Tuesday, December 24, 2019

John Locke versus Thomas Hobbes Essay - 1297 Words

Change is in the inevitable byproduct of society. As societies evolve they change according to the life style of the people who inhabit them. Without change, society would never progress and thus would be frozen in a single moment in time. Thomas Hobbes and John Lock were two English philosophers who observed tremendous changes in English politics between the years of 1640 and 1690. In closely examining the views of both of these philosophers in subject areas such as the nature of man in society, the relationship between a society and its government, and the affect that both philosophers’ novels had on the government, it can be concluded that both Hobbes and Locke’s philosophies created prominent change in the methods of government. Both†¦show more content†¦His opinion of human nature was low. In Leviathan, Hobbes portrays humans as selfish, unsocial creatures driven by only two need, survival and personal gain. Therefore, human life is characterized by  "constant struggle, strife, and war† with individuals against one another in a battle for self preservation . Hobbes claimed that there was â€Å"a general inclination of all [human]kind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.† Therefore, Hobbes concludes that because of the selfishness of humans, they have no capacity of self government. Locke view humans is a different perspective. Locke developed his own philosophy, which is referred to as tabula rosa. Put simply, this refers to the idea that the human mind at birth is a blank slate without rules for processing data. Data is accumulated in the mind as the rules of processing data are formed. According to Locke, these rules are formed solely on a person’s sensory experience, therefore, Locke will argue that a person is neither good nor evil at birth, it is the summation of their experiences that determine the person that they become. That being said, humans can be educ ated to an inclination of good rather than evil. As a result, â€Å"the state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone: and reason, which is that law, teaches all [human]kind, who will but consult it, that beingShow MoreRelatedThe American Constitution And The Bill Of Rights1463 Words   |  6 Pagesand thoughts of the philosophes, specifically John Locke. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were both English philosophers,influential thinkers of the seventeenth century, both had confidence in a Social Contract and they both distributed books that were generally perused. Thomas Hobbes talked about and built up the social contract hypothesis through his book Leviathan. The social contract hypothesis was later bolstered and translated encourage by John Locke. This hypothesis which was essential to theRead MoreEssay on John Locke vs Thomas Hobbes509 Words   |  3 PagesLocke versus Hobbes Locke and Hobbes were both social contract theorists, and both natural law theorists, but there the resemblance ends. All other natural law theorists assumed that man was by nature a social animal. Hobbes assumed otherwise, thus his conclusions are strikingly different from those of other natural law theorists. What would life and human relations be like in the absence of government? Thomas Hobbes was the first to attempt to illustrate this condition using an intellectualRead MoreBriefly Explain What Is Meant by the â€Å"Scientific Revolution† That Took Place in Seventeenth Century Europe, and How It Marked a Departure from Ancient and Medieval Philosophy.1603 Words   |  7 Pagesbecome noted scientists.    Compare and contrast the positions expressed by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke regarding natural law and government, and discuss the influences that their works had on the development of political thought both during their own time and later? The two main political philosophers during the seventeenth century were Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Hobbes is the well-known author of â€Å"Leviathan,† and Locke is the author of â€Å"An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.† Both men addressRead MoreThe Enlightenment And The American Revolution2027 Words   |  9 PagesThe Enlightenment and the American Revolution Everyone knows the story of how America came to be. It was similar to David versus Goliath, the American colonists against the potent England. England at the time of the Revolution, boasted the largest and most powerful fighting force in the history of the world. The Americans were rebellious country-cousins who wanted freedom from what they regarded as a capricious and tyrannical paternal England so they could govern themselves. The result was AmericaRead MoreThomas Hobbes And John Locke2190 Words   |  9 PagesHobbes versus Locke Thomas Hobbes and John Locke are both well known to be associated with the state of nature. However, the philosophers have extremely distinct views on how the state of nature should be lived out. Hobbes is a highly conservative and harsh in tone in his views of humans and how they react in a state of nature. For example, he believes that men are selfish and will act in a way that only benefits themselves. Locke, on the contrary, thinks that men are not out to get each other.Read MoreEssay about Child Development, Nature vs Nurture801 Words   |  4 Pages. The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The debate centers on the relative contributions ofgenetic inheritance  and  environmental factors  to human development. Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or that they simply occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Other well-known thinkers such as John Locke believed in what is known as  tabula rasa, which suggests that the mind begins as a blank slateRead MorePower Causes Corruption849 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.† - John Acton, 1887. The debate over whether power causes corruption has been an ongoing discussion for hundreds of years. Some might say that the power itself is what corrupts, while others argue that power simply reveals peoples true colors. However, in reality all sides have some truth to them. Power can be a source of corruption when the amount obtained b ecomes overwhelming, when the person given power doesnt know what do with it or growsRead MorePolitical Authority : A Need For Authority1782 Words   |  8 Pagesare many different political powers but regardless, there is someone, or some group of persons that has formal authority which makes laws, enforces them and punishes those that do not abide. But where does it come from is the question. Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Aristotle have theories and ideas that give us a clue. They present ideas concerning different forms of authority; how authority has evolved; and where it even started. And from this I determine that in order to find where politicalRead MoreJohn Locke, Hobbes, And Nietzsche Theories1722 Words   |  7 PagesSince discussing the aftermath of the social and political standings is a grey area to think about, I have chosen to conduct a comparison and analysis in regards to the likelihood of this situation occurring using Locke, Hobbes, and Nietzsche theories. The first thinker, John Locke, may very well have the closest connection to the idea and understanding of a living threat to the social order. He â€Å"lived in circumstances that forced on him an awareness of the genuine possibility of political chaosRead MoreCriminal Charges And Its Effect On The Man s Life And The Destruction Of His Property2517 Words   |  11 Pagesinstead of being commended for exercising exceptional restraint and level-headed control he was charged with four weapons related offences that if convicted could result in his incarceration. Two and a half years later Justice Tory Colvin acquitted Thomas of all charges which included careless use of a firearm, pointing a gun and two counts for improper storage of a restricted weapon and ammunition. The decision to eradicate the charges against Thomson, was not based on failure by the crown or the

Monday, December 16, 2019

Essay on Anil Free Essays

How does Valuable present the feelings of the young man in ‘Something Old, Something New? B) How does the writer present the feelings of a character from a different story in Sunlight on the Grass? In the story Something Old, Something New’ Valuable presents the feelings of a young man as someone that is always being judged and looked down upon because of his religious choices and how he had converted from Catholicism to Islam. They did not understand that side of him’, from this quote I can infer hat the young man’s parents did not approve or understand his choice to convert from Catholicism to Islam. The word ‘understand’ in the quote shows how the parents could not relate to this ‘side of him’. We will write a custom essay sample on Essay on Anil or any similar topic only for you Order Now It also shows how this may create a barrier between the relationship of the young man and his parents as the convert may not have been what the parents had wanted but nevertheless, the young man still persisted with his choice in faith. In addition, the young man is shown by Valuable as someone who is uncomfortable with he big change in culture. This is shown by the quote: ‘Her country disturbed him’. This displays how the young man finds everything unusual. Zooming in on the word ‘disturbed’ shows the reader that the young man has been put out of his comfort zone completely. The word ‘disturbed’ brings negative connotations to my mind this shows that he is not only seeing a huge change, but he dislikes it too. Alternatively, the writer of the story Nail (Nor) portrays Nail who is restricted by the life he was born in to. ‘His dreams were bigger than him’, this shows that he had huge ambitions but they are too big for him and unachievable. This was different to the people that surrounded him with very little ambitions in life, or none at all. This is why Nail, the little boy, stood out in the story. The word ‘dreams’ is positive and therefore shows that he has hope for the future and still a little bit of happiness, despite his unfortunate lifestyle. How to cite Essay on Anil, Essays

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Greek approach Essay Example For Students

