Big business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Big business - Essay Example war, it is important to establish a post-conflict recovery period where a country affected by civil war can get sufficient time to jump-start its economic mechanisms and strengthen the financial structures. The post-conflict recovery period is essential because it determines to what extent a particular economy will recover from the crippling effects of civil war. War paralyzes all economic activities of the conflicting country as well as all the neighboring states. Such important activities as regional trade often come to a standstill. Take, for instance, the situation in Iraq in 2003, in which US invaded them. This invasion was a major setback for the economy of Iraq, but amazingly, it only took them a year to recover. This was because Iraq is a major oil producer, and its economy is well structured. Oil is a major issue in international business currently (Ionica, 2012). Oil prices have drastically gone down, and, therefore, countries that are relying on oil for economic boost are facing uncertain times. Venezuela, for instance, relies on oil for economic stability. They are currently experiencing economic hardship because the prices of oil in the international market have gone down. Lebanon was affected by conflict, and it took twenty years to experience full economic recovery. This paper scrutinizes the role of the civil war in the destruction of a particular economy. It seeks to expose the role of big businesses in this civil war. This is because a big business just cannot attain stability in an area that is experiencing conflict. It seeks to reveal to how conflict directly affects the economy (Bouri, 2014). There is a tremendous impact that these wars have on big businesses, some of which may totally collapse because of the economic instability caused by conflict. Therefore, it is important for global enterprises to realize how conflict is detrimental to big businesses and its direct effects on the economy (Costalli, Moretti, & Pischedda, 2014). Good

Article Critique Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Critique - Article Example Questionnaires were also administered to both groups. The focus of the questions is the kind of stress and the coping strategies suggested by mothers. The results of the study reveal that depending on the extent of the stress, the influence of the mothers’ suggested coping strategies may be adapted by the youth. Furthermore, the research shows that the youth would react positively to stress if their mothers offer some tips on how to deal with peer stress. clinical psychology, psychology graduate students, a post baccalaureate-level research assistant, or advanced undergraduate students†. They were trained extensively for the job that they were supposed to do. The qualifications of the interviewers add credence to the results of the study. Another strength of the study is that the conclusions are validated by the correlation analysis applied to the data gathered. The interpretation and discussion of the results are clearly disseminated in the report. One weakness of the study is that only mothers were included in the research. It is important to note that parenting does not only involve mothers. Fathers play an important role too in the development of the child. The study assumes that it is only the mothers who offer suggestions on coping with peer stress. With regards to the participants of the study, there is no mention how they were chosen and what was the basis in selecting them. An important part of the study is the definition of the terms that are used in the research. It is appreciated that the terms â€Å"engagement† and â€Å"disengagement† responses are clearly defined at the beginning of the article. The listing down and description of the four categories of the responses to stress gives a more meaningful understanding of the results of the questionnaires and interviews. This research is very significant in enhancing the relationship between mothers and their adolescent child. Since the research showed

