What Goes Around Comes Around (Karma)

If one would want to examine one’s self about the meaning of a word or phrase by comparison with what others mean with the word or phrase, one will find confirmation of similarity or change in meaning in relation to time. Given such thesis, this essay intends to validate that same by exploring my own assumptions and beliefs about a certain concept or phrase by,   discovering what I believe about and how those ideas have been formed in me, and exploring outside viewpoints of the topic using contemporary and/or literary figures, politicians, poets, authors, media images, institutions, history books, etc.Exploration of self: What I think and feel about the phrase â€Å"What Goes Around Comes Around (Around).†?As I use the new version of software in the Internet, the computer flashes a message: â€Å"Paying is a good karma.†Ã‚   The word ‘karma’ enters into my mind that if there could is good karma, there must be bad karma.   Before my encounter of t he phrase of good karma, the meaning of the word karma for me was negative that whatever error or mistake one must have done will really come back to haunt one back.   The word ‘karma’ or the phrase ‘what goes around comes around’ serves as self-evaluation that would result of self-judgment.   Sometimes, the self judges very harshly, hence , one could just imagine the tendency that I may have done just to avoid the word ‘karma’ before it comes to mind that there could some good in it.   The experience has therefore brought me into the reality of experiencing the meaning of words into my life that though as one is just a word; it carries a message that could turn on or off one’s mood in a day.   This is not surprising because I believe that man is created also an emotional being although he is endowed with a rational mind.   What is to interesting with emotion is that is what one feels at the moment and most of the sometimes, wh at one feels is more powerful than what one thinks.  In trying therefore to reflect on the meaning of karma in this paper, I have to admit that words or phrases could change or could have different meaning at different times.   Thus the need to have updated dictionaries.   Let us apply on how Oxford English Dictionary defines the word ‘karma’ in two ways.   One definition for the word goes this way: â€Å"From the Sanskrit word (meaning ‘action' or ‘effect') used in Hinduism and Buddhism to refer to the principle by which a person's actions in this world determine the fate that awaits him or her after death.   In English the word is sometimes used more loosely to refer to the processes of destiny, and it has sometimes been chosen as a given name with reference to this idea.†[1] Its other definition goes this way: â€Å"the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as affecting their future fate.†[2]   Comparing the two definitions by the same dictionary does not make much difference as to the meaning referring to after life consequences.Exploration of other viewpoints about the phrase and how the meaning of the phrase or word ‘karma’ has changed over time, how the phrase was formed, etc.Let us take what other old viewpoints using the phrase ‘What comes around goes around’ or word ‘karma’ and let us take still another who has used the phrase in the context of a given statement.   There is such phrases as law of Karma under various names and this include â€Å"the law of compensation†; â€Å"the law of balance†; † the law of action and re-action†.[3] One could easily get some connection with the author’s explanation of the term as bringing it judgment, correcting all wrongs, punishing all vices, and rewarding all virtues.   The inevitability of cause and effect means and ends, and seed and fruit ar e simply there.   A man’s normal reading of that interpretation by the author would be to look at the cause if something could be done so that the necessary good effect will come out.   One this note therefore the word ‘karma’ from 1894 had had already a positive or negative meaning’ and as I now realize, it may be that I was not that attentive of its meaning then.   I mean, the term could mean also to be positive and not just negative.Ward explained further the use of the term ‘karma; allows equating it with the law as justice, and when viewed in its applications,   Ã‚  an action of an individual has with it retribution.   If such is the case, there is also reason to agree with authors’ conclusion that â€Å"every secret is told, every crime is punished, every virtue rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence and certainty.†[4]One could see from karma that nothing comes by accident, that what one reaps, what he or she has so wn. There is therefore a universal rule that giving love brings further love.   Sowing brings further reaping.   In more concrete application, it may mean money begets money.The phrase â€Å"What goes around†¦Ã‚   Comes Around† happened to be the third single from Justin Timberlake's second solo album FutureSex/LoveSounds which was released in 2006.[5] People who could relate with the song may interpret the part ‘going around’ as where Timberlake mourned how his ex-lover may have wounded him and in ‘coming around’ as referring how the law of balance came into effect, as Timberlake’s ex-lover new boyfriend now treat said ex-lover in like manner the woman treated Timberlake in the ‘going around’ portion of the song.Synthesis of two partsComparing my personal experience and other’s viewpoints with the word or phrase puts me now into the questions: ‘Do I have a different connotation of the word or phrase with the irs?   What, if any?   If there is no difference, justify.’I feel that the meaning of the word to me changed overtime as how others may have changed it. Phrases or terms or words are just means to communicate meanings .When one encounters how a word or phrase is meant by other   the person so encountered, he or she also makes a meaning out of how he or she understood the word or phrase in the outside world.  Ã‚   When that new meaning comes into the person, the latter could use the word in a sentence or in expressing thoughts to others.   When many people agree about the usage of phrase of terms or word these agreements and confirmations, produce a part of culture.   This is when people adjust with other members of society as to giving birth to the general acceptability of the word.[6]It could be said that difference in the meanings of the word ‘karma’ was not really meant in 1894.[7]   Ã‚  It was my mind who created a difference of the meaning beca use of my lack of exposure to the meaning of karma, that there could also be a good karma not just good karma.   This therefore   brings me another reality that knowledge of one thing or even a simple word and its meaning to every one vary across different people until that person realizes that he or she must understand what others really give to that word so that person could actually relate under a bigger world.   If the world speaks with one word or one language, perhaps the world could be a more peaceful world.   But across cultures are different languages with different words that may have different meanings.Conclusion:There is basis to uphold the thesis that if one would want to examine one’s self about the meaning of a word or phrase by comparison with what others mean with the word or phrase, one will find confirmation of similarity or change in meaning in relation to time.Confirmation of similarity or change in meaning requires one to be honest about the true meaning of the word to himself or herself. After accepting the truth, one must be ready to what is meant by the word or phrase as accepted by majority of people.   The best proof of this is the use of dictionary, which implies that the word may have its meaning reached the point of general acceptability[8].   This may not be hard to understand as human beings communicate using words or terms, and by them, the people’s experience of the word or phrase will be given recognition and acceptance.   I believe that words are defined and used in dictionaries, which may have evolved and changed over time including the chance of expanding the original meaning and even eventually returning to the old meaning.Works Cited:David Kaufer, Suguru Ishizaki, Brian Butler, Jeff Collins, The Power of Words: Unveiling the Speaker and Writer's Hidden Craft ; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004Mark Guarino, M.;   Out from the Cocoon Timberlake Re-emerges without Squeaky Clean Image; Daily Her ald (Arlington Heights, IL), August 24, 2006New Fowler's Modern English Usage, Magazine article; The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 278, December 1996Oxford University Press, Compact Oxford English Dictionary,2007 {www document} URL http://www.askoxford.com/firstnames/karma?view=uk, Accessed May 29,2007Ward, P.C. Emerson and Theosophy, A Paper read before the Chiswick Lodge of the Theosophical Society ,December 12th, 1892, 1894 {www document}   http://www.theosophical.ca/EmersonTheosophyPCW.html, Accessed May 29,2007Oxford University Press, (2007)  IbidWard, Emerson and Theosophy by P.C. Ward, F.T.S.   A Paper read before the Chiswick Lodge of the Theosophical Society ,December 12th, 1892, 1894 {www document}   http://www.theosophical.ca/EmersonTheosophyPCW.html, Accessed May 29,2007  IbidGuarino,   Out from the Cocoon Timberlake Re-emerges without Squeaky Clean Image; Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), August 24, 2006 New Fowler's Modern English Usage , Magazine article; The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 278, December 1996 Ward, Emerson and Theosophy, see above David Kaufer, Suguru Ishizaki, Brian Butler, Jeff Collins, The Power of Words: Unveiling the Speaker and Writer's Hidden Craft ; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004

Artifical Insemination

OUTLINE WORKSHEET MOTIVATED SEQUENCE DESIGN| | | SPEECH TITLE | Topic: Artificial Insemination| Specific Purpose: To persuade people to use artificial insemination instead of adoption. | Thesis Statement: Artificial insemination is a topic not may people openly discus unless they have complications, but I want to tell you about somethings that might want to pick insemination, the sperm banks, as well as the donors one may have. | | | I. Introduction| A. Attention Material (focus attention on problem): As a high school student, you may ask yourself, â€Å"Why should I be concerned about having children? But once you are married and are ready to have kids, there is always a possibility that something could go wrong. And if adoption is not the path you choose to take then artificial insemination is going to be helpful. | | B. Tie to Audience: Right now many of you are 17, and 18 years old, so you are not planning to have children, hopefully, not for a while. But the information I will be giving, can be used in the future. Not everyone is able to have children naturally, it is sometimes necessary to professionally get impregnated. | | C. Credibility Material: WebMD. 2005. 8 12 2011 | | D. Thesis & Preview: | In my opinion insemination would be the path I pick over adoption, adoption there is always a possibility that the parent will come back and want to see their child, there is also the fact that you would need to tell that child â€Å"oh yeah, your adopted† and then have them be upset, or any other slight disappointment that might go wrong. One can use sperm banks, and known donors, to keep things simple. The easiest option is insemination! | (Transition into Body of Speech)| II. Body| A. Main Point #1 – Aritficial Insemenation | 1. (Statement of Need for Action) if one cannot get pregnant| a. (Description of Problem) Some people need to get | b. (Signs, Symptoms, Effects of Problem)| c. (Example, Narrative, or Testimony)| | 2. (Importance of Problem) some couples want to have children. | | b. (Facts/Statistics) More than three million married American women say they want to have babies but are physically unable to conceive. 45 percent of the nation's nearly 27. million couples have been unable to have children or have had difficulty in conceiving: 19 percent have been sterilized for contraceptive reasons; 10 percent have been sterilized for other purposes, such as medical problems, and 16 percent, or 4. 3 million, were unable to have children for other reasons. | c. (Expert Testimony) | 3. (Who is Affected) mainly same sex couples, or couples that are not able to have children on their own. | a. (Facts/Statistics) The study by the National Center for Health Statistics also documents a marked increase of younger couples who are medically unable to have children. It speculates the rise may result from the increasing cases of sterility-causing diseases| b. (Example/Narrative) | (Transition into Main Point 2)| B. Main Point #2 (Present Solution that Satisfies Need) sperm banks are located all over the world| 1. (Description of Solution) Insemination is when sperm is inserted into a woman's uterus to attempt to create a pregnancy. Artificial insemination is a popular way for lesbians to get pregnant. A woman can use sperm from a known donor or from a sperm bank. This can be a close friend or sometimes a relative of their partner| a. (How Solution Satisfies Need) it gives you the option to at least have a child whether you are a gay couple or don’t want to use your significant others sperm. | b. (How Solution can be Implemented)†¦. sperm bank? | (1) (Plan of Action) ? Sperm banks require donors to waive any parental rights. There is no danger the donor can seek custody or visitation of your child. ? Some sperm banks permit the child to access the donor once the child becomes an adult. Sperm banks test semen for diseases and collect health and genetic information from donors. | ? You know who he is: his health, family history, physical and mental health, characteristics and personality. ? He might be open to being involved in the child's life. ? You don't have to pay for the sperm, although you may have to pay a doctor to inseminateyou. | | | (Transition into Main Point 3)| C. Main Point #3 (Visualize Results) one would soon have a child to love and care for. | 1. (Describe Expected Results of Action) after 9 monthes one would have a BABY :D| 2. Describe Consequences of Inaction) it would cost sometimes up to $1,000 if not more, and plus having children is a very expensive thing so I would not recommend having a child unless you are financially stable. If using a random sperm you always have a risk of HIV, AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases. | (Transition into Conclusion)| III. Conclusion| A. Brakelight: | B. Summary: Artificial insemination is a topic not may people openly discus unless they have complications, but I want to tell you about somethings that might want to pick insemination, the sperm banks, as well as the donors one may have. | C. Tie Back to Audience:when you are older, deciding which road you may want to take, I hope the information I have given you helps with your planning process. | D. Concluding Remarks: (Call for Action! ) | CHECKLIST FOR MOTIVATED SEQUENCE DESIGN    * I have analyzed my audience on this topic & have determined they are ready for action. * I have narrowed my topic to focus upon a problem that needs to be solved with action * I have clearly stated the purpose of my speech. * My thesis statement is written as a complete declarative sentence. * My introduction focuses attention, establishes my credibility, & previews my message. The first main point in my speech establishes the need for action. * The second main point in my speech details a plan of action that satisfies the need. * The third main point in my speech visualizes the results of action and the consequences of inaction. * I have appropriate (adapted) supporting material for each main point in my speech. * The conclusion contain s a summary statement & ends with a call for action. * I have provided transitions where they are needed to make my speech flow smoothly. * I have compiled a list of works consulted in the preparation of my speech. |

