE more attractive to women, which is the product’s main target audience. The ethos (narrators’ character and credibility in gaining approval) of the Old Spice Guy is by exhibiting the good traits he possesses; muscular, good-looking and tall which reinforces the credibility of the product and suggests that anyone who uses it would be as desirable as he is. The commercial also displays diamonds materializing out of the Old Spice Guy’s hand in which suggests that the character is wealthy and the sequence with the â€Å"two tickets to that thing you love† coming out of the oyster suggest that he can get anything a women desires. This reinforces the perception that he is the exemplary man. Next, the character uses pathos (seeking to arouse emotion in order to obtain approval) to appeal to the viewer’s insecurity and their perceptions of the perfect man. Old Spice Guy stimulates the viewer’s sense of humour and his dramatic delivered dialogue allows him to seem charming and charismatic. Also the use of imagery, like the Old Spice product materializing from a handful of diamonds, uses pathos to influence the audience into associating Old Spice with opulence. The commercial’s lacks logos (logical reasons to support argument) as the commercial is immensely absurd and improbable. Its main logical argument is that using Old Spice would make you smell better and thus become more attractive and exciting. This can be associated with a logical fallacy called, â€Å"The Slippery Slope† in which is the belief that taking a certain action (in this case, using Old Spice), would result in a chain of events with no logical explanation (attractiveness, luxury, etc.). While it is reasonable to suggest that the product WILL make you smell better, it cannot be proven logically that it would lead to you becoming more interesting or becoming rich and obtaining lavish possessions like diamonds or a boat. This can be related to the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) under the peripheral route to persuasion in which the audience is deemed lacking the ability or motivation to compute information and would not probably undertake any thorough cognitive processing. This is when the viewer depends on the peripheral cues in the message and makes a decision, rather than evaluating the information and making sense of the argument. Positive peripheral cues like the attractiveness of the â€Å"Old Spice Guy† and luxurious materials being associated with the Old Spice product can overshadow the overall logic of the message to the viewer (Belch and Belch, 2012). The commercials overall effectiveness was in being able to relay positive peripheral cues to the viewers as quickly and directly as possible before the viewer could comprehend the overall sense behind it. The exigency (urgent demand or need) of the commercial is created by people’s desire to be attractive (e.g. men would like to be attractive to women) thus, the commercial portrays the perception that Old Spice users automatically becomes so thanks to the positive visuals being portrayed in the commercial. The tone and speed in which the way the Old Spice Guy speaks (which is direct and rather in a hurry) out his argument further reinforces the sense of urgency. The argument’s effectiveness ultimately depends on the viewer’s subconscious overlooking the fallacies of the argument presented within the commercial as well as being stimulated to action by the commercial arousing emotions over confidence and attraction. Audience, Market, Socio-Cultural Context Old Spice’s target audience (13 to 34 year old males) are able to be influenced by the commercial as they are inclined to feel insecure about themselves when it comes to attracting the opposite sex, in which purchasing Old Spice would give them a confidence boost, even though it is clear that the connection between the product and its benefits are non-existent. This would still influence an individual’s decision-making without being cognitively aware. Old Spice’s target market put greater emphasis on the need for fragrances. Their psychographic of the target audience believes that good deodorant and smelling good is essential as it eliminates the need for a cologne, and good and proper grooming is an important aspect to overall attractiveness to the opposite sex. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explains that the primary motivation for consumers to buy grooming products is a result of their need for â€Å"esteem†, in which the target audience is driven by concerns regarding developing masculine identities and to be perceived as attractive to the opposite sex, all in which would encourage the consumer to seek products that would allow them to achieve their desired image (Belch and Belch, 2012). Old Spice also managed to establish a strong sense of brand loyalty among its consumers through the â€Å"Response† campaign, by allowing them to get personally invested in the brand through social media interaction. A personal connection with Old Spice allowed its consumers to fulfill Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs of Self-Actualization which is the need for self-fulfilment (Belch and Belch, 2012). Conclusion Old Spice’s managed to achieve its goal of re-branding itself from being considered a â€Å"grandfather† product to appealing to both men and women of the younger generation through the 2010 Old Spice Campaign. The overall significance of the â€Å"Response† campaign innovated advertising by introducing real-time brand building through establishing an interactive an intimate relationship with the target audience that modernized and humanized Old Spice as a brand, an endeavour that would certainly be considered as the most popular and rapid growing interactive campaigns of all time.