Carnatic Music: An Overview

Carnatic Music: An Overview This paper is on the essence of carnatic music. The topic of carnatic music is indeed an ocean and just a glimpse of the same is presented in a very concise format. The paper explores the difference between Hindustani style and the formers norms. The role of carnatic music in Indias branding is focused upon. The paper also deals with how this ancient form of art has helped to seed various forms of music delivery to soothe as well as energize to jump in joy and tap our feet, with vitamins. The use of music in treatments is also touched upon. The paper also explores on why the music is tapering off in the current day and its counterpart still appraised. The strategies and innovations which still helps the ocean of music to reach and help quench the thirst of the music lovers, is explained. The major lesson stressed in the paper is, Carnatic music still prevails like a diamond and to acquire the jewel is in our hands. Kausalya Suppraja is the first rendition echoed in the air in the temple capital of India when the Sun unhides itself to glow and brighten the sky. Every south Indian would certainly affirm that this is the popular rendition worldwide by our famous Carnatic musician, Bharath Ratna winner Ms.Subbalakshmi. The hymn is a classical portrayal of mantra, requesting the Divine to wake up and enlighten the world with His gracious eyes for blessings. India well known worldwide for its rich cultural and traditional values, is rich with immense treasure of music in all forms and this goes unsaid. The main unique differentiation factor is the Classical form of music and this surely helps in branding India worldwide. . Carnatic music, a branch of Classical music form, a sibling for its counterpart the Hindustani style of music form, is in itself a deep ocean to dive in and feel. The classification and differentiation can be detailed in a very lame format as follows: Carnatic music stresses on the semantic compositions decorated with various beautification factors of music like the swaras, aalapanas, etc while its counterpart aims at routing to the meditative mood of the listener. But ultimately the ambiences of music whether carnatic or Hindustani is simply amazing and breezes off all the negatives and drives the listener to the ocean of peace at least till the tenure of the rendition. Classical Music: Music is a wonderland as iterated many times, is skeleton by the main elements namely shruti(musical pitch),swaras(musical sound for single notes),raga (melodic path) and last being the tala(rhythm).Swaras are basically the alphabets in the form of mighty drops to form the sea of music. Be it carnatic or Hindustani, the skeleton remains the same but the rendition differs, the mood changes, the ambience is altogether different for both. The alphabets are only 7.But these sapthaswaras SA, RI, Ga, Ma, Pa, Da, Ni make the music finally. The tonic difference in singing each swara thus helps in creating 1000s of different ragas and spreads the aroma of emotions. There are 72 main ragas known as the melakarta ragas, which have given birth to several other wonderful ragas. A raga is branched out with the above mentioned 7 swaras(each swara in different tonal way).But to notify the fact that the tone of first and fifth swara i.e. SA and Pa remain the same and no modification can be done. The swara Ma can have two styles of rendering while the rest are flexible to be modified in 3 forms. The exact combination of different tones of each swara is weaved to make the beautiful fabric of a melakarta raga. And each Melakarta raga then seeds out various other ragas wherein certain swaras are subtracted. Shruti can be metaphored to a railway track. The pitch is designed to be on a particular track. A slip outside this track causes a mishap and flops the beauty of the music. Finally the tala to clock the rhythm. This factor is to produce a systematic flow. Distinguishing features: The aroma of Hindustani music lies in innovating or exploring the raga with hardly any lyrics. A simple tone of Aa can run for hours. A concert of Hindustani style extends for almost 3 hours wherein the singer explores and experiences the beauty of each node and each tone of every swara. The ragas are classified as evening ragas and morning ones. The classification can be concluded because each raga spurs our either of the moods specified. The experimentation with the raga and exploring the same with the innovated rendition makes the Hindustani form. The nectar of carnatic lies in melting the hearts with beautifully composed lyrics blended with emotions, due to the raga and the feel donated by the singer. It concentrates on the meaning and thus the created emotion. Carnatic style of rendition mainly pertains to the emotional art. Various rasas or emotions are poured by carnatic music. Its termed as Navarasas, i.e 9 different emotions namely anger, beauty, love, fear, wonder, compassion, valor, peace and amusement. Every raga conveys one of the mentioned emotions. The emotion to ultimately melt a heart or trigger the energy levels is totally confined to the performers ability, knowledge of the raga and also his emotional level. Ancients quote that the carnatic music is the pathway to the divine, if divinely performed, the best illustration being M.S.Subbalakshmi who is often termed as the Bhakti Idol for our nation. A demonstration of a simple raga in the pitch of the adroit triggers a divine vibration and thats the reason why her Venkatesha Suprabatham album still peaks in the market. She demonstrates the bhakti rasa. Style: Filled with rasas and the porridge of divine stories with rich values, every song is beautiful in its own way. With diverse permutations and combinations each raga thus formed and apt lyrics blended, sprouts out meanings. Vedas and scriptures essay that carnatic music is a pathway to the divine. Gone are the days when people used to spend hours reciting mantras and performing rituals. Indeed the global development and personal development factors prune us to abide with work for belly concept. India once known for traditional yagnas and rituals, accepts the phrase Work is worship. Any work devotedly done is worship. Music if considered is also an art of worship. You vent your anger in tune or you melt a heart with melody but in a style. The style or uniqueness differentiates and brands the singer. For instance, in bollywood industry there are so many singers who aped the stalwart Lata Mangeshkar, but hardly attained fame. But the queen of music Lata Mangeshkars sound and songs still r esonates throughout. Reason being she ventured into her own style and stuck to the same. Featuring more on carnatic, every musician triggers an ambience with his/her voice and creates a rasa as mentioned earlier. But the notification and identification matters only with an adherence to a unique style. Bombay Jayasri, carnatic musician from South is famous for her soothing and sober style of rendering. While the famous Hariharan is known for his experimental and innovative style of performance, hardly can anyone ape his singing. And this quality is mandatory to exist in the market. A marketing requirement to sustain in the competitive market is ultimately the unique feature and quality that a product possesses. Innovations and uniqueness always rocks and the same formula is utilized in the form of ragam tanam pallavi. This artistic piece in a carnatic musical concert grants the autonomy of experimenting and portraying the art of creativity with ragas, for the artists. The rhythmic sounds used in dances called tanam are followed and finally a small line in praise of divine is rendered in innumerable ways and styles. Artists enjoy this independence and audiences also enjoy the extent of creativeness in the artists by expressing their happiness with their body language. The pallavi has a rain of swaras followed which forms the spectacular moments during the concerts. Carnatic music therapy: Therapy with music as medicine sounds stunning but its true. Each raga emits a particular emotion which in turn helps in curing certain ailments. An ancient story states that once a disciple, who had resided at his teachers place one night, woke up suddenly in the midst of the dark night as he was disturbed by the hisses of venomous snakes. He was scared to see the queue of wild animals enjoying the songs rendered by his teacher. With this story as a base, research states, if wild animals can be controlled then human minds can be controlled and tamed easily. With yoga, meditation and reiki getting popular and serving as free medicines even the use of music should be optimally used. A study in Japan states that the herbs, bushes and plants grow better with music around. Music increases the metabolism rate even in humans. Carnatic music with various ragas proves to be medicines to cure various ailments without any side effects. Raga Thodi is recommended for high blood pressure patients. Thodi has a medical effect to help bring the pressure to a normal scale. It melts down all your rage and cools and brings the pressure to a balanced level. The 72 ragas as quoted previously have major effect to all the 72 nerves in human body according to various studies. The control on these nerves can be easily gained with the strong effect of these medically built ragas.Neelambari and Bageshri ragas can help insomnia. Anger and inner control can be attained by Sahana and punnagavarali. Laziness can be erased by a tune in Kapi raga. T.V.Sriram, commissioner of central excise Mumbai had penned on music therapy and his popular works are endorsed in France to help regain the clarity of speech in patients with music. Medicine in the form of music to soothe and sue the ailments and gift a life full of energy is thus amazing. Bitter facts and the truth: This is rather disheartening to quote but is the fact and has to be accepted that by and large south Indians hear the tunes of carnatic music. To rather emphasize, the westernization has tamed us to tap our feet with jazzes and hip-hops, forgetting our rich tunes. Indeed the beats and drums boost the energy in us and make us dance and rock the party, a feeling of attaining the ninth cloud is amazing. Thus energy in the western music pales off the strengths of carnatic music and hence has less attendance in carnatic concerts. The young budding generation can hardly pace with slow intensity sound cum rhythm and thats the conclusion for low attendance. Second factor can be the language problem, as most of these compositions are restricted to 4 major south Indian languages (tamil,telugu, malayalam and kannada) the other chunk of population i.e. our north Indian friends can hardly enjoy the same. Other existing problem is that, the interest in learning the same is fading off as its gettin g commercialized. After all, business rules the globe. A senior carnatic musician gets paid 3 or 4 times lesser compared to a Hindustani musician. A strange fact to be asserted here is that, carnatic concerts possess the usual flow of a varnam, keertanas(compositions),small thukadas(small pieces of songs),followed by main piece of the concert which runs for 1 hour minimum, and then small songs,thillanas and mangalam(concluding songs) plus a Hindustani piece(either in the form of bhajan or abhang).On the other hand, a Hindustani concert strict by principle is chalked to have just 3-4 songs maximum, all in hindustani style. Carnatic promotions: Marketing theories have helped the south Indians to devise or strategize innovative ways to attract audience and to an extent has gained victory also. View the south channels coming up with music reality shows. Asianet channel (Malayalam) with show called Idea Star singer has helped many tiny tots to young youths to learn music. The well learned judges like S.Chitra, M.G.Sreekumar, Music Director Sharath (disciple of famous Dr.Balamuralikrishna) and pop idol Usha Uthup always vouch on the positives of learning the carnatic music and have shaped the contestants to wonderful singers with comments and trainings.Jaya TV had come up with Carnatic Idol contest, another reality show which aimed at providing a platform for proving the talent in Carnatic music for children. Again learned artists like Soumya(carnatic musician),Kumerasan and Ganeshan(famous violin brothers) and Neyyvellai Santhanagopalan(noted carnatic singer in south).The show aimed at giving the comments for improvement to th e young budding singers by judges and helping them groom for better renditions. These shows though commercial are still promoting the rich carnatic music. The brand of Carnatism still shines in low intensity because of these strategies. Every December Jaya TV airs Margazhi Maha Utsavam with renowned artists like Dr.Balamuralikrishna,Sudha Raghunathan,Nityashree Mahadevan,Aruna Sairam and many others. Even if its 1 hour show tamilians still stick to their seats and enjoy the tunes. But Jaya TV could target the 50+ audience only, to the maximum. Movies, surely are promoting to preserve our treasure by making films like Marghazhi Ragam by P.C Sreeram starred by T.M.Krishna and Bombay Jayasri. The stars in the film do not narrate any dialogues but just render lovely tunes with different shades of lights generating different moods. It was a new concept of airing the concert in the form of movie and Chennai theatres flocked with ladies in kancheevaram sarees and white or bald headed mamas. The movie played by Shabana Azmi named Morning Raga essayed on the fusion world and popularized the concept. The world of fusion surely gives a stratum for carnatic jewel which still shines brightly in its own spectrum. The famous old Balachander movie which won national award for Suhasini(Kamal Hasans niece) also revolves on the carnatic subject. The entire content mentioned above is beautifully directed into a play by Balachander. Various movies in Malayalam also devote on carnatic subjects and give the carnatic lovers a smile with a message that Carnatic music still stays and shines brightly in its own reach. To add on, sabhas or associations like Keraleeya Samaj, Tamil Sangam, Shanmukhananda fine arts, etc. aim at granting knowledge to the interested students and develop them. They also help the students to gain additional knowledge by conducting competitions and arranging a platform to perform before the stalwarts. Shanmukhananda fine arts in Mumbai conducts a particular competition and the winner is awarded the Thambura (instrument used to generate the shruti is recognized as a boon). Bombay Jayasri (singing fame of Zara Zara), a Thambura award winner herself had quoted that she still possesses that treasure and is grateful to be gifted with the same. All the above mentioned encouragements would surely give impetus to many carnatic gems which would certainly glow the beauty of the same. Conclusion The classical music which has granted immensely to Indians has to be graciously acquired to gain the optimal happiness from the same nectar. Great pioneers of carnatic music have devised and helped the younger generations learn this art of music in varied formats and with the technological developments online trainings on carnatic music has really granted us audio gurus. Lets not forget the culture and tradition of Indian land of Lords and sages and their works and learn or help learn the art of carnatic music along with the western beats. International Financial Reporting Standards: Pros and Cons International Financial Reporting Standards: Pros and Cons The joint project between the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in developing a common accounting language for the world has gained much attention after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in United States (U.S.) announced its plans to adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). As investments by U.S. investors in foreign public corporations have grown drastically, it is timely for the U.S. to adopt a uniform set of accounting standards to facilitate comparative analyses of foreign and U.S. corporate financial statements. Pros and Cons of U.S.-GAAP and IFRS The broad conceptual difference between GAAP and IFRS is that GAAP is rules-based and IFRS is principles-based. As such, the IFRS is considered more thoughtful, transparent and reflective of the true nature of each transaction. Pros IFRS is less detailed than U.S. GAAP  [i]  , thus reducing complexity that masks economic reality IFRS is easier to use (principles-based) and will result in better reporting (substance over legal form) IFRS is a global approach;comparability to financial statements from other countries that have already adopted IFRS  [ii]   Reduce costs for companies and smooth cross-border investing for investors Cons Management is given more discretion in the interpretation of economic events due to the lack of specific rules Enforcement and cultural interpretations vary (risk of comparability) when individual countries added their own exceptions to the rules, defeating the purpose of a global standard Accounting under IFRS tends to lead to higher earnings  [iii]  , thus inflating earnings of U.S. companies and misleading investors More extensive audit procedures are required to test the reasonableness of financial reporting determinations made by management IFRS on relevance, reliability and decision usefulness IFRS places more emphasis on relevance than reliability. Reliability is associated with accuracy but faithful representation simply means to capture the economic substance, thus giving management the opportunity to reflect the true economic phenomena that the transaction purports to represent rather than be constrained by its accuracy of information. The adoption of fair value accounting in IFRS will incorporate more timely information about economic gains and losses. Incorporating more information in the financial statements will typically make them more informative and improve decision usefulness for users. However, for fair value accounting to be relevant, there must be an active market with observable market prices where managers cannot materially influence. When an active market is not available, fair value accounting becomes mark to model  [iv]  accounting and firms report estimates of market prices, which may not be a faithful representation  [v]  of the underlying asset or liability. In my view, reliability is a necessary precondition that must be met for information to be relevant. Fair value measures can be considered reliable only if the variability in the range of reasonable fair value estimates is not significant. Therefore, there is the risk that speculative future income may be used to justify reporting the asset at a higher carrying amount, which, in turn, would result in reporting a speculative gain. It also means that a significant proportion of a companys reported income could well be represented by calculated net present value growth, not the results of real transactions. In addition, powerful local economic and political forces will lead to an uneven implementation of the IFRS, thereby leading to increased information processing costs, by burying accounting inconsistencies at a deeper and less transparent level than more readily observable differences in standards. Hence, investors may be misled into believing that there is more uniformity in practice than it actually is. Therefore, only when there is balance between relevance and reliability, decision usefulness of financial statements to report on stewardship and provide useful information to present and potential investors can be achieved. Improvement in accounting quality and valuation of firms Although the adoption of the IFRS in the U.S. will inevitably impose hefty transition costs  [vi]  , the move will presumably improve accounting quality and the valuation of firms as it: reflects economic gains and losses in a more timely fashion than U.S. GAAP, makes earnings more informative and provides more useful balance sheets (with fair value accounting) With improved financial statement information, this should lead to more-informed valuation in the equity markets and consequently, lower risk to investors. Small investors are less likely than institutional investors to be able to anticipate financial statement information from other sources so improved financial reporting quality allows them to compete better with professionals and reduces the risk of adverse selection  [vii]  . Reducing the cost of processing financial information will also increase the efficiency in which the stock market incorporates it in prices and thus, with better firm valuation, investors can be expected to gain from increased market efficiency. Corporations might also benefit from a reduction of its cost of capital with increased market depth  [viii]  and lower bid-ask spread  [ix]  . With fair value accounting, reported earnings are less noisy and hence, accounting information are more accurate and more value relevant. However, investors in the U.S. will need to be more discerning in distinguishing between objective andsubjective figures, between realised gains and losses, and gains and losses based on hypothetical calculations. With the adoption of IFRS, the balance sheet becomes the primary vehicle for conveying financial information to investors. As all assets and liabilities are recorded at fair value on balance sheet date, the Price/Book ratio will be equal to 1.0. Consequently, accounting quality is improved as the balance sheet satisfies the valuation objective while the income statement provides information about the risk exposure  [x]  and managements performance.