Compartive report between Australia and Norway Health Care System Essay

Compartive report between Australia and Norway Health Care System - Essay Example However, Australia presents a mixed system of public and private care that presents more choices to those that are ill compared to Norway, which has a predominantly centrally planned state sponsored health system. The Norwegian system presents generous support to those who are ill, but long waiting lists for procedures exist despite a higher number of physicians per 100,000 population. Norway presents very limited patient choice and say. Australians have a guarantee of healthcare, no matter how expensive it becomes, and can decide about the quality of care that they receive by selecting their contributions to Medicare or private healthcare schemes. However, in Norway, the GP assigned to a patient decides about what the system will offer to a patient, and it is not easy to change the GP. Longer waiting lists and a lack of advanced diagnostic techniques, including use of MRI and CT scanning, points to a certain rationing and a lack of sophistication in the Norwegian system, despite its generous support for those that are ill. Access to drugs is better in the Australian system. Although the year 2000 WHO Health Report ranked Norway higher than Australia in terms of the performance of its health system, this report is now a decade old. The latest OECD Frequently Requested Healthcare Data points to the fact that the Australian healthcare system is now performing better and offering more choices to those who are ill with shorter waiting lists and access to more sophisticated diagnostic procedures compared to Norway. Life expectancy is higher in Australia, with a lower figure for Potential Years of Life Lost for the population, and the Australian system offers better pharmaceutical / drug assistance. It is certain that economic constraints have forced choices, and the Norwegian healthcare system has had to try to optimise. Thus, although it is likely that things will improve with the development of a parallel private healthcare system in Norway,

Suicide Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Suicide Assessment - Essay Example The biological factors are familial risk and other health indicators. Predisposing factors are major psychiatric syndromes, substance use and abuse, his personality profile, abuse syndromes and severe mental or neurological illness. Proximal factors are the primary result and reaction of experiencing either familial or predisposing factors. They are hopelessness, intoxication, impulsiveness and aggressiveness, negative expectancy and severe chronic pain. Immediate triggers are those reactions that instantly make the individual change his made towards suicide. These are public humiliation or shame, access to weapons, severe defeat, major loss and worsening prognosis. Once the periods of risk are identified, a specific suicide evaluation will be done to know the degree or magnitude of risk the person is in. The interference that will be done, then, depends on the degree of risk. Identifying the periods of risk in a subject’s life is the predicting part. The assessment part is in response to the identifying part. If there are identified periods of risk and an increase of these periods, then the next step would be evaluation and prevention. There are certain risk factors present in a subject’s period of risk that makes him a primary candidate of a suicide attempt. When one has been in a near lethal suicide attempt already, availability of firearms, written suicide notes are the signs of highest risk people. Having a major mental illness or psychological disorder creates a higher risk. Strong predictors of a suicide in the period of risk in depression are hopelessness, mood cycling, turmoil, unusual thinking and no belief improvement. Weak predictors are those factors that a person may experience but may or may not result to depression, and eventually, suicide. Suicide ideation, on the other hand, is a poor predictor since intent has hidden information still that one must coax out to be understood. A prior suicide attempt is also a poor predictor

Diversity in Contemporary Feminism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diversity in Contemporary Feminism - Essay Example The works reflect the priorities and opinions of four feminist authors, revealing some consistent ideas of and goals for the feminist movement, yet also manifesting different perspectives on how feminist ideology can and should be defined and realized. To begin, a recurrent thread in, and indeed the prominent thrust of all four readings, is the need to challenge and undermine the heterosexual value system embedded in our society. In "Lesbian Ethics," Sarah Hoagland succinctly explains heterosexualism as a "way of living" that accepts a balance between men "dominating and de-skilling women" and women "consequently valuing an ethics of dependence" (452). As such, men are always in the role of either protector or predator, thereby creating a self-perpetuating system of men preying on women, the victims, who thus require the protection of men (Hoagland 452-53). And, the woman who bravely attempts to break this vicious pattern by refusing to play the feminine role, such as the active feminist, is perceived as having surrendered her need for protection, thereby subjecting herself to the attacks of her predators (Hoagland 453-54). Such women suffer from a "vocabulary of abuse" (Ruddick 450) and erroneous depictions that not only indict t heir judgment and character (Ruddick 450), but threaten their physical safety as well (Hoagland 453-54). From this heterosexual value system arises a "concept of 'woman'" (Hoagland 456) that these four feminists recognize as an absolute deterrent to their ideas and goals. According to Hoagland, our current perceptions lack an awareness of female power, an understanding of the violence that women as a group suffer, and a sense of female resistance to male domination (457). It is this concept, depicting women as breeding sex objects with male-defined identities and values, that Hoagland seeks to destroy (458-60). Similarly, in "Feminism and the Environment: An Overview of the Issues," Karen J. Warren discusses theories of how the conceptualization of women and nature accounts for the historical domination of both (497). Warren recognizes that certain theorists have espoused the belief that our society perceives that which is associated with emotion, women and nature as inferior to that which is associated with rationality and men (497). Moreover, the tendency to discuss nature in terms that are both female and dominating - "[n]ature is raped, mastered, conquered, controlled, mined," "[v]irgin timber is felled," "[f]ertile soil is tilled," and unproducing land is "barren" - has given rise to an "oppressive conceptual framework" that has effected and perpetuated societal domination of women and nature by men (Warren 497, 501). The relevance of this same, oppressive concept of woman and its impact on the development of feminist theory is recognized and expanded by Bell Hooks in "Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory." For Hooks, though, the formation of feminist ideology and its definition of "woman," originally dominated and skewed by white feminists who had more access to education, funds, and an audience than did black women, does not reflect the realities of the struggles and oppressions prevalent in society today (487). Indeed, according to Hooks, white women tend to maintain and perpetuate the

Outsourcing Information Technology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Outsourcing Information Technology - Case Study Example Information technology has many different fields and departments. BPO has under its wing contact centres, which are a major source of revenue saving for the company and also a major source of revenue for the company that acquired the BPO contract. The benefit of out sourcing the information technology is primarily to save a larger income of the company. This is particularly seen in the countries like United States and other western countries. If a company in US has to get the work done by one employee it has to spend at least not less than $5000 per month but when the same work is out sourced the company will get a more professional and quality work done by experts and also in time. They not only take's care of completing work in time but also supports after the completion of the project till the company requests for support. Out sourcing Information technology is also not an easy job, it requires expertise to allot work to the out sourced company. The company should know how to extract the right work in time. A team of dedicated individuals should be devoting to that work and should always check weather the work assigned in done properly and in time.

Recommendations to Manage Employee Behaviour Essay

Recommendations to Manage Employee Behaviour - Essay Example According to the discussion, a happy workforce is better equipped to contribute constructively to the shared goals of the organization for higher work performance as psychological well-being is associated with the psychological well-being of the employees. Dowling, Festing & Engle assert that each worker is unique with feelings, emotions, expectations and frames of references that is distinct to him/her. Consequently, individuals or employees require constant reassessment, evaluation and capacity building within the work context in order to meet the new challenges of time. Scholars reveal that within work environment, workers experience different physical, social and psychological influences that impact their work place behavior and subsequently their performance. The issues have to be addressed with innovative approach that considerably enhances their work satisfaction. Case study of Stockington branch of Superbrand, a leading retail organization of UK is undertaken to analyse facto rs that influence employees’ behaviour. It is one of the leading chains of supermarket in UK with focus on food items. It has more than 1000 medium and large supermarkets and around 450 convenience stores. It has wide range of products ranging from exclusive to low cost products to meet the requirements of different demographic segment. It is renowned for excellent customer service and quality products. The Stockington branch is facing some difficulties for the last nine to twelve months. A new supermarket in the town has put pressure on the sale. Currently it employs 31 managers supervising 500 strong workforce including permanent, part-time and temporary workers to meet the demands of fluctuating numbers of customers. It has weekly turnover of  £1m. It has 6 departments with checkouts department having maximum numbers of employees, high absenteeism and lowest satisfaction level.  