Joseph Kennedy :: essays research papers

Joseph Patrick Kennedy was born on September 6, 1888, in Boston Massachusetts. He was born the son of Patrick Joseph Kennedy, a local politician and successful businessman, and his wife Mary Augusta Hickey Kennedy. His parents wanted only the best for young Joe. In 1901 Joe was enrolled in Boston Latin, and elite boys catholic school. He was a very popular student there as president of his class, colonel on the drill team, a baseball player, and valedictorian. The next step for Joe was Harvard. There things were different; he was not the most popular student. He was not a particularly good student, and because of his Irish heritage, he had to endure a lot of slurs against his background. Yet he graduated thinking he was just as good as anyone in the class of 1912. After Harvard he decided to go into banking, where he received a position as a state bank examiner. In less than a year he saw the opportunity he wanted. The Columbia Trust was about to be taken over by the First National. Joe decided that if anybody was to take over the Columbia, he should be the one. Joe had supporters, which was accompanied by a game of bluff that finally forced First National to give up. When the merger was called off, the Columbia directors rewarded him with the top job. At 25 he had become the youngest bank president in the country. In 1914, now the successful bank president married the love of his life, Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald. Rose was the daughter of the Mayor of Boston, John Francis Fitzgerald, a leading Irish figure in Boston. Together they had 9 children, Joseph Patrick Jr., John Fitzgerald, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice Mary, Patricia, Robert Francis, Jean Ann, and Edward Moore. By the age of 30 he had amassed a great fortune through business ventures that included motion pictures, shipbuilding, and real estate, and through the stock market. As chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission in 1937, he laid the groundwork for the U.S. merchant marine. He was ambassador to Great Britain from 1938 to 1940. But perhaps his greatest achievement was seeing his son become John become President of the United States. As his parents did for him, he did the same for his children. He wanted nothing more than to see one his children as a great political leader.

My Personal Ethics Essay -- being an ethical decision maker

According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, ethics is defined as â€Å"moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior.† Therefore, in an ideal world, ethics should play the ultimate role when making a decision. If ethics are the principles which guides one’s behavior then, ideally, all decisions should be made entirely based on ethics. Unfortunately, such is not always the case. A few problems arise when one tries to make an ethical decision, especially as a leader. First, ethics may mean different things to different people. For example, my religious and spiritual beliefs are the foundation for what I deem ethical. However, for someone else, ethics might be based on laws or their own personal understanding of what is right or wrong. Generally, I do believe there are some behaviors that all can agree upon as being ethical or unethical. For example, most people understand that stealing from someone or murder is wrong. However, it is difficult, at times, to have similar ethical expectations of others as one does of themselves because of these differences in the understanding of ethics. Additionally, there are times when it might be easier for a leader to make an unethical decision for an immediate gain or to appease the wants of others. Examples of these include leaders who embezzle money or use other schemes to make money quickly or unlawfully. For most leaders, making ethical decisions tends to be the goal. I firmly believe that more often than not, leaders do make ethical decisions for the betterment of their organization or business. There are cases when making an unethical decision might be easier, but the true character of a leader is tested when they are confronted with such a decision. Making the easier ... ...ply share with others what I believe and value. I also communicate my personal ethics through my actions. If my decisions are made according to my ethical beliefs, then others should be able to recognize, through my behavior, what my personal morals are. Overall, being an ethical decision maker is important to me. As a leader, I understand that I play a part in establishing what is considered right and wrong, based on my actions and decisions. My hope is to always be an example, and being ethical is the foundation of setting a good example for others. The old adage, â€Å"actions speak louder than words† rings true in relation to ethics. I aim to show people what my moral principles are based on my actions. At times, it can get difficult because I might let emotions cloud my judgment, but after all, doing the right thing for the sake of others is most important to me.