Greek approach Essay What particular contributions did the Greeks make to the development of urban form? How did the Greek approach to city planning affect later urban development?  The Greeks assisted the development of urban form with numerous imperative contributions, all of which promoted each other in succession. Firstly, there was the colonisation movement, which evolved as a result of urban growth pressure. Greeks considered the optimum city population to be 30,000; once this figure was reached a new, completely independent city would be established at another location. These new colonies created the opportunity to move away from the organic city growth of traditional Greek cities and onto systematic urban planning. (Owen 2001:1) This involvement of the gridiron street plan is the second fundamental contribution made by the Greeks; the final point is, the evolution of the twin foci of Greek cities the acropolis as the religious centre and agora as the multi-purpose everyday heart (Morris 1994: 40). The aforementioned urban growth control began around 750BC as a method to stabilize city size; it was a process forced upon the Greeks as a result of resource deficiency and deliberate political decision rather than intellectual calculation. Every time the population surpassed a certain figure, an expedition embarked to create a new colony. For example, Athens had some 40,000 inhabitants during the time of Pericles, and only three other cities, Syracuse, Agrigentum and Argos, possessed more than 20,000. During the fifteenth century Syracuse reached the total of approximately 50,000 inhabitants by forcibly containing the populations of the cities it had conquered. There were only fifteen cities with a population of about 10,000, the number which was considered appropriate for a large city and which theorists advised against exceeding (Benevolo 1980: 57).  This enforced population boundary was not viewed as being restrictive; it was, a necessary pre-condition for the orderly way of life (Benevolo 1980: 57). The population had to be between a certain level of compromise; substantial enough to power an army, yet small enough to allow the smooth running of daily life and for citizens to interact knowledgeably with one another. This development of city stabilisation wasnt appreciated respectively over the subsequent centuries until the concept was re-evaluated by Ebenezer Howard in 1898, with his publication of Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (reprinted in 1902 as Garden Cities of Tomorrow). (Morris 1994: 40) This revolutionary publication is widely regarded as a classic because, it has done more than any other single book to guide the modern town planning movement and to alter its objectives (Mumford 1945). Howards concept of moving the excess population from the parent city to a new colony was based on the original Greek method; hence, not only did the Greeks generate the innovative colonisation approach to city building, but they also aided the basis of Howards new town notion. These are two very important contributions made by the Greeks towards urban development. An additional contribution is the qualities featured throughout every Greek city unity, a lack of rigidity, the maintenance of balance with nature, stability of growth (Benevolo 1980: 60) and promoted by the colonisation movement, that has made the Greek city, a valid model for all other urban developments (Benevolo 1980: 60).  First of all the unity of the Greek city will be considered. The city did not feature controlled or autonomous areas; it was valued as a united entity where houses only differed in size and not architectural technique. No area was specifically designated for certain class or family associates, and in extension of this realisation of individual liberty, there were particular areas where the population could assemble and affirm their rights. .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 , .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .postImageUrl , .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 , .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:hover , .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:visited , .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:active { border:0!important; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:active , .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3 .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc1d1490da3b0aacd2b04369250bd9cc3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Nores vs Greek EssaySecondly, the Greek city was sectioned into three zones. The private areas which were set aside for the inhabitants houses; the sacred areas, which contained the temples of the gods; and the public areas, used for political meetings, sport, commerce and theatre (Benevolo 1980: 60). All public areas were maintained by the state, and it was the difference in purpose between the zones that was the most significant element.  The penultimate quality related to the Greek city is its attachment to the natural environment as an artificial organism. The natural lines of the countryside were respected, and each citys balance between art and nature enhanced uniq ue its personality.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Product Level Planning free essay sample

Market analysis 3 SWOT Analysis 4-7 Objectives 7 Marketing Strategy 8 Action Program 9 Financial Projection 10 Feedback Control 10 Conclusion 11 References 11 Executive Summery Cement Industry is highly important segment of Bangladesh’s Industrial sector Plays a vital role in socio-economic development. Although cement industry of Bangladesh has witnessed its ups down in recent past but in last decade it has recovered now it’s a self-sufficient industry of Bangladesh not only fulfilling domestic needs of Bangladesh also exporting a huge amount of cement to other countries, bringing foreign reserves help in up lifting Bangladesh’s GDP. Bangladesh is currently operating at their maximum capacity due to the boom in commercial industrial construction within Bangladesh. In this report I have selected Anchor cement, Olympic Cement Ltd (OCL) of ‘Khansons Group’ simply called gray cement we will describe how they do product planning for that? Khansons Group has extended its industrial arena by putting-up a clinker grinding cement plant named as Olympic Cement Ltd. We will write a custom essay sample on Product Level Planning or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The plant is located at Rupatoli, Barisal all in a row along with its textile industries. The finished product (cement) has been branded as Anchor the same has become popular in the local market. This cement project commenced its initial production at 800 tpd and gradually increased the production to the level of 1,600 tpd. Olympic Cement Ltd (OCL) is one only cement factory which has targeted to meet the entire demand of cement in Southern Bengal. As a result, OCL has concentrated its sales on a soaring trend by increasing production volume. OCL is maintaining the reputation of its quality product and aiming at the extended project in days to come. Current Market Situation Overall Market Situation Bangladesh cement industry is the 40th largest market in the world. There are 70+ cement factories in Bangladesh and daily production capacity is 16. 687 Million MT. In January 2012, Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau released data confirming that cement exports had witnessed a 21% increase in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (July 2011 – January 2012). The boost in the cement sector is because of the rising construction activity in the country increasing development expenditure by the govt. Due to this the sales of cement sector will also rise every year. Product Situation Since Cement is a specialized product, requiring sophisticated infrastructure production location, so, Most of the cement industries in Bangladesh are located near/within a river side that are rich in clay. Iron mineral capacity so ‘Anchor’ cement is situated near to the bank of river ‘Kirton Khola’. Anchor cement installed capacity is 1,600 tpd at present with the turnover of 50 crore in a year. Competitive Situation: In competitive situation we will describe all the competitors of Anchor Cement producing gray cement. There are 70 + firms in the market along with Anchor Cement. All these companies are using different marketing tactics to grape as much market share as possible but they are acting like a cartel under the tree of APCMA. They are producing same quality of cement with all most same price and features that’s why competition in the market is very tough for local as well as foreign market. All are using same bulk penetration strategies to cover major portion of the market. Some are using cost leadership strategy but due to cartel act behavior they are not getting the target results that they want to achieve. Currently Crown cement is the market leader while Anchor cement is a niche in the national market but it is the leader in the local market of Barisal southern part of Bangladesh. Distribution Situation: Anchor Cement Company uses different channels of distributions to transfer the gray cement from company to the different part of Bangladesh. †¢ACC gt; Whole Sellers gt; Retailorgt; Customer †¢ACC gt; Retailorsgt; Customer †¢ACC gt; Customer †¢ACC gt; Regional Offices gt; w/s Retailors Macro-Environmental Situation Macro environmental factors directly or indirectly effect the production of the company its market. Macro- Environmental factors are the factors that are not in the control of the company. These factors are†¦.. 1. Political 2. Law order situation 3. Cultural values 4. Technological change . Demographic trends 6. Economic Condition 7. Inflation Opportunity Issue Analysis After completing the market analysis now we will do analysis of opportunities issues for the ACC. Opportunity is a chance of progress or advancement that is available in the market the company has to avail it for the progress and profitability while issues are the weakness or th reat for the company to avoid or settled down. For this purpose we have to do SWOT analysis of ACC. Strength of ACC Strengths are the internal positive factors of advantage that a company possesses. Following is the strength of ACC. Installed Capacity: Installed capacity of company is 16. 687 Million MT daily they are producing 6007. 32 MT per annum so they can exceed the production easily by proper implementing their marketing mix strategies it will directly increase profits of the company. oRaw Material: Anchor Cement Company is situated near the bank of the river kirtonkhola. So they can easily avail the huge reserve of raw materials with a very low cost as compare to other competitors’ as their cost of material is high. oHigh Quality of ACC: Quality of ACC is much better than the standard set by Bangladesh importers. Quality of production is better than most of the competitors in the market. oCheap Labor: They are using cheap labor market of Bangladesh which is strength of them due to this their price is low as compare to other compotators. oGood Govt. Policies: Local federal govts. Policies are supportive favorable to the cement sector. They are getting many benefits in term of electricity etc from BD govt. So over all ACC is enjoying good environment created by Government. Weakness of ACC Weaknesses are the internal negative factors of a company that should be avoided or to be controlled. Following are the negative factors of ACC. oNot Utilization of Full Capacity: ACC is not utilizing its full capacity of production of gray cement. They can produce more per annum so not utilizing their full capacity is also their disadvantage which they should convert it into opportunity. oFuel Electricity Charges: ACC cost comprises more than 50% costs of fuel electricity. So they should minimize these expenses as much as they can. It can really help them in uplifting their market share growth profit as well. They can convert their system or can generate their own electricity by investing in this sector. Management: ACC major boards of directors are from the same family which is also a negative factor of them. So they should introduce competent personnel’s in the company for the growth. oFreight Charges: Freight or transportation charges to other parts of the country are also a problem for them which should be settled down as soon as possible. They should minimize their e xpenses to avail greater markets present in other parts of Bangladesh. Opportunities for ACC Opportunities are chances for progress or advancement that is available in the market and the company has to avail it for the progress and profitability. These are positive external factors. Following are the opportunities available for ACC. oGovernment Development Expenditure: Govt: is spending huge amount on development projects like roads, schools, hospitals, dams infrastructure etc. ACC can avail these opportunities by responding on time to these projects. oConstruction of Big projects: Recently there are many big projects are going on Bangladesh like construction of Jamuna future park, many high rise buildings etc, also in nationwide in Barisal. ACC should explore all these opportunities to increase its market share. oDemand of Bangladeshi Cement: Recently Bangladeshi cement demand is increasing day by day in foreign markets so ACC can improve its foreign market share. This will be very favorable profitable for them. Threats for ACC Threats are the negative factors that are available in the external environments. These are unhidden threats that are waiting for company should be ready or prepared to tickle down all these threats for their existence survival. Following are the threats available for ACC. High Energy Prices: Energy prices are constantly increasing in Bangladesh worldwide which is directly affecting the profitability of ACC because major portion of cost consists of fuel energy expenses so they should find out alternative source of energy to minimize the cost of goods. oHigh level of Taxes Custom duty: High level of cost custom duty are affecting its profitability. So govt. should take constructive steps fo r the development of the industries. oCompetitors: There are 70+ firms in cement industry which make the competition very tough. Each firm is striving to get as much share as they can and they are using different tactics to excel their sales. So, ACC should take proper steps for its growth while taking into consideration all the Competitors. oPolitical Instability: It is also a main threat for ACC because it brings changes in laws regulation accordingly. Objectives After analyzing all the factors now we will set the objectives or targets we can say, for ACC that is going to be achieved in the next financial year of the company. Our objectives should be ? Specific ?Measurable ?Achievable ?Realistic ?Time bound There are 2 kinds of objectives which are: Financial Objectives †¢Marketing Objectives Financial Objectives: Financial objectives are related with the financial performance of the company or simply objectives that relate to finance. Following are the financial objectives that we can set for ACC for 2013. ?Profit after taxes should be 60 crore ?Cash flow should be 10% high Marketing Objectives Financ ial objectives should be convertible to marketing objectives. Marketing objectives are related to market or overall industry. Following are the marketing objectives of ACC. Sales should be 50% high Exports should be 40% Average price should be up to 450 pg Sales of 5,00,000 tons should be achieved in 2013 Expand the number of dealers Market share should be up to 5% Marketing Strategies Strategies are the game plan or road map to achieve the objectives set by the company by utilizing its resources. Following are the marketing strategies that should be used: oNew Markets New markets in outside inside of the country should be achieved. oDistribution outlets Distribution outlets or big distributors must be located in all the targeted markets. oAdvertisement 2% budget should be allocated for advertisement campaign on bill boards certain media channel. Low pricing strategy Low pricing strategy should be adopted as compared to competitors. oAlliance Alliances should be made with distributors realtors in important markets preference should be given to them. oSales force Sale force or sales agents should also be hired in remote areas with 5-8% commission. oMarket Research 10% Budget should be allocated to market research to know competitors , customer behavior new markets. oLower cost of goods strategy Cost of the cement should be low down to earn maximum profit Action Programs Marketing strategies should be supported with action programs or day to day plans. Each strategy should be broken down in to small programs or action that can easily be implemented. It tells us that which marketing strategy is to be completed by whom, when how what will be the cost of that? ?Sales department have to do 25 crore sales after every 4 months. ?Production department have to produce 0. 25 million tons after every 4 months. ?Purchase department should purchase furnace oil raw materials 5% less as compared to previous year. ?Management should reduce unproductive expenses @10% as compared to last year. ?Other incomes should be increased up to 10 crore as compared to last year. Marketing department should achieve their target within given budget on the basis of six months. Financial Projections †¢Following are the overall projection for year 2013. In millionsIncrease Sales500060% Cgs (Cost of goods sold)(3200)36% Gross Profit120080% Other Expenses18010% Other Income2040% Profit Before Taxes800 Taxes200 Net Profit60020% Feedback Control In the last st age of product level planning we will consider does the company actually achieved its objectives or not. In this step we will compare the actual results with the standards set out there in the planning stage. According to the above results figures ACC has achieved all the targets goals efficiently effectively. They have properly implemented the planning as compared to previous year so they have achieved the level of performance what they want. Even more fruitful results have been achieved. Usually, Anchor Cement Company carries out three types of controlling strategies which are as under.. oAnnual Plan Control ACC usually do audit or check up at the end of year that whether that have achived their annual goals/objectives or not regarding sales, profits, market share growth etc. They want to know the gap between actual standard, if found any then will fix it down in the upcoming period. If they have performed much better then they watch out the reasons behind that to implement forever in the organization. oAudit Control Internal Audit is carried out by the internal auditors. External Audit is carried out by external auditors. oStrategic Control Strategic Control is the step of the last section. In strategic control usually they evaluate whether the Anchor Cement Company marketing strategy is appropriate to the market condition or not. If not they do Changes in it to make implementable in the market. They change their strategy according to the market situation that changes so rapidly. Conclusion From the above analysis we can easily conclude that how a company usually does their product or marketing planning. I pick Anchor Cement Company collect data from different sources (mainly from web) then make the palling for them accordingly. All the above discussion gives us a bird’s eye view regarding a good product planning that a marketer can do. References http://www. khansonsgroup. com www. scribd. com Marketing Management- Philip Kotler, 11th edition