Phosphates and dissolved oxygen :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Phosphates are present in many natural waters, such as lakes and streams. Phosphates are essential to aquatic plant growth, but too much phosphate can lead to the growth of algae and results in an algae bloom. Too much algae can cause a decrease in the amount in dissolved oxygen in the water. Oxygen in water is affected in many different ways by phosphates  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Phosphorus is usually present in natural waters as phosphate(Mcwelsh and Raintree, 1998). Phosphates are present in fertilizers and laundry detergents and can enter the water from agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and sewage discharge (Outwater,1996) . Phosphates, like nitrates, are plant nutrients (Phosphates, 1997). When too much phosphate enters a water, plant growth flourishes (Phosphates). Phosphates also stimulate the growth of algae which can result in an algae bloom(World Book Encyclopedia,1999). . Algae blooms are easily recognized as layers of green slime, and can eventually cover the water's surface. As the plants and algae grow, they choke out other organisms. These large plant populations produce oxygen in the upper layers of the water but when the plants die and fall to the bottom, they are decomposed by bacteria which use a lot of the dissolved oxygen in the lower layers (Phosphates). Bodies of water with high levels of phosphates usually have high biological oxygen demand (BOD) levels due to the bacteria consuming the organic plant waste and subsequent low dissolved oxygen levels(Hooper,1998).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The addition of large quantities of phosphates to waterways accelerates algae and plant growth in natural waters (Hooper), enhancing eutrophication and depleting the water body of oxygen. This can lead to fish kills and the degradation of habitat with loss Boyington 5 of species. Large mats of algae can form and in severe cases can completely cover small lakes. Dying plants and algae will create phosphates while decaying, as a result, water can become putrid from decaying organic matter (World Book Encyclopedia). When the concentration of phosphates rises above 100 mg/liter the coagulation processes in drinking water treatment plants may be adversely affected (World Book Encyclopedia). Manmade sources of phosphate include human sewage, agricultural run-off from crops, sewage from animal feedlots, pulp and paper industry, vegetable and fruit processing, chemical and fertilizer manufacturing, and detergents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dissolved oxygen is one of the best indicators of the health of a water ecosystem. Dissolved oxygen can range from 0-18 parts per million (ppm), but most natural water systems require 5-6 parts per million to support a diverse population (Phosphates).

Studying Deviance from a Socio-cultural Stance

Robert K. Merton describes deviance as a unaccepted means of attaining socially important goals. His term innovation requires the person to obtain such goals (wealth, power, etc†¦) in socially unacceptable means, therefore placing the person in the category of a deviant. The strengths of looking at deviance in criminology are the boundless resources of sociologists and other social scientists such as Merton, Emile Durkheim, and George Herbert Mead.Their works are timeless and to the point as they do not need to reflect the current state of societies and instead only the underlying conflict theories from that school of thought that they represent. They are complimentary to current studies, but herein lies the weakness and that is the ever-changing actors and states in societies that need to be studied. The most important factor is the socio-cultural root of socially important goals that deviancy holds many times for the criminal.Those born into poverty and those whose ethnicity o r other minority status puts them into societal disadvantage may innovate ways to achieve simple survival when economies fail them. These socio-cultural roots need to be further explored. The past decade has shown more minority arrests on the part of women and black men, for example. A research study done by the National Institute of Justice suggests that rates of violent crimes by women is on the increase and the term â€Å"marginalized† is used to possibly explain that the most vulnerable women (those who are victims of crimes perpetuated by others) are most likely to commit crimes themselves.But the weakness is the absence of explanation as to why now this is a growing problem as women have always held minority status, but have not shown this level of deviancy. Black men are another group that is disproportionately incarcerated in relation to whites. The question may be of what is the rate of arrest vs. conviction? Is it that these minority populations are being arrested a t higher rates and inevitably convicted due to the financial strain of defense and, in fact deviancy has not changed, arresting attitudes have changed?Research is of the utmost importance in revealing these answers. At any rate these are socio-cultural issues, as is the issue of the images and glamorization of crime in some groups. Pierce and Singleton (1995) suggest that in young African American youth achieving is related to a sense of competence and that that competence represents a sense of control over their possibly out-of-control environments.Innovation then is transformed into deviancy when control and competence is the desired outcome. Looking at conflict theory and economics is the key to understanding this, but it does make it difficult for the Criminologist, as he or she must look to the current state of affairs in a society and look back to theories; sometimes in other disciplines to comprehend deviancy. Studies must be done on motivation and perception, which are highl y psychological.Organizational Behavior offers insight into, such deviant topics as gangs and recruitment, etc†¦Political Science may be utilized to look at other comparable societies to one’s own and the crime rate in relation to regime/regime change and other political factors. Theology (and the Protestant Ethic, for example) may offer insight into deviancy of past and present, as well. But, most importantly a Criminologist must understand the socio-cultural roots, stereotypes, and cultural bias that exists in his/her own community of interest to understand deviancy as innovation and the roots of all this. References Eitzen, D. S.   Phi Delta Kappan. April 1992.   â€Å"Problem Students: The Sociocultural Roots†.   p.587. Mead, G.H. (1918) â€Å"The Psychology of Punitive Justice†, American Journal of Sociology 23: 577-602. National Institute of Justice.   (1999).   â€Å"Research on Women and Girls in the Justice System: Plenary Papers of the 1999 Conference on Criminal Research and Evaluation-Enhancing Policy and Practice Through Research†. Volume 3. Pierce, W.J. & Singleton, S.M.   (1995).   â€Å"Improvisation as a concept for understanding and treating violent behavior among African American youthâ€Å". Families in Society. 76(7).   pp.444-450.

What is a personal experience that gave you the feeling of greatest achievement of satisfaction because of the challenges you met?

Throughout my entire life, overcoming a lot of challenges has always given me a certain degree of satisfaction. However, it was my passion for track and field that provided me with the greatest satisfaction among all the challenges I have faced so far.My high school track career basically started during my freshmen year at John Cooper School in Texas. Initially, I did not take the sport very seriously because I was preoccupied with other things such as   my academics, a big drama production, and other sports such as volleyball and soccer.Moreover, I thought that my school, being a college preparatory institutions, were not as competitive in sports as compared to public schools. Nevertheless, I always enjoyed competing at various sports events during my freshmen and sophomore year at the school. However, when my parents informed me that I would be transferring to a public school nearby, I was filled with mixed emotions.I was first hesitant because I would leave behind all my friends and all the extracurricular activities I was involved in. However, I was also excited to try out and hopefully compete in a more serious and competitive athletic program that this new school would offer.Generally, adjusting the environment of a new school was not difficult for me since my family was constantly moving from one place to another due to my father’s work in an oil company. In short, I was used to seeing new people and new things.   However, what stood out about my new school was its seemingly unmatched athletics department. During that time, the school's sports program was unlike anything I have ever seen before.To finally satisfy my excitement,   I enrolled in the track class during the offseason period which signaled the start of my fruitful journey. As I expected, the training was very rigid and at the same time, very extensive. It consisted of long hours of running on the track, running with weights on your back, doing various exercises up and down a stee p hill, working on field events, and lastly tough weight lifting workouts after school.During my first weeks in training, I was already disheartened and I wanted to quit. I knew it was going to be hard but I had no idea it was more difficult than i expected. Moreover, the seasonal changes in weather was never a factor during our training as we ran when it was freezing cold, scorching hot,   raining hard, and even during the Christmas break and certain public holidays.To top it all, my track coach was a very strict but encouraging man who accepted no excuses from anyone. For him, it's either we do it or we don't. Despite all the difficulties I faced, I was determine to prove to my coach and, more importantly, to myself.I found that all my hard work and perseverance paid during our   first practice meet when I was informed that I was officially a member of the Woodlands High school varsity track and field team. This was a great accomplishment for as I literally went through the ey e of the needle just to make the cut.  From then on, I was on a roll. Not only did I set personal records in the 100m, 200m, 4 by 1 and 4 by 2 relays, but I also help set a school record in the 4 by 2 relay race and 3rd in the school records for both the 100m and 200m dash.I was also both honored and privileged   to participate in Texas Relays at the University of Texas, which is considered as the most prestigious high school track meet competition. In addition, I also competed in the the District Championship where I won one gold medal in the 200m dash and 2 silver medals in the 100m dash and 4 by 1 meter relay.However, among all the competitions I have participated in, the most significant and most fruitful one was the Regional Championships at Waco Baylor. Although I wasn't able to qualify for the next level which was the State Championships,   I felt a surge of satisfaction as I passed the finish line of my last event because I knew in my heart that I had fulfilled my goal s and surpassed the expectations that I have set when I first joined the varsity during training.My achievements became complete when I was awarded most valuable sprinter of the year and appointed as captain of the girls track team in our Principal’s Leadership counsel the next year.Even though I didn't reach the highest competitive level, which is the State Championships,   I still glad that I chose not to quit when times were rough and instead kept on pushing and moving forward. Personally, making the varsity alone was a highly significant accomplishment for me, so to win in extremely competitive events where the very good athletes were also competing was not only a monumental achievement but also a blessing.More importantly, however, I believe that the most important aspect of all the lessons I have learned and all the achievements I have made so far is my over-all growth. For the better part of my life,   I have been running and running just to reach that finish line and accomplish my goal. Looking back, however, I realized that in my journey so far, it is not always the destination that is important.What's important is the people I have met who made a considerable impact on my life and have contributed to my growth and more importantly, the experiences I have gained as I struggled and worked hard to fulfill my tasks.In short, I realized that it in reality, in was not the State Championships that was mattered most, rather, it was the significant events such as the long hours I spent to improve myself and the extremely tedious training   hours I went through and also the people such as my coach who taught me the value of hard work and perseverance, my family who never failed to support me in all my endeavors, and my friends who were always there for me when I needed them most.These are things that mattered most. Personally, to have these experiences under my belt and to have these people by my side as I go further in my career as a track and fi eld varsity player is my greatest achievement in life so far other than winning medals in competitions.

