New paradigms for health care delivery

Changes happening in Health care conveyance and Medicine are the aftereffect of social, conservative, mechanical, logical powers that have developed in the 21st century. Among the most critical changes are move in sickness designs, trend setting innovation, expanded customer desires and significant expenses of social insurance. These variables have reclassified clinical practices to fit into the changing wellbeing conveyance framework. Numerous social insurance experts have reached the resolution and conviction that they will be constrained to investigate new standards for human services conveyance later on like electronic clinical record keeping, telemedicine, PC based diagnostics and wellbeing observing to stay up with the evolving situation. This is because of the responsibility of the clinical calling today and changing sickness designs. Specialists are feeling the squeeze to stay up with the latest and to put together their choices all the more solidly with respect to confirmations instead of narrative data of the past. Patients are significantly more educated than they were 10 years back. No specialist can instruct a patient without being addressed today. Further, with the coming of ideas like educated assent and advance mandates, such logical changes gain significance. Components OF THE NEW PARADIGM The utilization of electronic documentation is getting progressively common regarding accommodation. The National Academy of Sciences report expresses that the US human services industry spent somewhere in the range of $10 and $15 billion on data innovation in 1996. A lot of this use is ascribed to making electronic records frameworks and changing over traditionally put away information to electronic formats.â There are numerous product programs uniquely created for electronic record keeping. This incorporates ‘Doctors partner’, a progressed Electronic Medical Records (EMR) System with Integrated Appointment Scheduling Billing, Prescription Writer, Transcription Module, Document Management and Workflow Management worked to fulfill HIPAA guidelines. ‘Practice Partner Patient Records’ is an honor winning electronic clinical records (EMR) framework, permitting practices to store and recover persistent diagrams electronically. There are endless such marked clinical record programming projects accessible today. The norms by and by for EMR incorporate ASTM International Continuity of Care Record , ANSI X12 (EDI) CEN , EN13606, HISA, DICOM , HL7 ,ISO and openEHR . (Ringold et.al.,2000). The American Medical Association and 13 other clinical gatherings speaking to 500,000 doctors have flagged their expectation to go electronic with the AMA formedâ Physicians' â€Å"Electronic Health Record Coalition† to suggest moderate, guidelines based innovation to their constituents. President Bush has additionally advanced an across the nation automated clinical records framework in an ongoing visit to a youngsters' emergency clinic at Vanderbilt University. Logical developments have discovered a specialty in muddled clinical methods also. An ongoing report effectively has assessed a scanner tag tolerant recognizable proof framework, which includes a hand-held PC for test assortment and for similarity testing organization of blood. (Turner et.al, 2003). An ongoing examination article (Sandler et.al, 2000) reports of a strong stage and smaller scale titer plate hemagglutination strategy for pretransfusion similarity tests. This I-TRAC is a robotized procedure of blood coordinating with improved serological affectability and normalized similarity testing supporting electronic record keeping and connecting to a standardized tag distinguishing proof framework. San Raffale Hospital in Milan, Italy, has as of late worked together with Intel and CISCO frameworks to utilize remote empowered foundations and Radio recurrence distinguishing proof (RFID) advancements. The framework utilizes RFID-radio recurrence ID innovation to address the sources ofâ human and frameworks mistake in blood transfusion flexibly chain. This experimental run program has beenâ executed at the 1,100 bed San Raffale clinic where in excess of 15000 blood transfusions are done each year. The CAT (Computer Aided Tomography) is one more insurgency in medication which joins the X-beam innovation with PC signal handling to produce pictures of tissues of the body clouded by different organs. Attractive Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a typical procedure used to examine neurotic or physiological status of living tissues. Much is thought about the PC helped nonstop ECG checking with a play back office for evaluating the cardiovascular status of the patient. Today we are in a great circumstance where we will have the option to build up a medication dependent on PC examination skirting a couple of periods of clinical testing. Points of view ON THE PARADIGM SHIFT Thus, logical advancements are a piece of the developmental procedure of the clinical science. The fundamental instrument of a doctor, the Stethoscope, the Sphygmomanometer utilized for observing the patient circulatory strain, the Catheter, Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, the EEG, ECG, EMG, Echocardiogram, Ultrasonic sweep, to give some examples were only such logical developments incorporated into the field of medication in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Consequently, Computer based telemedicine, clinical record framework, and symptomatic methodology are logical developments of the twenty-first century. Thus, it is only a characteristic and good commitment of the social insurance division to incorporate them into the field of medication. Changes in budgetary motivations and medicinal services conveyance structures are delivering new dangers to human services quality (A.Brennan, 1991). The retributive measures are unwieldy and costly. Henceforth, there is a requirement for progressively responsible wellbeing conveyance framework, which will empower use of present day logical ways to deal with quality social insurance framework. In this specific circumstance, nature of the clinical consideration relies upon advancement of value clinical consideration by oversaw care associations. REFERENCE Brennan, T, et.al, â€Å"Incidence of unfavorable occasions and carelessness in hospitalized patients: the consequences of the Harvard Medical Practice Study†, New England Journal of Medicine 324: 370-76, 1991. Lã ¦rum Hallvard, MD, Tom H. Karlsen, MD, and Arild Faxvaag, MD, PhD . â€Å"Effects of Scanning and Eliminating Paper-put together Medical Records with respect to Hospital Physicians' Clinical Work Practice†. Diary of the American Medical Informatics Association 10: 588-595.2003. Ringold DJ , JP Santell, and PJ Schneider , â€Å"ASHP national overview of drug store practice in intense consideration settings: administering and administrationâ€1999†. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy 57 (19): 1759-75. 2000. Sauer et.al, â€Å"Errors in transfusion medicine† Lab Med. 32(4): 205-207, 2001. Turner et.al, â€Å"Bar code innovation: its job in expanding the security of blood transfusion†, Transfusion, 43(9): 1200:2003.

The Day They Came To Arrest The Book Review :: essays research papers

My tale ‘The Day They Came To Arrest The Book’ depended on prejudice in the late 70’s. A time which happened before I existed. There are numerous motion pictures and books delineating occasions from this time, some of which I have seen or perused. I had consistently felt that my perspectives on bigotry were to some degree near reality, subsequent to perusing the novel I understood that I had been off-base. Hence, this novel has modified my emotions and suppositions which I had towards the treatment of the Negro race. Before I read this novel I had just at any point seen the impacts of bigotry from a white person’s perspective. Subsequent to perusing this I started to see how life would have been for a dark individual during this time, and the impacts which it would have had on their activity, family and own confidence. The central matter of the book was whether, nineteenth century novel, Huckleberry Finn ought to be permitted to be a piece of the school’s educational program thinking about its depiction of bigotry. Having a blended race school numerous sentiments were voiced. In the novel, Huckleberry Finn was dealt with like the good book. The white individuals depended on it. To recommend it wasn't right and improper, as the blacks of the network did, was something which was disliked. Albeit the vast majority of the blacks perceived the way that Huckleberry Finn held some reality of the past. Everybody is raised in an unexpected way, and most oftenly people’s sees are a consequence of their folks sees. My parents’ sees on prejudice have influenced me daintily. Quite a bit of what I accept has been influenced by today’s society itself. Since I have never encountered any direct prejudice, the sort which was appeared in the book, I have just this to go on. In the novel, almost every dark youngster agreed with his/her folks. That was to toss the book out of the school. Their folks didn’t need them to be exposed to such a rough and antagonistic depiction of dark individuals. Their demeanor influenced their children’s sees. To everyone’s shock, one youngster, was increasingly receptive. Gordon McLean a dark kid expressed that he would not like to voice a feeling until had perused the book. This I discovered weird thinking about his dad, Carl McLean headed the dissent board of trustees and was the most biased individual included in the book. Carl McLean had grown up during a period where prejudice was alive and flourishing and despite the fact that it wasn’t as solid during the here and now he still didn’t need his child to experience what he more likely than not been influenced during this time.

Manage Wedding Vows With Social Anxiety Disorder

Manage Wedding Vows With Social Anxiety Disorder Social Anxiety Disorder Coping Print Manage Wedding Vows With Social Anxiety Disorder By Arlin Cuncic Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of Therapy in Focus: What to Expect from CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder and 7 Weeks to Reduce Anxiety. Learn about our editorial policy Arlin Cuncic Updated on February 04, 2020 Social Anxiety Disorder Overview Symptoms & Diagnosis Causes Treatment Living With In Children pixdeluxe / Getty Images If you suffer from social anxiety disorder (SAD) and are getting married, you may be worried about saying your wedding vows in front of a large group. In addition to receiving proper treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or medication, there are strategies you can use to reduce wedding vows anxiety. Strategies to Reduce Anxiety When Saying Your Vows Make them meaningful: If possible, write your own vows. Saying something that is personalized and has meaning to you will be less anxiety-provoking than simply reciting traditional vows.Practice out loud: Make sure to spend time practicing your vows out loud before the big day. Even better, try them out on a friend. Practice speaking loudly, clearly and slowly. Pause at the end of each sentence by saying a keyword such as breathe silently in your head.Memorize: When saying your vows out loud, make an attempt to memorize them. This will add meaning to what you are saying when the moment comes. Dont worry, however, if your memory fails you. Keep a copy of your vows in your hand in case you draw a blank.Visualize success: See yourself confidently saying your vows. Instead of imagining everything that could go wrong, expect that everything will go right.Speak in unison: If anxiety is getting out of hand, make a plan to have the officiant and your future spouse whisper your vows with you as you say them out loud during the ceremony. The audience wont notice and you will feel less like the center of attention.Breathe deep: Prior to and during the ceremony, practice deep breathing to induce relaxation.Look at your partner: When the time comes, gaze into the eyes of your future spouse. Imagine that you are talking only to them and you will be put more at ease.