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Self-reports in psychology Essay Example

Self Self-reports in psychology Paper Self-reports in psychology Paper Using examples, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the use of self-reports in psychology.  One of the strengths of using self-reports as a method of data collection in psychology is that, if we are to believe the cognitive approach, this is the only way in which we can extract information about the way a person thinks. To clinically interview a person, such as in Ellis’ study on Rational Analysis as a means of treating an affective disorder can provide important information about the individual that otherwise cannot be seen, as the cognitive approach believes that mental processes, or cognitions, are hypothetical constructs and the only way we can establish reasons for behaviour is to ask the individual themselves. Another strength of self-reports in psychology is that you can collect both quantitative and qualitative data from them. With the use of closed questions whereby predetermined answers are provided (multiple choice questionnaires, e.g. a Likert scale), researchers can collect quantified measurements of the number of people who chose a certain answer, like in Holmes Rhe’s study of Life Changing Events, where the majority of participants rated the bereavement of a spouse/partner as the hardest thing to adjust to on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), giving in a collective rating of 100/100. With open questions however, there is room for elaboration, meaning the participants can explain and illustrate reasons behind their decision to, for example, strongly agree/disagree with a statement the questionnaire makes, etc. A weakness of the self report method however is the introduction of social desirability. In almost all studies on medical adherence there is a worry of social desirability affecting the answers. In Becker’s study into providing empirical evidence for the support of his Health Belief Model, he conducted self-reports on the mothers of asthmatic children and whether they stuck to their child’s prescribed regimens. It could be argued here that the mothers may have lied about their adherence to the regimen in order to make themselves appear a responsible mother who, regardless of interferences, gave their child their prescribed regimen of asthma medication. A further weakness of self-reports in psychology is that there is no real way of making self-reports ecologically valid as answering questionnaires about psychological research is not something humans regularly involve themselves with. In almost all studies, but particularly studies like Farrington, et al.’s into delinquent development, where ecological validity can be considered relatively high, the use of self-reports interviews during the participants development into an adult reduce the ecological validity as the participants had to be contacted and visited to conduct the interview, thus making self-reports’ ecological validity a limitation in psychology.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Definition and Examples of Metadiscourse

Definition and Examples of Metadiscourse Metadiscourse is an umbrella term for words used by a writer or speaker to mark the direction and purpose of a text. Adjective:  metadiscursive. Derived from the Greek words for beyond and discourse, metadiscourse can be  broadly defined as discourse about discourse, or as  those aspects of texts  that affect the relations of authors to readers (Avon Chrismore, Talking With Readers, 1989). In Style:  The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2003), Joseph  M. Williams notes that in academic writing, metadiscourse appears most often in introductions, where we announce intentions: I claim that . . ., I shall show . . ., We begin by . . . and again at the end, when we summarize: I have argued . . ., I have shown . . ., We have claimed . . .. Explanations of Metadiscourse Some of our most common and useful metadiscourse signals are the conjunctive adverbs . . .: however, so, nevertheless, and prepositional phrases such as in other words, in addition, and in fact. Other text connectors youre familiar with, such as first, in the first place, second, next, finally, and in conclusion, clearly add to the ease of reading, the flow of the text.(Martha Kolln, Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. Pearson, 2007)Metadiscourse reveals the writers awareness of the reader and his or her need for elaboration, clarification, guidance and interaction. In expressing an awareness of the text, the writer also makes the reader aware of it, and this only happens when he or she has a clear, reader-oriented reason for doing so. In other words, drawing attention to the text represents a writers goals relative to an assessment of the readers need for guidance and elaboration.(Ken Hyland, Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing. Continuum, 2005) Writers and Readers Metadiscourse refers to the writers thinking and writing: We will explain, show, argue, claim, deny, suggest, contrast, summarize . . .the writers degree of certainty: it seems, perhaps, undoubtedly, I think . . .   (We call these hedges and intensifiers.)the readers actions: consider now, as you might recall, look at the next example ...the writing itself and logical connections among its parts: first, second, third; to begin, finally; therefore, however, consequently...   (Joseph  M. Williams,  Style:  The Basics of Clarity and Grace. Longman, 2003) Metadiscourse as Commentary Every student who has silently suffered a course of lectures, surreptitiously watching the clock, . . . knows what metadiscourse is, although the word may be quite unfamiliar. Metadiscourse is Last week and Now I propose to turn to and What are we to understand by this? and If I may put it metaphorically, all the way through to And so to conclude... followed by Finally... and Next week we shall go on to examine ...[M]etadiscourse is a kind of commentary, made in the course of speaking or writing. The essential feature of this commentary is that it is not appended to the text, like a footnote or a postscript, but is incorporated with it, in the form of words and phrases fitted into the unfolding message...Now many of the words and phrases we characterize, in their context, as metadiscourse quite obviously function as marks of text structure, or taxis, while as many again seem to occur as explanatory or corrective comments on diction and style, that is, lexis.(Walter Nash, An Uncommon Tongue: The Uses and Resources of English. Taylor Francis, 1992) Metadiscourse as a Rhetorical Strategy Definitions of metadiscourse that rely upon a clear-cut distinction between discourse (content) and metadiscourse (non-content) are ... shaky. Especially when analysing naturally-occurring speech, it cannot be assumed that all forms of communication about communication can be adequately separated from communication itself...Instead of defining metadiscourse as a level or plane of language, or a distinct unit separate from primary discourse, metadiscourse can be conceptualised as a rhetorical strategy used by speakers and authors to talk about their own talk (Chrismore 1989: 86). This is essentially a functional/discourse-oriented as opposed to a formally-oriented view.​(Tamsin Sanderson, Corpus, Culture, Discourse. Narr Dr. Gunter, 2008)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