Life Experience Growing Up Essay

It is hard to explain to most people the reason why even though I was born in the United States of America and had a complete set of parents at the time of my birth, I was still sent to Haiti to be raised by a surrogate family. Not everyone understands the crazy things that parents do when their marriage is failing and the family is falling apart, as my parents chose to do. I do not remember much about my childhood in the USA because I left when I was seven years old. All that I could remember about that time was that my mother came home one day really sad and she asked my two sisters and I to pack up our things because we were going on an airplane ride. When I asked her where we were headed, thinking that we were probably going to Disneyland or something, she told me that we were going to take a vacation at her sister’s house in Haiti. This did not strike me as strange at the time because I had never met my mother’s sister at that point in time so I was excited to meet her. Mom told us that we had cousins in Haiti and we would get to meet them for the very first time during this trip. When I asked my mom if Dad would be joining us on this trip, she said that he was too busy at work to come along but that he loved us and wished us a safe trip. So it happened that I left my country of birth in 1973 to embark on a life that was thrust upon me without a choice nor a reason why I had to live it. Our mother spent a whole month with us in Haiti. I have some vague recollection of my mother sitting at the dining table at night with her sister, crying and in need of consolation. At the end of the month, I remember seeing my mother packing her suitcase. I thought it was time to go home and that she had simply forgotten to tell my sisters and I to pack up our things. So I began doing so without being instructed to. When mom saw what I was doing, she asked me to stop and come out to the backyard to have a talk. We sat on the swing in the small backyard of my aunt’s house as my mother explained what our new family situation was. She asked me if I remembered how she and dad had been fighting a lot lately and sometimes he would not come home for days because of the arguments. I recall that at the time I had vague recollections of my parents voices breaking through the bedroom walls at night when they thought we were already asleep. Slowly, mom explained to me that the marriage was in trouble and that the family was falling apart. She assured me that they both still loved us more than life itself but that they felt it would be best if we stayed n Haiti while they finalized the divorce and they both tried to get back on their feet after. It hurt me a lot to be indirectly told that my sisters and I had no place in our parents lives anymore. I felt abandoned and betrayed by both my parents. I was angry that even though I was just a little girl, I would have to find a way to explain what was going on to my sisters and make sure that they would be able to adjust to a life without our real mom and dad. We were all born in New York City and were accustomed to its lifestyle and culture. O when we were forcibly left in Haiti by our mom, we had to overcome the culture shock and social difficulty of having to live in a different environment from what we were used to. My sisters and I also had to lowly began to adjust to life with our surrogate parents. That is, our aunt and her husband. We had surrogate siblings as well because they eventually had their own children. We were a large, convoluted, extended family. As time passed, we became less American and more Haitian. French became our mother tongue and English was a stranger to us. We were happy and well adjusted kids who saw no difference in the way we were treated by our guardians who loved and treated us as if we were their own flesh and blood. Our parents? We spoke to them separately over the phone 4 times a month. We were strangers who did not really know anything about each other and did not have much to talk about over the phone. Those times were more like mandatory duties that our aunt and uncle made sure we accomplished without fail.

Parker

PARKER : Penning global strategy Ankita Jain Hrishikesh V Nilotpal Sinha Abhinav Sharma Great Lakes Institute of Management November 18, 2011 Caesar had perished from the world of men, had not his sword been rescued by a pen. Abstract In this study, we look at two strategies adopted by Parker Pen. The ? rst is a highly successful strategy of product di? erentiation through technological innovation. The second is an unsuccessful execution of globalization strategy. 1 A brief history of Parker Pen The Parker Pen Company was born in 1888 when George Sta? rd Parker tried to repair some fountain pens that were leaking and in the process began to manufacture his own pens. Six years later in 1894, Parker Pen won the patent of the †Lucky Curve† feed, which was claimed to draw excess ink back into the pen body when the pen was not in use. This technology remained the di? erentiating factor for Parker pens until the arrival of the Duofold in the 1930s. 1 2 The forty years period ra nging from 1920s to the 1960s, in the pre ballpoint pen era, was the golden period of Parker Pen’s reign when it consistently ranked either number one or number two in worldwide writing instrument sales.In 1931 Parker Pen created 1 2 Key words and phrases. Parker Pen, fountain pen, ball-point pen. This study was conducted for completion of the group project for Strategy Execution. 