buy custom Identity in Cyber Culture essay

buy custom Identity in Cyber Culture essay Very few technologies if any, in documented human history can rival the Internet when it comes to speed of adoption; range of impact and potential diversity of its users (Dery, 1996). Perhaps, only the printing press could come close in comparison with the Internet, with the Internet still winning hands down when it comes to the speed of adoption and rate of reproduction (Dery, 1996). The internet has permeated every aspect of human life today, from business to religion, from politics to entertainment, from professional practice to recreation (Dery, 1996). That rate of adoption has produced an equally gigantic social-cultural impact on the global society, with the World Wide Web helping transforming how people shop, live, interact, learn, trade, spend their time, solve problems. These are the particulars, which define cyberculture (Levy, 2001). A very important element of cyberculture and which is a central foundation of thus paper is how people interact while in online platforms. Cyberculture has induced a dramatic shift in inter-personal interaction, in work culture (colleague relations), inter-group and intra-group relations etc. A close inspection of these interactions, show an ever-reducing importance of personal identity, where the individual exists just as another entity without a personal quality (Dodge Kitchin, 2000). In social media platforms like Face book for instance, a person is only conceived as a friend, a comment, a post etc, without respect to native languages, ages, genders, nationalities etc (Dodge Kitchin, 2000). A good elaboration of individual identity is lst in cyberculture and which will be reviewed in detail hereunder is blogging. An individual can decide to comment on any issue, political, medical, social, legal etc regardless of being an expert in that field or not. That comment will be evaluated by other bloggers and readers on its own merit; in complete disregard of the one who commented. Unlike any form of interactions in the physical world, a comment is regarded as an entry, wholesome as it is, and judged on its own merits without the bias of its source. Once other bloggers read the entry, they also comment and one key characteristic of such comments is that they comment on the initial entry and never on the person who made it. The consequence of such loss of personal identity is grievous at the very least. People gain the permissive attitude that lets them say or do whatever they want. People lose any inhibition, any answerability; any sense of accountability. Misinformation, amoral conduct, antisocial behaviors and even irresponsible social interactions thus become a norm since the participants know that there is no chance for the same vice being attributed to them in their real personal identity. Whenever people are not held accountable and responsible of their actions and conduct, they become more amoral than moral. Again, unlike in any other arena of the social dynamics of the physical world, cyberculture enables people to do whatever they please since nothing is attributable to anybody. It is like a maze in which people can lose themselves into like shadows and be as wanton as they wish before taking up their real identities afterwards. Pornography, fraud projeects, unsavory talk, hate-campaigns are just examples of the problems created by the cybercultures misplacement of personal identity. Yet cyberculture must not be wholly conceived as an area of interaction of persons in terms of social exchanges alone (Levy, 2001). Cyberculture encompasses much more than blogging and social media networking. Since its inception, the internet has become a dynamic and progress avenue to exchange intellectual thought (Levy, 2001). In around 1970s, the internet (a project of the US Army itself) was used mainly for information exchange and transmission where scientist, researchers, academics, mathematicians, medical practitioners, legal operatives etc. exchanged their information, retrieved information and uploaded their new findings as contribution to the available body of knowledge (Levy, 2001). That was even the advent of multimedia technology as a component of the cyberculture. Cyberculture was then conceived in a purely functional basis and personal identity was prime, since individuals wanted to strongly identify with their contributions. That is why most o the academic papers online, then and still now, have a preferential place for authors realistic identity, qualifications and position in the society. In essence therefore, as expounded by Baase (1997), whenever cyberculture imposes the need for personal identity, it becomes positively organized, beneficial and highly productive. When personal identity is left out of the cyberculture, the products are largely and objectively unpalatable, destructive, obscene and amoral. Buy custom Identity in Cyber Culture essay

Free Essays on Macbeth And Ambition

In the play â€Å"Macbeth† by William Shakespeare, we see many common themes that emerge. One of the major themes is ambition, which in the end eventually leads to death. Ambition finds its most powerful expression in the play’s two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The ambition of these main characters leads to greed, insanity, and there own death. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. There are three main factors that contribute greatly to Macbeth’s ambition and then insanity, the prophecy’s told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth influencing and manipulating Macbeth’s judgment, and Macbeth’s own ambition and greed to become king. Macbeth’s character degenerates from a noble man at the beginning of the play to a violent individual at the end. With his wife’s cajoling, and the three witches’ foretelling of his future, Macbeth will stop at nothing to gain position as Kind of Scotland. The three witches and their prophecy’s are the first major influences on Macbeth’s actions. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis is content with his position, until the three witches tell him he will be Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! / All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!† (Act 1.3, 48-50). After hearing this from the witches’, Macbeth and Banquo, his loyal friend, find out that King Duncan has named Macbeth â€Å"Thane of Cawdor†. They then contemplate about how the rest of the prophecy will come true. The witches also advise them that Banquo’s son would be King one day. â€Å"Thou shalt get Kings, though thou be none. / So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!† (Act 1.3, 67-68). As a result of the prophecies, this aroused Macbeth’s curiosity of how he could be King of Scotland. As the play progresses,... Free Essays on Macbeth And Ambition Free Essays on Macbeth And Ambition In the play â€Å"Macbeth† by William Shakespeare, we see many common themes that emerge. One of the major themes is ambition, which in the end eventually leads to death. Ambition finds its most powerful expression in the play’s two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The ambition of these main characters leads to greed, insanity, and there own death. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. There are three main factors that contribute greatly to Macbeth’s ambition and then insanity, the prophecy’s told to him by the witches, Lady Macbeth influencing and manipulating Macbeth’s judgment, and Macbeth’s own ambition and greed to become king. Macbeth’s character degenerates from a noble man at the beginning of the play to a violent individual at the end. With his wife’s cajoling, and the three witches’ foretelling of his future, Macbeth will stop at nothing to gain position as Kind of Scotland. The three witches and their prophecy’s are the first major influences on Macbeth’s actions. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis is content with his position, until the three witches tell him he will be Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! / All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!† (Act 1.3, 48-50). After hearing this from the witches’, Macbeth and Banquo, his loyal friend, find out that King Duncan has named Macbeth â€Å"Thane of Cawdor†. They then contemplate about how the rest of the prophecy will come true. The witches also advise them that Banquo’s son would be King one day. â€Å"Thou shalt get Kings, though thou be none. / So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!† (Act 1.3, 67-68). As a result of the prophecies, this aroused Macbeth’s curiosity of how he could be King of Scotland. As the play progresses,...

Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove Essay Example for Free (#22)

Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove Essay Bureaucracy (53) , Joseph Heller (9) , Yossarian (8) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints \In Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22, and Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove, the bureaucrats are illustrated as illogical and untrustworthy. Heller’s attention to administrations such as the hospital and the military-establishment are recognized for their unreliable rationality and logic. Similarly, in Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick mocks the absurdities of the nuclear arms race and of the officials of the United States and The Soviet Union as he conveys the malfunction of highly placed government bureaucrats. Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove, are two satirical and somewhat historical works that effectively comment on the corrupt and perhaps insane bureaucrats. The lives of Yossarian and the men in his squadron in Catch-22 are not determined by their own decisions but instead, by the decisions of the impersonal bureaucracy. The bureaucrats are absolutely oblivious to any attempt the men make to reason with them logically. Major Major, for example, will only see people in his office if he is not there and sends them away when he returns. Doc Daneeka refuses to ground Yossarian for his â€Å"insanity† because Yossarian’s desire to be grounded reveals that he is sane. Doc Daneeka elaborates in his discussion of Orr, Yossarian’s tent-mate. â€Å"Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.† (46) Yossarian and the others in his squadron find that what they say and do has little effect on their fate when the bureaucracy controls them. Their only option is to follow the illogical rules and use what is expected of them to their own advantage. Yossarian’s superiors are more concerned with getting a promotion than they are about winning the war. Colonel Cathcart, the colonel in command of Yossarian’s squadron, tries to impress his superiors by â€Å"bravely† volunteering his men for dangerous combat. Cathcart’s only concern is being promoted to general. Cathcart continually raises the number of combat missions required of the men before they can be sent home. Yossarian argues with Doc Daneeka who explains, â€Å"†¦regulations do say you have to obey every order. That’s the catch. Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you’d still have to fly them, or you’d be guilt y of disobeying an order of his.† (58) Similarly, Dr. Strangelove also criticizes the malfunctions of bureaucracy and the inadequacy of officials. General Jack Ripper gives the command to attack the Soviet Union without permission from his superiors or the president. Instead of discussing the idea of an attack with is supervisors, Ripper orders the attack because, according to him; Clemenceau†¦ said war was too important to be left to the generals. When he said that, 50 years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. -Criticizes the malfunction of bureaucracy. (Dr. Strangelove) Mr. President’s embarrassment about the issue demonstrates bureaucracy does not function appropriately because those lower in command should not determine the launch of nuclear powers. Further exemplifying the inadequacy of the bureaucrats, the Joint Chiefs in the war room show their unprofessional and blatant prejudice, especially toward the Russians. General Buck Turgidson clearly states, â€Å"I’m beginning to smell a big fat Commie rat,† and later refers to them as â€Å"a bunch of ignorant peons.† The Germans are also referred to when Turgidson, upon learning Dr. Strangelove’s original German name, passes it off as â€Å"†¦a Kraut by any other name.† Dr. Strangelove, the character, also calls into question the reliability of people in power. Strangelove is clearly the Presidents scientific adviser in the war room whose appearance copies the mad scientist stereotype with his wild hair, black gloved hand, and his clearly brilliant yet insane mind. Through their presentation of bureaucracy, Heller and Kubrick display why officials and politicians are unfit to make important decisions concerning the safety of the country. Catch-22 conveys this notion through the bureaucracy’s enforcement of impractical rules and Catch-22’s on the eccentric men in Yossarian’s squadron. Kubrick suggests the same concept in Dr. Strangelove by frequently demonstrating the disorder, madness and prejudice of the officials. In either piece, the reader carries away the certainty of the instability of the men in control of important military and national decisions. Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove. (2016, Nov 12). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Globalisation of Tesco Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Globalisation of Tesco - Research Paper Example The start of Tesco as a retailing business was not a glamorous one. They had started as a chain of market stalls, and then expanded by opening shops. Currently they are the biggest retailing store in England as they now consists of extra stores, hyper markets, metros, home plus and Tesco Express. If the current situation of Tesco is to be considered, they have dwindling profits. The main reason for that can be explained by some of their marketing strategies that backfired causing some serious controversies. The most prominent controversy involved the selling of halal meat and horse meat that was found in the burger patties being sold by Tesco. Despite these controversies when it comes to the global level, it can still be seen that Tesco leads ahead in comparison to Carrefour. Tesco is no more a departmental store, but has many other businesses under its wings. The basic reason behind the success of Tesco in the international market is its partnerships with local companies. The tactic used by Tesco involves establishing its business with local retailers so as to get access to the local masses easily without the need of creating their brand presence prior to establishment. Except for Japan, Tesco has been generating decent profits in the Asian region. Tesco however, sold its operations in Taiwan to Carrefour stating that they would concentrate in all those regions where they have a strong market. This marketing strategy would help Tesco establish a strong market presence. Another key factor that makes Tesco appealing to customers is that it sells its products under its own brand, rather than stocking products from different vendors. This makes it shopping at Tesco very appealing to the customers, for every necessity can be found at their stores (Zoratti & G allagher,