College Is Not For College - 1072 Words

After finishing high school people go through a dilemma on whether or not they want to continue their education. They could either go to college or begin working as just a highschool graduate. Going to college is a necessity. College takes four years and maybe another four years of studying. They is very little in comparison to an average 80 year lifetime. That’s not much time at all! College costs $20,000 - $30,000, college is like putting an investment into yourself and in hope that you’ll prosper and get a deserving career. Many jobs require special skills and that’s where college degrees come in. College brings many job opportunities, whether it be flexible or just high paying. Debt could easily be payed off if college is completed because of the better income. The key aspect that many people would think about going to college is to just become more intelligent. This statement may be true because everyone goes through the same amount of schooling. Whether or not their learning ability is better or worse, everyone goes through the basics of schooling that everyone should know. First of all, college brings many job opportunities and a stability for yourself. With a higher level of education you can earn the ability to be able to switch jobs locations. A high school graduate is lucky to get a job, and them pushing it moving it around isn’t going to help. Meanwhile, a college graduate could switch job location from this continent to the next. Getting a job that grants youShow MoreRelatedCollege Is Not For College1486 Words   |  6 PagesMany students do not go to college because of the steep cost to attend. There a lot of students and families that support this claim, with some experts adding that other socio-economic factors also cont ribute to this issue. Additionally, there are many that think that not everyone needs to go to college. Either way, some students still struggle to pay for their college education. Early exposure to college provides a practical solution to this problem. While ninth grade is typically viewed as a goodRead MoreCollege or No College796 Words   |  3 PagesCollege or No College In graphic design there are two worlds, self-taught and degree holders and with this comes the debate, is getting a college degree a must or is being self-taught just as acceptable. This debate is as hot as the sun is and there is no slowing it down. Being a graphic designer does not just involve using a computer and creating some neat looking graphics, it goes much deeper and gets complicated during some points. Both have upsides and advantages, however, there are severalRead MoreCollege Is Not For College986 Words   |  4 PagesEverybody knows that after high school you attend college, right? College is expected from society that has been placed for decades; it’s what you do is what society expects with these expectations comes pressure. 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College students can wear whateverRead MoreCollege Interview : College And College781 Words   |  4 Pages College Interview Back then college wasn’t cared about like it is now . Some people see college as a bigger success. Others may see it as not that important . People with college degrees seem to be more respected than people with just a high school diploma. Honestly college isn’t for everybody. Some people feel better off without it. There’s a lot of successful people out there that didn’t attend college. There’s also people that didn’t really amount to anything with a college degreeRead MoreIs College Worth A College?1254 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the USA college tuition has increased drastically; in the last five years Georgia colleges have had 75% increase along with other states such as Arizona whose tuition has increased by 77% (NPR). Since 2006 the tuition in Utah has increased by 62.8% and is rising throughout the U.S. (Desert News). Between 1885-2016 the price of college has increased between 2.1% to 4.3% per year beyond inflation (Colle geBoard). Through calculations, that equates to about a hundred precent increase sinceRead MoreShould College Be College?845 Words   |  4 Pagesattend college to further their education and obtain a degree. Many of these students have their own purpose for coming to college, most would assume they come to college to get a degree in order to get a job. Some go to college for other reasons, or a combination of reasons. One’s purpose should only be defined by the individual themselves and shouldn’t be assigned to them. This goes the same for making the decision to go to college, one should choose whether they want to attend college. When IRead MoreShould College Be A College?1469 Words   |  6 Pageslife might be. For many young people, college is something that can be a key part of that future. However, right now in our society, a college education is no longer an option or privilege, but rather is seen as a necessity. Young people today are practically raised and conditioned to believe that higher education is the best path in order to succeed in life. Going to college has become a social status with many people going to college to simply be a college student while hoping that their timeRead MoreWhy College Is Not For College1287 Words   |  6 Pages==========Despite the benefits and securities, there are a number of reasons why college is not meant for everyone. The person may not perform well or even learn anything from college. A person can be successful with or without a college degree. College is known by many as a â€Å"rite of passage† (Addison 256). The misconception is that people believe that you have to receive a four year education in order to be successful in life. A college education is like a key that opens the doors to more opportunities inRead MoreCollege Of The Ozarks : College992 Words   |  4 PagesCollege of the Ozarks In 1907, a small college called the School of the Ozarks opened and later during the 1950s, it acquired over 1,400 acres to expand the facility. The Wall Street Journal labeled the School of the Ozarks as Hard Work U during the 1970’s because there was no tuition, just a work job program. Since 1990, when it was renamed the College of the Ozarks, this school has gone on to offer one of the most innovative tuition programs for local college bound students. The College of the

The Flag Resolution Act Of The United States - 1623 Words

On June 14, 1787, The Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution Act that states: That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.†(Cite) Flag Day is observed on every June 14 for the sacred symbol of the United States of America of what is the Flag. As each star increased on the flag, turmoil on how the flag should or should not be treated also grew. Many americans, including myself, see it a national symbols that need no discretion what so ever. This including punishment under the law and from public policies. Some protesters, mainly libertarians saw the symbol as the face of the government†¦show more content†¦In any event, three-fourths of the state legislatures must ratify the amendment for it to become a permanent part of the Constitution. Supporters of the amendment believed to have honored for the fallen men and women who sacrifice for this country. Especially for those who commit the ultimate sacrifice. Opposition for the proposed amendment included that the government would infringe on their given rights by the government in the preamble and the 1st amendment. With the support of the judicial review of the case Texas vs Johnson (1989) and other Supreme Court cases, the opposition makes a strong constitutional case against the rest of the branches of government. The Opposition of the amendment would believe that the government would suppress the rights of of the rest of the country, for a small minority, the supporters of the amendment. A 1931 Supreme Court case, Stromberg v. California, set the first precedent for the use of a flag in an act of symbolic speech under the First Amendment, when the Court struck down a California law that banned the flying of a red flag to protest against the government. 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The United States government at its earliest establish ment had set forth a set of freedoms for all people to feel safe from any persecution. In order to make these a set of established rights, the founding fathers created the U.S. Constitution that holdsRead MoreShould There Be A Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Flag Burning?1637 Words   |  7 Pagesamendment prohibiting flag burning? 1) Describe the issue. Who, what, when, where, why, etc. Some people believe that burning the flag is extremely unpatriotic and disrespectful, while others believe it is an expression of free speech, which is protected under the First Amendment in the United States constitution. In 2006, a flag burning amendment was formally proposed in congress and failed to pass by just one vote. The closeness of this vote is a clear indication that flag burning is a very Read MoreSix Day War Research Paper1457 Words   |  6 PagesSigns of a Firm Alliance The United States and Israel developed a strong bond following the latter’s independence and war against the Arabs. Israel became one of the major American allies in the Middle East, and the United States government readily provided extensive economic and military support. The first instance of this support was in 1962, when the Kennedy administration sold Hawk missiles to Israel. Since then, â€Å"over $100 billion†¦ of military aid and technology transfers to Israel†¦ over theRead MoreMidterm Exam Draft ( Parts 11726 Words   |  7 PagesBrad Wyzykowski Professor Gerber HIS300 4/5/2017 Midterm Exam Draft (Parts 1 2) Part 1 This debate is set April 12, 1861 between a congressman from New Haven, Connecticut, of the United States of America and a congressman from Jackson, Mississippi, of the Confederate States of America. 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By first understanding what the Alien and Sedition Acts were, how they shaped the nation s development, and their role in America today, the importance and influence that these acts had, will become prevalent andRead More Westward Expansion Essay1520 Words   |  7 Pages WESTWARD EXPANSION The movement of people that has resulted in the settlement of America is one of the most fascinating and significant topics in the history of the United States. Nowhere else has an area of equal size been settled as a result of the initiative of small groups and individuals. Westward expansion helped stimulate the American economy. The first organized migration to California originated in Platte County, on the far western frontier of Missouri. Reports described CaliforniaRead MoreArctic Ice Disputes: Another Cold War1128 Words   |  4 Pagesa real life example of capture the flag, a plethora of resources in numbers never seen before wait on the top of the hill, while militaries from around the globe race to the base to be the next world power. In an attempt to retain control over the area, the eight member nations of the Arctic Council are trying to find a fair way to distribute resources. But this dispute over territories is pitting friend against foe and against friend. Already, the United States of America and Canada are in a diplomaticRead MoreFlag Desecration Essay5209 Words   |  21 PagesFlag Desecration The issue of flag desecration has been and continues to be a highly controversial issue; on the one side there are those who believe that the flag is a unique symbol for our nation which should be preserved at all costs, while on the other are those who believe that flag burning is a form of free speech and that any legislation designed to prevent this form of expression is contrary to the ideals of the First Amendment to our Constitution. Shawn Eichman, as well as the majority