George Soros Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

George Soros - Term Paper Example He is also the chairman of the Open Society Foundation. This paper discusses how he affected the British pound, his social, economic and political views as well as how he is affecting our nation. George Soros was dubbed as â€Å"the man who broke the Bank of England†. Around 1997, the treasury in the United Kingdom estimated the cost of Black Wednesday at around ?3.4 billion. Temple (p. 67) asserts that worldwide macrohedge funds seems to have a large amount of investor capital to execute their macroeconomic strategies. However, they may put in influence to increase the size of their macro bets resulting to greatest alert as well as publicity in the financial markets. The best recognized of the hedge funds as Temple (p. 67) says was the Quantum Hedge Fund managed by George Soros that made significant profits in 1992 by gambling that the British pound would diminish. At the same time, this fund was accused of contributing to the â€Å"Asian Contagion† in the reduction of 1997 when Thailand lessened its currency triggering a domino effect in the movement of the currency through the Eastern side of the Asian continent. Recently, global macrohedge coffers have fallen on hard eras because they were hurt by the Russian bond default in August 1998 and the bursting of technology bubble in March 2000 resulting to great losses for the global macrohedge funds (Temple p. 67). Again, as indicated above, the international macrohedge funds had the largest asset command of any hedge fund strategy. The ability to invest widely across moneys, financial markets, commodities, topographical limits as well as time districts is a two-edged blade. However, Temple (p. 67) adds that it allows global macrohedge funds the broadest cosmos in which to tool their plans. On the other hand, he says that it absences emphasis. As a lot of official investors have enthused into the the hedgerow fund place hence they have demanded greater asset focus different from free asset reign. A s a person who supports democracy as well as open societies, George Soros is usually asailed by those trying to redirect his views through distributing deceptive or even information that seems to be imprecise. In terms of religion, we find that Soros gives respect to all faiths as well as religious does. He believes that those who have faith and faith communities contribute to the understanding of the public of pressing issues socially and most of the time add a principled, moral aspect towards debates that are too often dominated by those people who play politics, statistics and polling. On the other hand, being a philanthropist, the greatness as well as topographical scope of charitable activities of Soros are unprecedented. Upto this moment of time via the Open Society Foundations, he has donated more than $7 billion. It funds very many initiatives worldwide to push for education, fairness, the growth of business, public health and self-governing media. George Sors has a lot of p olitical views. He believes that revolutions are actually undermining and are unnecessarily dangerous. His work focuses on supporting organizations as well as government that gives protection on the rights of the citizens and give feedbacks to their wants. He again champions

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Earlier ideas can influence later ideas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Earlier ideas can influence later ideas - Essay Example It is unavoidable that such a state of affairs will exist because no one has a monopoly of ideas and very few ideas are truly original. In most instances, later ideas build on earlier ideas, expound on them, extend their boundaries, and explicate further obscure concepts. However, many ideas are simple in the sense they are self-evident but still they require constant repetition in some cases because people have a disquieting tendency to take these ideas for granted. This is what the paper will discuss; it is about how democracy and freedom are all intertwined by a series of ideas expressed over a period of time and how these ideas are all brought together by their similarities and close connections. Each idea seems to build on a previous idea and this paper attempts to show how these are all interconnected to each other. History travels in a one-way deterministic street and analysis will reveal the connections. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third inaugural speech on January 2 0, 1941 contained the four basic freedoms he deemed important and these freedoms were later found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. Both the article of Robert Kaplan and the second inaugural speech of Pres. Obama also relate to the two documents mentioned earlier, but not with each other. Discussion President Franklin Delano Roosevelt first came to power in 1933 during the height of the Great Depression. As a visionary president, he undertook massive reforms in government, big industry, and other sectors of American society to help steer it towards the so-called 3Rs which are relief for the poor masses and millions of jobless workers, quick recovery for the weakened economy in the shortest time possible using the government’s stimulus funds (the concept of Obama’s stimulus funds for the Great Recession came from FDR’s original idea to pump-prime the economy) and massive reforms neede d in the financial system as a whole by strong government intervention to avert a similar catastrophic failure in the future. Roosevelt crafted these policies and passed them through Congress to achieve his aims for the 3Rs and called it the New Deal to sell it to the American electorate despite some opposition. Many of these government programs are still in place without many people knowing what these are. Key pieces of legislation in the New Deal era included laws for the creation of the Social Security System (SSS), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which is now the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and laws that guaranteed a minimum living wage and the maximum working hours for workers (Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938) and other social safety nets. Roosevelt got re-elected three more times and his term saw the outbreak of Second World War. Having seen the despair of the Great Depression, he is now confronted with the widespread desperation and devastation associated with a truly global war and he saw it fit to declare in his Third Inaugural address to specifically mention these four freedoms which he considered to be very vital to humankind in general. The â€Å"Four Freedoms† speech centered on the freedom of speech, of religion, from want, and lastly, from fear (Edsitement 1). The very first freedom he mentioned, freedom of

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Artificial Sweeteners Are Really Bad Essay Example for Free

Artificial Sweeteners Are Really Bad Essay Artificial sweeteners are chemicals or natural compounds that replace the sweetness of sugar, without all of the calories. But sometimes the label sugar-free masks calories present in the food or drink. Aspartame, which is in Equal is a common chemical sweetener with crazy possible side effects. Effects include hallucinations to seizures and brain tumors; it is hardly worth consuming for the sake of saved calories in my opinion. Then you also have Sucralose, which is known as Splenda. Recent research suggests that Splenda can enlarge both the liver and kidneys and shrink the thymus glands. Splenda reportedly can cause skin rashes, panic, diarrhea, headaches, bladder issues, stomach pain, and those side effects dont even sum it up. In addition to all of this, consider the waste involved in the industry of artificially sweetening. Ever stepped into a coffee shop and noticed a mound of sugar substitute packets building on the counter or in the trash? Weve been wasting one of our most precious resources for the sake of a sweetener that can harm our bodies and prevent weight loss. So what you can do instead to get your sugar fix? Turn to natural sweeteners for your drinks and food alike. Honey, agave nector, organic maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and stevia are just a few natural sweeteners you can turn to. Not only will they wreak your body less, but your support of these sweeteners instead will, eventually, help to slow the production of toxic artificial sweeteners. I am interested in this topic because so many people that I know use artificial sugar. My mom however, has never let us use things like sweet and low or splenda because she was always aware of the bad things that happen in your body because of these artificial sugars. I want to be able to answer the question â€Å"well why is it bad?† when people ask me why they shouldn’t use splenda and sweet and low. I will approach this as an informative paper, letting the audience know why it is bad, but also trying to convince people not to use it at the end.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

History and Origins of the Service Learning Practice :: Informative

III. Review of Related Literature History of Service-Learning The history and origins of the service-learning practice in the United States is older than its own name (Clearinghouse, Titlebaum, Daprano, Baer, & Brahler, 2004). However, the phrase service-learning was first used in 1966 to describe a joint project between Tennessee college students and professors working on area developmental organizational projects (p. 4). Subsequently, in 1967 Robert Sigmon and William Ramsey, while working at the Southern Regional Education Board, coined the term for the first time (Giles & Eyler, 1994; Sigmon, 1979; Stanton, Giles, & Cruz, 1999). Later in the 1970s, Sigmon published in the Synergist his manifesto entitled, Service-Learning: Three Principles (1979), in which the author framed the foundations of service-learning as a pedagogical method. According to Sigmon, every service-learning practitioner should adhere to the following three principles: 1) Those being served control the service(s) provided. 2) Those being served become better able to serve and be served by their own actions. 3) Those who serve also are learners and have significant control over what is expected to be learned (p. 10). The point at issue here is the conceptualization of service-learning as a dialectical process in which all participants equally evolve as active learners and agents of change. During past decades, particularly the 1980s, much of the service-learning debate revolved around its definition (Crews, 2002). It seems like previous scholars could not establish a consensual agreement on what to call â€Å"service-learning† and what should be included (Plann, 2002). Even though the broad scope of service-learning allows other programs to exist under the same description (Furco, 1996), sometimes such a rubric also tolerates the emerging of â€Å"moniker† programs (Butin, 2010). Kendall’s (1990) review of the service-learning literature illustrates the aforementioned case. The author provides 147 different definitions depending on whether service-learning is seen as an educational or philosophical method. Although such conceptualizations will change to meet the goals and expectations of civic, social, educational, and governmental institutions (Maurrasse, 2004; Shumer & Shumer, 2005), some of them brought a much-needed conceptual clarity to the fi eld. For instance, the National and Community Service Act of (1990) defined service-learning as: A method (A) under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that (i) is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (ii) is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program,