1 the Quink (quick drying ink) which eliminated the need for blotting and led to the development of the most widely used pen in history Parker 51 which generated over $400 million in sales. A Parker pen stood for quality, prestige, tradition, steadfastness and strength highlighted by the fact that Parker pens were the pen of choice to sign important documents in history such as the World War II armistices.Parker Pen expanded its business and by 1980s the company had extended up to 154 countries. The company adopted globalization strategy to establish market presence. However the execution of this st rategy was unsuccessful; the managers failed to create proper marketing strategies that would have made them compete in international markets with inexpensive products from other parts of the world. In 1993 Parker Pen was acquired by the Gillette Company, which already owned the PaperMate brand, one of the best-selling disposable ballpoints.In 2000, Gillette sold the writing instruments division to Newell Rubbermaid, whose own Stationery Division, Sanford, became the largest in the world owning such brand names as Rotring, Sharpie, Reynolds as well as Parker, PaperMate, Waterman and Liquid Paper. In recent years, Parker Pen has abandoned both the entry level market as well as the traditional retail outlets in North America and moved into up-scale luxury retailers. 2 Innovation as a di? erentiation strategy Throughout its history, Parker Pen has used technological innovation as a strategy to di? erentiate itself from the competition.The company has been a pioneer in research on writi ng instruments and introduced several revolutionary products . In this section, we look at some of the iconic products from Parker Pens which have driven both the company as well as the pen market. (The current portfolio of Parker Pen’s products can be found in Ref. [1]) 2. 1 Duofold – 1921 In 1921 the company introduced the Parker Duofold (Ref. [2]) fountain pen. It was a state of the art pen for its time and Parker Pen positioned the Duofold in the premier segment and priced it expensively $7. 00, equivalent to about $85 in 2011.In 1926 the Duofold became the ? rst pen in the world to have a guaranteed life of †forever†. It was an instant success. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used one to write the exploits of Sherlock Holmes. General Douglas MacArthur signed the document ending World War II in the 2 Paci? c with his 20 year old Duofold (Ref. [3]). By the early 1930s the Duofolds design had grown dated in the USA but it remained popular in Europe until the 1960s . In 1988, Parker launched the Duofold Centennial series of pens. The modern Duofold is a key part of Parker Pens product portfolio. . 2 Quink – 1928 In 1928, after three years of research and an investment of $68,000, Parker Pen came up with Quink (a portmanteau word from ’quick’ and ’ink’; also known as Double Quink and Parker 51 Ink) that would eliminate the need for blotting. The success of Quink lay in the fact that it had a number of useful features: it resisted water, it did not clog, it had the desired quality of ink ? ow, it resisted moulding, it was non-corrosive, it did not leave deposits, it did not fade, and, most importantly, it was quick-drying.However, the new ink was strongly alkaline and contained isopropyl alcohol, a solvent not previously used in inks, which often damaged the pen barrels of that time which were manufactured using pyralin. This problem eventually led to the development of the world’s most successful pen, t he Parker 51 in 1941. In 1941, when the Parker 51 was launched, Double Quink was renamed and repackaged as †Parker 51 ink† as a marketing initiative. Parker Pen’s ink sales became the key to maintaining the company’s pro? tability.This revenue generation model is used by the modern day computer printer companies, whose main source of revenue comes from the sale of printer cartridges. Further enhancements were made to Parker Pen inks with its revolutionary †Super Chrome† ink. This ink was marketed in 1947 after a research period that lasted 17 years and cost over $200,000. This was the ? rst basic ink improvement in the last three centuries. Today, more than seventy years later, Quink is still the world’s biggest selling pen ink. 2. 3 Vacumatic – 1933 The Parker Vacumatic (Ref. 4]) fountain pen was introduced in 1933, as a replacing the Duofold as Parker’s top-of-the-line product. The Vacumatic featured a new ? lling mechanis m which boasted a much higher ink capacity than the Duofold. The pen remained Parkers top-of-the-line product until the launch of the Parker 51 in 1941. The US production continued through 1948, and until 1953 in Canada. 3 2. 