Aviation Safety Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aviation Safety Management - Essay Example That effected a progressive deprivation of confidence to safety policy of the company. Numerous hazard reports has tine and again just dallied off and that fact put managers off countenance and caused the failure of safety program. As a result the company has met two serious problems: in one case the foreign object has got in turbine engine and in the other one there has been possible in-flight collision due to altitude deviations and here related litigation. Under such circumstances the question of vital importance is working out company's new safety policy, setting a close coordination with line managers, arising safety standards and ensuring their implementation. a. The new safety policy should ensure protecting the safety both employees and passengers, to guarantee the fulfilling of all legal obligations and standards regarding safety. Moreover the main issue of the strategy should become a constant improvement of company's safety standards. 2. Propose to organize a temporary Committee including the President, the Director of Safety, the Chief of Flight Safety, the Chief of Ground Safety and Chiefs of Finance and Public Relations Department. a. In order to arise the company's safety standards and hence to make the business much more profitable it is necessary to work out a new strategy in company's policy.

Business D1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business D1 - Essay Example Nevertheless, application of interpersonal skills is depends on communication, which is either formal or informal. Effectiveness of interpersonal skills is manifested through development of substantial communication capabilities. For instance, people are able to communicate freely, though without the knowledge of the messages that they are disseminating (Tracom Group, 2013). For instance, effective communication skills entail aspects such as maintenance of eye contact, control of physical twitches such as fidgeting and concentration, while listening during a conversation. In this case, an active listener is able to ask clarifying questions, which is an illustration of their effective interpersonal skills in terms of listening. Therefore, through this way they can ensure that the message is understood as it is being conveyed. Ineffective interpersonal skills can cause serious problems during a serious conversation, thereby leading to misunderstanding; in fact, this can also lead to conflicts (Tracom Group, 2013). For instance, in a situation where a business associate does not maintain eye contact during a conversation, this is an indication that they are not interested with the message conveyed; hence, this becomes

A gay man's case against gay marriage Essay

A gay man's case against gay marriage - Essay Example Once these ingredients are compromised the outcome is a broken relationship. Homosexuals should not consider their relationships as a particular breed that require special treatment rather focus on promoting healthy marriages. In fact there is a greater possibility for same-sex marriages to fail compared to their opposite sex counterparts. The society considers it as a social disorder. The belief that marriage was originally between a male and a female is indispensable. According to the author, gays find it difficult to answer the fundamental question as to why they a fighting for this kind of marriages. From a gay perspective he even considers it myopic and pointless. Homosexuals should consider a revision of their agenda and focus on more pertinent issues. Pathos is an emotional appeal to the reader. Michael’s claims cannot be quoted out of context. The author is not against homosexuals crusading for their rights. In fact, he is of the view that they have a right to partake of civil marriage, the benefits that come with it. Furthermore, denial of legal status give to opposite-sex couples is discrimination. The point why homosexuals are pushing for legalization of their marriages is not precise. For example, some argue that the traditional heterosexual relationships are not the best hence the need to try a different kind. Due to the shallowness of this proposition they think that by changing the players they will change the game plan without really having an alternative game plan. The argument is emotional vulnerability and maturity. Simply because there are many cases of divorce, domestic violence, child abuse and adultery among heterosexual couples does not imply theirs will work better. It is even ironical to use adultery; a religious term specifically in Biblical context to push their agenda. It is critical to remind them that what they practice is an abomination according to the

Strategy Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategy Implementation - Essay Example This paper compares and contrasts the roles for strategy implementation, identifies the resources required for its implementation and assesses what measures and timescales can be used to achieve this strategy implementation for British Airways. Strategy Direction Defining and determining strategic direction involve specifying the images, structures and characters that the firm thinks to develop over time. As Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2008, p. 350) pointed, strategic direction is normally framed within the contexts of the conditions like opportunities and threats that strategic leaders expect their organization to face in its near future. Daft (2009, p. 58) has also put forward almost similar view that strategy direction is a process that typically begins with the assessment of opportunities and threats in the external environment, including change, uncertainty, resources available etc. Matha, Boehm and Silverman (2008, p. 47) found that strategy direction is based on how employees hear about the strategy and how they do involve in it. A firm with long-term strategic direction probably will have to consider two basic elements, they are core ideology and an envisioned future. The first one is to motivate its people through the organization al culture and company’s heritage, and the second one encourages them to draw out of their expectations of accomplishments (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 2008, p. 350). As depicted in the figure above, managing a firm’s resource portfolio, maintaining organizational culture and emphasizing ethical practices are highly critical factors affecting determining of the strategic direction. Roles and Responsibilities of strategy implementation Strategy implementation is connected with creating a portfolio of the strategic programs and secondly it involves attracting, allocating and managing all the necessary resources to deliver these strategic programs. Strategy implementation represents a specific pattern of decisions and actions that are intended to carry out a particular plan in an organization. When it comes to the case of British Airways, the company is widely known for effective corporate strategies like technology and business innovation, customer-enabled business strat egy or customer focus (Egger and Buhalis, 2008, p. 272), supreme customer services, service orientation etc. At British Airways, once the strategy has been determined, the management team responsible for the strategy implementation must translate the strategy program in to appropriate tactical plans, processes, programs and budgets. Operating plans and programs for each function are to be developed in this stage. In implementing the strategy of customer focus or innovation, the management of the British Airways prepares a plan including timetables, milestones and details of the organization’s risk management as well (Atkin and Brooks, 2009, p. 22). As compared to this, the strategy implementation in Virgin Atlantic is mainly influenced by the strategic vision of its top management and quality and entrepreneurial drive of the management teams (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000, p. 34). The strategy implementation in Virgin Atlantic is thus closely linked to the top managementâ₠¬â„¢s vision and it takes those steps that the management instructs. A strategy is planned and developed mainly

Global marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Global marketing - Essay Example Every foreign market or country will exhibit certain unique political, social and economic conditions, along with different clients’ base, competitors, prospective employees, etc, etc. These distinct aspects will give rise to many opportunities as well as challenges, which many aid as well as block the firms’ success. These distinct aspects will be visible in many countries including the Asian country of India and thus, those aspects could act as an advantage as well as a challenge for the organisations entering it particularly Telstra, who is planning to enter it with optimum marketing strategies. Among the many departments, which constitute an organization, the marketing department’s role is omnipresent and crucial, as it can only boost an organization through various strategies. With every organization wanting to expand their reach and make an imprint in various markets, there will be optimum opportunities for it, to start that expansion drive. So, when the organization has enough opportunities, it can set targets and formulate various strategies to achieve those targets and thereby beat off the competitors. Every organization’s survival and success in the light of stiff competition hinges on the success of its main or flagship product. It is the ‘key’ that opens the door of success or profit. For an organization to survive in a competitive market, and to increase its profits in an optimum manner, its products have to be marketed optimally. The marketing department had to put in an extra effort to formulate strategies to reach the customer’ s minds. So, this paper will discuss the marketing strategies, Australian company Telstra should implement in India, if it wants Telstra mobile phones or handsets to have a successful launch. Telstra, telecommunications and media company, was formerly under the control of