Challenges Employees Face with Electronic Health Records Research Paper

Challenges Employees Face with Electronic Health Records - Research Paper Example I expect all three modules to be consistent with each other and reflect what you actually did. Every sentence you write should be understandable and relevant to the module, you have submitted a lot of words, with no real content.. This is not graduate level work, you have a lot of work to do, to get a passing grade. Ruchi Patel Prof. Peters HCA 500 7/27/13 Abstract – there is no abstract for the results section, you should submit an abstract for module 6 The ratification of Obama Care as a healthcare reform program that was passed in 2011has significantly brought with it, emphasis on the use of electronic health records. The use of electronic health records also remains an indispensiblevalue since it is an integral part of medical services provision. As a matter of fact, healthcare provision begins with the retrieval, updating and storage of the patient’s profile (the patient’s health status, the degree to which the patient has met his financial obligations, fami ly or ethnic background, allergic reactions,age, and financial status) and ends with the same. Likewise, successful medical intervention rises and falls on the management ofelectronic health records, since information gathered from research findings, which is, key to the dispensation of evidence-based practice heavily relies on electronic health recordsfor safekeeping. Legal suits that ensue from patient-healthcare giver also depend upon electronic health records to be launched and prosecuted. Because of this, it is apparent that electronic health records is sacrosanct to healthcare practice and must therefore be studied, in order for ameliorations to be made in the field of medical practice. Introduction –there is no introduction for this module, you present your results in this module, you are free to add any information here, to your introduction in module 6 That there are many challenges that employees face with electronic health records is not in doubt. These challenges are multiple in natures since they have underpinnings in human nature, technological advancements, and laws that govern the provision of healthcare services and the use of technology. In turn, appreciating these challenges that accost employees as they attempt to use electronic health records is very important since it is the key to the realization of patient-based and evidence-based care. Ultimately, making healthcare provision patient-based and evidence-based is the key to the dispensation ofsuccessfulmedical services. The gravity behind this realization is that analyzing and acknowledgingthe difficulties that employees face with electronic health recordsis the first step towards successful medical services provision. Methodology The method that has been used for data collection is questionnaires. This approach was the mostappropriate method of data collection, due to its affordable nature A lot of efforts were also concerted to address ethical issues that accosted the researc h program, in respectto humansubjects in the research. This was requested as part of module 3, which you did not satisfactorily complete but I am interested to know what you actually did, as this forms part of the methodology section for module 6.  Secondly, informed consent was obtained from the respondents, at least a month before the actually questionnaire was enacted. Ok, but you did not provide me with

Final reflection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Final reflection - Assignment Example Among the various styles of artwork, I was particularly impressed with the surrealist style of art. I think that the surrealist art is the most honest expression of human consciousness, since it portrays dreams which one does not have control upon. I think I shall practice more and excel in the surrealist art style. It would also allow me to produce open work for the audiences, following Eco’s idea, since people looking at my paintings from different perspectives would draw different inferences from my art. Perhaps, these diverse interpretations of my artwork would provide me with an opportunity to better understand my own sub-consciousness. This course has not only equipped me with the knowledge of art, but has also refined me both as a painter and an art critic. Having taken this course, my ability to judge the extent to which a certain artist’s painting does justice to the intended theme has

Human Rights Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Rights Act - Essay Example The act came into place in 1998 and before that a person who had his right infringed had to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights to file such a complaint whereby a commission had to consider everyone’s petition in order to determine whether the case is admissible. Most cases failed to go through at this stage. The commission upon admission of a petition would then ascertain the facts and consider whether a friendly statement would suffice and if a friendly statement did not work, the court would come up with a report that illustrated its findings. Individual applicants could also not demand a hearing (Woodhouse, 2001). The act has placed powers on courts to defend the rights of individuals. These rights are important because they form part of our everyday lives. The United Kingdom has now been bound by case law from the European court of Human Rights rather than precedent. The act has created an obligation on the British courts to take case law from the Europea n court of human rights into account and to interpret legislation in a way that is compatible with the convention on human rights. Initially there had been a conflict between the common law courts and the convention court. The courts have always upheld the common law principles and in doing so the courts came up with statutory interpretations (Rt Hon Lord Justice Elias, 2009). The European Convention on Human Rights is an international document and the European Courts of Human rights also applied their own principles in determining a case. This is whereby the convention courts made different interpretations from the British courts, An example of such a conflict is seen in the case of R (on the application of Marper) .vs. Chief Constable of Yorkshire [2004] 1 WLR 2196. Issue was whether the retention of DNA samples of people who had been arrested amounted to an infringement of rights under Article 8 read together with article 14 of the convention or not. The House of Lords ruled that there was no human rights infringement and the convention court held that there was an infringement of rights. The United Kingdom courts now have the power to undermine parliament. The act has influenced the process of policy formulation of the government firstly, through the process of making sure that there is compatibility with the convention rights. Secondly, through litigation whereby a particular policy may be changed or the method in which the policy is delivered could also be changed. Finally, there is the change that is made in behavior whereby the act requires that the behavior of public authorities should conform to convention rights (Department for Constitutional Affairs, 2008). The Human Rights Act provides a way of enforcing compatibility with convention rights. To begin the courts under Section 3 of the Human Rights Act provides that courts will construe legislation in a way that is compatible with the convention rights. A case that illustrates the effect which the a ct has had in the circumstances is that of A and others .vs. Home Secretary [2005] 2 AC 68, whereby the house of lords held that the Anti- Terrorism Act of 2001 was incompatible with article 14 of the Convention of Human Rights by requiring that foreign nationals be detained without trial and thereby it discriminated on ones nationality and even racial status.

Self-Disclosure Peer Review Essay Example for Free

Self-Disclosure Peer Review Essay In the field of psychiatry, self-disclosure is only limited on the side of the therapist because the purpose of the session is to elicit as much information as the therapist can from the client. This is necessary so as to effectively provide solutions for the client’s psychological problems. If the therapist would inject self-disclosing moments during the session, this can either make the client feel insignificant and incompetent. However, if self-disclosure would be used appropriately, it can further enhance the session thus speeding up the process. In line with this, I think if a therapist decides to disclose personal experiences or information to the client, caution must always be in mind. Clients should be treated gently as if they are always in a vulnerable state. Through this, additional problems or conflicts can be prevented from manifesting. Post No. 2 by Meagan Bowser I agree with what the learner have posted about self-disclosure. This method should be utilized correctly and it should be implemented at the right time. Therapists must always put the clients first before themselves during sessions so as to emphasize that the focus are the clients and not the therapists. However, since people are distinct from one another using self-disclosure as a tool to resolve problems can have varying results. A certain approach for a specific client may not be applicable to another client. More so, is it appropriate for therapists to make up information in order to show empathy? For example, if a therapist has no experience or any idea about the situation of the client, can the therapists create fictional experiences so as to make the clients feel that they are not alone? Will this gesture be ethical or not?

Influence of Developed Countries on Developing Countries

Influence of Developed Countries on Developing Countries Gabriela Gonzà ¡lez Abstract This research paper aims to demonstrate the importance of creativity in the treatment of innovation and progress in developing countries. Besides, to analyze the influence of developed countries over developing countries. On the other hand, to explain how the economic system, the educational system and the social system contribute the lack of creativity and innovation in societies with low economic resources. This research will be made through studies based on documentary research that expose the relationship between creativity and innovation. Among the aspects to be explored we have the limitations of educational system, which inhibits the progress of society because this system encourages the memorization and not in the development of creativity. Another important point to discuss is the lack of financial resources and the debt that many countries have in developing, the limited development of innovation. As a last point, the social environment that promote individualistic behavior and do not contribute to social improvement. In conclusion, this essay seeks to demonstrate the main reasons for the lack of progress in the developing countries and to propose possible solutions to encourage creativity in these countries. Keywords: Creativity, Innovation, Progress, Developing countries. What are the factors that inhibit innovation and progress in developing countries? Nowadays, creativity has a very important role in the development of innovation and progress of societies with low economic resources. However, many countries do not take into account and the development of creativity. In the case of developing countries its economic system and educational system do not do enough to encourage creativity among students. As a consequence, developing countries need to adopt the standards from developed countries to satisfy each of their needs for food, education and health. On the other hand, developing countries have a great disadvantage because of the imposed standards by developed countries, which do not allow developing countries to develop by themselves to get innovative projects or take their own ideas. In addition, Creativity is essential to innovation and progress. However, in developing countries through a series of problems caused by the economic crisis, the edu cational environment and the lack of initiative by the society. For this reason, the three main factors that inhibit the innovation and progress in developing countries are: First, the limitations of the education system. Second, the lack of economic resources. Third, the lack of enterprising attitude that prevents progress. First of all, the limitations of education system are one of the main reasons of lack of the innovation and progress in developing countries. Currently, education system in many developing countries follows educational model and the standards of developed countries due to these countries have economic stability, a great amount of resources and the necessary power to completely dominate the educational system of developing countries. On the contrary, many developing countries lack the financial resources to satisfy the needs of their citizens. However, the real problem of developing countries is the lack of creativity due to this education system inhibit that students to develop their own skill and have the initiative to develop project innovative or make a change in the society. In the article Do Schools Kill Creativity? (2006) Robinson states that system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly-talen ted, brilliant, creative people think theyre not, because the thing they were good at school wasnt valued (p. 1). Taking this into account, educational system hierarchizes the knowledge of students who cannot develop their creative abilities since the educational system stigmatizes everything that does not comply with its principles. In conclusion, education system inhibits the progress of society because it has more interest in academic capacities that in creative capacities. As a result, the two main limitations of educational system are: First, the lack of creativity in educative institutions. Second, standardized and traditionalist education. The lack of creativity in educative institutions One of the limitations of the educational system is the lack of creativity in schools. Because these institutions follow an educational model based on the learning of the sciences which does not take into account the creativity in the development of knowledge. However, in the documentary The Finland Phenomenon (2013) Sean Faust expounds that to learn to make use of knowledge, there should be no differences between sensory skills or academic skills because to learn you need both. On the other hand, this Model of teaching does not promote the learning of creative subjects such as music, dance or art because to obtain a title does not need to be creative. But creativity plays a very important role in the development of innovation since it allows to create things without the need to have several knowledge. For example, William Kamkwamba despite not having finished his education with the help of creativity he managed to build a windmill that helped his family to have electricity. For this reason, schools should encourage creativity because it is an essential tool for the progress of society. Standardized and traditionalist education. Another limitation of the educational system is standardized and traditional education. Because many educational institutions follow a system of teaching based on memorization and repetition. However, in agreement with the documentary The Finland Phenomenon (2013) Sean Faust expounds that it is important to understand the reasons that underlie things, to understand, to reason and to find the solutions for itself . On the other hand, this educational system foments the competitiveness and the inequality between the students. As a result, many students drop out of school and are part of the group of unemployed. On the contrary, the students who continue their studies are subject to the strict evaluation system, which is based on a series of tests that aims to qualify the performance of students and categorize them into good or bad. However, the standards of this system do not prepare students for real life and for this reason is a traditional system as it prevents students from generat ing their own ideas and develop innovative projects that help the progress of society. Second, the lack of economic resources.is another of the factors that inhibit the innovation and progress in developing countries because many developing countries have many debts with developed countries. As a result, developing countries do not have sufficient resources to develop projects or to generate ideas of change. One the main reasons for the lack of economic resources in developing countries is external debt because many of these countries need to borrow money from the most developed countries to cover their basic needs. However, In the article Economic: principles and practices (2001) Clayton explains that when debts get this large, countries have trouble even paying interest on the loans. As a result, some developing nations are on the brink of default or not repaying borrowed money (p.3).On the other hand, one of the most important factors for the development of innovative ideas is the material resource. In this case, many developing countries have a great variety of res ources such as: minerals, petroleum which are the raw material of many international industries. However, despite having the resources to sustain its economy and progress. The two main reasons for the lack of economic resources are: First, the lack of economic autonomy. Second, economic dependence. The lack of economic autonomy One of main reason for the lack of economic resources is the lack of economic autonomy due to that developing countries do not have economic resources. Therefore, developing countries do not have the economy to make their own decisions. As a result, they have to be subjected to the system of developed countries. On the other hand, developing countries lack autonomy because the level of education of the population is not appropriate. In the article Latin America Needs to Improve Access to opportunities to Win Poverty Fight(2016) Calvo explains that low education and income, as well as living in rural areas, remain important barriers for access to economic opportunities and mobility from one generation to the next In other words, developing countries may be autonomous when the index of education and resources financed allows society to be self-reliant. Economic dependence Another reason for the lack of economic resources is economic dependence due to developing countries adopted system economic of developed countries.. For this reason, developing countries cannot afford their resources because some of the resources of these countries are destined to pay the debts. As a result, the raw material of these countries contributes to the industrial development of the developed countries. Thus, limiting the opportunity to develop innovative projects in poor societies. However, In the articleA Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill (2007) Childress explains that William Kamkwamba has built three windmills in his yard here, using blue-gum trees and bicycle parts.(p.1).Taking this into account, she shows that to innovate not is necessary to have a lot of money only is need have creativity. Third, the lack of enterprising attitude is another of the factors that inhibit the innovation and progress in developing countries because society focuses on mechanizing students so they have convergent thinking which follows social standards and does not allow students to make their own decisions and lose the ability to think freely. In the article Scientists Are More Creative than You Might Imagine (2014) Ossola states that Scientists dont usually have a reputation for being very creative. They have to adhere to the scientific method, use statistics and data, and carefully measure their results activities that would appear to take the magic out of the creative process However, taking this account currently we live in a society where knowledge is stigmatized and to be a scientist or a professional is not necessary to be creative but to accumulate information and knowledge. As a result, Developing countries limited their own progress by social stereotypes and social environment are themselves who put barriers to creativity and innovation. Social standards One of the reasons for lack of progress is social standards because society does not approve of creativity because it is supposed to violate social norms. Furthermore, social system limits children by making them adopt convergent thinking and loses their creative abilities. For example, one of the most introduced social standards states that to progress one must have a degree as an engineer or doctor. On the other hand, activities like dancing or drawing do not lead to any progress. In the documentary Do Schools Kill Creativity?(2006) Robinson states that We stigmatize mistakes. And were now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. And the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities. .In conclusion, social standards limit the development of innovation because they prevent people from constructive thinking and generate innovative projects. Social environmental Another reason for the lack of the progress is social environmental because society does not allow students to learn about what real life is like and inhibit their creativity by preventing them from having their own vision about things. In addition, society encourages competition among students. However, in the article The case for disruption in Latin Americas classrooms (2016) Sagal states that the children need different skill such as collaboration, creativity and problem-solving and character qualities like persistence, curiosity and initiative. Skilled jobs are increasingly concentrated on effectively analyzing information to solve problems. Therefore, if society fosters these skills in children in the future they will be the forerunners of development. To sum up, creativity is a determinate factor in the innovation and progress of developing countries. On the other hand, both the educational system and the economic system have been influenced by the developed countries because they have many economic resources. As a result, societies with low economic resources depend on the progress of the developed countries because they do not have the power or the economy to lead a stable life Additionally, the innovation and progress of these societies is limited by three factors; external debt, lack of creativity in the education system and lack of initiative on the part of society. As a consequence, the developing countries are disadvantaged compared to the developed countries. However, if the developing countries will implemented creativity would eliminate the barriers of innovation and societies with low resources can have a better life. Therefore, in my opinion there are three feasible solutions that would allow the development of creativ ity. I would like to explain that his topic is important because it means the fact that inhibits the progress of developing countries. In addition, it describes the disadvantages of developing countries. To conclude, I think that developing countries need to investigate more and create more because this is the way to progress and reach their economic and social objectives. References Childress, S. (2007, December). A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, electrifying a  Nation. Clayton, G. (2001) Economics: Principles Practices. Retrieved from http://thuvien.due.udn.vn:8080/dspace/handle/TVDHKT/18995 Faust, S. (2011, March). Education system of Finland [Documentary]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnRb_PtpN7I Ossola, A. (2014). Scientists Are More Creative Than You Think. The Atlantic. Retrieved July 18, 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/11/the-creative- scientist/382633/ Robinson, K. (2006, February). Do schools kill creativity? [TED talk]. Retrieved from:  https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity? Segal, S. (2016, May). The case for disruption in Latin Americas classroom. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/a-case-for-disruption-in-latin-america-s-classrooms/ The Work Bank (2016, October) Latin America needs to improve access to opportunities to Win Poverty Fight, Revised from: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/10/17/latin-america-needs-to-improve-access-to-opportunities-to-win-poverty-fight