4 Parker 51 – 1941 In 1941 Parker Pen introduced the Parker 51 (Ref. [5]) which arguably is the best pen of all time both in terms of popularity and sales. General Eisenhower signed the victory in Europe in 1944.The futuristic design of the Parker 51 heralded as †Ten Years Ahead† of its time, a revolutionary pen, with its hooded, tubular nib and multi-? nned collector, all designed to work in conjunction with the pen’s proprietary ink, allowing the nib to stay wet and lay down an even line with either the ultra-fast drying ink or more traditional inks. It was advertised as the ’The Worlds Most Wanted Pen’ which created huge demand which took Parker several years to ful? l. By 1970, the Parker 51 generated over $400 millio n in sales, higher than that generated by any single pen ever. 2. 5Jotter – 1954 In the 1940, the world had seen a ? erce battle for market share fought between the traditional fountain pens and the new ballpoint pens. Despite some initial success, ballpoint pens died a consumer death and by 1951, the fountain pen became the pen of choice of the world. In 1954, Parker Pens introduced its ? rst ballpoint pen, the Jotter which wrote ? ve times longer than the best ballpoint pens available in the market, the Eversharp and the Reynolds ballpoint pens. It was the introduction of Jotter that revived the ballpoint pen market. Parker sold 3. 5 million Jotters at $2. 5 to $8. 75 in less than one year. In 1957, Parker Pen introduced the T-ball Jotter with tungsten carbide textured ball bearing which to this date remains an industry standard. The famed styling of the Parker Duofold was revived in 1972 as a ball pen and within the next decade, ballpoint pens overtook fountain pen as the number choice of pen in the world. 3 Rise of competition – 1980s After about a century of dominating the ? ne writing instrument market, Parker Pen entered into a period of crisis in the 1980s and the reason for this was that the company was driven by the wrong strategy.Parker was facing competition from three fronts. First, the Japanese were mass marketing cheaper and disposable pens and had captured a large portion of the low end market in USA and Europe and were gradually eating into Parker Pen’s market share. Second, like the Japanese, American brands such as Paper Mate, Bic, Pilot, and Pentel had created signi? cance presence in the low end segment and gradually eroding and were pulling away parker Pen’s customer. Third, in the high 4 end segment which had been Parker Pens main target segment, competition had become ? ercer with reputed German brands such as Montblanc and A.T. Cross making progress in the European markets. 4 Globalization strategy – 1982 Parker Pen faced two contrasting challenges. On one side the weakened dollar generated high foreign revenue since about 80% of the company’s sales were abroad, the pro? ts derived from those sales represented even big pro? ts when translated to local currency. But on the other side, this over dependency on foreign sales exposed the company to foreign competitors, especially the inexpensive brands from Japan which used low pricing as a strategy to compete in the international market.Parker Pen realized that a competitive strategy based on product di? erentiation through technological innovation was not su? cient to thwart the challenge from competitors. In 1982, James R. Peterson became the CEO of Parker Pen,having joined it from Reynolds. He was given the responsibility of reinventing the brand. Peterson decided to launch a global marketing campaign to target all market segments. A consequence of the decision to adopt globalization was standardization. Everything includi ng products as well as marketing campaign was to be standardized for all the markets across the world. Issues in executing globalization strategy When Peterson took over Parker, he was met by a highly proud, mismanaged company that prided itself on its extensive decentralization. The atmosphere re? ected the founders pride in the fact that they had a unique pen for every place in the world. They were a federation of autonomous geographical units. It became immediately clear to Peterson that huge changes were on the anvil. The immediate problems were twofold. The ? rst was the products positioning. Having positioned itself at the higher end of the market for a signi? ant part of the previous century, it had now began to face problems with regard to its image. It was clear that a complete clarity of its brand positioning and image was essential. The second issue that confronted Peterson was its complete ine? ciency in managing its product portfolio. When Peterson entered Parker, it di dnt even have a proper idea of the range of products that it was manufacturing. It was a situation of complete chaos 5 with more than 500 products in simultaneous existence. Its decentralized structure had completely turned against its pro? ability, resulting in every distant subsidiary and distributor involved developing a customized product for that particular market. While the company was proud of its decentralized multinational structure, it was ailing on account of an obvious lack of economies of scale and a uni? ed command and strategy. The company clearly lacked a common driving force across markets. However, this decentralization had its positive aspects as well, most notably in the area of advertising. Pens meant and mean di? erent things to di? erent people.While the Europeans