Monday, November 11, 2019

Public Speaking †Sharing and the Future Essay

Here’s a thought for you. What is the worlds greatest computer? Mac? PC? How about the huge mainframe computers they have at Nasa? No. You see up here, in our heads. This is the greatest computer. And your eyes, I see you still all have your eyes open, that’s good. But do you know what you are seeing? I mean really seeing. Every second, every single second your eyes take in 72 gigabytes of information. The world’s greatest camera. Now is that not incredible? A computer and a camera. And this data, this code, is up here behind the firewall of our personality. 6 billion neurons, evolved to understand, to translate, to give us our vision of the world around us. The mountains, rivers, great Savannahs, every animal in all their incredible shapes and sizes†¦ Friends family, lovers, the people around you now. Everything and everyone you have ever met are all up here. They are all stories, memories charged with emotion. Your happiness, your sadness, your joy, frustration your loves, your loves lost. And this collection of stories makes you. An ongoing project that only comes to an end when we die. Your memories are your life. Above all we have a genetic imperative, a unique desire, to share. What makes us human? Our sense of self and our ability to share who we are. Our greatest gift. Lets rewind a little. Cave paintings. First we paint to say I was here. Then we paint to say why we are here, to pass on knowledge, experience. To build on what we know. For this is evolution†¦ sharing for survival. We share more and more, now we share our fiends, we share our favorite on Youtube, our location, we share photos, maybe sometimes even a drink. Every time we share we are reflecting our personality. Our selves. But this is normal. Innovation changes the game. Always. 20,000 years ago. 1,000. 10 years. Tomorrow.  It doesn’t matter. Interference is a good thing. Whether it be a smile or a tattoo, the phone in your pocket. Disruption and interference of all sorts, creates rifts and makes possible unimaginable leaps forward in technology and communication. Today we see a world on fire. On fire with data. With information. But there is a revolution around the corner, nothing less than the total translation of our human emotions, these urges into information. Pure communication. I believe we are at the frontier. Ahead lies the internet of us. An internet of pure emotion – genuine connection. To finally take us beyond the cave painting. This is not science fiction. Doctors can talk to people in comas, you can control a toy with your mind. This is now. A world of shared emotion. Where the greatest experiences are magnified, a million, a billion times. Can you imagine love? Now can you imagine a love that is a billion times more powerful? An empathy†¦ true feeling. A new future. A world that we will create, but the borders of language will be gone. Imagine what we would be able to achieve. The next generation of us is coming. For tomorrow is the future we all share. here is a thought for you, what is the worlds greatest computer? Mac?  PC? how about the huge mainframe computers they have at NASA? No. you see it Jo here in our heads, this is the worlds greatest computer. and your eyes, I see you still have your eyes open, that’s good. but do you know what you are seeing? I mean really seeing? Every second, every single second your eyes take in 72 gigabytes of information, the worlds greatest camera. Now is that not incredible. A computer and a camera. and this data this code is hidden up here behind the firewall of our personality. 86 billion neurons evolved to understand, to translate, to give us our vision of the world around us.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

The History of Art, Changed

Many artists and musicians have a claim to fame: Elvis Presley is â€Å"The King† of rock-and-roll, Michael Jackson is â€Å"The King† of pop, Miles Davis made jazz what it is today. But perhaps the only musical artists that are known for having changed an entire era of youth musically, politically, socially, and even economically are The Beatles. John, Paul, George, and Ringo are four names that when said together will, in most cases, solicit the same response: The Beatles. There was Beatlemania, Ed Sullivan, early years, transition years, drug years, war years, the fighting, and of course, the break-up. Their first appearance on â€Å"The Ed Sullivan Show† is just as vivid in the memories of baby boomers as is the memory of John F. Kennedy†s assassination. Perhaps most surprising is that The Beatles did in 8 years what most artists can†t do in a life time; they impacted youth culture and became arguably the most well known artists in history. In 1956, at the age of 16, John Lennon started a band by the name of the Quarrymen (Schaffner 12). Playing mostly in local clubs, The Quarrymen were a neighborhood band. On July 6, 1957 John Lennon would meet Paul McCartney for the first time. One of John's band mates, Ivan Vaughan, also a friend of fifteen year old Paul McCartney, invited Paul to the St. Peter's Church in Woolton, Liverpool where the Quarrymen would be playing. Introductions were made; Paul picked up a guitar and John was genuinely impressed with Paul, not only because he could play so well but because he could tune a guitar, a feat that the others had not yet mastered. A few days later while riding his bicycle, Paul ran into Pete Shotton, one of the Quarrymen. Pete told Paul that they had talked it over and John wanted Paul to join the band. After a moment's contemplation, Paul replied â€Å"Oh, all right† (Goldman 72). John and Paul quickly became friends, and the historic song writing duo was born. Ivan Vaughn would go on to introduce John and Paul to George Harrison. Paul discovered that the fourteen year old George knew dozens more chords than he and John put together (Giuliano 28). George could also pick out actual solos instead of merely strumming (Goldman 75). The band†s name went from Quarrymen to The Silver Beetles, and finally to the Beatles. One of John's rock ‘n' roll heroes was Buddy Holly whose band was called the Crickets so John tried to dream up an insect name of his own. The result was â€Å"Beetles†, but unable to resist the pun, he changed â€Å"Beet† to â€Å"Beat†. Explained John, â€Å"When you said it, people thought of crawly things, when you read it it was beat music† (Schaffner 19). Members were added and thrown out of the group eventually leaving only John, Paul, and George. On a brief outing to Hamburg, the three members would meet a drummer by the name of Richard Starkey, later to be known as Ringo Starr. He got the name â€Å"Ringo† for the many rings he wore on his fingers. On January 24, 1962, the Beatles signed a management contract with Brian Epstein.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Benecol Essay Example