Night World Daughters of Darkness Chapter 6 Free Essays

Whydidn’t we just kill her?† Kestrel asked. Rowan and Jade looked at each other. There were few things they agreed on, but one of them was definitely Kestrel. We will write a custom essay sample on Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 6 or any similar topic only for you Order Now . â€Å"First of all, we agreed not to do that here. Wedon’t use our powers-â€Å" â€Å"And we don’t feed onhumans. Or kill them,† Kestrel finished the chant. â€Å"But you already used your powers tonight; you called Jade.† â€Å"I had to let her know what story I’d just toldabout Aunt Opal. Actually, I should have planned forthis earlier. I should have realized that people are going to come and ask where Aunt Opal is.† â€Å"She’s the only one who’s asking. If we killed her-â€Å" â€Å"We can’t just go killing people in our new home,†Rowan said tightly. â€Å"Besides, she said she had family waiting for her. Are we going to kill all of them?† Kestrel shrugged. â€Å"We arenotgoing to start a blood feud,† Rowan said even more tightly. â€Å"But what about influencing her?† Jade said. Shewas sitting with Tiggy in her arms, kissing the velvety black top of the kitten’s head. â€Å"Making her forget she’s suspicious-or making her think she saw Aunt Opal?† â€Å"That would be fine-if it were just her,† Rowansaid patiently. â€Å"But it’s not. Are we going to influ enceeveryone who comes to the house? What aboutpeople who call on the phone? What about teachers?You two are supposed to start school in a couple of weeks.† â€Å"Maybe we’ll just have to miss that,† Kestrel said without regret. Rowan was shaking her head. â€Å"We need a permanent solution. We need to find some reasonable explanation for why Aunt Opal is gone.† â€Å"We need to move Aunt Opal,† Kestrel said flatly.†We need to get rid of her.† â€Å"No, no. We might have to produce the body,†Rowan said. â€Å"Looking likethat?† They began to argue about it. Jade rested her chin on Tiggy’s head and stared out the multipaned kitchen window. She was thinking about Mark Carter, who had such a gallant heart. It gave her a pleasantly forbidden thrill just to picture him. Back home there weren’t any humans wandering around free. She could never have been tempted to break NightWorld law and fall in love with one. But here †¦yes, Jade could almost imagine falling in love with Mark Carter. Just as if she were a human girl. She shivered deliriously. But just as she was tryingto picture what human girls did when they were in love, Tiggy gave a sudden heave. He twisted out of her arms and hit the kitchen floor running. The fur on his back was up. Jade looked at the window again.She couldn’t see anything. But †¦she felt †¦ She turned to her sisters. â€Å"Something was out there in the garden tonight,† she said. â€Å"And Icouldn’t smell it.† Rowan and Kestrel were still arguing. They didn’t hear her. Mary-Lynnette opened her eyes and sneezed. She’d overslept. Sun was shining around the edges of her dark blue curtains. Get up and get to work, she told herself. But instead she lay rubbing sleep out of her eyes and tryingto wake up. She was a night person, not a morningperson. The room was large and painted twilight blue. Mary-Lynnette had stuck the glow-in-the-dark starsand planets to the ceiling herself. Taped onto the dresser mirror was a bumper sticker saying I BRAKEFOR ASTEROIDS.On the walls were a giant relief map of the moon, a poster from the Sky-Gazer’s Almanac, and photographic prints of the Pleiades,theHorsehead Nebula, and the total eclipse of 1995. It was Mary-Lynnette’s retreat, the place to go when people didn’t understand. She always felt safeinthe night. She yawned and staggered to the bathroom, grabbing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on the way. She was brushing her hair as she walked down the stairs when she heard voices from the living room. -252Claudine’s voice †¦ and a male voice. Not Mark; weekdays he usually went to his friend Ben’s house.A stranger. Mary-Lynnette peeked through the kitchen. Therewas a guy sitting on the living room couch. She could see only the back of his head, which was ash blond. Mary-Lynnette shrugged and started to open the refrigerator, when she heard her own name. â€Å"Mary-Lynnette is very good friends with her,† Claudine was saying in her quick, lightly accented voice. â€Å"I remember a few years ago she helped her fix up a goat shed.† They’re talking about Mrs. B.! â€Å"Why does she keep goats? I think she told Mary-Lynnette it would help since she couldn’t get out that much anymore.† â€Å"How strange,† the guy said. He had a lazy, careless-sounding voice. â€Å"I wonder what she meant bythat.† Mary-Lynnette, who was now peering intently through the kitchen while keeping absolutely still,saw Claudine give one of her slight, charming shrugs. â€Å"I suppose she meant the milk-every day she has fresh milk now. She doesn’t have to go to the store. But I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her yourself.† She laughed. -252Not going to be easy, Mary-Lynnette thought. Now, why would some strange guy be here asking questions about Mrs. B.? Of course. He had to be police or something. FBI.But his voice made her wonder. He sounded too young to be either, unless he was planning to infiltrate Dewitt High as a narc. Mary-Lynnette edgedfarther into the kitchen, getting a better view.There-she could see him in the mirror. Disappointment coursed through her. Definitely not old enough to be FBI. And much asMary-Lynnette wanted him to be a keen-eyed, quick witted, hard-driving detective, he wasn’t. He was only the handsomest boy she’d ever seen in her life. He was lanky and elegant, with long legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed under the coffee table. He looked like a big amiable cat. He had deancut features, slightly tilted wicked eyes, and a disarming lazy grin. Not just lazy, Mary-Lynnette decided. Fatuous. Bland. Maybe even stupid. She wasn’t impressed by good looks unless they were the thin, brown, and interesting kind, like-well, like Jeremy Lovett for instance. Gorgeous guys-guys who looked like bigash-blond cats-didn’t have any reason to develop their minds. They were self-absorbed and vain. With IQs barely high enough to keep a seat warm. And this guy looked as if he couldn’t get awake orserious to save his life. I don’t care what he’s here for. Ithink I’ll go upstairs. it was then that the guy on the couch lifted onehand, wiggling the fingers in the air. He half-turned. Not far enough actually to look at Mary-Lynnette,but far enough to make it dear he was talking to somebody behind him. She could now see his profilein the mirror. â€Å"Hi, there.† â€Å"Mary-Lynnette, is that you?† Claudine called. â€Å"Yes.† Mary-Lynnette opened the refrigerator doorand made banging noises. â€Å"Just getting some juice. Then I’m going out.† Her heard was beating hard-with embarrassmentand annoyance. Okay, so he must have seen her in the mirror. He probably thought she was staring at him because of the way he looked. He probably had people staring at him everywhere he went. So what, big deal, go away. â€Å"Don’t go yet,† Claudine called. â€Å"Come out here and talk for a few minutes.† No. Mary-Lynnette knew it was a childish and stupid reaction, but she couldn’t help it. She banged a bottle of apricot juice against a bottle of Calistoga sparkling water. â€Å"Come meet Mrs. Burdock’s nephew,† Claudine called. Mary-Lynnette went still. She stood in the cold air of the refrigerator, lookingsightlessly at the temperature dial in the back. Then she put the bottle of apricot juice down. She twisted a Coke out of a six-pack without seeing it. What nephew? I don’t remember hearing about any nephew. But then, she’d never heard much about Mrs. B.’s nieces either, not until they were coming out. Mrs. B. just didn’t talk about her familymuch. So he’s her nephew. . . that’s why he’s askingabout her. But does he know? Ishe in on it with those girls? Or is he after them? Or .. . Thoroughly confused, she walked into the living room. â€Å"Mary-Lynnette, this is Ash. He’s here to visit withhis aunt and his sisters,† Claudine said. â€Å"Ash, this isMary-Lynnette. The one who’s such good friends with your aunt.† Ash gotup, all in one lovely, lazy motion. Just like a cat, including the stretch in the middle. â€Å"Hi.† He offered a hand. Mary-Lynnette touched it withfingers damp and cold from the Coke can, glanced up at his face, and said â€Å"Hi.† Except that it didn’t happen that way. If happened like this: Mary-Lynnette had her eyeson the carpet as she came in, which gave her a good view of his Nike tennis shoes and the ripped kneesof his jeans. When he stood up she looked at his T-shirt, which had an obscure design-a black floweron a white background. Probably the emblem of some rock group. And then when his hand entered her field of vision, she reached for it automatically, muttering a greeting and looking up at his face justas she touched it. And This was the part that was hard to describe. Contact. Somethinghappened. Hey, don’t I know you? She didn’t. That was the thing. She didn’t know him-but she felt that she should. She also felt as if somebody had reached inside her and touched herspine with a live electric wire. It was extremely not enjoyable. The room turned vaguely pink. Her throat swelled and she could feel her heart beating there. Also not-enjoyable. But somehow when you put it alltogether, it made a kind of trembly dizziness like †¦ Like what she felt when she looked at the Lagoon Nebula. Or imagined galaxies gathered into dusters and superclusters, bigger and bigger, until size lost any meaning and she felt herself falling. She was falling now. She couldn’t see anything except his eyes. And those eyes were strange, prismlike, changing color like a star seen throughheavy atmosphere. Now blue, now gold, now violet. Oh, take this away. Please, I don’t want it. â€Å"It’s so good to see a new face around here, isn’tit? We’re very boring out here by ourselves,† Claudine said, in completely normal and slightly flustered tones. Mary-Lynnette was snapped out of her trance, and she reacted as if Ash had just offered her a mongoose instead of his hand. She jumped backward,looking anywhere but at him. She had the feeling of being saved from falling down a mine shaft. â€Å"O-kay,† Claudine _ said in her cute accent.†Hmm.† She was twisting a strand of curly dark hair, something she only did when she was extremely ner vous. â€Å"Maybe you guys know each other already?† There was a silence. I should say something, Mary-Lynnette thoughtdazedly, staring at the fieldstone fireplace. I’m acting crazy and humiliating Claudine. But what just happened here? Doesn’t matter. Worry later. She swallowed, plastered a smile on her face, and said, â€Å"So, how long are you here for?† Her mistake was that then she looked at him. Andit all happened again. Not quite as vividly as before, maybe because she wasn’t touching him. But the electric shock feeling was the same. Andhelooked like a cat who’s had a shock. Bristling. Unhappy. Astonished. Well, at least he wasawake, Mary-Lynnette thought. He and Mary-Lynnettestared at each other while the room spun andturned pink. â€Å"Whoare you?† Mary-Lynnette said, abandoning any vestige of politeness. â€Å"Who areyou?† he said, in just about exactly the same tone. They both glared. Claudine was making little clicking noises with her tongue and clearing away the tomato juice. Mary Lynnette felt distantly sorry for her, but couldn’tspare her any attention. Mary-Lynnette’s whole consciousness was focused on the guy in front of her; on fighting him, on blocking him out. On getting rid of this bizarre feeling that she was one of two puzzle pieces that had just been snapped together. â€Å"Now, look,† she said tensely, at the precise moment that he began brusquely, â€Å"Look-â€Å" They both stopped and glared again. Then Mary-Lynnette managed to tear her eyes away. Something was tugging at her mind†¦ . â€Å"Ash,† she said, getting hold of it.†Ash. Mrs. Burdockdid say something about you †¦ about a littleboy named Ash. I didn’t know she was talking abouther nephew.† â€Å"Great-nephew,† Ash said, his voice not quite steady. â€Å"What did she say?† â€Å"She said that you were a bad little boy, and that you were probably going to grow up even worse.† â€Å"Well, she had thatright,† Ash said, and his ex pression softened a bit-as if he were on more familiar ground. Mary-Lynnette’s heart was slowing. She found thatif she concentrated, she could make the strange feel ings recede. It helped if she looked away from Ash. Deep breath, she told herself. And another. Okay,now let’s get things straight. Let go of what just hap pened; forget all that; think about it later. What’s important now? What was important nowwas that: 1) This guy was the brother of those girls; 2) He might be in on whatever had happened to Mrs. B.; and, 3) If he wasn’tin on it, he might be able to help with some informa tion. Such as whether his aunt had left a will, and if so, who got the family jewels. She glanced at Ash from the side of her eye. He definitely looked calmer. Hackles going down. Chest lifting more slowly. They were both switching gear. â€Å"So Rowan and Kestrel and Jade are your sisters,† she said, with all the polite nonchalance she could muster. â€Å"They seem nice.† â€Å"I didn’t know you knew them,† Claudine said,and Mary-Lynnette realized her stepmother was hovering in the doorway, petite shoulder against thedoorjamb, arms crossed, dishtowel in hand. â€Å"I told him you hadn’t met them.† â€Å"Mark and I went over there yesterday,† MaryLynnette said. And when she said it, something flashed in Ash’s face–something there and gone before she could really analyze it. But it made her feelas ifshe were standing on the edge of a cliff in a cold wind. Why? What could be wrong with mentioning she’d met the girls? â€Å"You and Mark . . .and Mark would be-yourbrother?† â€Å"That’s right,† Claudine said from the doorway. â€Å"Any other brothers or sisters?† Mary-Lynnette blinked. â€Å"What, you’re taking a census?† Ash did a bad imitation of his former lazy smile. â€Å"I just like to keep track of my sisters’ friends.† Why?†To see if you approve or something?† â€Å"Actually, yes.† He did the smile again, with moresuccess. â€Å"We’re an old-fashioned family. Very old-fashioned.† Mary-Lynnette’s jaw dropped. Then, all at once,she felt happy. Now she didn’t need to think about murders or pink rooms or what this guy knew. All she needed to think about was what she was goingto do to him. â€Å"So you’re an old-fashioned family,† she said, moving a step forward. Ash nodded. â€Å"And you’re in charge,† Mary-Lynnette said. â€Å"Well, out here. Back home, my father is.† â€Å"And you’re just going to tell your sisters which friends they can have. Maybe you get to decide your aunt’s friends, too?† â€Å"Actually, I was just discussing that†¦.†He waved a hand toward Claudine. Yes, you were, Mary-Lynnette realized. She took another step toward Ash, who was still smiling. â€Å"Oh, no,† Claudine said. She flapped her dishtowelonce. â€Å"Don’t smile.† â€Å"I like a girl with spirit,† Ash offered, as if he’dworked hard on finding the most obnoxious thing possible to say. Then, with a sort of determined bravado, he winked, reached out, and chucked Mary-Lynnette under the chin. Fzzz! Sparks. Mary-Lynnette sprang back. So didAsh, looking at his own hand as if it had betrayed him. Mary-Lynnette had an inexplicable impulse to knock Ash flat and fall down on top of him. She’d never felt that for any boy before. She ignored the impulse and kicked him in the shin. He yelped and hopped backward. Once again the sleepy smugness was gone from his face. He looked alarmed. â€Å"I think you’d better go away now,† Mary-Lynnette said pleasantly. She was amazed at herself. She’d never been the violent type. Maybe there werethings hidden deep inside her that she’d never suspected. Claudine was gasping and shaking her head. Ashwas still hopping, but not going anywhere. MaryLynnette advanced on him again. Even though he was half a head taller, he backed up. He stared at her in something like wonder. â€Å"Hey. Hey, look, you know, you really don’t knowwhat you’re doing,† he said. â€Å"If you knew†¦Ã¢â‚¬  AndMary-Lynnette saw it again-something in his face that made him suddenly look not fatuous or amiable at all. Like the glitter of a knife blade in the light. Something that saiddanger†¦ . â€Å"Oh, go bother someone else, † Mary-Lynnette said. She drew back her foot for another kick. He opened his mouth, then shut it. Still holding his shin, he looked at Claudine and managed a hurt and miserable flirtatious smile. â€Å"Thanks so much for all your-â€Å" â€Å"Go!† He lost the smile. â€Å"That’s what I’m doingl† He limped to the front door. She followed him. â€Å"What do they call you, anyway?† he asked from the front yard, as if he’d finally found the comebackhe’d been looking for. â€Å"Mary? Marylin? M’lin? M.L.?† â€Å"They call me Mary-Lynnette,† Mary-Lynnette said flatly, and added under her breath, â€Å"That do speak of me.† She’d read The Taming of the Shrew in honors English last year. â€Å"Oh, yeah? How about M’lin the cursed?† He was still backing away. Mary-Lynnette was startled. So maybe his class hadread it, too. But he didn’t look smart enough to quote Shakespeare. â€Å"Have fun with your sisters,† she said, and shutthe door. Then she leaned against it, trying to get herbreath. Her fingers and face were prickly-numb, as if she were going to faint. If those girls had only murderedhim, I’d understand, she thought. But they’re all sostrange-there’s something seriously weird about that whole family. Weird in a way that scared her. If she’d believed in premonitions, she’d have been even more scared. She had a bad feeling-a feeling that things weregoing to happen†¦. Claudine was staring at her from the living room. â€Å"Very fabulous,† she said. â€Å"You’ve just kicked a guest. Now, what was that all about?†Ã¢â‚¬ He wouldn’t leave.† â€Å"You know what I mean. Do you two know eachother?† Mary-Lynnette just shrugged vaguely. The dizziness was passing, but her mind was swimming with questions. Claudine looked at her intently, then shook herhead. â€Å"I remember my little brother-when he wasfour years old he used to push a girl flat on her face in the sandbox. He did it to show he liked her.† Mary-Lynnette ignored this. â€Å"Claude-what wasAshherefor? What did you talk about?† â€Å"About nothing,† Claudine said, exasperated â€Å"Justordinary conversation. Since you hate him so much,what difference does it make?† Then, as Mary Lynnette kept looking at her, she sighed. â€Å"He was very interested in weird facts about life in the country. All the local stories.† Mary-Lynnette snorted. â€Å"Did you tell him about Sasquatch?† â€Å"I told him about Vic and Todd.† Mary-Lynnette froze. â€Å"You’re jolting Why?†Ã¢â‚¬ËœBecause that’s the kind of thing he asked about! People lost in time-â€Å" ?Losing time.,? â€Å"Whatever. We were just having a nice conversation. He was a nice boy. Finis. â€Å" Mary-Lynnette’s heart was beating fast. She was right. She was sure of it now. Todd and Vicwereconnected to whatever had happened with the sisters and Mrs. B. But what was the connection? I’m going to go and find out, she thought. How to cite Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 6, Essay examples