Strategy Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategy Implementation - Essay Example This paper compares and contrasts the roles for strategy implementation, identifies the resources required for its implementation and assesses what measures and timescales can be used to achieve this strategy implementation for British Airways. Strategy Direction Defining and determining strategic direction involve specifying the images, structures and characters that the firm thinks to develop over time. As Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2008, p. 350) pointed, strategic direction is normally framed within the contexts of the conditions like opportunities and threats that strategic leaders expect their organization to face in its near future. Daft (2009, p. 58) has also put forward almost similar view that strategy direction is a process that typically begins with the assessment of opportunities and threats in the external environment, including change, uncertainty, resources available etc. Matha, Boehm and Silverman (2008, p. 47) found that strategy direction is based on how employees hear about the strategy and how they do involve in it. A firm with long-term strategic direction probably will have to consider two basic elements, they are core ideology and an envisioned future. The first one is to motivate its people through the organization al culture and company’s heritage, and the second one encourages them to draw out of their expectations of accomplishments (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 2008, p. 350). As depicted in the figure above, managing a firm’s resource portfolio, maintaining organizational culture and emphasizing ethical practices are highly critical factors affecting determining of the strategic direction. Roles and Responsibilities of strategy implementation Strategy implementation is connected with creating a portfolio of the strategic programs and secondly it involves attracting, allocating and managing all the necessary resources to deliver these strategic programs. Strategy implementation represents a specific pattern of decisions and actions that are intended to carry out a particular plan in an organization. When it comes to the case of British Airways, the company is widely known for effective corporate strategies like technology and business innovation, customer-enabled business strat egy or customer focus (Egger and Buhalis, 2008, p. 272), supreme customer services, service orientation etc. At British Airways, once the strategy has been determined, the management team responsible for the strategy implementation must translate the strategy program in to appropriate tactical plans, processes, programs and budgets. Operating plans and programs for each function are to be developed in this stage. In implementing the strategy of customer focus or innovation, the management of the British Airways prepares a plan including timetables, milestones and details of the organization’s risk management as well (Atkin and Brooks, 2009, p. 22). As compared to this, the strategy implementation in Virgin Atlantic is mainly influenced by the strategic vision of its top management and quality and entrepreneurial drive of the management teams (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000, p. 34). The strategy implementation in Virgin Atlantic is thus closely linked to the top managementâ₠¬â„¢s vision and it takes those steps that the management instructs. A strategy is planned and developed mainly