Benecol Essay Example Benecol Paper Benecol Paper Essay Topic: Marketing 1. Introduction Todays lifestyles are vastly different from those of past. Consumer attitudes to food, nutrition and health are maintaining at a relatively high criterion on safety and quality. The focus of nutritional science is shifting toward the concept of optimal nutrition'(Doyon Labrecque, 2008). The functional food industry which initiate healthy and nutritious foods, has taken this opportunity to be developed for a number of years. Raisio Plc. is a food and functional food company and its products have been on the market since 1995. Raisio develops, produces and markets health-promoting ingredients, feeds and malts worldwide. Its main product Benecol is the worlds first and best-known brand of cholesterol-lowering functional foods. In the UK, the term about sterol-based ingredients has been recognised over the last few years and still relatively new, and no other strong competitors among the same kind of products. Benecol see the UK market as a great opportunity to develop its products and enlarge their UK customer base. To achieve this, better informing consumer behaviour and consumer-product relationship are perceived as essential efforts for Benecol group to inform. By understanding the relevant theories relating to customer behaviour and marketing strategy, this report aims to explore the methods for Benecol brand to achieve better customer acquisition, retention and satisfaction, especially at a specialist consumer behaviour consultant view. There are four main parts which present in a structural way. Firstly, introducing a brief overview about the Benecol Company; secondly, provide the main conceptual issues involved in the implementation of Means-end chain; and the associated methods in the context of Benecol company research and apply in the UK as the final part. 2. An overview of Benecol products As a Finnish innovation, Benecol is the only range of foods that contain the ingredient plant stanol ester. It works with the body to effectively reduce cholesterol levels but also improves the health and well-being of blood vessels. Some features of this active ingredient have been revealed by more than 50 clinical studies. Studies indicate the safety of the Benecol ingredient that plant stanol ester passes through the body practically unabsorbed and the effect that Benecol products lower cholesterol up to 10 per cent and harmful LDL cholesterol up to 15 per cent as part of the daily diet'(raisiogroup.com). Functional foods containing the Benecol ingredient are sold in almost 30 countries and in many different product applications. Currently, these include dairy products such as milk drinks, cream, cheese-style spreads and yoghurts; cereal products such as soy drinks, pasta, bread and margarines; meat products and ready-made salads. 3 Means-end chains Although functional foods are becoming popular, organisations know relatively little about how consumers behaviour perceives functional foods. For product development and marketing, it is important to know how consumers explain their interests, how that interest is linked with their values and what the broader life values behind their interest are. Value of a food product is based on the self-relevant consequences that can be achieved by consuming that particular product. A particular hierarchical value map has been developed to find out the links between product attributes, their self-relevant consequences and values, that is means-end chain (Grunert, 1995). It has been suggested in academic literature that the means-end chain theory could be a relevant way of putting consumer-oriented food product design into practice (Audenaert Steenka,p. 1997). The Means-end chain represents that the major consumer processes that link values to behaviour. A common frame of means-end chain has three different levels: attribute; consequence and consumer values. When consumers evaluate each product, they will consider a set of this products attributes firstly. Attribute is a relatively specific product characteristic, not only the packaging, colour, price, quality and other external attributes, but also sellers reputation, brand and other abstract attributes. The consequence is the result that peoples consumption can provide. IF this result can meet the expectations of consumers, it will be defined as benefit. Value is more abstract than consequence (Devlin et al,2003). It involves peoples expectations, with the aim of determining what action or life is best to do or live. One assumption has divided value into terminal and instrumental values. As values motive and adapt consumers thinking and behaviour, they act in a certain way during consumption (Reynolds Gutman, 1988),. Gutman (1982), describe the process about value influencing customer behaviour as this means-end chain. It focuses on the linkage between these three levels. One important aspect seeks to understand how consumers make links between self-relevant consequences and values. Another important linkage is ConsequenceProducts attributes, that is, if consumers want to get benefits, they have to learn and familiar with the product attributes. The relationship figure shows as following. Figure1. The Means-end basis for involvement From this figure, it is possible to clarify how product attributes are linked with consequences and how these consequences are then linked with consumer values (Reynolds and Gutman, 1988). Means-end chain provides a useful tool for product development and marketing to study the structures behind consumers opinions or impressions and makes it possible for important information to be used when targeting consumers with the product information, advertisements or final products. As a useful tool, it has been used successfully in clarifying consumer perceptions of functional foods (Jonas and Beckmann, 1998). Roininen et al. (2000) have used laddering to identify how consumers perceive health and hedonic aspects in food Jonas and Beckmann (1998) clarified consumer perceptions of functional foods in England; health was mentioned as one reason for choosing functional yoghurt, cereals and butter in England. Figure2. Hierarchical value map of food for the UK consumers Resource: Baker, et al (2004) Take Hierarchical value map of the UK consumers to food ingredients as an example, if the food ingredients contain attributes as no additives or preservatives and not genetically modified, these features may meet customers psychosocial consequence as their preference of this kind of products, and the functional consequences about health related. Finally, the product are unique to reach consumers value aspect, such as enjoying a high quality of life and well-being health, even achieving personal self-esteem as get a respect for other people. 4. Identifying consumers means-end chains and Benecol products Measuring means-end chain is best accomplished with one-on-one, personal interviews in which the researcher tries to understand a consumers meanings for product attributes and consequences (Peter Olson2008). A study (published by Urala Là ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½hteenmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ki, 2003) revealed some product categories and means-end chain of functional food. In almost all product categories, five central means-end chains describing the respondents food choices were found. These means-end chains referred to healthiness, taste and pleasure, security and familiarity, convenience, and price. In the hierarchical value maps, the links mentioned the most often between attributes, consequences and values is healthiness. Benecol focuses on dairy products. 4.1 Identifying key attributes considered by consumers Here are several methods to identify key attributes considered by consumers, such as elicitation and laddering interview, all required to communicate with customer directly. Benecol can achieve this information by experiments, or distributing questionnaire, or interview customers with a set of triad tasks. But MEC models provided a deeper understanding which can dig out consumers deeper knowledge about beliefs of psychosocial consequences and value satisfaction (Peter Olson2008). The ZMET (the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique), as an effective approach to elicit the potential consumer knowledge, Raisio company can explore this innovative qualitative interview method in its market research. Involvement also can be an important method to discover means-end knowledge, because this method not only identifies the products attributes, but the consequences and affective responses of consumers. 4.2 Focus of Involvement Consumers may be involved with various environments, specific activities and other people. An advertisement, a brand, an event or a situation, all can be factors that motive customers acting as a certain behaviour when they purchasing (Peter Olson2008). Marketers need to know what is the exact relationship between these factors and personally relevant. Benecols product attributes are strongly linked to important consequences. It is undeniable that one reason for customer choosing Benecol product is cholesterol-reducing ingredient. To some extent, this kind of foods that can be the functional consequences for helping protect against heart disease and other diseases. After user experienced the effect of Benecol products, they may recommend this product to his friends and find themselves as a wise buyer. These feeling and actions are interpreted as psychosocial consequences. Therefore, an effective cholesterol-reducing consequence may satisfy customers. In the other hand, consumers may believe the Benecol product attributes are not associated with any relevant consequences, that is, not meet their value patterns of health. This situation will experience them little or no involvement with the product. For instance, although some studies indicate the safety of Benecols products, customers worry about the plant stanol ester passes through the body practically unabsorbed, a little amount of this chemical may still absorbed by the system of organs in the body and is harmful for health. To solve and release these concerns, Benecol need to prove the effect about its products by real user cases, such as provide science based evidences and official documents. In order to let customers know more about their functional food. After detailed implementation, customers will feel more involved with the product. 4.3 Intrinsic self-relevance Understanding consumers intrinsic self-relevance can help organisation to design product attributes that consumers will connect to desired consequences and values (Peter Olson,2008). Consumers usually acquire means-end knowledge from their past experiences with purchasing (Griffin Hauser, 1993). When they use or observe others using a product, consumers learn the certain product attributes will cause consequences that can help achieving their goals and values. Actually, Benecols customers in the UK do familiar with the certain food characteristics; from their previous experience, Benecol milk drinks and Cheese-spread ingredients have good tastes, but lower cholesterol may be a relative new concept for most of them. Therefore, Benecol need to understand both the focus of consumers involvement and the sources that create it, and crucially, replacing their old food products-purchasing habit, while people can think about particular consequences of purchase that are important to them. For example, Benecol can seek to enhance intrinsic involvement with this attribute by focusing on the benefits of using and the negative consequences of not using their cholesterol-reducing product. Even through consumers are not personally involved with this functional product currently and may hold the sceptical attitude about the benefits of this attribute, they can become temporarily involved with the process of buying the product at the first time. 4.4 Understanding the key reasons for purchase and the consumer-product relationship By totally understand consumers means-end chain. We can explore it into Benecols brands. Take dairy products as examples, at the product knowledge level, the attributes of milk drinks involve high price, containing cholesterol-reducing ingredient, and healthiness. At consequence level, good taste is a function, and cholesterol-reducing ingredient is supposed to prevent heart disease; then these functional consequences turn to family enjoy this product as a psychosocial consequence; finally, combing these features together to meet the consumers social recognition as I purchase a high quality brand. Understand the consumer-product relationship can help Benecol target the UK market. There are four segments for the product category at different Brand loyalty levels: Brand loyalists, routine brand buyers, information seekers and brand switchers. Under different marketing strategies, Benecol can address the unique type of product knowledge, intrinsic self-relevance, and involvement of consumers combing with these four market segments, in order to select their target customers. 5. Conclusion It is undeniable that MEC has the potential to provide an increasingly better understanding of consumer-product knowledge and its behavioural implications. Consequently, we also believe that it has the potential of becoming an increasingly valuable tool in consumer-oriented functional food design processes not only for Benecol, but all the Raisio brands. In some researchers opinion, the progresses of these research areas can associate with techniques within consumer-oriented food product design, and develop the implementation of MEC, with the consequent desired gains in its efficiency and effectiveness (Costa et al, 2004, p.413). MEC model has broadened the study range of consumer values. It provides a comprehensive guidance for researching in the consumer behaviour aspect. This approach links values, consequences and attributes to overcome other studies just research the limitations of consumer values from a single level. In addition, this approach overcomes this inadequacy and establishes visual relationship between psychosocial factors of consumers and external product entity. However, during the process of implementing concepts, more research in the functional foods areas need to be done to minimise the shortcomings of MEC. In future studies, further exploration of MEC model still need to be improved. There are some unclear factors about customers memory storage, the ways they remember products attributes and consumer organisations and consumer-product knowledge; and in practices, how do these knowledge be aroused when the customer dealing with the actual decision-making.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Interesting and Useful Facts about Iron

Interesting and Useful Facts about Iron Iron is one of the elements you encounter in pure form. It is essential for nutrition and used in a variety of household objects. Here are some quick facts about iron. You can find detailed information about iron on the iron facts page. Iron Facts Iron is an element that has been known in its pure form for at least 5,000 years. The name iron comes from the Anglo-Saxon word iron and Scandinavian iarn for the metal.The element symbol for iron is Fe, which comes from the Latin word for iron, ferrum.Iron is one of the most plentiful elements. It comprises about 5.6% of the earths crust and almost all of the earths core.The single largest use of iron is to make steel, an alloy of iron and a smaller amount of carbon. According to achaeological records from Anatolia, man has been producing steel for at least 4,000 years.Iron is a transition metal.Iron is not always magnetic! The a allotrope (or form) or iron is ferromagnetic, yet if it is transformed to the b allotrope, the magnetism disappears even though the crystal lattice is unchanged.Animals and plants require iron. Plants use iron in chlorophyll, the pigment used in photosynthesis. Humans use iron in hemoglobin molecules in blood to allow for the transport of oxygen to tissues throughout the body. Although iron is an essential mineral, too much of it is extremely toxic. Free iron in the blood reacts with peroxides to form free radicals that damage DNA, protein, lipids and other cellular components, leading to illness and sometimes death. 20 milligrams of iron per kilogram of body weight is toxic, while 60 milligrams per kilogram is lethal.Iron primarily forms compounds with 2 and 3 oxidation states.Iron is formed via fusion in stars that have sufficient mass. The sun and many other stars contain significant amounts of iron.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Hedge Funds Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hedge Funds - Coursework Example Trend forecast signal is used and will generate up and down signals when buying or selling pressure builds up in a stock, currency, index or future. The forecasts are only a signal to watch for further strength above or below signal bars. The forecasts can mean buying or selling pressure has built up so much a new high or low price will happen soon forming a continuation of the trend OR the price is overdone, and a close of a bar moving in the opposite direction to the last forecast bar could signal a trend failure or reversal point. A hedge fund that can take both long and short positions, buy and sell undervalued securities, trade options or bonds and invest in almost any opportunity in any market where it foresees impressive rates at reduced risks (Friedland, 2011). These features results to hedge fund being able to offer exposure to risk factors those traditional long-only strategies cannot (Agarwal and Narayan, 2002). Exposure to systemic factors, example, small-cap, value companies and emerging markets normally entails higher returns but also higher risks. Norges Bank Investment Management (2011) further emphasizes the importance of continuously measuring the fund’s exposure to such factors and the importance to gain a static and dynamic overview to manage systematic exposure to one or more risk factors. This ability of hedge fund to take both long and short positions, makes it difficult to evaluate its performance, example, in the case where the manager can invest in any asset class, trade in deriv atives and follow a myriad of dynamic trading strategies (Agarwal and Narayan, 2000). Despite this, investors who have moved into active investment from passive strategies start their own hedge fund and its interest is gathering pace (Amenc, Susan and Lionel, 2004). For instance if there has been 2 up forecast bars in a row but the price is failing to break onto a new high, then also watch for a reversal in the price to break below the