Mr Bleaney Analysis free essay sample

The atmosphere and the very unusual feeling given by the poem relate the emotions of the poet through an every man character: Mr Bleaney. In this essay, I will look at the techniques used by the author to produce this atmosphere of complete depression, by looking more particularly at the various poetic devices. Firstly, the poem reflects the key themes of loneliness and the shallowness of human life through the characters and the thoughts of the poet. The description of Mr Bleaneys character really creates the atmosphere of existential despair.The name Mr Bleaney itself does not have any flavour and sounds monotonous with no strong syllables. This monotony is reinforced by the way the author describes Mr Bleaney and his room. Mr Bleaney is only renting the room suggesting he is quite poor and perhaps weak as renting a room has little status compared to being the owner. In addition, the author uses indifferent words like they moved him to refer to his death which shows that he is physically and emotionally dying, but that it does not have any importance. We will write a custom essay sample on Mr Bleaney Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is reinforced by the fact that in the 6th stanza it says, But if he stood and watched the frigid wind Tousling the clouds meaning Mr Bleaney is like a ghost, perhaps already dead. Further more, Mr Bleaney is described as a man who does not care about his own comforts. The upright chair and no hook behind the door symbolises the fact that he does not care about the beauty and decorations of his room. The use of sixty watt bulb reinforces the idea of a strange glow, reflecting the theme of loneliness and obscurity.The description of the flowered curtains as thin and frayed in addition of the fusty bed evokes the idea of decay and the unimportance of his life. The use of one hired box to describe the room evokes the image of a coffin which emphasizes the feeling of loneliness and death. Larkin gives a description of Mr Bleaney as one of insignificance and he criticises his lack of efforts to decorate his room with offensive words like: tussocky, littered and upright suggesting the author does not approve the total depressed attitude of Mr Bleaney. Nonetheless, from the middle of the 3rd stanza it becomes more melancholic. In effect, by looking at Mr Bleaneys life, the protagonist has found a resemblance to his own life. When the man says so it happens that I lie where Mr Bleaney lay suggests that he understands he is not superior to of Mr Bleaney, as he too is only renting the room, and he has not made this place a more beautiful place to live than Mr Bleaney. This parallel between their lives is emphasized by the fact that they have both a repetitive lives, each year following the same pathway: Christmas at his sisters in stoke and the Frinton folk who put him up for summer holidays.This parallel between both lives reinforces the idea of Mr Bleaney being an everyman character as everybody has in a way a resemblance with him if we look carefully at our lives as the protagonist did. This idea that we are all similar and that Mr Bleaney is as everybody permits to the reader to identify himself to the characters and to really dive in this atmosphere of existential despair. This atmosphere of repetition a nd monotony is present throughout the text by the use of various poetic techniques. The repetitive rhythm, ABAB, represents the monotony and predictable nature of Larkin and Mr Bleaneys life. This is emphasized by the repetitive length of the stanzas (quatrains) and the fact that it has the same number of syllables per line. In addition, the use of the enjambments shows the futility and tedious nature of Mr Bleaneys life. The lack of metaphors and similes makes the poem very close to reality to reflect the boring and unexciting lives of the characters. Further more, the author uses a pathetic fallacy as in the 6th stanza the weather represents the state of mind the frigid wind which shows in a poetic way the depressive lives of the protagonists.The various, poetic devices used by Philip Larkin are similar to Mr Bleaneys life, repetitive and not exciting. To conclude, by describing Mr Bleaneys life through his room to show his monotonous and depressive life but also by linking it to the protagonist life (who is probably Larkin himself but also everybody in the world) the poet succeeds to put in place an uncomfortable atmosphere. This is reinforced by the parallel between t he poetic devices and the plot of the poem giving the feeling that life is repetitive, useless and therefore it creates an atmosphere of existential despair, reflecting the angst of the period after World War 2.