Conflict Resolution Essay Example for Free

Conflict Resolution Essay Merriam-Webster (n.d) defines conflict as, â€Å"the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction†. Interpersonal conflicts, whether they are between family members, students and teachers, employees and supervisors, or groups, have certain elements in common. Coser (1967) asserts that conflict is a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources, in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the rivals. (p. 8) Coser’s definition grew out of the cold war, when conflict between the United States and the former U. S.S.R. dominated Western method to conflict. Conflict was viewed as a win-lose solution. According to Dana (2001) there are only three ways to resolve any conflict; power contests, rights contests, and interest’s reconciliation. Power contest is based on Coser’s (1967) win-lose situation. Each party views their point as right each wanting power over the other. Rights contest is an orderly system which has rules, regulations, policies, precedents and a hierarchy of authority which is used in order to â€Å"win† again this model is a win-lose resolution. The solution to conflict resolution is interest reconciliation. This approach enlists support from both parties to find the best solution. All parties win with interest reconciliation model as their solution. Conflict in the workplace is a condition between or among two or more workers whose jobs are independent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and act in a way that causes a business problem. Conflict has three elements feelings (emotions), perceptions (thoughts) and actions (behaviors). â€Å"Psychologists consider these three the only dimensions of human experience. So, conflict is rooted in all parts of the human nature† (Dana, 2001, p. 5) some confuse conflict with indecision, disagreement, stress, or some other common experience that may cause or be caused by a conflict. However, those elements are not best handled by conflict resolution. The question many ask, is conflict normal? Conflict is a fact of any organizational life. On the job, conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life (Kolb and Putnam, 1992, p. 311). Rather than seeing conflict as abnormal, Pondy (1992) suggests we view organizations as arenas for staging conflicts, and managers as both fight promoters who organize bouts and as referees who regulate them (p. 259). In addition, Pondy states that in the company, agency, or small business, conflict may be the very essence of what the organization is about, and if conflict isnt happening then the organization has no reason for being (p. 259). One study surveyed workers and found that almost 85 percent reported conflicts at work (Volkema and Bergmann 1989). With an increasing awareness of cultural diversity and gender equity issues, it is essential that employees become familiar with issues surrounding promotions and harassment. In fact, one can see training in organizations as a form of preventive conflict management (Hathaway, 1995). The recognition of the frequency of conflict at work has led to books on mediating conflict in the workplace (Yarbrough and Wilmot 1995), showing how managers can learn conflict management skills to intervene in disputes in their organization. As employees, daily work with clients, customers, co-workers, or bosses can be a struggle. Conflict is as Wilmot (1995) wrote, What determines the course of a relationship . . . is in a large measure determined by how successfully the participants move through conflict episodes (p. 95). Conflict resolution has five styles, giving in, avoiding, fight it out, comprise, and work together style. No style is right or wrong; however some do work better than others. Accommodation, giving in to the others wishes or smoothing waves sacrifices ones own goals for the sake of the other person. Accommodators often use phrases like: Whatever you want is fine with me. When one party in a conflict genuinely does not care about the outcome of the conflict, accommodation may be the right choice for that situation. However, if accommodation is the only style a person utilizes, he or she is advised to learn more skills. Avoidance is characterized by behaviors that either ignore or refuse to engage in the conflict. While avoidance is by some consider a negative style that shows low concern for both ones own and the other partys interests, there are sometimes strategic reasons to avoid conflict. For example, when the relationship is short-term and the issue is not important or when the situation has a potential to escalate to violence, avoidance may be the prudent choice. Fight it out, competition, or win/lose, style maximizes reaching ones own goals or getting the problem solved at the cost of the others goals or feelings. While always choosing competition has negative repercussions for relationships, businesses and cultures, it can occasionally be the right style to choose if the other party is firmly fixed in a competitive style or there are limited resources. While competitive strategy is not necessarily dysfunctional, competition can easily slip into a destructive situation. Understanding the methods and strategies of others who use competitive styles can assist conflict managers in neutralizing the negative consequences of competition and work toward a mutual gain approach. Compromise is a give and take of resources. The classic compromise in negotiating is to split the difference between two positions. While there is no victor from compromise, each person also fails to achieve her or his original goal. Finally, working together to collaborate is when parties cooperatively team up until a mutually agreeable solution is found. Compromise and collaboration are win-win solution where as the other styles are win-lose. Why do people avoid dealing with conflict? People have a natural instinct of fear and some let that fear overpower them. The fear of harm causes people to fight-or-flight. Individuals will choose the flight option when in a dangerous part of a city that they have never been in before in order to avoid danger, it shows wisdom or strength to get out a of physically abusive relationship, commendable to stay out emotionally abusive relationships. In spite of this, in some cases people have the response to flight to a false perception of harm. People overstress in their minds the emotional h arm that someone can cause harm. The same is said for conflict in the workplace, people will avoid conflict for fear of being harmed by others. Some avoid conflict because of a fear of rejection from others. These individuals feel others will withdraw their friendship or push them away causing more hurt. People have the perception if they do not risk rejection they can suppress their needs and feelings. Loss of relationship is the fear of rejection taken up a level they fear totally losing a relationship. Others avoid conflict to mask their true desires because preserving a relationship is more important than getting what they want. These individuals are trapped into believing their worth is dependant on another accepting them. People avoid conflict for fear of anger. These people do not like listening to someone who is angry. They believe another will hurt them, reject them, or leave them, and they just cannot stand to witness anger. However, anger is just anger and it is not necessarily directed toward them. Individuals do not want to be seen as selfish. In some situations people are not afraid of others reactions, but rather their interpretation of the situation. They fear that they will appear selfish. However, is it wrong to have a need, feeling, or want and to express it? Society has sometimes had it seem that way. Although, there is nothing wrong with asking for what individuals want versus feeling they are entitled to always getting what they want. The truth is if one never asks, then they are depriving people around them from being able give to them effectively. Still, people who feel their wants should not be fulfilled, regardless of what others want, fall into the selfishness category. Sometimes people avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing or something they will regret. Individuals will avoid conflict rather than risk putting â€Å"their foot in their mouth† they contain their anger and frustration which often leads to that which they fear. When people have conflicts in the past that have failed so they avoid future conflict for the fear of failing those too and begin to believe the confrontation is not worth the em otional energy it takes to deal with others. The fear of failing can impact other aspects of ones life. The fear of hurting another is more than just saying the wrong thing. These individuals are extremely sensitive and caring. They would rather hurt themselves than risk hurting another. The fear of success is a fear that most over look. However, it is much like the fear of failure. Some people are afraid to get what they want; they believe they will never get it. These people feel they do not deserve what they want, the consequences of getting of what they want is regret, or the responsibility is more than they need or desire. The fear of intimacy is the most subconscious of the fears. People do not want to share their dreams, desires, and wants with others. They feel they are private and do not want to be exposed. People do not want to appear weak. If resolution involves giving in, avoiding, or compromise they may feel they appear as though they do not have confidence. People do not want the stress of confrontation. They feel it is better to avoid conflict rather than deal with the stress it will cause them in the workplace between co-workers. Our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation. People, who aggressively pursue their needs, competing rather than collaborating, are often satisfied by others who prefer to accommodate. Managers and leaders are often rewarded for their aggressive, controlling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs. Conflict resolution requires profound courage on the part of all parties: It takes courage to honestly and clearly express one’s needs, and it takes courage to sit down and listen to one’s adversaries. It takes courage to look at one’s own role in the dispute, and it takes courage to approach others with a sense of empathy, openness and respect for their perspective. Collaborative approaches to conflict management require individuals to engage in the moment of dialogue in thoughtful and meaningful ways, so it is understandable if people tend to avoid such situations until the balance of wisdom tips in favor of negotiation. People have certain perceptions in conflict when dealing with different situations. Culture shapes and frames each individuals interpretation of appropriate behaviors during conflicts. Conflict across cultures, whether across nations or across the diverse cultures within a country, exacerbates the routine difficulties of conflict management (Fry and Bjorkqvist, 1997). There is no clear conclusion about whether men and women actually behave in different ways while conducting conflicts. However, gender stereotypes do affect conflict behaviors when individuals act and react based on stereotypes of how men and women will/should act rather than selecting behaviors appropriate for the individual one is communicating with (Borisoff and Victor, 1997). Parties respond to conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they have about the issue at hand. This includes situation-specific knowledge and general knowledge. The understanding of the knowledge they have can influence the persons willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or undermining ones willingness to flexibly consider alternatives. The person sharing the message is considered to be the messenger. If the messenger is perceived to be a threat (powerful, scary, unknown, etc.) the message can influence others responses to the overall situation being experienced. For example, if a big scary-looking guy is yelling at people they may respond differently than if a diminutive, calm person would express the same message. Additionally, if the people knew the messenger previously, they might respond differently based upon that prior sense of the person’s credibility. People are more inclined to listen with respect to someone they view more credible than if the message comes from someone who lacks credibility and integrity. Some people have had significant life experiences that continue to influence their perceptions of current situations. These experiences may have left them fearful, lacking trust, and reluctant to take risks. On the other hand, previous experiences may have left them confident, willing to take chances and experience the unknown. Either way, one must acknowledge the role of previous experiences as elements of their perceptual filter in the current dilemma. These factors, along with others, work together to form the perceptual filters through which people experience conflict. As a result, their reactions to the threat and dilemma posed by conflict should be anticipated to include varying understandings of the situation. This also means that they can anticipate that in many conflicts there will be significant misunderstanding of each others perceptions, needs and feelings. These challenges contribute to our emerging sense, during conflict, that the situation is overwhelming and unsolvable. As such, they become critical sources of potential understanding, insight and possibility. How do people respond to conflict? There are three responses to conflict emotional, cognitive and physical responses that are important windows into our experience during conflict, for they frequently tell people more about what is the true source of threat that is perceived; by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behavior to conflict, a better insight into the best potential solution to the situation. Emotional (feelings) are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion. Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Thus, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening. Cognitive (thinking) are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation. Through sub-vocalization (self-talk), people understand these cognitive responses. Physical (behavior) can play an important role in our ability to meet our needs in the conflict. They include heightened stress, bodily tension, increased perspiration, tunnel vision, shallow or accelerated breathing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques. Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. Dealing with someone unwilling to negotiate can be difficult for the person who is trying to resolve the conflict. However, the 8 Step Model can be very beneficial, by focusing first on listening to the other person, and seeking to understand the sources of their resistance, the stage can be set for clarifying the conditions he or she requires in order to talk things out. This is not about being right or wrong in the situation, but a practical strategy for getting the other person engaged as a partner in the negotiation process. Another alternative is to focus on things we can do to influence conflicts in the future, rather than putting initial energy into understanding (or solving) problems we have had in the past. By remaining relatively flexible about the agenda taking on topics individuals care about, but not necessarily the most pressing issues – thus, creating an opportunity to reduce the fears associated with resistance. While the conflict may not be able to be truly resolved, some key issues that exist will be managed and will help to prevent the issues from getting worse. Power is an important and complex issue facing anyone seeking a negotiated solution to a conflict. Before negotiating clarify the true sources of power in the room: The boss has position power, associated with the carrots and sticks that come with the role. She or he may also have coercive power, supported by contracts or statute that compels employees to behave in certain ways and do certain tasks associated with the job. Some may have a great deal of expertise power, accumulated from doing your job over a period of time. Either conflict participants may possess normative power, through which they know the lay of the land in their department and, therefore, how to get things done. And either may possess referent power, through which others show respect for the manner in which the employee conducts themselves. Generally, referent power accrues to those who demonstrate a mature willingness to seek collaborative solutions. An impasse is the sense of being stuck. Impasse is the point within a dispute in which the parties are unable to perceive effective solutions. People feel stuck, frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Therefore, they might either dig their heels in deeper, anchoring themselves in extreme and rigid positions, or they might decide to withdraw from negotiation. Either way, impasse represents a turning point in our efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict. As such, rather than avoiding or dreading it, impasse should be viewed with calmness, patience, and respect. Multi-party disputes are complex situations, and they require careful attention and persistence. However, the same 8 Step Model can be applied to the disputes. In spite of using the same process expect everything to take a bit longer than if there where only two or three people. Patiently make sure that all points of view are heard, that issues are clarified for all to see, and that all members in the group accept the agreements being negotiated. If there are limits to the groups decision-making power, then it is important to acknowledge those limits and understand how they are perceived by all members of the group. There are many different ideas of the steps for resolution, some claim five steps while others claim six or seven for the purpose of this paper Weeks (1992) eight step resolution style is identified. Step one – Create an Effective Atmosphere Creating the right atmosphere in which the conflict resolution process will take place is very important, yet most overlook its importance. The atmosphere is the frame around the canvas which will be painted the negotiations and building of better relationships (Weeks, 1992). Step two – Clarify Perceptions Perceptions are lenses through which a person sees themselves, others, their relationships, and the situations they encounter. Perceptions have a great influence on behavior of people. Once people perceive something in certain way, even if the perception is wrong, in the mind it is that way, and often base behaviors on that perception (Weeks, 1992). Step three – Focus on the Individual and Shared Needs This step builds on the previous step as needs as the conditions people perceive they cannot do without, those conditions critical to each persons wellbeing and relationships. However, step three focuses more on skills involved in the conflict partnership approach. There are several key points to keep in mind in this step. 1) Needs are the foundation of relationship and are an essential part of that foundation. 2) People sometimes confuse needs with desires. 3) Personal needs in relationships perceived by individuals must allow for respect of the needs or the relationship (Weeks, 1992). Step four – Build Shared Power Power is a part of every relationship. However, the way people perceive and use power is seen frequently as a dirty word. Such as when people use power as means to control or to manipulate some else to get what they want. Although, power is and of itself not corrupt, it is the way in which people use their power and whether they allow such power to corrupt. Developing positive self power through a clear self-image means that we base our perceptions of ourselves not on what others expect of us or want us to be but what we believe to be our own needs, capabilities, priorities and goals (Weeks, 1992, p. 152). Step five – Look to the Future, Then Learn from the Past. All relationships and conflicts have a past, present and future. Resolving conflicts requires dealing with all three. The conflict partnership process encourages the use of positive power to focus on the present-future to learn from the past. The past experiences people face set the landscape for present and future decision making and how relate to others (Weeks, 1992). Step six – Generate Options People have the ability to discover new possibilities in their relationships as well as conflict resolution. However, both are often impaired by the packaged truths and limited vision people hold onto in times of stress, insecurity, and conflict. Generating options breaks through the predetermined restrictions brought into the conflict resolution process. Generating options imparts choices which specific steps to resolve conflicts and enhanced relationship can be agreed upon (Weeks, 1992). Step seven – Develop â€Å"Doables†: the Stepping-stones to Action Doables are the necessary stepping-stones taken along the way to resolve conflict. Doables are explicit acts that stand a good possibility of success, meet some individual and shared need, and depend on positive power, usually shared power to be carried out. Working on and accomplishing some doables can help the conflict partners see more clearly where they need to go. Many conflict partners have changed their preconceived definitions of both the conflict itself and the expected outcome due to the lessons learned and clarified perceptions through working with doables (Weeks, 1992) Step eight – Make Mutual-Benefit Agreements Mutual-benefit agreements are the next step on the pathway to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution agreements must be realistic and effective enough to survive and the potential to develop further as challenges arise in the future. Mutual-benefit agreements replace the need or want for demands, see the others needs, shared goals, and establish a standard wherein power is identified as positive mutual action through which differences can be dealt with constructively (Weeks, 1992). Conclusion Conflict is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life whether it is with family, teachers, students, friends, or an organization. The best approach to resolving conflict is interest reconciliation. It joins both parties of the dispute to find the best solution. In so doing, all parties win. People respond to conflict in three ways emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), and physical (behavior). All are important to the conflict experience. They allow a better awareness to best furnish a solution to the situation. An important tactic to conflict resolution is to develop persuasion skills with the ability to clearly explain one’s point of view and to argue for their conclusions and convictions. Week’s Eight-Step Process is a valuable tool in helping people to become more strategic about resolving conflict. References Borisoff, D., and D. A. Victor., (1997). Conflict management: A communication skills approach, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Conflict, (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict Coser, L. A. 1967. Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York: Free Press. Dana, D. (2001). Conflict resolution. New York: Mcgraw-Hill. Fry, D. P., and Bjorkqvist K., (1997). Cultural variation in conflict resolution. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hathaway, W., (1995). A new way of viewing dispute resolution training. Mediation Quarterly, 13(1), 37-45. doi:10.1002/crq.3900130105 Kolb, D. M., Putnam, L. L. (1992). The Multiple Faces of Conflict in Organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, (3), 311. doi:10.2307/2488478 Pondy, L. R. (1992). Reflections on organizational conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 257-261. Volkema, R. J., and Bergmann T. J., (1989). Interpersonal conflict at work: an analysis of behavioral responses. Human Relations 42: 757-770. Weeks, D. (1992). The eight essential steps to conflict resolution: preserving relationships at work, at home, and in the community. Los Angeles, J.P. Tarcher; New York: Distributed by St. Martins Press Wilmot, W. W. (1995). Relational communication. New York: McGraw-Hill. Yarbrough, E., and Wilmot W., (1995). Artful mediation: Constructive conflict at work. Boulder, Colo.: Cairns Publishing.