Social Psychology Theory Aggression Criminology Essay

Social Psychology Theory Aggression Criminology Essay Mass shootings are a unique feature of American life which has occurred consistently throughout history in every region of the country. The increased lethality of such incidents is made possible by the use of large capacity ammunition magazines (defined as more than 10-rounds) which enable a shooter to rapidly fire off as many as 100-rounds without having to reload the firearm. Designed for military use to kill greater numbers of people more effectively, large capacity ammunition magazines have facilitated some of the worst mass murders ever committed in the United States (Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, 2013). This essay will focus on the social psychology theory of aggression. Specific reference will be made to physical appearance of the shooter, psychological influences, social influences, external influences of the incident, gun usage, the setting, the profile of the victims and whether mass shootings are unique to American life or if other countries such as South Africa could be at risk for these type of incidents. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY THEORY: AGGRESSION Aggression is when a person intends to do harm to others. (Baron Branscombe, 2012) Social psychologists view aggression as stemming mainly from an external drive within people to harm others. This theory is indicated by different theories of aggression. These theories suggest that external conditions, such as frustration, seem to motivate people to cause others harms. This aggressive drive tends to lead to physical acts of aggression. The most well-known of these theories is the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which suggests that frustration leads to the arousal of a drive whose objective is to harm a person or an object. In addition the theory suggests that frustration is possibly the strongest and maybe single cause of aggression (Baron Branscombe, 2012). Hostile aggression has traditionally been conceived as being impulsive, spontaneous, anger driven, motived by the harming of a target, and occurring as a reaction to some perceived provocation. It is sometimes called affective, impulsive, or reactive aggression. Instrumental aggression is regarded as a calculated method of achieving some goal other than harming the victim, and being proactive rather than reactive. (Anderson Bushman, 2002) Social Learning Theory The social learning theory states that human were not born with large range of aggressive behaviour, rather they acquire them through direct experience or by observing others behaviour. As such, depending on a persons past experiences and their culture, people learn (1) various ways of seeking to harm others, (2) which people or groups are appropriate targets for aggression, (3) what actions by others justify retaliation or vengeance on their part, and (4) what situations or contexts are ones in which aggression is permitted or even approved (Baron Branscombe, 2012). General aggression model (GAM) is a framework that has been built on the social learning theory. This theory posits that a sequence of events that may lead to overt aggression can be initiated by two types of input variables: (1) factors that are related to the current situation (situational factors) and factors that are related to the people involved (person factors). Frustration, provocation of some sort, witnessing o thers peoples aggressive behaviour and any other experiences that may cause discomfort, fall under the first category. Traits that predispose individual towards aggression, particular attitudes and beliefs about violence, the inclination perceive others behaviour as hostile and certain skills related to aggression, make up the second category. The GAM states that these situational and personal factors lead to overt aggressive behaviour through their impact on the following three processes: arousal physiological arousal or excitement, affective states provoke hostile feelings and their outward manifestation, and cognition bring up hostile thoughts. Thus, an individuals appraisal of a situation may either lead to restraining the anger or overt aggressive action. (Baron Branscombe, 2012) Script Theory According to the script theory, scripts are sets of well-rehearsed, highly associated concepts in memory, often involving causal links, goals, and action plans. When items are so strongly linked that they form a script, they become a single concept in semantic memory. Moreover, even a few script rehearsals can change a persons expectations and intentions involving important social behaviours. A frequently rehearsed script gains accessibility strength in two ways. Numerous rehearsals create additional links to other concepts in memory, as such they increase the number of paths by which it can be activated. Numerous rehearsals also intensify the strength of the links themselves. This theory is particularly useful in accounting for the generalization of social learning processes and the automatic (and simplified) complex of perception-judgment-decision-behavioural processes. This includes an example of one simple aggression script involving retaliation. (Anderson Bushman, 2002) Social Interaction Theory Tedeschi Felsons social interaction theory interprets aggressive behaviour (also known as coercive action) as social influence behaviour, namely an actor uses aggressive behaviour to produce some change in the targets behaviour. A person can use coercive actions to acquire something of value (e.g., information, money, goods, sex, services, safety), to get revenge for perceived wrongs, or to bring about desired social and self-identities (e.g., toughness, competence). According to this theory, the person whose choices are directed by the expected rewards, costs, and probabilities of obtaining different outcomes is the decision-maker. Social interaction theory offers an explanation that aggressive behaviours are motivated by higher level goals. Even hostile aggression might have some rational goal behind it, for instance punishing the person provoking them in order to reduce the likelihood of future provocations. This theory provides an excellent way to understand recent findings that aggression is often the result of threats to high self-esteem, especially to unjustified high self-esteem (i.e., narcissism). (Anderson Bushman, 2002) Person Factors Person factors include all the characteristics a person brings to the situation, such as personality traits, attitudes, and genetic predispositions (Anderson Bushman, 2002). Stable person factors are consistent over time, across situations, or both. The main outcome of the persons consistent use of schemas, scripts, and other knowledge structures is this consistency. In this sense, personality is the totality of a persons knowledge structures. Further contributing to trait-like consistency, knowledge structures also influence what situations a person will seek out and what situations will be avoided. Together, person factors consist of an individuals readiness to aggress. (Anderson Bushman, 2002) Environmental Factors Family, community and cultural environment: Children draw inferences about the acceptability of aggression and aggressive behaviour from beliefs expressed by parents and peers. Although parents and peers are the closest influences on the socialisation of the youth, the community and culture also influence children through the childs connection to school, church, and the media. As such cultural variations of the acceptance of aggressive behaviour are relatively large. (Anderson Huesmann, 2003) Media violence: Observation of violence in mass media does not only arouse aggressive behaviour on a short term basis by priming aggressive scripts, and schemas, but it also arouses aggressive behaviour on a long term basis by altering scripts, schemas, and beliefs about aggression. (Anderson Huesmann, 2003) Maladaptive families/parenting: Parents use of poor discipline methods and inadequate monitoring of the childrens activities are among the key problems linked to the development of life-long aggression. Caretakers with indifferent attitudes towards the child, permissiveness of aggression by the child, and physical punishment and other power-assertive disciplinary techniques are some of the factors identified by Olweus (1995) that create bullies. Children who have been abused or neglected are more likely to become abusive and neglectful parents and violent criminals. (Anderson Huesmann, 2003) Extreme social environments: Factors such as poverty, living in a violent neighbourhood, deviant peers, lack of safe recreational areas, and lack of social support tend to promote the development of aggressive personalities. (Anderson Huesmann, 2003) Situational Factors Aggressive cues: Items that prime aggression-related ideas in memory are called aggressive cues. For example, Berkowitz LePage (1967) found that just the presence of guns alone increased the aggressive behaviour of enraged research participants. More recently, this study has enhanced our understanding of the weapons effect by discovering that weapon pictures and words automatically prime aggressive thoughts. There are other situational variables that increase aggression, for instance exposure to violent television, movies, or video games, also appear to do so via cognitive cueing effects. (Anderson Bushman, 2002) Provocation: The single most important cause of human aggression is interpersonal provocation. Provocations include insults, slights, and other forms of verbal aggression, physical aggression, and interference with ones attempts to reach an important goal. (Anderson Bushman, 2002) Frustration: Frustration can be defined as the obstruction of attaining a goal. Most provocations can be seen as a type of frustration in which a person has been identified as the cause for the failure to achieve the goal. Even frustrations that are fully warranted have been shown to increase aggression against the cause of the frustration and against a person who was not responsible for the failure to achieve the goal. More recent work has shown that displaced aggression, wherein the target of aggression is not the person who caused the initial frustration, is a robust phenomenon (Anderson Bushman, 2002). Incentives: The advertisement industry rests on the goal of making people want more things. By increasing the value of an object, one changes the implicit or explicit observed cost/benefit ratios, thus increasing intentional, instrumental aggression. Brief appearances of an incentive, for example money left on a table, can also influence aggression in a less deliberate way. (Anderson Bushman, 2002) PHYSICAL PROFILE OF PERPETRATORS Most perpetrators of mass gun shootings at schools seem to fit a similar physical profile. According to Rocque (2012), they tend to be white, males and of middle to lower class economic standing. Bjelopera et al. (2013) seem to agree that perpetrators of mass gun shootings are white males. They state that perpetrators ranged in age from 11 to 66, with the average age of perpetrators being 33.5 years. PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCE The majority of perpetrators have experienced some major loss before the incident. Even though most did not receive any services, the majority had a history of suicide attempts in their past or a documented history of significant depression. As such, the perpetrator can be depicted as a mentally disturbed person who has not received sufficient services and is depressed and/or suicidal. Depressive symptoms combined with a history of antisocial personality traits are predictive of violence. Most perpetrators place the blame for their personal problems on other people. Otherwise, they would take their own lives, but not the lives of others. Because they consider life to be miserable, they seek to commit suicide. But before doing so, they set out to kill those individuals they regard as the source of their misery (Fox, Burgess, Levin Wong, 2006). Thus, data from all sources available, imperfect though certainly they are, converge upon certain psychological characteristics: long-term anti social traits, current depression, recent loss, and (more speculatively) perception that others are to blame for problems or are persecuting them (Ferguson, Coulson Barnett, 2011). In many cases the perpetrators had engaged in other behaviours that caused alarm in friends, parents, teachers, or mental health professionals. These include fantasizing about violence, especially towards innocent people. (Ferguson, Coulson Barnett, 2011) The impact of frustration or goal-blockage on aggressive behaviour has been well-documented in the literature. Individuals who live frustrating lives tend to be more hostile, angry and aggressive than those who are able to achieve their central goals (Fox, Burgess, Levin Wong, 2006). Further research on school shooters has shown several similarities in personality, such as poor control of anger, lack of empathy, and a combined sense of persecution, righteous indignation, and superiority (Wike Fraser, 2009). Nearly every mass shooting incident in the past twenty years, and multiple other instances of suicide and isolated shootings all share one thing in common, and its not the weapons used. The majority of evidence points to the single largest common factor in all of these incidents are the fact that all of the perpetrators were either actively taking powerful psychotropic drugs or had been at some point just before they committed their crimes. Many studies going back more than a decade, as well as documents from pharmaceutical companies that suppressed the information show that SSRI drugs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) have well known, but unreported side effects, including but not limited to suicide and other violent behaviour. The most common psychotropic drugs that perpetrators are likely to take include Prozac, Zoloft and Ritalin. (Roberts, 2013) SOCIAL INFLUENCES Rejection by peers may weakly predict violent behaviour, including school shootings. Studies show that peer rejection has a developmental associate with anxiety, depression, aggression and antisocial behaviour. Furthermore the termination of romantic relationships-a form of peer rejection-is linked to depression and loneliness. Several case studies indicate that failed peer relationships and humiliation tend to led to many shooting events. (Wike Fraser, 2009) Student perpetrators tend to have lower social status with peers, and they are more likely to have been harassed by peers. That is they have been teased, taunted, or bullied. The Safe School Initiative found that 71% of attackers had experienced bullying and harassment (Wike Fraser, 2009). Because peer harassment is a common occurrence in schools peer harassment is probably best thought of as risk factor that elevates isolation and anger. Most mass killers are socially isolated, consistent with the loner stereotype. They either live by themselves or, if living with friends or family, they do not typically share their problems and frustration. For some reason, they are withdrawn or isolated and feel they have no place to turn when they get into trouble. (Fox, Burgess, Levin Wong, 2006) It has been estimated that in 95% of mass murders, there is a precipitating event such as a divorce or job termination that occurred prior to the mass killing. (Duwe, 2005) Researchers are attempting to explain school rampage shootings in terms of the social-psychological notion of imitation. There is evidence of this copycat factor, in which young people try to imitate high profile school shootings. In a sense, this notion of imitation and the influence of the media are related to social learning, which has been applied to criminal behaviour. Social learning is also concerned with the effect of peers on behaviour. (Rocque, 2012) The social construction masculine identity is a cultural factor that researchers have pointed to as an explanation of school shootings. School mass shooters tend to demonstrate their hegemonic masculinity through violent actions. It is often the case that these perpetrators have been denied traditional male status and have perhaps had their sexuality questioned. It is interesting to note that most of the school rampage shootings have taken place in red or conservative states with a specific emphasis on masculinity and gun culture. Kimmel and Mahler (2003) argue, homophobia being constantly threatened and bullied as if you are gay as well as the homophobic desire to make sure that others know that you are a real man plays a pivotal and understudied role in these school shootings. (Rocque, 2012) EXTERNAL INFLUENCES The majority of offenders showed an intense interest in violent media, including violent movies, music, video games, or books (Kidd Meyers, 2002). Fox et al. (2006) seems to think that it is not uncommon for rumours and unscientific theories to surface in the wake of an act that seems so inexplicablespeculations about the influence of violence in movies, games or musical lyrics, the role of alcohol and prescription or recreational drugs, or psychiatric/behavioural disorders resulting from chemicals or even neurological abnormalities. GUN USAGE One of the factors that characterize the perpetrators of school shootings is fascination with guns, bombs, and other explosives. For example, the perpetrators of the violence at Columbine High School appear to have been deeply involved with violent video games and guns. The duo hoarded bombs, explosives, and guns in their homes for a year while they planned their attack. Writings found after the attack contained references to death, violence, superiority, and hate (Wike Fraser, 2009). Researchers suggest that many children have easy access to firearms. They stated that most offenders used firearms owned by a family member to commit their crime. These researchers suggested that the availability of guns may contribute to feelings of toughness and may give that assailant a high status. It is apparent that many of the offenders were, in fact, seeking status among their peers. (Kidd Meyers, 2002) According to research studies a semiautomatic firearm is the weapon of choice for someone who looking to commit a mass murder. Most mass killers have been training in gun usage and have access to guns-they might go hunting, be military veterans, engage in target shooting, or work in a field of security. (Fox, Burgess, Levin Wong, 2006) SETTING From the Bjelopera et al. (2013) report, public mass shootings happen in relatively public settings. These settings generally include schools, workplaces, restaurants, parking lots, public transit, even private parties that include at least some guests who are not family members of the shooter. Hawdon et al. 2012, states that mass shootings are particularly distressing and that not only were they acts of extreme violence, they all occurred in settings where violence of any kind is relatively rare. Furthermore, they also occurred in institutions-schools and a shopping mall-that are expected to be safe. VICTIM PROFILE One of the major characteristics of mass shootings is that the target is generally symbolic in nature. In other words, the perpetrator is not seeking to exact revenge on particular people, but they are rather looking to make a statement with violence-it may not matter who the ultimate victims are. This is in contrast to other types of inner city school violence, which often involves two or more individuals with specific grievances toward one another (Rocque, 2012). According to the report conducted by Bjelopera et al. (2013), a killers relationship to his or her victims is important. Perpetrators are usually driven by a desire for revenge and/or power; some killers may target family members or close friends. The incidents described in this report of public mass shootings, the gunmen cannot only kill such individuals. This particularly rules out cases of domestic violence-instances only involving family members either inside or outside the home- from consideration as public mass shootings (Bjelopera et al. 2013). As a result perpetrators in public mass shootings rather select their victims at random. For example, a student assailant involved in a public mass shooting plans on killing particular teachers, while simultaneously staging a wider assault on his school (Bjelopera et al. 2013). CONCLUSION Although mass shootings appear to afflict the United States more than most other countries, they are by no means a uniquely American phenomenon. In 1996 sixteen kindergarten children were shot and killed in Dunblane, Scotland, and in 2011 69 teenagers were killed on an island retreat in Norway (Mesoudi, 2013). This essay has discussed how social psychology theory of aggression can be applied to mass shootings. The essay described aggression and its cause, and then later applied the theory into the practical example of mass shootings. This essay shows how perpetrators of mass killings generally seem to share a similar physical appearance; they tend to be white males. Psychological influences include loss before the incident, depression, suicidal thoughts, frustration and the intake of psychotropic drugs, such as SSRI. The social factors that seem to influence the majority of perpetrators include social rejection, isolation, low social status, precipitating events, imitation as well as the construction of masculinity. External factors that may lead to or influence mass shooting include violent media, such as violent movies, music, video games and books. Perpetrators prior to incident tend to have a fascination with guns and bombs. Mass shootings generally take place in public settings, like schools, malls, parking lots etc. It seems as though certain perpetrators may select the victims and in others they do not. There are a number of variables that lead to mass shootings, many of which can be prevent or sufficiently dealt with. Mass shootings have devastating results on communities, as a result society as a whole needs to unite to prevent these incidents from reoccurring.

The Importance of Education :: Importance of Education Essay

Education plays a vital role in shaping tomorrows’ leaders. Not only can we become a better nation by acquiring the skills necessary to be productive members of a civilized society. Increase knowledge to actively achieve and meet challenges that can produce changes in which are productive for attaining business innovations, political and economic objectives. Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions. We are dealing with systemic problems in education, economic, government, religion and culture differences. To quote a phrase from Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz, "Make me the master of education, and I will undertake to change the world." If we are to change the world simply because we have and continue to acquire the education necessary to increase knowledge; we must never forget education along without the practice of inducing what is learned is not enough to produce attainable results favorable to sustain a society in the 21st century. We must become the voice of the people by getting involved to make a difference in the world by putting into motion what we have learned. When I was growing up, I remember attending elementary school, learning a new language seems to be difficult at first, but I was able to learn the English language because of the dedication of one of my teachers. Now, as I reflect on this experience, it is obvious that she was dedicated and enjoyed teaching her students to be successful. I know today that she made a difference in my life as I navigated through my education experience and high school years to present. I also experience the lack of concern of other teachers, not taking the time and dedication to teach their students to excel. In part, I strongly believe it had to with the culture differences that existed within the schools that I attended and the neighborhood I grew up. At times, I felt being part of a minority group created an environment, which I perceived teachers not to care about my education needs or whether I could succeed in life. Today, we have made strides in improving our education system in our schools. Yet, we are facing similar problems and perhaps even worse when teachers are rushing their students through their curriculum without taking the time to encourage and support them to excel in their classes.