13 Rules You Need to Know to Have a Successful Work-Life Balance

13 Rules You Need to Know to Have a Successful  Work-Life Balance A career is nothing if not a series of learning curves- as a student, as a new worker, as a new employee, as an employee with new responsibilities. No matter how many years you’ve been working, or how far you’ve gotten in your field, there’s always plenty to learn. (Don’t believe the hype about old dogs and new tricks.) But not all of those lessons need to be learned the hard way! Here are 12 lessons to keep in mind as you move through your career. 1. Happiness is as important as any other part of your career.Okay, maybe it’s slightly less important than having a paycheck- having a roof over one’s head and life’s basic necessities do outweigh most things. But otherwise, life is definitely too short to stay in a job that makes you totally miserable. If you feel uncomfortable with what you’re asked to do, or have a terrible boss, or can’t stand your work environment- those are all major red flags that you should be doing so mething else, or at least somewhere else.2. Mistakes are not fatal.If you’re a heart surgeon or an airline pilot, then yes, there are more important stakes here. But for most of us, mistakes happen, and then we move on. That’s not to say there are no consequences- there usually are. But sometimes things will just go wrong at work, and all you can do is work on overcoming them and move on.3. No job is worth your health.If you’re so stressed out that you’re not eating, or wake up every night at 4 a.m. after having the same stress nightmare about your inbox, then that’s not a sustainable career plan. If you’re sick and miserable, you’re not going to perform at your best. Then you’re even more sick and miserable†¦and on and on. That is not a cycle that will help you reach any of your career goals.4. Be open to new opportunities.Even if you’re relatively content in your job, or aren’t interested in a job hunt righ t now, don’t close yourself off to other opportunities. Keep your networking relationships current, and make sure your resume is updated periodically to reflect your current experience and skills, because you just never know when an opportunity might come along.5. Don’t sweat the everyday things.This is especially important if you’re still starting out in your career. Things like setting up meetings, making presentations, sending an email to a group of people- these can seem like daunting tasks, fraught with all kinds of room for public mistakes. But really, they’re just tasks. Do as good a job as you can, and move on. If you make a mistake, learn from it and make sure you apply that the next time.6. Don’t be a lone wolf.Ultimately, your career is about you. But without team members or colleagues helping you along the way (even if it’s just doing their own jobs so you can do theirs), you’re not going to make a ton of progress. Plus, y ou never know what you can learn from others. It’s important to make connections with the people you see and work with every day.7. You control your destiny.Business writer Francisco Marconi sees this as a variation on â€Å"you’re on your own,† but I prefer to think of it is each of us being our own best advocate. You set your goals, you decide what’s right for you, and you are the one who gets to make bottom-line decisions about your career. If you just drift along, letting everyone else define your career, you can end up in a spot where you’re unhappy about your job, or regretful of chances you didn’t take. So make sure that you’re setting goals that will make you feel fulfilled, and do everything you can to meet those milestones along the way.8. Failure is not the end.It certainly doesn’t feel great to fall short of expectations (yours or others’), but sometimes failure is what you need to either a) teach a valuable lesson about how you’re doing things; or b) helping you realize that you should be doing something else. Some of the most successful people have failed, and rather than let that define their careers, they took the painful lesson and moved forward. Even if you’re fired, it’s not necessarily the death of your career. There’s always something to be learned in failure, which you can then apply toward being more successful in your career.9. Cultivate outside interests.If you find yourself working long hours, sacrificing personal time to answer emails after hours, and basically living and breathing your job, that’s a shortcut to burnout. Outside of work, set aside time for hobbies and interests. Doing things that are creative, or give you an outlet, can actually make you a better worker. You could be building creative or problem solving skills that might very well come in handy at work at some point. Or it might just relax you, and give your brain some d own time so that you can come back to work happier and more refreshed, and ready to tackle the issues of the day.10. Find a de-stressing method that works for you.Whether it’s five minutes of desk yoga, or basic meditation exercises, you will need a way to calm workday stresses at some point. Even if you love your job with a passion, it’s important to have coping mechanisms in place for when things don’t go 100% well, or when days are extra busy.11. Move outside your zone sometimes.Doing things that are new, or which you’re not very good at (yet) can be scary. It’s much easier to keep doing what you know, and improving at things you’re already familiar with. But what happens if the job you’re really good at doing is eliminated, or you find out that you need new skills to move forward in your career? It’s important to branch out and be good at different things, even if you don’t plan to use them. For example, if youâ€⠄¢re great at writing emails or explaining things in writing, but lousy at presenting, sign up for a public speaking class. Target those weak areas so that you can convert them into a strength.12. Disconnect sometimes.Put the phone down. Shut off the iPad. Set up some screen-free time with your favorite people. Part of the reason people are more stressed than ever is that we’re attached (often quite literally) to our devices, letting work encroach on down time. Sometimes you need to take the active step of eliminating these distractions, and that requires saying no to technology every so often. It can also help at work as well, if you set an email-and-phone-free hour to work on a project that’s been lagging, or you have a meeting where no one’s multitasking on their phone or tablet while you talk.13. Never stop building your network.Meeting people in your field, or following influential people on social media, is one of the most important things you can do for l ong-term career health. You never know when opportunities might come through these folks, or when information you learned from them can come in handy. Plus, it’s nice to have a support network, whether it’s personal or professional. Think of it as professional gardening: sometimes it can be tedious to water and fertilize your plants (if you’re not green-thumb-inclined, like I’m not), but if you stick with it you have grown something that you can continue to appreciate and enjoy.If there are other lessons you’ve learned along the way, please share away! We’d love to hear what’s worked for you.

Obesity and Adolescent Development essays

Obesity and Adolescent Development essays In recent studies of obesity in adolescents and young adults, it seems that researchers had discovered many effects beyond the purely physical that make overweight an unhealthy thing. In fact, the psychosocial effects are quite devastating as well, but they are not caused directly by the state of being heavy; they are caused more often by the individual's perceptions, what he or she believes about the overweight status that causes the harm. There is no firm conclusion yet as to whether a single factor or multiple factors cause the obesity that in turn contributes to the poor self-image. Some researchers believe that the overweight condition itself caused by a self-fulfilling prophecy allied to the overweight condition. There is only one thing that has become accepted as certain, a truism coined by Alfred Adler and quoted by Hoover and Whitehead, 2000: Numerous children grow up in the constant dread of being laughed at. Ridicule of children is well nigh criminal. It retains its effect on the soul of the child, and is transferred into the habits and actions of his adulthood. Alfred Adler on feelings of inferiority, p. 71 (1932) Current research shows that, in fact, obesity is the number one cause of children being ridiculed. Being overweight is one of the five most common reasons that boys and girls identified for being bullied, according to Hoover and Whitehead. (2000) And, says Munson, for obese adolescents who are teased and bullied, obesity is often associated with psychological and behavioral symptoms, although she adds that whether pediatric obesity should thus be labeled a psychiatric disorder is debatable and insufficient work has been done in that area to make a call one way or the other. Between Adler's stringent belief that being laughed at causes distress to the soul of a human being, and Munson's...

Descriptive or Inferential Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Descriptive or Inferential Statistics - Essay Example It is hard to find private school teachers and keep them, since twice as many change schools. Catholic school teachers are also paid 25 to 40 percent less than public school teachers (paras. 16 and 20). These statistics support the argument that Catholic schools are not the answer for every child. Later on the author cites a series of statistics about how parents are applying for vouchers and scholarships. Scholarships support 14,000 students nationwide and the waiting list is 40,000 (para. 29). This is really amazing and supports the point that parents would choose private schools for their children if they could afford the tuition. The statistic only shows that 40,000 parents would prefer that their kids attend private school, and the article does not say what percent that group is out of the 49 million total children. Overall, the statistics presented in this article are interesting but not really related to the main point. A reader would have to trust the source in order to be convinced by the argument, or would have to trust the interviewee’s comments more than statistics. As far as statistics go, so few are in the article that they do not really help make the

The role of federal agencies in fighting digital crime Essay

The role of federal agencies in fighting digital crime - Essay Example These agencies have to be up to date about all the digital networking so that they can help protect the common people, businesses and governments from getting cheated or played by digital criminals. They know that it is the requirement to keep their strategies in dealing with this threat more innovative so that this problem can be handled appropriately. Mostly the security agencies that work under the government are more influential in countering digital crimes because they have more financial support and thus are more technologically advanced. Political assistance also plays a vital role in increasing their significance. High priority is given to prevent digital crime and efforts are being made to spot crimes before they occur. There are various agencies that are working to prevent this problem. One of these agencies is the Secret Service. This agency is responsible for the prevention of three digital crimes, which are financial institutional frauds that include savings, loans and banks, the access devised frauds that include credit cards, personal identification numbers and passwords, and last but not the least digital crimes conducted on the national level. Another agency that works to prevent digital crime is the Department of Justice. This department takes care of the investigations related to computer hacking, electronic privacy laws and various other digital crimes. It basically takes care of all the legal implications of digital crimes. The department of Homeland Security agency is the combination of two agencies: U.S Customs Service and Immigration and naturalization, and the digital crime that is investigated here with highest level of priority is the child exploitation case (Wiles, 2007, p.90). Federal Bureau of Investigation is one of the largest criminal investigating agencies in the United States and in digital crimes it handles the hacking, fraud via the internet, sending of illegal material across the state borders etc. It works with the