tended to choose a pen based on its style and feel, people in less-developed countries tended to see a pen as nothing more than a badge of literacy. Within Europe itself for instance, tastes tended t o vary from one country to another. While the French showed a de? nite attachment to the fountain pen, the Scandinavians favoured the ballpoint pen. The company justi? ed the existence of numerous advertising agencies in its employ feeling that while it bred a certain amount of ine? ciency, it paid o? from a sales standpoint. Many individual advertising ? ms were able to develop excellent customized messages for their audience that successfully struck a responsive chord within them. For instance, the Lowe Howard-Spink agency in London was able to make the UK division of Parker the most pro? table division during its tenure. Its creative genius is clearly visible in the advertisement that it created showing a dead plumber with a giant Parker pen protruding from his heart. The situation seemed bleak to Peterson. He immediately implemented a strategy by which Parker would position itself in the entry-level segment.He felt that in the face of the trends at that time, this would be the i deal positioning that would succeed in turning around the company. He also dissociated Parker from the numerous advertising ? rms that it was associated with, retaining only one, Ogilvy and Mather, to oversee a worldwide common strategy in terms of communication and advertising. However, this strategy failed miserably on two counts. It failed to provide a customized communication strategy to each market and thus failed to account for the cultLural di? erences across geographies.It also failed to leverage the premium positioning of the brand and reduced it to an entry-level brand. 5. 1 Two speci? c cases of execution failures The following examples show two speci? c cases of execution failure by Parker Pen. 6 (a) At a corporate level, Parker Pen targeted almost all market segments. However at the business level, management failed to introduce products which would cover the market segments with middle and lower income levels. This allowed competitors with inexpensive products to take up the market. (b) Some of the marketing campaign failed to adjust to the local environment.For example, when Parker Pen ? rst expanded their market to Latin America, they wanted their advertisement to say, †It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you. † The company did not realize that the Spanish word †embarazar † has two meanings; it means †to embarrass,† and it also means to †impregnate. † So, to some unsuspecting people, the ad read: †It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant. † (Ref. [6]) 6 Acquisition of Parker by Gillette and beyond In May 1993, Gillette announced its acquisition of Parker Pen Holdings Ltd (Ref. [7]). (See Exhibit X).This made Gillette the world leader in the pen market. Gillette took an after-tax charge of $164 million for a reorganization of its overseas operations, including the integration of the Parker Pen facilities into the Gillette structure. Nearly 2000 jobs were l ost as a result of this restructuring process. Gillette sold the writing instruments division to Newell Rubbermaid, whose own stationery division, Sanford became the largest in the world with brand names such as Rotring, Sharpie, Reynolds as well as Parker, PaperMate, Waterman and Liquid Paper under its umbrella.The next few years were one of a complete downsizing of Parker, marked by job losses across the board. In July 2009, the 180 workers at the Parker headquarters of Newhaven, UK were given notice that the factory was going to be shut down on account of the production moving to France. On August 18, 2009, Newell Rubbermaid announced that Janesville Wisconsin would close the remaining operations of Parker. This resulted in the loss of 153 jobs. According to the company, †This decision is a response to structural issues accelerated by market trends and is in no way a re? ction on the highly valued work performed by our Janesville employees over the years. † Newell Rub bermaid stated an o? er of transitional employment services and severance bene? ts. What remained of the Parker brand was moved to the upscale segment of the writing instrument market and was sold via luxury retailers. Traditional retail outlets were abandoned. This completely removed the brand from the entry level segment of the market. 7 In 2011, Parker Pen announced the ? nest innovation in the history of writing, Parker 5TH Technology which o? ers a genuine ? th way of writing. Until then the world knew only four forms of ? ne writing – fountain pen, ball point, roller ball and the mechanical pencil. ground-breaking innovation has rea? rmed placed Parker as leaders in terms of both innovation and market share. 7 7. 1 Exhibits Financial statement 8 7. 2 Product display Duofold – Lucky 8 Limited Edition Ingenuity Parker 51 9 7. 3 Current product portfolio TABLE I T ype Ink Quink Fountain Pen Duofold, Premier, Sonnet, Vector, IM Ballpoint pen 7. 4 M odel Facet, Execut ive, Esprit, Frontier, Urban, I. M. , Vector JotterAcquisition of Parker by Gillette References [1] http://parkerpens. net/catalogue/parker catalogue 2009. pdf [2] http://www. parkerpen. com/en/discovery/range/iconic/duofold [3] http://www. patricktaylor. com/parker-duofold [4] http://www. vintagepens. com/Parker Vacumatics. shtml [5] http://www. pentrace. net/penbase/Data Returns/full article. asp? id=468 [6] http://parkerpens. blogspot. com/2007/09/advertizing-campaings-that-wentwrong. html [7] http://www. nytimes. com/1993/05/08/business/company-news-gillette-completesacquisition-of-parker-pen. html 10