Changes In The Atmosphere Causing Multicellularity :: essays research papers

Changes in the Atmosphere Causing Multicellularity About 2.5 billion years ago, oxygen began slowly to accumulate in the atmosphere, as a result of the photosynthetic activity of the cyanobacteria. Those prokaryotes that were able to use oxygen in ATP production gained a strong advantage, and so they began to prosper and increase. Some of these cells may have evolved into modern forms of aerobic bacteria. Other cells may have become symbionts with larger cells and evolved into mitochondria. As the amount of oxygen and other atmospheric gasses increased, they started blocking out deadly u.v. rays from the sun. The sun’s rays made life outside of water nearly impossible. These changes made life on land possible and evolution occurred as prokaryotes gave rise to land living eukaryotes. The microfossil record indicates that the first eukaryotes evolved at least 1.5 billion years ago. Eukaryotes are distinguished from prokaryotes by their larger size, the separation of nucleus from cytoplasm by a nuclear envelope, the association of DNA with histone proteins and its organization into a number off distinct chromosomes, and complex organelles, among which are chloroplasts and mitochondria. Scientists believe that eukaryotic organisms such as the protists evolved from the prokaryotes. There are two main theories which describe how this transition may have occurred. The first is the endosymbiotic theory, or enosymbiosis, and the other is the autogenous theory, or autogenisis. These two theories are not mutually exclusive, meaning one or the other could account for different parts of eukaryotic cells. The endosymbiotic theory states that the formation of eukaryotic cells were symbiotic associations of prokaryotic cells living inside larger prokaryotes. The endosymbiotic hypothesis accounts for the presence in eukaryotic cells of complex organelles not found in the far simpler prokaryotes. Many modern organisms contain intracellular symbiotic bacteria, cyanobacteria, or photosynthetic protists, indicating that such associations are not difficult to establish and maintain. Endosymbiosis is said to be responsible for the presence of chloroplasts and mitochondria in eukaryotes. Autogenisis, the alternative to the endosymbiotic theory is specialization of internal membranes derived originally from the plasma membrane of a prokaryote. Autogenisis could be responsible for structures like the nuclear membrane and endoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotes. There are two scenarios for which multicellularity may have occurred. The first is unicellular organisms came together to form a colonial organism, then

Essay --

No two people are the same, not even identical twins. There are overachievers, and alternatively underachievers, alcoholics and abstainers, the timid and the outgoing, and every possible mixture in between. Living With Our Genes argues that genes are the most outstanding factor in the process of developing the complex variability of human nature. Hamer and Copeland lay out the idea of the nature-nurture controversy by identifying the differences between temperament and character. Temperament is the collection of primal behavioral tendencies we acquire, which are adapted to varied degrees by our character, beliefs, and the values our surroundings bestows on us. Essentially it is a game of genes versus environment, with a constant back and forth as the authors explain the behavioral characteristics that effect our lives. The nature/nurture argument originates from the fact that people are more reluctant to accept a genetic influence on behavior than they are on more simple traits such as eye color or an inherited illness. Hamer and Copeland put it as follows, "We accept that ...