Underachievement: African Carribean

Underachievement: African Carribean Underachievement African Caribbean Abstract This study discusses various issues related to under achievement of African-Caribbean or Black boys in British schools. The study highlights the fact that there is a denial in the British educational system of race and racism and that this is reflected in the in-flexibility of many schools to consider the differential positioning of Black boys in the UK and the effect of their experiences in the school system and opportunities gained thereafter in the workplace. In sum the study shows that there is clear evidence that African-Caribbean pupils have not shared or have been received equally in the increasing rates of average educational performance at various academic platforms. Chapter 1: Introduction Boys’ underachievement has been a major concern within academic circles and among government bodies (Gorard, Gillborn) for quite a while. Ofsted 1996 highlighted the gap between the performance of boys and girls as the attainment continued to lower for boys as they move along the key stages. Coard explores some of the issues that black children faced three decades ago. Some of the abysmal failure of black children within the British school system includes: Racist policies and practices of the education authorities in the past Racism within the curriculum itself Low teacher expectation and how destructive a force this could be Inadequate black parental knowledge of and involvement in what was happening to their children (Coard 1971). According to Coard, black children were deemed as Educationally Sub-Normal (ESN) and were excluded from mainstream. This issue coupled with racist policies and curriculum and low teacher expectation caused most of these children to encounter emotional disturbances which in the long run affected their overall performance of black children in Britain. Despite the odds, in the late 1960s and 1970s some black children were able to make it academically but the majority were not so lucky (Coard 1971). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to investigate the educational experiences of African-Caribbean boys in the UK. The main focus will be to identify the factors that have contributed to the poor academic performance of Black Boys over the years. Furthermore, this work would investigate the claim that there is a denial in the British educational system of race and racism and that this is reflected in the inflexibilityof many schools to consider the differential positioning ofBlack boys in the UK and the effect of their experiences in the school system and opportunities gained thereafter in the workplace. This work will draw on a study in which various stakeholders voice e.g. (Tony Sewell) their experiences of why Black Boys in Britain perform poorly in schools and alsoseek to identify alternative visionsof schooling to re-engage Black males thereby increasing their prospect for a successful future. Research Questions What is the relationship between under achievement and social exclusion of black boys studying in UK schools? How are schools dealing with the issue of student underachievement of black students studying in UK institutions? Are all black boys underachieving? Significance of the Study This study is quite significant as it shows that high under-achievement rates are not just an issue for black pupils. In 2005-2006 the permanent under-achievement rate for special schools was 0.54% compared with 0.34% for secondary and 0.04% for primary schools; overall, pupils with statements of special educational need were seven times more likely to be excluded from school than pupils without statements (DCSF, 2007). Other groups who are over-represented in the statistics include children looked after by local authorities and children from Gypsy and traveller families, despite the behaviour of travelling pupils being generally good (OFSTED, 2006b). Links have been made between school under-achievement and long-term social under-achievement (Blyth Milner, 2003), as have links between school under-achievement and juvenile crime (Graham Bowling, 2005; Gilbertson, 2005); these links are also recognised by government as a policy issue (Social Under-achievement Unit, 2005). For many pupils permanent under-achievement from school marks the end of their formal education: a recent report by the Audit Commission (2006) suggests that only 15% of permanently excluded secondary pupils return to mainstream schooling. Chapter 2: Literature Review A review of the literature on student under achievement highlights the fact that ethnic monitoring of under-achievement was first introduced by the DCSF in the 2004-2005 national schools census. Data from that census indicates that although `Black Caribbean pupils form only 1.1% of the school population they represented 7.3% of those excluded from school and were around six times more likely to be excluded than their White peers. The disproportionate under-achievement of black boys is a particularly serious problem because overall many more males than females are excluded: official statistics show the ratio to be 4.3 boys for each excluded girl. Nevertheless, within the female school population, girls identified as `Black Caribbean are also particularly vulnerable to under-achievement: the school census shows they accounted for 8.8% of excluded girls in 2004-2005 (DCSF, 2006) and are thus eight times more likely to be excluded than might be suggested by the ethnic composition of schools. There is also evidence that African-Caribbean pupils have not shared equally in the increasing rates of average educational performance at GCSE. An OFSTED-commissioned review of research on the achievements of ethnic minority pupils over a 10 year period up to 2005 concludes that the relatively lower exam achievements of Caribbean pupils, especially boys in a wide range of academic and LEA research studies is a cause for concern. The research evidence suggests that ‘A combination of gender and racial stereotypes may make it more difficult for young black men to avoid being caught up in cycles of increasingly severe criticism and control’ (Gillborn Gipps, 2006, pp. 29 and 58). For black families rising under-achievement rates, combined with boys relatively low levels of achievement in public examinations, amount to an educational crisis. Under-achievement and Special Educational Needs It has been suggested (for example, Norwich, 2004; Parffrey, 2004) that in some schools children may be excluded when it is required as assessment and provision for special educational needs (SEN). Analysis of permanent under-achievement from Birmingham schools during the 2006-2007 school year indicated that 53% of those excluded were on the schools special needs register. The Code of Practice relating to special educational needs (DfE, 2004a) requires schools to draw up an individual education plan (IEP) for a child identified as having SEN and outlines a series of stages in which the school is responsible, in co-operation with support agencies, for meeting these needs. It can be argued from a personal experience and evidence from an interview with a teacher that most of the black boys that are underachieving are SEN children who comes under social emotional and behavioural difficulties and probably that is why they are underachieving because the have not been diagnosed for IEP to be made on them yet. These are pupils whose learning and/or behavioural difficulties may be placing stress on teachers but for whom the amount of additional support is limited. It is possible that some of these childrens needs might have been met and under-achievement avoided if the school had been able to access appropriate additional support at an earlier stage. Although official national statistics recognise the over-representation of children with SEN among those excluded from school, these statistics only count excluded pupils with a statement of special education need and thus record pupils with SEN as a minority (17%) of all under-achievements (DCSF, 2007). Analysis of the Birmingham data, which allows us to consider all pupils on the special needs register, indicates that over half the children permanently excluded from Birmingham schools have identified special educational needs. If this pattern is replicated across the country, then it seems likely that the extent to which unmet special educational needs may be contributing to the problem of under-achievement has been under-estimated. It is possible that some LEAs with low proportions of children assessed as having special educational needs, both overall and from particular ethnic groups, may not be identifying children in need of SEN support. Where this correlates with high under-achievement rates, there is reason to suspect that neglected learning difficulties may lie behind some of the disciplinary problems. Ethnicity and Reducing Under-achievement An analysis of the number of groups under-achieving per secondary school over the three year period 2001-2003 with the number of under-achievement in the three years 2004-2006, in order to identify schools which had reduced the number of pupils permanently excluded in Birmingham, show a reduction in the number of pupils excluded over this period, from an average of 11 to an average of seven per school. Those secondary schools which had reduced their use of permanent exclusion had, overall, cut under-achievement by nearly half for all ethnic groups. This suggests that where schools had developed policies for reducing under-achievement, these had been equally effective for all ethnic groups. Nevertheless, this still left black pupils to be over-represented among the under-achievement from these schools. The evidence suggests that if the problem of over-representation of black pupils is to be addressed and racial equality achieved then strategies which specifically address the needs of these children are important. Since African-Caribbean pupils formed some 28% of excluded pupils and only 8% of the school population in Birmingham, I wished to argue whether this might be because African-Caribbean pupils are more likely to attend schools with high under-achievement rates. A total of 14 schools with high under-achievement rates, i.e. schools which had permanently excluded 30 or more pupils in the 6 year period 2001-2006, were identified (two of them grant maintained schools). Of these, 11 had an African-Caribbean population of 8% or less and the other three had higher proportions of African-Caribbean children than for the city as a whole, ranging from 11 to 33%. Sewell (1998), mentions that African-Caribbean boys were six times more likely to be excluded from school as compared to the other group. Furthermore there are argument that these black boys were seen to be conformists in that they were seen to be accepting both the means and goals of schooling but they are most likely to be excluded. There is evidence of an interview with a black boy on page 113 which goes further to prove that not all boys are the same. This particular point is important to my research as there seems to be the assertion that all black boys are underachieving and this is what this research seeks to address. Sewell unpacks some of the oversimplification that exists in the current debate about boys’ underachievement. He goes further to describe boys as ‘a tip of the iceberg in a doomsday scenario within the school’. There seems to be a link between gender identity and anti-school attitude which makes peer group pressure which is sensitive in boys to allow the generalization to be made about boys as unified lumps, in this content as underachieving academically Identifying Good Practice The study sought to understand teachers and head teachers attitudes and approaches to under-achievement and to equal opportunities. Previous research studies have tended to ignore teachers perspectives and the ways in which under-achievement merge into the lives of schools (Gillborn Gipps, 2006), although Haydens (2007) study of children excluded from primary schools does consider the perspectives of both head teachers and class teachers of excluded pupils. My study addressed schools with low or declining under-achievement rates with the aim of identifying good practice in minimising the practice of under-achievement. In particular, I wished to establish whether teachers in the case study schools felt supported in managing difficult or challenging pupil behaviour or whether a low under-achievement rate might be masking other problems and causing stress to individuals working in these schools. Where schools are able to avoid under-achievement we wished to identify the alternative strategies they adopt. Teachers Explanations of Rising Under-Achievement Rates Teachers and head teachers in the case study schools were not asked about the impact of recent educational reforms, but as they reflected on pupil behaviour and their own attitudes to excluding pupils they made regular reference to the changing social policy context in which they are working. They referred frequently to the impact which market forces in education have made on school discipline, increased teacher workloads, changed parental expectations and to how the National Curriculum had limited the scope for schools to meet individual needs and address pupils personal and social behaviour. They broadly agree with Charlton David (2003), Blyth Milner (2004), and Hevey (2004) and Hayden (2007) that increased competition between schools for pupils’ and resources is a key underlying reason for a general rise in under-achievement. As Parffrey (2004) argues, Naughty children are bad news in the market economy. No one wants them. They are bad for the image of the school, they are bad for the league tables, they are difficult and time-consuming, and they upset and stress the teachers. The teachers believed that although schools were all experiencing similar conditions, some had resisted excluding pupils who presented problems. In that have lower excluding rate such as their own, when teachers were working with numbers of children with behavioural difficulties, they argued that the costs of maintaining higher thresholds of tolerance were felt by teachers themselves, in terms of teacher stress and fatigue. Many teachers in the study, notably those in primary schools who have responsibility for the whole curriculum, believed that the National Curriculum has led schools to accept a narrow view of education and, as Gray et al. (2004) have suggested, that it has diminished the importance of personal and social education. They indicated that curriculum pressures and demands for additional record keeping leave them with little time to support a disruptive child or to develop appropriate alternative materials for children with learning difficulties. This in turn can lead to frustration and consequent disruption among such children if they are unable to succeed in the tasks set. Teachers set these difficulties within the context of wider social problems facing childrens families, notably unemployment and poverty. They suggested that pressures faced by children in school, allied to difficulties which a number of them were experiencing out of school and young peoples belief that schooling might not support them in finding future work, were having an impact on their motivation, even at primary level: We are into the second generation of children whose parents have not worked. A lot of the original reasons why people toed the line are not there any longer and I