Viscoplasticity and Static Strain Ageing

Viscoplasticity and Static Strain Ageing Viscoplasticity Inelastic deformation of materials is broadly classified into rate independent plasticity and rate dependent plasticity. The theory of Viscoplasticity describes inelastic deformation of materials depending on time i.e. the rate at which the load is applied. In metals and alloys, the mechanism of viscoplasticity is usually shown by the movement of dislocations in grain [21]. From experiments, it has been established that most metals have tendency to exhibit viscoplastic behaviour at high temperatures. Some alloys are found to exhibit this behaviour even at room temperature. Formulating the constitutive laws for viscoplasticity can be classified into the physical approach and the phenomenological approach [23]. The physical approach relies on the movement of dislocations in crystal lattice to model the plasticity.  Ã‚   In the phenomenological approach, the material is considered as a continuum. And thus   the microscopic behaviour can be represented by the evolution of certain int ernal variables instead. Most models employ the kinematic hardening and isotropic hardening variables in this respect. Such a phenomenological approach is used in this work too. According to the classical theory of plasticity, the deviatoric stresses is the main contribu- tor to the yielding of materials and the volumetric or hydrostatic stress does not influence the inelastic behaviour. It also introduces a yield surface to differentiate the elastic and plastic domains. The size and position of such a yield surface can be changed by the strain history, to model the exact stress state. The theory of viscoplasticity differs from the plasticity theory, by employing a series of equipotential surfaces. This helps define an over-stress beyond the yield surface. The plastic strain rate is given by the viscoplastic flow rule. To model the hardening behaviour, introduction of several internal variables is necessary. Unlike strain or temperature which can be measured to asses the stress state, internal variable or state variables are used to capture the material memory by means of evolution equations. This must include a tensor variable to define the kinematic harden ing and a scalar variable to define the isotropic variable. The evolution of these internal variables allows us to define the complete hardening behaviour of materials. In this work we consider only the small strain framework. The basic principles of viscoplasticity are similar to those from Plasticity theory. The main difference is the introduction of time effects. Thus the concepts from plasticity and the introduction of time effects to describe viscoplasticity, as summarised by Chabocheand Lemaitre[21] are discussed in this chapter. Basic principles Considering small strains framework, the strain tensor can be split into its elastic and inelastic parts ÃŽ µ = ÃŽ µe+ ÃŽ µin(2.1) where ÃŽ µ is total strain, ÃŽ µe is the elastic strain and ÃŽ µin is the inelastic strain. In this work, we neglect creep and thus consider only the plastic strain to be the inelastic strain. Hence we can proceed to rewrite the above equation as : ÃŽ µ = ÃŽ µe+ ÃŽ µp(2.2) where ÃŽ µp is the plastic strain. Let us consider a field with stress ÏÆ' = ÏÆ'i j(x) and external volume forces fi. Thus the equilibrium condition is given as: ∂ÏÆ'i j + f ∂xii = 0;i, jÃŽ µ {1,2,3} (2.3) From the balance of moment of momentum equation, we know that the Cauchy stress ten- sor is symmetric in nature. The strain tensor is calculated from the gradient of displacement, uas: 1 .∂uj∂ui. ÃŽ µi j = 2 ∂xi + ∂x (2.4) The Hookes law for the relation between stress and strain tensors is given using the elastic part of the strain: ÏÆ' = E · ÃŽ µe(2.5) where ÃŽ µe and the stress ÏÆ' are second order tensors. E is the fourth order elasticity tensor. Equipotential surfaces In the traditional plasticity theory which is time independent, the stress state is governed by a yield surface and loading-unloading conditions. In Viscoplasticity the time or rate dependent plasticity is described by a series of concentric equipotential surfaces. The location on the centre and its size determine the stress state of a given material. Fig. 2.1 Illustration of equipotential surfaces from [21] It can be understood that the inner most surface or the surface closest to the centre represents a null flow rate(à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = 0). As shown in Figure (2.1), the outer most and the farthest surface from the centre represents infinite flow rate (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = ∞). These two surfaces represent the extremes governed by the time independent plasticity laws. The region in between is governed by Viscoplasticity[21]. The size of the equipotential surface is proportional to the flow rate. Greater the flow, greater is the surface size. The region between the centre and the inner most surface is the elastic domain. Flow begins at this inner most surface( f=0). In Viscoplasticity, there are two types of hardening rules to be considered: (i) Kinematic hardening and (ii) isotropic hardening. The Kinematic hardening describes the movement of the equipotential surfaces in the stress plane. From material science, this behaviour is known to be the result of dislocations accumulating at the barriers. Thus it helps in describing the Bauschinger effect [27] which states that when a material is subjected to yielding by  Ã‚  Ã‚   a compressive load, the elastic domain is increased for the consecutive tensile load. This behaviour is represented by ÃŽ ± which does not evolve continuously during cyclic loads and thus fails to describe cyclic hardening or softening behaviours. A schematic representation is shown in Fig.(2.2). Fig. 2.2 Linear Kinematic hardening and Stress-strain response from [11] The isotropic hardening on the other hand describes the change in size of the surface and assumes that the centre and shape remains unchanged. This behaviour is due to the number of dislocations in a material and the energy stored in it. It is represented by variable r, which evolves continuously during cyclic loadings. This can be controlled by the recovery phase. As a result, isotropic behaviour is helpful is modelling the cyclic hardening and softening phenomena. A schematic representation is shown in Fig.(2.3). Fig. 2.3 Linear Isotropic hardening and Stress-strain response from [11] From Thermodynamics, we know the free energy potential(ψ ) to be a scalar function [21]. With respect to temperature T, it is concave. But convex with respect to other internal variables. Thus, it can be defined as : ψ= ψ.   ,T,ÃŽ µe,ÃŽ µp,Vk.(2.6) where ÃŽ µ,Tare the only measured quantities that can help model plasticity. Vkrepresents the set of internal variable, also known as state variables which help define the memory of the previous stress states. In Viscoplasticity, it is assumed that ψ depends only on ÃŽ µe,T,Vk. Thus we have: ψ= ψ.   e,T,Vk.(2.7) According to thermodynamic rules, stress is associated with strain and the entropy with temperature. This helps us define the following relations: ÏÆ' = Ï  . ∂ψ. ∂Î µe ,s = − .∂ψ. ∂T (2.8) where Ï  is density and s is entropy. It is possible to decouple the free energy function and split it into the elastic and plastic parts. ψ= ψe.   e,T.+ ψp.   ,r,T.(2.9) Similar to ÏÆ', the thermodynamic forces corresponding to ÃŽ ± and r is given by: X = Ï  .∂ψ. ∂Î ± ,R = Ï  .∂ψ. ∂r (2.10) Here we have X the back stress tensor, used to measure Kinematic hardening. It is noted as a Kinematic hardening variable which defines the position tensor of the centre of equipotential surface. Similarly Ris the Isotropic hardening variable which governs the size of the equipotential surface. Dissipation potential The equipotential surfaces that describe Viscoplasticity have some properties. Points on each surface have a magnitude equal to the strain rate. Points on each surface have the same dissipation potential. If potential is zero, there is no plasticity and it refers to the elastic domain. The dissipation potential is represented by à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ which is a convex function. It can be defined in a dual form as: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦.   ,X,R; T,ÃŽ ±,r.(2.11) It is a positive function and if the variables ÏÆ',X,Rare zero, then the potential is also zero. The normalityrule, defined in [22] suggests that the outward normal vector is proportional to the gradient of the yield function. Applying the normality rule, we may obtain the following relations: ∂à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚   p = ∂ÏÆ', ÃŽ ±Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢   = ∂à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ , ∂X ∂ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ rËâ„ ¢ = ∂R (2.12) Considering the recovery effects in Viscoplasticity, the dissipation potential can be split into two parts: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦p+ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦r(2.13) where à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦p is the Viscoplastic potential and à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦r   the recovery potential which are defined as : à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦p=à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦p..− X. − R− k,X,R; T,ÃŽ ±,r. ,(2.14) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦r=à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦r.   ,R; T,ÃŽ ±,r.(2.15) .3 J2 . . †²Ã¢â‚¬ ².†²Ã¢â‚¬ ² ÏÆ'− X=2  Ã‚   ÏÆ'− X:  Ã‚   ÏÆ' − X (2.16) where J2 .− X. refers to the norm on the stress plane and kis the initial yield or the initial size of equipotential surface. Going back to the relation in (2.12) , we have: ∂J2 . X. ÏÆ'†² − X †² ÏÆ' ∂à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦Ã¢Ë†â€šÃƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   == 3 =pËâ„ ¢ (2.17) p∂ÏÆ'∂J2 . .∂ÏÆ' 2ÏÆ'− X. Here, p is the accumulated viscoplastic strain, given by : .2 pËâ„ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚   = ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚   p : ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢p(2.18) 3 Also applying the normality rule on eq. (2.15) we may define r as : rËâ„ ¢ = pËâ„ ¢ − ∂à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦r(2.19) ∂R Thus when recovery is ignored (i.e à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦r = 0), r is equal to p. Perfect viscoplasticity Let us consider pure viscoplasticity where hardening is ignored. Thus the internal variables may also be removed. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. ,T.(2.20) Since plasticity is independent of volumetric stress, we may consider just the deviatoric stress ÏÆ' †² = ÏÆ' − 1 tr(ÏÆ')I. Using isotropic property, we may just use the second invariant of ÏÆ' †². Thus: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. (ÏÆ' ),T.(2.21) Applying the normality rule here, we may obtain the flow rule for Viscoplasticity. ∂à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦3∂à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ÃÆ'†² ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   == (2.22) p∂ÏÆ' 2 ∂J2 .ÏÆ'. J2 .ÏÆ'. From the Odqvists law [12], the dissipation potential for perfect viscoplasticity can be obtained. Here the elastic part is ignored. Thus we have: ÃŽ » à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ = n + 1 .J2(ÏÆ').n+1 ÃŽ » (2.23) where ÃŽ » and n are material parameters. Using this relation in the flow rule from eq.(2.22), we get: .J2(ÏÆ').nÏÆ'†² 3 ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = p2ÃŽ » J2 . . (2.24) Further the elasticity domain can be included through the parameter kwhich is a measure of the initial yield: 3 ÃŽ µÃƒâ€¹Ã¢â€ž ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   = .J2(ÏÆ') − k.nÏÆ'†² (2.25) p2ÃŽ » J2 . . The are the Macauley brackets defined by : à ¢Ã… ¸Ã‚ ¨Fà ¢Ã… ¸Ã‚ © = F · H(F),H(F) = .1   ifF0 (2.26) 0   ifF