IKEA in China, Sweden and the UK Essay

For IKEA the step into the Chinese market was a big step, maybe as big at the first step abroad to Switzerland and the first store on foreign soil (Spreitenbach) in 1973 (Torekull, 1999). It meant entering China and its gigantic – at least potentially – consumer market. IKEA targets different group of people in China than in countries later in the IKEA ‘life cycle’ (i.e., life cycle based on how long IKEA has been on a market). The main target group is female customers – 65 % of all customers. Women, according to IKEA, stand for change in China and they welcome change (and IKEA see them selves as providing the tools for change in at least one area). Men are also part of the target group but more indirectly as women are the ones in the family having home furnishing interest and making the actual decisions. Customers are aged 25-35 (the core customer is around 30). Many from IKEA’s target group are what in China is know as ‘the little emperors’: the generation born into the One Child Policy (today 15-27 years old). This segment of the population includes some 30 million people. One of the characteristics of this group of consumers is that they are impulsive, easy to influence and are very social. And committed to foreign major consumer brands (Gunnarsson, 1997). They are also known as the ‘the me-generation’ or ‘the lifestyle generation’ (e.g., Schà ¼tte & Ciarlatte, 1999, p 139), IKEA’s customers are also well educated, living in big cities in China. With increasing salaries of the target group, the target group for IKEA increases every year. The customer in China buys less when they visit the store than the IKEA average customer. But in Shanghai for example, the core customers visit IKEA more often than anywhere in the world: 33% come every month. This means – among other things – that there is a need for a lot of change in the store. The Shanghai store rearranges room settings at least seven times a year, for new product or just for different holidays and campaigns etc. IKEA’s offer is to supply affordable solutions to Chinese customers, but the overall image is another one (see below) forcing IKEA to offer other values to their Chinese customers. In the Shanghai stores primary market area the core customers’ monthly household income is 6000 RMB. This is high by Chinese standards but in the IKEA world it is not very high: IKEA compares different countries by using a typical IKEA basket of goods. The Swiss only have to work 2 months to buy the basket while the Chinese will have to work 1 year and 6 months. Merchandise Some of IKEA’s major challenges are summed up in the citation below, featuring IKEA’s current Asia boss: â€Å"When Ian Duffy was first put in charge of IKEA’s China stores four years ago, he spent hours at the checkout line observing customers. He didn’t see many. Instead, he saw plenty of people crowding the Beijing store for freebies – air conditioning, clean toilets and even decorating ideas. Adding insult to injury: shops right outside were offering copies of IKEA’s designs at a fraction of the cost. So, to lure shoppers, the Englishman launched what could be the cheapest IKEA non-sale items in the world: a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a cone for 12 cents. Thus began IKEA’s strategy to beguile the finicky Chinese consumer by slashing prices in China to the lowest in the world – the opposite approach of many Western retailers.† (The Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2006) IKEA is used to be perceived as having low prices, this also one of the competitive cornerstones of the whole concept of IKEA (see above). But this is not the case in China; here the perception is a fairly exclusive western retailer, a store for the higher middle class (Lewis, 2005). For example, for the Chinese, Billy (the inexpensive, high selling book case) was perceived as a luxary (Jungbluth, 2006).  While IKEA has accepted that to some extent, the main strategy has been to cut prices. And to do that, IKEA in China has been allowed to ‘break’ unbreakable codes and rules in the IKEA organisation. China is a big sourcing country for IKEA. Still, for many products IKEA China sources were everybody else in IKEA sources, for example Poland. In China that has meant that imported product were subject to import taxes (22%) and it also involved a lead-time of 12 weeks (it is now down to 5 weeks). To be able to keep cutting prices on the China market IKEA China has been allowed to exceed and expand its sourcing of products in China, while the rest of IKEA still sources the same products somewhere else in the world. The actual figures differ a little on how much in a Chinese IKEA store that is sourced in China. Some say that half of the products in an IKEA store in China are made in China, compared to 23% in IKEA stores overall (The Wall Street Journal, 2006). IKEA says 30 % and in addition to that 500 more articles were the local trading office are now looking for Chinese suppliers. According to IKEA, this has really resulted in lower prices as prices have dropped at least 30% since 2003, on some products the price has dropped as much as 90%. IKEA’s single-seat Ektorp armchair retail for 112$ in China, 67 % lower price than one sold in the US (The Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2006). IKEA, like many other companies doing business in China, is subject to copying. One observer noticed that many Chinese shoppers in IKEA were drawing pictures of the furniture and scribbling down descriptions of the products but not necessarily buying them. (Lewis, 2005). Copying IKEA furniture and style is to some extent easy. The catalogue and the store provide in many cases even measurements of furniture. And IKEA style home furnishing has in some areas become a concept of its own, outside the control of IKEA. If you search the baidu.com, a local Shanghai website, for ‘IKEA style’ you will get more than 39 000 hits. With a focus on delivering help in home decoration rather than individual products as such, it is easier to achieve a position that is not taken over by competitors that copy your individual products: the Karlanda sofa is easy to copy but not the home decorating skills provided by the company in the store, on the web site, in the catalogue etc. While price will not in the foreseeable future be IKEA’s main argument in China, what is? IKEA tries to position itself as a company with an unique competence when it comes to interior design. Helping customers with this is the basic message, rather than selling individual products at low prices.  Focus here has also been on selected areas, like storage. Many Chinese live in small apartments and IKEA can help with smart solutions for storage that makes life easier (is the argument). IKEA’s argument is very much about function while this contrasts to traditional furniture manufacturers in China were everything is about tradition. From experience IKEA know that markets run through some kind of life-cycle: when stores open in a new country most customers buy what IKEA call market-hall products, i.e., everything but furniture. In established countries the proportion is said to be 65 to 35 between furniture and market hall products. It varies across IKEA stores in China but China has matured relatively fast with proportions between furniture and market hall fast approaching those in older markets like Sweden and Germany.  Chinese see IKEA products as innovative and not traditional. Square tables are for example not traditional (round tables are tradition) and many of the colours used are not traditional to the Chinese. Everything in an IKEA store, in China as everywhere else in the world, is sold under the private brand ‘IKEA’. In the Sweden shop in the IKEA store (outside Sweden) there are exceptions as it holds famous Swedish food and drink brands, but in home furnishing it is IKEA. According to IKEA, ‘IKEA’ is a well known brand. In Shanghai, 96 % in the catchments area of the store know of IKEA. Fortune Cookies (Dagens Industri, 20060505) first market and opinion poll in China shows that, among people with a monthly income of no less than RMB 2500, living in urban areas and aged 15-55, 75% know of IKEA. The meaning of IKEA in Chinese is positive and very appropriate: IKEA’s translation in Chinese means ‘desirable for home living/comfortable home’ which is regarded as a very good translation in China. It is pronounced â€Å"Yi Jia†, similar to the English pronunciation of IKEA. All products, here as everywhere else in the world, have Swedish names and the assortment in a Chinese IKEA store is very similar to one in the US, Sweden etc. In 1998 three products were added for China – chopsticks, wok  with a lid and a cleaver – but they are now in almost every store around the world. The Chinese IKEA stores have a special set of tea cups for the Chinese New Year. Also, 500.000 plastic placemats are produced to commemorate the year of the rooster (Business Week, nov 15, 2005). At the moment mainland China, as well as in Hong Kong, the beds sold are shorter (190cm) than standard-sized beds (200cm). This is currently being reviewed but so far constitutes another adjustment in the assortment to fit demands in the geographical area. Many Chinese live in apartments with balconies and this space of the apartment is very important to the Chinese. IKEA has added settings in the store that show how you can furnish your balcony and a special balcony section in the stores (Lewis, 2005). Location and store formats The big-box IKEA format is unusual in China were shopping traditionally is done locally and with specialist stores. IKEA stores in China are located closer to city centre than what is the case in other parts of the world were IKEA stores are usually located well outside city centre and suburbs. In China the location is closer to some type of city centre while the location is not exactly down town. A location well outside the city would not have been ideal in China as consumers do not have access to cars like European and US customers have. Here the stores have to be where public transportation can take people, and where there is some kind of hub where many people pass through. A good example is the Shanghai store which is very close to several bus lines and one of the metro lines in Shanghai. However, as the Shanghai store have 700 parking places under the store, IKEA is expecting Chinese shopping patterns to change in the future (= more private cars to go to the store). Public transportation to the store is a contributing factor to the service level: home sending services are more common and more used here (while they are available also in other parts of the IKEA world). Also, outside the store in Shanghai (and outside other IKEA stores in China) you will see entrepreneurs setting up to transport home for people and also following that with actually putting the furniture together for IKEA  consumers in their homes.  In the new Beijing store – the larges IKEA store outside Sweden (the Stockholm ‘Kungens kurva’ store is the biggest in the world) interesting adjustments have been made to the store format. The store here have wider aisles to cater for the fact that IKEA stores in China have up to three times more visitors than IKEA store elsewhere in the world (The Wall Street Journal, 2006). Advertising and promotion One of the big differences when it comes to communication with the consumer in China compared to the rest of the world is the reliance on the catalogue. Here it is impossible – cost and reach wise – to distribute it like in many other countries. The catalogue is distributed in the store and in some of the primary market area but here the reliance is more on smaller brochures that are sent out several times during the year. These brochures are produced by the same people in Älmhult in Sweden that produces the catalogue, in order to make sure that the brochures have the same layout and IKEA ‘feel’ as the catalogue itself. An example of PR activities is that IKEA a couple of years ago transformed the interior of 20 elevators in less affluent residential districts in Beijing. Nice environment in a dull place, this is to reach untapped markets (‘Change is easy’). PR activities are also important, taking Chinese journalists to Sweden and Älmhult, teaching them about Sweden and IKEA and the roots of the company. IKEA is known for its ‘out of box’ thinking when it comes to creating interest for IKEA and its products. IKEA in China is no exception. IKEA is supposed to have started or sponsored a TV-show were the viewers are offered lessons in home decorating IKEA have run many different ads in China, in TV, newspapers and in print. Themes in campaigns are the same as everywhere in the world but with the Chinese twist (be different, break tradition). Maybe the IKEA advertising line in China is a little ‘softer’ than in other places like in the UK. More humble advertising, do not stand out very much, friendly, home furnishing solutions, educate the consumer, offer partnership for the future in new  home furnishing solutions. The ad featured below is typical: The message of the ad is ‘Small changes, a refreshing new life’. Life can be made better, easier and nicer with small means. Small changes are the key word in IKEA ads and in-store. Other ads that IKEA have run have the theme of â€Å"do not be like your parents†, a theme that seems to speak directly to IKEA’s target group of young women 25-35 years old (Lewis, 2005). The web sites of the different stores in China is also argued to be important: the Internet is a common source of information for the target group, the younger middle class. Also, this source is used as a way to educate customers before coming to the IKEA stores on the concept and how the shopping experience will be (see below also). 