think that a lot of the children in our school are living in situations where there does not seem an awful lot of point [to education]. Everyone wants to achieve in some form, but I feel at home and at school they are not seeing opportunities for themselves as individuals. Some of the traditional motivations are not there. So weve got to look at alternatives. Where we become negative its because of tiredness, its because of workload, its because of the amount of curriculum we have to cover. Weve lost sight of making it interesting. (Primary teacher) Interestingly, none of the teachers suggested that the removal of corporal punishment as a possible disciplinary option had contributed to discipline problems, and ultimately to the increasing use of under-achievement as a sanction, as did a number of the teachers and parents in Haydens (2007) study of excluded children. Teachers Understandings of Racial Equality Some teachers also argued that pressures to meet the demands of the National Curriculum had led to an approach where teachers often fail to consider whether or not the content of lessons builds upon particular childrens experiences and cultures. This would lead some children to feel neglected or marginalised and thus more likely to become disaffected. One teacher argued that an inappropriate curriculum was part of the solution, as was inadequate teacher training, but felt that teacher expectations played a central role: The over-representation of African-Caribbeanboys (among those excluded) is a very complicated issue. However, I think expectations make a big difference, and I think we do tend, however well intentioned, to see a black boy and think they are going to be trouble. A lot of this is down to the media and how they over emphasise issues about black boys, the society in general as well as other research findings. I think that one of the problems is that after a long period of dependency (on National Curriculum requirements) and considering new teachers now, there is a whole generation of teachers who are sent into schools without the grounding of making decisions about what is appropriate for example SEN issues in the class (experience from supply teaching) These teachers comments about a generation of teachers being inadequately prepared to make decisions about appropriate curriculum content within the context of a culturally diverse classroom was supported by a number of newly qualified teachers. Such teachers reported that they wished to develop multicultural approaches but lacked training in this area and were unaware as to where they might find suitable materials. (Birmingham report 2004) Head teachers generally showed themselves to be more aware of issues relating to cultural diversity and racial equality than class teachers. Parffrey (2004) points out that schools in Canada and the USA do not exclude children since schooling is recognised as the means by which children realise their basic human right to education. According to research studies on teachers understating of racial equality none of the teachers or head teachers interviewed in the case study schools supported the abolition of permanent under-achievement, although all heads saw it as a last resort. A number characterised it as a failure on the part of the school: `I would say permanent under-achievement is a defeat (secondary head teacher). Some head teachers recalled their personal sense of failure and distress as they recounted the experience of permanently excluding a pupil. Nevertheless, all the head teachers, including the two primary headsone of whom had never excluded and the other who had excluded only two pupils in 20 years as head teacheradvocated retaining permanent under-achievement as an ultimate sanction: Behaviour Policies Most school had developed its own system of rewards and sanctions which were generally explicit in the behavioural code. The aim is to provide a structure of support for difficult pupils, with a system of rewards and a full range of lesser sanctions so that permanent under-achievement was, where possible, avoided: There is some evidence (for example, Holland Hamerton, 2004) that even within schools there can be inconsistency in the types of offence for which pupils are, and are not, excluded. Such inconsistency might, in certain circumstances, allow sanctions to be applied in a discriminatory way. However, it could be argued that policies listing particular offences as leading to under-achievement should be avoided, as they could place heads in the position of having to exclude a pupil when mitigating circumstances might make under-achievement inappropriate. While this might mean treating the same offence differently when committed by different pupils or groups of pupils, it could also reduce the rate of under-achievement. It is essential that clear explanations of school policy are made to both pupils and parents, so they can see the justice of a schools approach. In some cases of under-achievement from school, teacher inexperience or lack of skills or training in managing difficult pupil behaviour may play a part (OFSTED, 2006a). A lot of the behavioural problems that exist , and I do not think there are many, are due to the fact that the whole staff have not got together to go over the approach to aspects of misbehaviour in real depth. So what I think is happening for example, if a member of staff does something inappropriate-this is not criticise a kid gets into the situation where the school has to send them home. But I think if we could change the approach in the classroom more, this would happen less. At the moment we have to react to situations and also we are trying to send a message to the students about the standards that are required of them. Pastoral Care and Mentoring In a case study of schools, (Birmingham city council 2004) particularly in the secondary schools, they felt that school discipline was directly related to the degree of respect which was shown to them by teachers and also to the level of support they received from teachers. A number stressed the importance of giving pupils occasional opportunities for individual tutorials with a teacher at which they might raise personal or academic concerns. Effective pastoral care systems were also highlighted by a number of head teachers as contributing to good discipline and self-discipline among pupils. At some schools the behaviour policy was incorporated within the schools pastoral policy: Managing difficult behaviour and developing discipline is to do with the whole school ethos. We are in the business of caring and supporting; therefore we do whatever we can. We are in the business of being fair. Another thing looked at was how to reinforce positive behaviour. (Head teacher, secondary school) Some schools had worked hard to ensure that their Personal and Social Education curriculum allowed all pupils to reflect on issues of their personal conduct. For example, some had introduced a mentoring programme for pupils who were presenting problems or who were disaffected. In one secondary school, a group of African-Caribbean boys who had been regularly in trouble and were perceived as vulnerable to under-achievement were being informally mentored by the (white male) head teacher. On the other hand, an African-Caribbean man could be invited to lead weekly sessions with African-Caribbean boys. Another aim was to raise self-esteem, and we be bring in consultants to work with the pupils on half-day conferences, to get them thinking about Where do I want to be in three or four or five years time?. (Head teacher, Birmingham school) Equal Opportunities Policy and Practice One explanation for the over-representation of African-Caribbean pupils within the under-achievement statistics is racism. The suggestion is not that most teachers operate in overly racist ways but that deep-seated stereotypes held by teachers and school governors may lead to black children being seen as having behavioural difficulties. Bridges (2004) suggests that with additional pressures on black families from high levels of unemployment, cuts in social spending, racial harassment and social dislocation imposed on their family and community life it is hardly surprising that some black children present themselves as aggressive in school, as this is a stance that society outside has taught them is necessary for survival. Stifling (2003), in her research into the causes of under-achievement , found that race often featured as a background issue and that although schools think they treat all their pupils the same and do not exclude black pupils unfairly, they do not take into account the factors which have caused the unacceptable behaviour, particularly racial harassment by other pupils. She concludes: Throughout the course of my research I have found evidence of open racism demonstrated by staff in schools to be uncommon. Far more common is the racial harassment of a black child by a white peer group. A government-commissioned study to establish why some schools appear more effective in managing pupil behaviour and avoiding under-achievement also highlighted racism, in the area if not in the school, as one of the problems likely to be experienced by excluded pupils (OFSTED, 2006a). Community and Support Services Previous research has suggested that in many cases of under-achievement , support from outside the school has been lacking, while the support provided within school has been to help the teacher cope, rather than to help pupils overcome their problems (Abbotts Parsons, 2003). A case study schools drew on a wide range of outside support agencies, including voluntary agencies, independent consultants and LEA support services. However, they noted that resources for LEA services were often limited and that they may not always be available for all pupils who need them. One community-based initiative which has been welcomed by a number of Birmingham schools is the KWESI project (Klein, 2006), a mentoring project run by black men which targets black boys judged to be vulnerable to under-achievement . The mentors enter into a partnership with schools to support individual children and KWESI asks its volunteers and participating schools to adopt a no blame approach, so that both parties work for the best interests of the child. Although none of the case study schools was working directly with KWESI, evidence suggests that the scheme has been influential beyond the schools where volunteers are working. It has made head teachers aware of the need to address the disproportionate under-achievement of African-Caribbean boys and may have contributed to a change in the climate of opinion. The Role of the LEA There is a clear role for LEAs in providing feedback to schools on the patterns and trends in exclusions and the impact on under-achievement. Monitoring of exclusions varied considerably among schools. Some head teachers, for example, did not have the data to discuss numbers of fixed term exclusions in relation to permanent exclusions nor any evidence as to whether fixed term exclusions helped to prevent permanent exclusions. The desirability of recording and monitoring action taken to support vulnerable pupils was also stressed by a number of schools. Birmingham LEA currently provides support for schools own monitoring by analysing their records to highlight any patterns in under-achievement by ethnic group and sex. A school wishing to monitor under-achievement thoroughly would need to collect and analyse data for both fixed term and permanent exclusions by sex, ethnic group, special educational needs, socio-economic background (for example, by entitlement to free school meals) and year group. Schools can record additional data which might indicate a need for changes in practice or school policies; for example, noting the pupil’s and teachers who are involved in incidents leading to under-achievement. LEAs might provide guidance in such matters and put schools in touch with schools in similar circumstances who have found solutions to particular difficulties. Head teachers of schools with low under-achievement rates often feel penalised if they are asked to accept pupils excluded from other schools. Head teachers also suggested that the LEA might impose a ceiling on the number of previously excluded pupils a school should be expected to take within a given period, thus protecting the support and resources available for difficult pupils within any one school. According to a research a school had received a small grant from the LEA to assist with the integration of excluded pupils. Although the head argued the money had not stretched far, this was seen as a gesture of goodwill. Such funds can support an induction programme which might include additional supervision and support from outside agencies. Other support for reintegration might include allocation of a special teacher-tutor and the development of a peer group mentoring scheme. Within LEAs there is also a need for greater collaboration between those who address the needs of vulnerable children and curriculum and advisory services which have particular expertise regarding equal opportunities and race equality issues. In many LEAs responsibility for under-achievements rests with an individual or service responsible for special educational needs; in such a situation questions of structural or unintended racism or possible racial discrimination are likely to have low priority if they are on the agenda at all. The West Midlands Under-achievement Forum, set up to bring together representatives from nine LEAs to share expertise and develop policies and strategies to minimise school under-achievement, is a good example of inter-LEA co-operation. It is not just at the level of policy development that such co-operation is important. For children living in one area but attending school in a neighbouring LEA there are sometimes difficulties in the co-ordinated provision of services. Chapter 3: Methodology Research Method For this study I have utilised the qualitative research approach. Qualitative research is much more subjective than quantitative research and uses very different methods of collecting information, mainly individual, in-depth interviews and focus groups. However, since this research study is a secondary qualitative research the data that has been collected for qualitative analysis has been through an extensive review of literature that has been published in the field in the past few years. Secondary research is often less costly than surveys and is extremely effective in acquiring information about peoples communication needs and their responses to and views about specific communication. It is often the method of choice in instances where quantitative measurement is not required. For the purpose of this project the qualitative interview is the perfect approach to take using semi structured interviews. Quantitative research involves counting and measuring of events and performing the statistical analysis of a numerical data (Smith, 1988). The assumption behind this is that there is an objective truth existing that can be measured and explained significantly. The main concerns of the quantitative approach are that, their measurement is reliable, valid and generalisable in its clear prediction of cause and effect (Cassell and Symon, 1994). Primary Data was collected first through interviews. Merriam (1994) said that; Interviews are the best form of collecting evidence if the researcher wants to find out facts that cannot be observed. The student used semi-structured int