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Write It Right Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write It Right - Assignment Example Is the text clear and readable? Is papers structure logical? Do all my ideas coincide with the structure of my message? Can I change anything else in the message to make it better? ("Revising your Thesis"). According to POWA the four elements of the "writing context" are Content, Purpose, Writer, and Reader. Every writer, who is not writing for fun, has the purpose of his message. This purpose is embodied in message content, and is intended for certain readers. If I were the reader of my message I would have asked the following questions. Who is the writer and what type of person is he/she? What was the initial purpose of a writers message? How did writers features and mood influence the content of the message? Am I the only type of readers, for whom this message was created? Could I understand the content wrong? ("The Writing Context"). Very often a writer-beginner or the one without experience uses too many words while writing a paper, which are unnecessary and prevent a reader from understanding the main idea of the text. "Tightening" is one of the text revising technique, that allows to cut the excess words from a message, thus making it shorter, but more smooth and clear. "Tightening" can be done by restructuring a sentence or phrases in it to omit some of the words, making one big sentence from several short ones, using synonyms or set expressions instead of long descriptions and definitions

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Sweatshop Labor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sweatshop Labor - Essay Example The company ethical guidelines affect the whole operations of the business. When the guidelines are clear to all subordinates, the employees are unlikely to make unethical decisions. However, in case the company leaves the ethical issues to be decided by the supervisors, they are likely to engage in unethical issues which might end up tarnishing the reputation of the company in the market (Esbenshade, 2004). Therefore, ethical perspective such as the minimum salaries and age of the employees ensures that decision made inside the company’s premises observe these guidelines. A company influences its ethical environment by setting the standards to be met by the employees. When the standards are beyond what the employees can achieve, the subordinates are likely to engage in unethical behavior in order to achieve them (Esbenshade, 2004). This explains why some employees in Bangladesh working for one of the Wal-Mart subsidiary opted to come with their children in the workplace in order for them to help their parents to reach the set

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Prostitution in 18th Century

Prostitution in 18th Century Prostitution in Europe in the 18th century was a widely accepted in the European society despite religious leaders and the government efforts to contain it. Pornography was a flourishing business. Even poets wrote about these beautiful sexy girls. It was one of the few arenas that women could gain economic independence.  [1]  The prostitution could be classified into different classes. There those who were mistress to prominent men, those worked in urban taverns, tea parlor, bawdy houses, theatres and even on the streets. The mistresses attained social success, riches and even derived power from prostitution. Prostitutes especially from low socio-economic background were vulnerable and subjected to cruelty, sanction and reformation throughout the 18th century. Background information Prostitution has been in existence throughout human history and it is regarded as the oldest profession. During medieval times prostitution in Europe was tolerated with public bathtubs giving prostitutes channel of contact with their customers. In other places such as Victoria, England prostitution was disgraceful but at the same time accepted a necessary social and sexual outlet for men.  [2]  It was considered to be less evil if a middle-class man engages in a sexual relationship with a prostitute other than being engaged in a sexual relationship with another middle-class mans wife or daughter. 18th century was tremendous for England. It was the time it became Great Britain, lost thirteen of its colonies, launched industrial revolution and achieved parliamentary government.  [3]  It was an age when men struggled to be reasonable. Life was leisurely and everything was elegant. This created an enabling environment for flourishing of prostitution. Prostitution gave men of the middle and high class sexual gratification which they could not obtain from their partners. During this era capitalism flourished making the political class swim in riches leaving the lower class people (those who worked in industries such as textile industries) to live in abject poverty. Thus many engaged in prostitution for financial gain. As mentioned earlier, the society tolerated prostitution. England being a male dominant society, men were freer to engage in promiscuity before marriage and within marriage. They could give money to buy sex. In contrast women rarely paid money in exchange for sex on the contrary they went into prostitution for monitory gain. They desperately required financial independence but there were very few opportunities for them to achieve it. Thus prostitution was the alternative channel for them. Presence of public bathtubs in England in the 18th century where prostitutes could freely find customers shows that prostitution was widely accepted in England. Vern and Bonnie Bollough affirm that prostitutes provided men with sexual outlet before and during marriage.  [4]   Initially, poets praised prostitution, representing young prostitutes as healthy, fresh and lovely.  [5]  This shows that prostitutes were held in high social status. The role was significantly accepted in the society. Prostitutes in London could even advertise their services on card which were distributed throughout the city.  [6]  However over time, this perception changed. The society later understood that there were negative consequences of prostitution. There was increased spread of diseases, illegitimate children and poverty tarnished the initial image.  [7]  Perfect image of a mother flourished as sensibility and concern for the health overpowered the spirit of sexual experimentation. Prostitution became ridicule in public discussion. It was represented as filthy, degraded and diseased. Why prostitution flourished in England in the 18th century Several factors led to flourishing of prostitution in England and more so in London in the 18th century. London being a port city received many sailors. There were several districts in the city that provided for sailors.  [8]  One of the best known districts was Ratcliffe Highway that lay on the north of Wapping water-front.  [9]  Although subsequent kings of England made effort to keep prostitution away from London, they did not succeed much. Streets like Shareditch, Petticoat Lane, Cheapsides,s Grope cunt Lane, and Clerkenwell were very common with prostitutes. The period between 1750 and 1850 was characterized by great economic change in England.  [10]  British agricultural revolution in the 18th century was characterized by high agricultural output. This led to population explosion and people had look for alternative jobs to meet their needs and those of the population. It is this agricultural revolution that ushered in industrial revolution. During the agricultural revolution women used to work alongside their husbands in the farms. However, industrial revolution at the end of 18th century caused people to migrate to the urban areas to seek better pay in the industries.  [11]  Introduction of machinery made it difficult for women to work in industries and therefore other social duties were relegated to women. These jobs were not well paying. As a result some women ventured into prostitution in order to become economically sufficient. Industrial revolution great Britain lead to improvement of economic status of many people. There was money to spend on anything elegant including prostitutes especially by the people of the high-class. More bathhouses, theatres and alehouses were opened in London. Bathhouses mainly concentrated around Covent Garden and unlike the stews of earlier centuries they were more luxurious. Theatres and alehouses became newly fashionable coffeehouses and public tea-gardens such as the Dog and Duck in St. Goerges Fields.  [12]  Some brothels could even have a card table among the attractors of the house. Lack of strong government policies to contain the vice made it to flourish instead. Decrees to close down alehouses and theaters made prostitution to spread to other areas. The involvement of aristocrats in prostitution fueled it more. Prostitution cut across all social classes. Unlike the poor who even live entirely on the streets, elegant women practiced prostitution in Kings Place off Pall Mall or Miss Fawklands in St. James Street. The high-class prostitutes catered for wealthy men, aristocrats and members of parliament.  [13]  They did their trade in freedom without being troubled by any threat of official hindrance. High economic independence associated with women who practiced prostitution also fueled increase of prostitution in London in the 18th century. Mistresses to aristocrats and members of parliament were held in high esteem by other women in the society. This motivated other women to go into prostitution to gain economic independence. Effects of increase in prostitution on lives of the people The government of England tried very much to reduce prostitution in England and particularly in London. Laws were put in place to close down brothels and alehouses which were areas of trade for the prostitutes. Those who defied the law were convicted and jailed making their lives even more miserable. Most of the women who engaged in prostitution were teens. They never wanted to get pregnant has this would interfere with their trade. They used different methods to protect themselves from becoming pregnant. Chemicals and plant extracts such as wormwood, hyssop and fassron among others were used without much consideration of the harm they might cause.  [14]  When these methods failed they would wait until the baby is born and then kill. Some prostitutes also died in their effort to abort the fetus. All this consequences of prostitution affected their psychological well-being. This added misery to their poor state. Increase in prostitution increased incidences of venereal diseases mainly syphilis. Many died of the disease for fear of seeking treatment. This was a lot stigma attached to the disease even at the hospitals. For example the addition of wards in Lock Hospital allowed discrimination of patients and women thought to be blamable in the contraction of the disease were isolated from the innocent.  [15]  Men of high social status could not also seek treatment due to fear of tarnishing their social standing. Some of them being married transmitted the disease to their partners. Who suffered the brunt of stigma attached to the disease although innocent. Venereal diseases and the stigma attached to it cut short further the lives of the people of London already languishing in poverty. Prostitutes state of life Life was very difficult for the prostitutes especially after the initial image of prostitutes as healthy, fresh and beautiful had been marred were regarded as diseased, and disgraceful. Their social status dwindled and the society alienated them. They had caused a lot of problems in families and the society in general. Abandoned children were on the increase because they were not ready to take up responsibility of parenthood. Some left these children with their old parents who were burdened with responsibility of bring up the children. Worse still, the rise in prevalence of venereal diseases was attributed to prostitution. They became people who should be sympathized with. Slump in their social status caused them to be objects of oppression, exploitation and coercion. Life became so hard for the prostitutes. They became people who should be sympathized with and many organizations sprang up to assist them. The health status of prostitutes worsened with the spread of venereal diseases like syphilis. The sickly could no longer go out on the streets to earn money which further aggravated their health status because they could not afford treatment. With no source of income even affording food was difficult. The economic status of prostitution reduced when the image of prostitution as a noble job changed. The fact that they were no longer well tolerated by the society meant fewer clients. Clients became even fewer due to fear of contracting venereal diseases. Government policies directed to reducing prostitution in London and other cities of England saw some brothels and alehouses closed. Places where prostitutes could meet their clients freely became fewer and those that remained could not be accessible to the poor class of prostitutes. They became even poorer with very little to sustain themselves. Most of the women who engaged in prostitution were from poor background. They had little education that could have helped them to find other kinds of work away from prostitution unlike the women from high social status who engaged in prostitution on part-time. They had education that helped them to find work elsewhere. With kings decrees to close down brothels and alehouses, prostitutes from poor socio-economic class could not be able to find work elsewhere making sink further into poverty. They went on practicing prostitution in secret and of course with fear of interference by the law. On the other hand, women of high socio-economic status who practiced prostitution were less affected by laws imposed against prostitution. Even when the king gave decree of closing down brothels and alehouses those that belonged to people of high-class were never interfered with. Those who were mistresses to aristocrats and members of parliament felt secure from the law. Conclusion Prostitution in the 18th century has two stages. The initial stage is where it is widely tolerated in the society and even poets sang praises of prostitutes. They were beautiful, lovely and healthy. The provided a sexual outlet for men. Its increase was fueled by the explosion of population during the British agricultural revolution. The farms could no longer provide employment for everybody. The Agricultural revolution lead to industrial revolution that saw introduction of machinery in the industries. Women were believed to be unable of driving the machines due to their weaker body as compared to men. The society relegated other duties to women and many joined cottage industry, others became domestic servants and others prostitution. Some women opted for prostitution a means of earning money that was so much needed and it was tolerated by society. However, the image of prostitution took a twist in mid-18th century. Due to rise in prevalence of syphilis attributed to prostitution as well as increase in number of illegitimate children, society started regarding prostitution as diseased and disgraceful. The prostitutes suffered alienation from the society, exploitation, poor economic status, ill-health, and became objects of oppression and coercion.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Isolation Theme in Grendel :: essays research papers