Health Care Case Study: Financial Statements Essay

Abstract â€Å"An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success,† (Covey. 2011). Financial management within a health care organization is crucial to the success and stability of the organization. In this summary financial information on Patten Fuller Hospital will be revealed. Specifically, the differences between audited and unaudited statements and reporting on the hospital’s ratios will be included. Information related to the relationship on revenue sources and expenses will include how the hospital revenues and expenses are grouped for planning and control. Audited and Unaudited Differences During the years of 2008 and 2009 the Patton-Fuller Community Hospital’s balance sheet had some differences with the patient accounts of about $1,000,000. The discrepancies between the two amounted to $1,000,000; these discrepancies would be the audited statement that equaled to $58,787,000 and the unaudited statement in 2009 that amounted to $59,787,000 (Patton-Fuller Community Hospital, 2011). Then there were discrepancies on the Statement of Revenue and Expenses of about 1,000,000 during 2009. The discrepancies between the two that amounted to $1,000,000 would be the audited statement that equaled to $14,797,000 and the unaudited statement in 2009 that amounted to $13,797,000 (Patton-Fuller Community Hospital, 2011). The net income for the audited statement is 373,000 and, the unaudited is 627,000. Effect’s of Revenue Sources on Financial Reporting A company’s revenue comes from a variety of sources, including the sales of goods interests on loans, and income from renting or leasing. Accountant’s first record revenue in informal accounting ledgers to track capital as it comes into the company. Information ledgers are transferred to more formal,  official financial statements. The income statements, balance sheets, retained earnings statements and statements of cash flows are the four basic types of financial statements affected by revenue sources. Revenues and Expenses Grouped for Planning and Control The hospitals revenues and expenditures are plans and cohesively to track revenues and expenditures efficiently. The two main categories of revenue are, nonrevenue producing, and revenue producing. The nonrevenue producing services have two subdivisions, general services, and support services. General services are services, such as maintenance, and dietary. The support services are administrative costs relate to employee services, such as salaries, and employee welfare services. Revenue producing has two groups: nursing services and other professional services. Nursing services has five cost centers ranging from the intensive care units to the operating room. Professional services have 15 cost centers, such as emergency room and pharmacy. These cost centers correlate to specific expenditure categories. Expenditure grouping is separate into two categories, diagnoses, and procedures. Most revenue in health care organizations is either diagnoses or procedures. Major diagnostic categories (MDCs) group costs with a 27-classification system for diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). Each DRG represents a category of the services for patients. This classification assigns procedures provided to patients with current procedural terminology (CPT) codes. â€Å"CPT codes represent a listing of descriptive terms and identifying codes for identifying medical services and procedures performed† (Baker & Baker, 2011, p. 44). Conclusion Discrepancies were found in three areas between the audited and unaudited statements. The differences between the statements were vast with patient accounts showing a $1,000,000 difference, the statement of revenue and expenses showing a $1,000,000 difference, and a net income difference of $254,000. Corporate revenue comes from many sources. Revenue is reported on various financial forms like income statements, balance sheets, retained  earnings statements, and cash flow statements, which are the four basic types of financial statements affected by revenue. Different categories and services exist to group revenues and expenditures into cost centers that correlate to different DRG’s. DRG’s break down the procedures into CPT codes identifying the services and procedures for compensation. Reference: Baker, J.J., & Baker, R.W. (2011). Health care finance: Basic tools for nonfinancial managers (3rd ed.).Jones & Bartlett. Covey, S. (2011). Inspirational Quotes for Business: Empowerment and Delegation. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/a/quotes_empower.htm Patton-Fuller Community Hospital, (2011). Annual Report 2009. Virtual Organization Portal. Retrieved May 27, 2011 from University of Phoenix