12 IKEA Family was introduced in China in 2007 and much is expected from how this will work to attract Chinese customers. The selling environment and service While the products available in the Chinese stores are basically the same as in any IKEA store in the world, the stores do not look the same inside. What IKEA tries to do is to build the room settings not like in the US, not like in the UK or Sweden but in a way that feels relevant to Chinese customers with sizes of rooms and kitchens that are realistic by China standards. So even with the same products, the aim is to make the store in Shanghai look very different from the one in Malmà ¶ by the set-up of rooms. Thus: basically the same product range – but adaptation in the store: presentation of goods and home solutions offered. In China the store layouts reflect the layout of many Chinese apartments. One obvious example was mentioned earlier, balconies are present as many Chinese apartments have balconies. (The China Business Review, July-August, 2004). Overall the shopping experience is different. As other customers are an important part of the shopping experience the way the store is used – as reported above – by Chinese consumers not only as a shop but also as a social area, make for an  (compared to IKEA stores in Europe and the US) different experience. In the beginning, Chinese came not to shop but to socialise in a nice atmosphere, unlike other furnishing shops in China (were you are not allowed to feel and touch the merchandise). This is still true – you find people in the Shanghai store that seem to sleep in the beds and sofas, those that read a book with the feet on one of the tables in the room settings, take a nap – but IKEA try to put up with this as they hope that these people will later return as customers. For example, on in-store sign portrays an older couple whose child just moved away from home to attend college. The couple discusses how IKEA help them to convert their son’s former bedroom into a new room for their own use. The store’s room setting are full of furnishing and dà ©cor ideas for this purpose, the ad argues. The Beijing store is expected to take 20 000 visitors a day, and weekend crowds are so big that staff need to use megaphones to keep crowds in control. 20 000 a day add up to some 6 million visitors each year. To be compared with the ‘normal’ number of visitors for an IKEA’s store elsewhere which is 2 million visitors/year. As the staffing is the same as in other IKEA stores around the world there are of course consequences for the service level. IKEA’s own CSI (Customer satisfaction index) shows that – expect for service and shopping experience – China is below the IKEA average. IKEA scores high on product range and fashion. Seeing the number of people that visit the stores in China it is no wonder satisfaction levels were down. Today overall satisfaction in China is argued to be equal to the rest of the world, despite a lower score in some areas. When it comes to inspiration, waiting times and helpfulness of staff IKEA in China scores above average. Another thing puzzling the Chinese customers about IKEA are the added labour one has to put in oneself. Besides the self service concept throughout the store, having to visit a warehouse to pick your stuff up – the customer have to assemble it at home. While you do not need many tools to do this, as China does not have a DIY culture, who has even the most common tools in their houses? When you need something done you call for someone as labour is less expensive. To try to explain and justify the DIY concept – which is at the heart of the IKEA concept – is thus hard work in China. IKEA provides home delivery – long and short distance – as well as assembly service for a low fee (home delivery short haul for RMB 50 and assembly one piece RMB 40). IKEA has also created – not intentionally but still – an industry around itself of delivery drivers that also help assemble your IKEA furniture. These pick-up trucks with drivers are lined up outside the stores (Lewis, 2005). However, when Chinese shop at other places this is included in the price. In Europe and in the US the price is so low that the consumer can see the benefits to do things myself but here when the price of the products at IKEA are not that low and you are expected to do things yourself that no other retailer here makes you do†¦.it is easy to see the uphill struggle. IKEA tries to acknowledge this and provide information in the stores, on the website and in the catalogue to prepare the Chinese consumer for the IKEA store experience. They even have shopping hostesses walking around the store explaining and showing how the concept works to customers. And it is progressing, IKEA representatives argue, but slowly. As indicated above, consumers in China are demanding when it comes to service. They are used to, if not world class service, but at least that there are people to help you with all kinds of tasks. The self service concept of IKEA and the DIY is one thing that is hard for Chinese to accept. And what about service orientation among staff in an IKEA store? This is difficult to get an indication about. IKEA uses mystery shoppers to get some information here but it is hard to say something general. If you take into account 50 years of dictatorship, state rule, state owned enterprises with little room for the individual etc – how service minded can you expect the Chinese to be? IKEA tries – here as everywhere else in the world – to implement a staff strategy that makes everybody coworkers rather than employees. This is something that ought to be contrary to the culture in a country with high power distance relationships. IKEA argue that it is improving as conversion ra tes – consumers visiting stores that are also buying something – are improving, and are now well above 41 %. IKEA has another challenge that affects service and that is the fact that many products – despite increased sourcing in China – have huge lead times  in terms of shipping from Europe and other sourcing markets to China. That have historically made it necessary for Chinese stores to push and sell what they got in store rather than what they do not have in store (but is in the catalogue). Due to a lot of work being work being put in to improve this – increasing domestic production, a new warehouse in China – availability in China is almost the same as for the rest of the IKEA group. IKEA in Sweden IKEA’s first store in Sweden, the first in the world, was opened in 1959 in Älmhult, in Smà ¥land (a county in Sweden sometimes rumoured to be very barren and with people that are extremely stingy). IKEA today has 17 stores in Sweden and IKEA is a big part of home decoration in Sweden – and has been so for many years. IKEA’s statement in the business mission that they make furniture for ‘the many people’ is very true in Sweden very penetration of their products are very high, much higher than in many more markets. Accordingly, IKEA is well-known in Sweden, i.e., Swedes have knowledge about IKEA products, stores and the company, many Swedes have had IKEA furniture for generations. This is from a company perspective also a challenge, not just a good thing as   IKEA becomes associated with boring furnishing styles of older generations. IKEA is still in Sweden seen as innovative with very good prices.  While ‘the many people’ is an accurate description of consumers of IKEA in Sweden, in actual marketing work it is a bit smaller. It is women 20-49, often with children. In addition, an important target group in recent years has been +55 years that think they have done enough home furnishing, have no kids in the home and have a good financial situation. Merchandise Overall, the IKEA assortment is around 10 000 products that the stores can choose from. In Sweden the stores are fairly small and carry only 6-7 000 of the available products in the general assortment. While there is no adjustment made in the assortment to the Swedish market, adjustments are made to the local market by the stores (in terms of marketing and the local competition situation) who have the authority to adjust to local competition and have during the latter years received and developed more marketing  initiatives than previously. Price (as a marketing tool) is central in Sweden as IKEA is known for its low price. This is done by have a low price promise and the aim is to have a low in comparison to competitors in different areas. In recent years, here as in most parts of the IKEA world, cutting prices has been a major marketing strategy, by some 20% over the last 8 years. Sourcing for all the larger and transport wise heavier and bulkier products are done in Europe (and Sweden itself is one of the larger sourcing countries for IKEA outside Asia). Location and store formats In Sweden IKEA stores are located as in much of the IKEA world: outside city centres, with a focus on consumers using their own cars to travel to and from IKEA stores. For IKEA, establishing an IKEA store in Sweden if fairly easy, IKEA gets many propositions from different areas and towns in Sweden wanting an IKEA store. One of the recent and much publicized openings of IKEA stores in Sweden was the store in Haparanda Tornio. Haparanda Tornio is in the far north of Sweden (on the border to Finland) and launch of the store there has been a big success not only for IKEA but for the whole community (which is an area where depopulation is a major problem). However, event though it is easy to find places to establish IKEA stores in Sweden, there is still (also for IKEA) competition about the good places to locate a store. As mentioned above, IKEA stores in Sweden has been fairly small, in the lower rim of square meters and number of articles stored (except the big store in Kungens kurva which is the biggest IKEA store in the world). There are plans to refurbish stores and make them bigger, and new stores are always bigger than the older ones. Otherwise the format of the store follows the IKEA standard layout with parking lot outside the store and a two floor store. Some new stores, like the new store in Malmà ¶, is planned to be build on pylons and have the car park under the store (like in Shanghai for instance). Advertising and promotion In Sweden the catalogue is the most important promotion tool. It makes IKEA unique, is a source of inspiration and is the most important printed marketing tool IKEA has. In Sweden the launch of the new catalogue is a major thing, something that all major newspapers have lengthy reports about and that is a major PR thing. In 2008 IKEA furnished the waiting hall of Stockholm train terminal when the new catalogue was launched August 14th.  