Isolation Have you ever felt as though you’re alone in the world, even though you are not? In the book Grendel, the main character is the last of his species, excluding his mother who might as well be non-existent in the novel. Grendel is a monster who speaks a language very similar to that of the humans he watches almost constantly. He feels a certain attachment to them throughout the whole novel, but he is unable to become close to any of them due to his horrifying form. The humans are terrified of Grendel, and attack him whenever he comes near. He feels completely isolated, as do many people in our world. The story begins with a flash-back into Grendel’s early years. He is all alone even then, but he is too young to realize it and fills this void with imaginary friends. He talks about how he entertained himself during his early years saying â€Å"Crafty-eyed, wicked as an elderly wolf, I would scheme with or stalk my imaginary friends, projecting the self I meant to become into every dark corner of the cave and the woods above† (17). People in our world may invent imaginary friends also, sometimes for companionship, as part of play, or for other reasons. Imaginary friends can serve as an important source of companionship to some children and even adults, especially if companionship is absent for them in the social world. As an example â€Å"young children in boarding schools often develop imaginary friends to cope with extreme stress and separation from their intimate relations† (www.phycologytoday.com/z10/fl/mllr.7se.php) Finding a mate is hard for Grendel, especially because he’s the last of his species. However, he still has the same emotions as humans when it comes to love. He first encounters these unfamiliar emotions when Hrothgar is given a wife named Wealtheow. Grendel thinks she is beautiful, and starts to rethink his war on the humans when he contemplates killing Wealtheow, saying to himself â€Å"It would be meaningless, killing her. As meaningless as letting her live. It would be, for me, mere pointless pleasure, an illusion of order for this one frail, foolish, flicker-flash in the long dull fall of eternity.† (108). Even though he is a monster, he still feels the same emotion of love that humans do. Grendel and the humans share a common language, but the humans’ disgust for, and fear of Grendel precludes any actual meaningful exchange.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Gypsum Seting Time

g [pic] Faculty of engineering Civil engineering department ENCS 314 Building material lab Experiment No. 15&16 â€Å"Determination of water content used to prepare gypsum samples and the determination of the final setting for gypsum† Prepared by: Rasha Abed 1031107 Partners: Hazem No'man 1060155 Mohammed Hashlamoun 1060173 Ehab Alawi 1051449 Instructor: Ms. Randa Al- Asmar Date of experiment: 25-03-2008 Date of submitting: 01-04-2008 â€Å"Determination of water content used to prepare standardized gypsum samples and the determination of the final setting for gypsum† Introduction:In civil engineering, gypsum plays a role as a building material that contributes to many products such as cement and plaster. In this experiment, we investigated some properties considering hardening of gypsum, such as the standard water content and setting time. Aim of the experiment: – Determination of the proper water content to prepare gypsum paste samples – Determination of the final setting time for gypsum paste. Theory: Standard water content: amount of water added to gypsum to form a paste that'd allow the pointer of Vicat's apparatus to descend to a point (30-32) mm above the base of the mold.Setting time of Gypsum: the amount of time that passes from the moment of adding water to the gypsum paste (would be already determined); to the moment that Vicat's needle would descend to reach 3 mm above the base of the mold. Apparatus: †¢ Determination of the water content: – Vicat apparatus – Balance – Metal tray – Graduated cylinder †¢ Determination of the setting time for gypsum: – Vicat's apparatus (the pointer is replaced by Vicat's needle of 10 mm diameter. – Stop watch Procedure: †¢ Determination of the water content: . A 200 gm sample of gypsum is prepared, and put over a plate, to be added with a specified amount of water. 2. The gypsum is mixed thoroughly with water for 3 minutes, to form a moist paste. 3. A part of the paste is poured in the Vicat's mold, until the mold is filled completely with the paste and the surface of the mold is rimmed. 4. Vicat's mold is applied on the base of Vicat's device. The pointer of the device is adjusted to just touch the surface of the mold, then left to fall freely under the influence of its weight. . The reading of Vicat's pointer is taken. This reading indicates the depth that the pointer has reached above the base of the mold. 6. The experiment is repeated using a new sample each time; until the standard water content is reached (Vicat's needle would reach a height of (30-32) mm above the base of the mold. †¢ Determination of the setting time for gypsum: 1. A 200 gm sample of gypsum is prepared. The amount of water determined in the previous experiment is added to the sample. 2.The gypsum is mixed thoroughly with water for 3 minutes, to form a moist paste, and then part of the paste is poured in the Vicat's mold, until the mold is filled completely with the paste and the surface of the mold is rimmed. 3. Vicat's mold is applied on the base of Vicat's device. The needle of the device is adjusted to just touch the surface of the mold, then left to fall freely under the influence of its weight. 4. The reading of the device's pointer is taken, until we reach a reading of 3mm. 5. The time needed for the needle of the device would descend to a height of 3mm above the base of the mold is recorded using a stop watch.Data and calculations: |measured depth |The amount |Trial no. | |from the base (mm) |of added water (%) | | |39 |48 |1 | |34 |49 |2 | |35 |48. |3 | |32 |50 |4 | |50 |Standard water content (%) | |4. 16 |setting time (minutes) | Conclusion:As we can see from the results, the standard water content needed to prepare a standard gypsum paste = 50%, and we obtained a setting time = 4. 16, which compared to other building materials considered quick hardening. This advantage increases the role of gyps um as a component in Portland cement and plaster industry. [1] Engineering use: Gypsum is considered very valuable from the economical and industrial side, since it can be found a lot in nature. It can be used to manufacture plaster moldings (ceramic industry and engineering industry).Also gypsum plays apart in cement industry (for example: Gypsum cement and Portland cement). Many new techniques have been developed get benefit from gypsum and Portland cement. these techniques uses both the advantages of gypsum (early hardening, high early strength, enhanced workability) and Portland cement (improved durability in moist conditions), but are free of the deleterious effect of ettringite and thaumasite, which are formed when gypsum and Portland cement interact. Such properties enhance the workability of cement. [2][3]References: [1]: http://www. sciencedirect. com/science? _ob=ArticleURL=B6V2G-4BRRGD8-2=10=1==search=d=c=C000050221=1=0=10=4e71cbde7aba9b4d1338fea79920ab39 [2]: http://www. sciencedirect. com/science? _ob=ArticleURL=B6TWG-40GRJTP-7=10=1==search=d=c=C000050221=1=0=10=5c7ed60e8eed63f2ad9c9a5412b00080 [3]: http://www. apitco. org/Profiles/Gypsum%20based%20building%20materials. pdf