Amazon analysis Essay

1. Introduction Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce company. It was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 (Amazon, n.d.) and the website went online on July 16, 1995 (Webley, 2010). Amazon has its headquarter in Seattle, Washington and several offices on all continents. (Amazon, n.d.) At the beginning Amazon sold only books and after a period of development they expanded into a wider range of products such as multimedia products, household items, toys, clothing, jewellery, sporting goods and grocery (Amazon, n.d.). In the following the business strategy of Amazon is analysed in regard to a theoretical background. First of all, Amazon’s strategy is examined in terms of Porter’s Five Forces and Generic Strategies. Moreover, Amazon’s internationalisation strategy is examined including the obstacles they might face in their development process and how those can be overcome. Furthermore, economic theory is used to evaluate the aspects of market power and competition. 2. Analysis of Amazon 2.1. Amazon in Porter’s frameworks 2.1.1. Porter’s Five Forces It can be recommended to organisations to analyse the environment they operate in. This can be done on several levels such as the macro-environment, industry, competitors and the organisation itself. When analysing the industry the model of Porter’s Five Forces is an appropriate tool. It includes the five competitive forces threat of entry, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of suppliers and competitive rivalry. Figure 1: The five forces framework (Tanbots, n.d.) Threat of entry describes the level of barriers that need to be overcome by new entrants in an industry. The typical barriers are (Johnson, Whittington, & Scholes, 2011): Scale and experience Access to supply and distribution channels Expected retaliation Legislation or government action Differentiation In the case of Amazon the barrier scale and experience is the most significant. Amazon is the largest online retailer (Netonomy.NET, 2013). As a consequence they operate on a very large scale which results in economies of scale and other cost advantages. For a new entrant it would be very difficult to achieve this from scratch as this would requires large amounts of investment. As a new competitor in this sector does not have those cost advantages it is very likely that they have to charge higher prices. Amazon is in business for almost 18 years now which is comparable long for any online company. During this time they were able to build up a lot of valuable experience which is likely to be reflected in their cost curve as well. â€Å"A substitute performs the same or a similar function as an industry’s product by a different means.† (Porter, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, 2008) The threat of a substitute is high when it offers an attractive price-perf ormance ratio and when the buyer’s switching costs are low. (Porter, The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, 2008) Switching costs are very low because it does not make a difference to the customer where they buy their books, music downloads or kitchen appliances just to name a few. The product is either the same or very  similar. So customers have the free choice where they want to purchase their products. However, there might be high emotional switching costs as customers built up a high loyalty in the past. Amazon makes use of this with their Kindle for example. There are many e-book readers available but when a customer purchases the Kindle they are also going to purchase their e-books from Amazon because then switching costs would be high as they would need a different e-book reader. This is a mean for Amazon to counteract the threat of substitutes. Suppliers can put pressure on companies by either reducing the quality of the good or service or by raising prices. The bargaining power of suppliers is high when one or more of several key elements are given such as the industry is dominated by only a few suppliers, the product is unique or differentiated and the industry is not an important customer of the supplier. (Porter, How competitive forces shape strategy, 1979) In the case of Amazon the bargaining po wer of suppliers is limited. On the one hand the power of suppliers is high because Amazon depends from their suppliers in the sense that books for example are usually not offered by a large number of different publishing companies. The same is true for the multimedia sector. So those suppliers could increase prices. On the other hand with Amazon being the largest online retailer it is a major customer of the industry. Publishing companies for example cannot risk to lose Amazon as a customer. Customers can pressure the companies to reduce prices, increase quality of the product or service and play competitors off against each other if they have a high bargaining power. (Porter, How competitive forces shape strategy, 1979) The key issue in the case of Amazon is that most of their products are standard and undifferentiated. As a lot of competitors in the online market as well as in the high street sector offer the same or very similar products customers can easily play competitors off against each other or demand lower prices. Due to those facts customers have a fairly high bargaining power. Rivalry among existing competitors is very high as Amazon has not only to compete with other online shops but also with high street retailers. Amazon offers a wide range of products and they are faced with different competitors across their product categories. There is only one factor that differentiates Amazon from the other retailers which is that Amazon offers such an immense range of products. 2.1.2. Generic Strategies Companies can develop a competitive advantage either in having lower costs than competitors or by product differentiation so that customers are willing to pay higher prices for that unique characteristic. The strategies that are developed to achieve this can either focus on the broad or narrow scope. (Johnson, Whittington, & Scholes, 2011) Figure 2: Generic Competitive Strategies (Burgeen, 2013) With Amazon being the largest online retailing company it is clear that they focus on the broad scale and try to target as many customers as possible. The two possible strategies to develop a competitive advantage are therefore cost leadership or differentiation. Most of the goods and services that are sold by Amazon are standardised and undifferentiated. As Amazon does not produce the goods they sell it is not possible to develop a competitive advantage in terms of a differentiation strategy. As Amazon operates on such a large scale which makes it possible to achieve economies of scale and with some degree of bargaining power towards their suppliers it is quite obvious that cost leadership most likely to be the strategy that Amazon pursues that the moment. However, Amazon is always seeking to develop something unique mostly in the area of customer service. At the moment, they are developing a drone that could deliver small packages to the customers in 30 minutes or less (Amazon, n.d.). This unique service is a mean of differentiation to other online stores for which customers are certainly willing to pay a higher price. This strategy of cost leadership and developing new unique features can ensure that Amazon maintains their competitive advantage. 2.2. Modes of entry The selection of transactional corporation of entry modes was impacted by a variety of integrated factors. These multinational firms have the advantages of technology, scale and fund to entry a new market and area (Chan et al., 1992), for the party to accept, these multinational companies not only promote the development of economic and technology, but also bring a lot of employment opportunities for these new market. And at the same time, for the party of multinational companies which will extend a new area, and scale for their business, fuse with the local technology habit and culture can also  make the company become more diversified, bring more benefit for the company. Like the Amazon, which include 3 subsidiary corporations respectively are Alexa Internet, A9 and Internet Movie Database, IMDB. And its development strategy is vigorously develop enterprise diversification, make it more competitive and better integrated into the international market. In the theory of entry model, there have several points which respectively are Licensing or franchising, Joint venture, and Wholly owned subsidiary. 2.2.1. Licensing or franchising For the part of licensing or franchising, which means the franchise owners in the form of the contract, franchisees are allowed to be paid for the use of its name, trademark, proprietary technology, operational and management experience to carry out commercial activities. Since Amazon as an E-commerce sale platform and already involved with a number of product areas, then which can cooperate with other product firms, especially when they entry a new country of market, collaborate with the local enterprise and brand which was known by native is the fastest way to fit in these market, and also these Products manufacturer named amazon’s name will lead to better development. But the barrier of licensing or franchising is also exists, for example, these franchise and franchisee business ideas and products form may not conform to the principle of amazon’s brand, then these differences about management idea may be will bring conflicts and contradictions to each other. Then in order to prevent problem like this happened, Amazon on the aspect of international development should make full of investigation and examination before cooperation when they prepare to into a new market of country to avoid these problems. 2.2.2. Joint venture At the part of Joint venture, when an enterprise prepare to entry a new market, shall make a research about the condition of this industry in this market, whether have the condition for the development or already over-saturated. So how to competition with local enterprise, how to be accepted by native and how to stand out are the most important problems that Amazon should be consider, and with the object of joint venture may also produce interest on the friction. But through joint venture will save lots of cost and time on the part of adjustment period, Amazon can use a certain  technology, experience and talent which come from the object of cooperation. Reduce the risk caused by the poor preparation, distribute respective benefits at the same time, and also can draw appropriate management experience and local development, lay the foundation for the next market. 2.2.3. Wholly owned subsidiary In addition to Licensing or franchising, Joint venture, there is a better way of freedom to control which is Wholly owned subsidiary. It refers to a subsidiary fully owned or controlled by only one parent company, and there are exist two ways to set up subsidiary: first is set up a new firm from the beginning and construct a new set of production equipment; second is purchase an existing firm and its equipment. So Amazon should also develop like the other transactional corporations, through after a long period of survey and investigation about the condition of development in this area, through the acquisition of local companies or set up a new subsidiary to complete the integration with the local market, for example, amazon used to announced a $75 million deal to buy â€Å"joyo.com†, will be for amazon joyo, under a wholly owned subsidiary in China(Wang, 2012), which rely on the strong platform and group advantage of Amazon, so in the management and operational funds aspects w ithout having worry. But the through this way will spent a huge of money, then Amazon should planning in this aspect prudently, comprehensive estimation its operating situation and development prospect. Establish a wholly owned subsidiary of the company also need to take a lot of resources, so the risk what faced by Amazon may be high. One of source of risk is the target market of political or social uncertain or instability, and some risks like these may cause harm on company material property and personal safety when it become more serious, as long as fully understand the targets market of customer before they entering, the parent company will decrease these risks. 3. Individualized Pricing 3.1. Analysis of individualized pricing With the advent of online retailers and comparison sites, product price becomes more transparent for consumers. In order to effectively promote products in sales, enterprises must develop effective strategies of pricing  for the market, such as individualized pricing. In the age of electronic commerce, production can be product personalized service. So the individualized pricing also appears. Individualized pricing let consumers to choose the individualized products they wanted and pay the price. Although personalized pricing can enhance profits largely, many companies still hesitate that customers will feel the individualized pricing is unfair. There is a case about ‘Amazon’, which is an online shopping company. In 2000, customers have found that Amazon charge different prices to different people. For the some one DVD, the price to new customer is lower than that to old customers by four dollars. Amazon’s explanation is that this is a random discount for differ ent customers. Based on customer’s response to discount, company re-measures the price of products for each customer. From the result, the customer feels that they buy more frequently, the price become lower. This makes regular customers satisfied. It is obvious that the company want to compete with other opponents by using the strategy of individualized pricing. Today, customers can compare the products from different stores. Then, they can buy the necessary goods online at a lower price. In recent years, the only way to ensure efficient pricing is to use a dynamic way such as the individualized pricing. This means that retailers need to understand the value of customers and how to obtain the loyalty of customers. By analysis the situation of market and customers, the companies can make the efficient price of products to absorb consumers. Due to most retailers heavily dependent on competitive prices, they try to keep the same price or slightly lower prices than that of competitors. The companies can obtain higher market share. But some companies abuse the market power, they dominate market by reducing product’s price. This behavior will be prohibited by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which is a non-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom. It enforces both consumer protection and competition law. Therefore the individualized pricing has both advantages and disadvantages. It depends on how the companies use this method. Appropriately using of individualized pricing can promote activeness of market. If individualized pricing is excessive, it will become the abuse of market power. The OFT acts as the UK’s economic regular. 3.2. Government’s role Government has played a leading role in maintaining fair competition in the internal market of retailing sector, which requires competitors competition of fair, just, open, equal and orderly with rivals, then which means to follow the principle of fair competition, and the principle of fair competition, so follow the survival of the fittest, for the country of internal aspect, the government always played the role to maintain market fair competition, the enterprise operation and so on. But also in some other special circumstances, like in order to protect domestic industries then form a monopoly to resist the invasion of foreign industry, using economic and legal means to create condition for the internal retail enterprise in market competition, at the same time, promoting its development abroad when it has sufficient capacity. Competition on the international market, when excessive foreign enterprise brand occupies a certain market share of the product, the government should implement the corresponding protection measures to cultivate the local retail brands, this can better promote the healthy development of domestic enterprises. Government can make laws or raise taxes in order to limit the foreign-owned enterprise to enter the local market, but in taking measures should be multi-faceted and carefully implemented. Excessive restrictions could cut competition consciousness between local businesses moreover can form local monopoly enterprises, but if the limit of foreign-owned enterprise is not enough, it may only effect the resource and product flow in the market environment. EU retail and wholesale industry annual output value accounted for 11% of EU GDP, providing nearly 30 million jobs, accounting for 15% of total EU employment. Enhance the competitiveness of the retail industry is essential to ensure the European Union’s economic growth and employment, so in addition to developing their own factors of each local enterprise, the government should vigorously developing its regulation function to balance the market competitiveness and create a good market environment for each of the retail enterprise’s development. 4. Conclusion Amazon as the one of most largest and popular e-commerce should select which way of entry modes cautiously when they development internalization strategy. Fully do the preparation before entry a new market, through  authorization, the establishment of joint ventures or subsidiaries gradually penetrated into new markets. The model of future business will be global. Amazon operates in a very competitive environment as there is a high level of rivalry among competitors such as other online stores and high street shops. Additionally, there is a high threat of substitutes as well as high bargaining power of buyers. However, Amazon recognized that being the cost leader does not ensure having a competitive advantage in the future. This is why they try to develop new features in the sector of online stores in order to be able to add something unique to their mainly standardized products. This is their mean to maintain their position as the world’s leading online store. Due to the price of products has a strong influence on customers, price has become the key to ensure business and customer loyalty. Individualized pricing becomes more popular. Undoubtedly, some retail providers can establish the customer loyalty and obtain more profit. But the using of individualized pricing still needs to be supervised. Otherwise, it will cause the abuse of market power. So this is the significance of OFT and government. 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