IKEA Family was first launched in Sweden and was at that time one of the first loyalty cards and clubs in Sweden. Today it is still one of the bigger ones with 1,7 million members and is still a very important marketing tool for IKEA in Sweden. The web is also important for IKEA Sweden, maybe especially for new groups of customers (for example younger customers) and because it is a good way to make customers prepare for the store visit and it is also there IKEA can make accessible different planning tools like for instance the kitchen planning tool. IKEA’s approach to the Swedes in advertising and promotion is intended to be youthful and different, fun and surprising, emphasising that nothing is impossible but that the company also is very honest and human. At the moment IKEA in Sweden is in a period of ‘re-launch’. While being well known (as IKEA is in Sweden) is often an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage. Consumers get used to the company and the rebellious attitude and image is hard to keep when penetration – in many age groups – is very high. Compared to many other IKEA countries, IKEA in Sweden is in another part of the IKEA lifecycle where consumers have homes filled with IKEA furniture and accessories, IKEA is the market leader for kitchen in Sweden etc. How do IKEA make the Swedes still find it exiting and new? The line for 2008 is ‘Decorate the home as you want to live’ and ‘Long live diversity’. Examples of IKEA address Swedish customers is a campaign that is a few years old and went from the fact that in IKEA target group there are a lot of divorced parents that share custody of children. So the campaign focused on how IKEA contributed to the slogan ’Better divorce for everybody’. IKEA has also focused on campaigns which points to the diversity of the Swedes in terms of ethnicity, showing different ethnic groups in Sweden as customers. One of the more well known and longest running campaigns is the one with the slogan ‘Not for the rich but for the wise’ emphasising that IKEA has high quality for low prices and that wise customers realize that. The selling environment and service The stores are the main marketing tool of IKEA in Sweden, this is where the customer come and this is where they can see what it is all about. As indicated above, IKEA stores have been fairly small in Sweden which has meant that it in many places has been difficult to expose and show the width and depth of the assortment IKEA actually has. Increasingly new and bigger stores are built to allow for showing the customer more of the IKEA product range. The stores in Sweden are set up in a fairly standard way. The common store planning which is the IKEA store planning blue print is used as a starting point – but that then meets the actual or planned store which makes for adjustments in the standard layout. As in all IKEA countries, the furniture part of an IKEA store (the room settings on the 2nd floor of the store) is always opened by 5 rooms that are the same all over the world – but these are also adjusted locally to see what the local markets can do with this. While the stores are to some extent set up the same way, local adjustments are made to the normal room-size of a living room or a bed room of the country market, the interior of the kitchen etc etc. A Swedish IKEA store for instance have often kitchen room settings 16 with what is called a kitchen island (part of the kitchen is a stand alone part integrating cooking, washing up and eating places in the kitchen) and walk in closets. To Swedes the DIY concept of IKEA (and DIY in general) is an accepted concept: you collect your flatpacs, carry them home, assemble and you pay a lower price. Still, in recent years IKEA in Sweden have added services concerning home delivery and assembly service at a cost for customers that want this. When it comes to the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) that all markets in IKEA do regularly central factors are waiting time and product in stock, which is something that IKEA Sweden has worked with a lot and have improved in recent years. This also indicates that one major problem in IKEA stores in Sweden has been queues in stores and out of stock of products. IKEA still get high points from Swedes on innovativeness and the low price level. IKEA in the UK IKEA has a fairly long history in the UK, having entered the market in 1987 and now has 17 stores in the UK. Expansion plans include a further 7 stores in the near future. The UK is one of IKEA’s major markets, the second to third one in size after Germany and the USA. The current CEO for IKEA, Anders Dahlvig, was the country mananger during much of the 1990-ies when a relaunch and repositioning of the brand in the UK took place. The target group is mainly women in families aged 25-45 and middle-class. This then varies with different products and product groups. Merchandise Overall the assortment in UK stores are not different from anywhere else in the IKEA world. The beds sold at IKEA are bigger than the normal UK size but that is something that IKEA tries to make a point of (so no adjustment has been made here). Adjustment of electrical products are, of course, made but in general there is no adjustment in the merchandise sold in the UK. All the normal supply chain is used and larger products are sourced in Europe while accessories are sourced in other parts of the world. IKEA in the UK also has a low price image and promise to the consumer, this is very important in the marketing: low prices but good quality. In recent years, as elsewhere in the IKEA world, one of the premier marketing focuses has been on cutting prices. Allegedly prices has been cut by more than 20% over the last 8 years. Location and store formats The fact that the UK has 17 stores and around 60 million inhabitants, Sweden has 17 stores and 9 million inhabitants tells us that UK retail planning laws are very strict and difficult for big block out of town retailers like IKEA. The lack of new established stores has been a major concern for IKEA UK for many years and that also forced some new thinking concerning the layout of an IKEA store. Normally it would be big parking space and two stores but starting in the UK, IKEA has started thinking differently on how an IKEA store is set up. This has lead to an adjusted concept store in Coventry with three levels and a closer to city centre location. Whether that is now the solution for IKEA UK to set up more stores or not is not clear. Most of the stores in the UK are set up the standard way and has an out of town location, encouraging customers to use their own cars to access the store. Advertising and promotion Also for IKEA UK the IKEA catalogue dominates marketing efforts. While now 70% of the marketing budget, efforts are made to lower that as it is believed that it is very expensive to distribute in high population markets like the UK and it is also no longer as effective a marketing tool as is once was. One of the most noticeable things about IKEA in the UK is the daring and challenging approach that has been used through the years. The IKEA and St Luke’s campaign ‘Chuck out the Chintz’ from 1996 is famous (even Tony Blair referred to it) as is the ‘Stop Being So English’ campaign. In the UK IKEA as dared more than in many markets when is comes to challenging the market and its customers. The preferred approach is being different – but do it in a way that connects to the fact that IKEA sells home furnishings. According to IKEA, the Brits should appreciate their homes more (and spend more time there) and IKEA can help with low prices, good products and design and the fact that IKEA has 65 years of experience in home decoration. The launch if IKEA UK in Scotland is a good example of adjusting to the local market while sticking to the mail IKEA ‘be different’ message. The campaign focus on two very hard looking Glasgow guys – that go soft with soft pillows and green plants from IKEA. The web is very useful in the UK, as the stores are only 17 and there is a need for information on availability on products and to prepare the store visit IKEA family was launched in 2007, and is reported as very successful also in the UK. However, compared to the British grocery retailer Tesco who runs probably the worlds most successful (in many aspects) loyalty card, IKEA has a long way to go before the IKEA Family loyalty club generates as many advantages as Tesco’s club does. The selling environment and service UK customers are said to be demanding and does not mind airing their problems and IKEA Still, Brits generally live in the houses that they own and are not alien to the DIY concept, even though the IKEA DIY is somewhat extended compared to the original meaning of DIY. Here, as in Sweden, services offering to take out some of the DIY parts have been (home delivery and assembly service at a cost). UK has struggled with some things that relate to selling environment and service. It all comes back to having only 17 stores and being 60 million people and IKEA UK being one of IKEA’s biggest markets – i.e., IKEA is very popular in the UK and that leads to problems that can be seen in the IKEA CSI. Access to stores and products out of stocks are areas of concern as customers say that it is difficult and time consuming to get to the stores – and they also often run the risk of not being able to take the products home with them from the stores as they are out of stock. This is of course things that are acted upon, through the long range work to establish more stores to planning of personnel in the stores (which is difficult in itself with a fairly large personnel turnover in the UK). Still it 18 is a major concern, making this area of the marketing effort a challenge. The Brits are satisfied with the prices that they feel are low for the quality that the customer get. Summing up IKEA in China, Sweden and the UK In figure 1 we attempt to compare IKEA in China, Sweden and UK. For comparison there is also a more ‘general’ picture of IKEA in the world. The comparison is done for the four different dimensions of retailer marketing strategies that we have investigated. As the comparison is done on a general level it lacks detail but is even so considered to give a good overall picture of how the different countries relate to each other on the different dimensions. Summary and conclusions In the case of China it is clear that IKEA have had to adjust and work harder with some its basic principles than on other markets around the world (maybe Eastern Europe and Russia being the exception), certainly than in Sweden and the UK. Low prices are one of the cornerstones of the IKEA concept. In China IKEA have had to drop some of its basic principles – centralised sourcing and supply chain – to be able to develop its business in China. Prices were too high and are coming down in a rate the demonstrate how wrong the prices were – for the Chinese market – to start with. Also in the case of location and communication (advertising and promotion) we can see adjustments to the characteristics of the Chinese market that are larger than on other markets. Here the special situation in the UK with retail planning laws have forced IKEA to innovate – and adjust – its basic store placement and format to fit regulations in those markets. Here it also seems like Sweden is following with plans to set up new stores (sometimes) in a different way. The adjustments to local humour and preferences is clear when it comes to advertisements, where the approach in China seems ‘softer’ and less provocative than is the case for Sweden and the UK, but in relative terms it may be as provocative. Sweden is a special case as IKEA has been present there for so long, leading to – within a standardised frame of communication – communication that builds on peoples familiarity with the brand. The selling environment and service levels have not been changed in China, Sweden and the UK compared to other places to a large extent. It seems like innovation to fit the Chinese consumer – offering home delivery, assembling service etc – was invented here from necessity and then spread to other markets like Sweden and the UK. From IKEA’s perspective, China has been a real trial of the business concept. To some extent the jury is still out on whether or not it is a success but from IKEA’s point of view the ‘worst’ part of the China experience is over. IKEA have learnt many things in China and many of these lessons will be useful in other markets around the world. One lesson for IKEA – according to senior managers at IKEA – is the fact that it has not been able – in order to succeed on the Chinese market – to rigidly cling to the marketing  strategies that on other markets have meant success and meant working towards the 19 business concept. While keeping tight some areas – assortment, brand name, overall communication, store concept etc – IKEA has been able (and forced to) adjust some other parts to be relevant on the market. Without adjusting prices radically and changing sourcing and changing main communication (not catalogue), it might have been another story. From IKEA’s point of view the lesson might also have been that it is not critical that it can not achieve the same results with the same tools on all markets. Adjustments have to be made on alien markets like the Chinese. But as the Chinese market experience shows: adjustments can be made and still be true to the overall business concept (as some of important pillars of the IKEA concept have not been changes, just the ways of achieving them). While IKEA in China is about introducing a business concept that is – to some parts at least – different to what customers are used, IKEA in Sweden and the UK have different situations. Swedes have 50 years of experience of the IKEA concept and the risk is always that it gets boring and something that is seen as old-fashioned, if the innovativeness is not continued. And that innovativeness is something that – for a standardised retailer – needs to be found within the business concept somehow. Brits have 20 years of experience of IKEA so the challenge is also here to continue to be innovative while being more and more of the establishment so to speak. However, in the UK there is still much less penetration of the concept than in Sweden so the marketing strategy work is somewhat different. From a general retail standardisation and adaptation point of view, the IKEA case shows that it is possible to work a fairly standardised concept also on markets that are very different from the ones were the business concept have originated from. However, the case also shows that there are limits to how far you can go in standardisation. In the IKEA case it is clear that to some extent they need to adapt in order to be true to their business concept. This also means that it may be more interesting to focus on whether or not companies are true to their business concept than if the are using the same  marketing strategies all over the world. It is the business concept that is exported and in order for that to be the same all over the world, marketing strategies sometimes need to be adopted rather than standardised.