Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety Disorders Free Online Research Papers Introduction We have all felt the effects of stress at one time or another. Our bodies tell us when we need to slow down because we are overloaded. If stress continues unchecked, it can develop into a more serious problem called anxiety. It has been estimated that over 20 million Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder at any one time and that another 30 million will experience the problem at least once during their lifetime (Hunt, 2005). However, anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. Slight anxiety can actually motivate us in school or at work to perform better and achieve results. However, high levels of anxiety, especially over extended periods of time, is quite detrimental and often requires some kind of medical intervention. Individuals affected with this disorder experience an inappropriate and excessive level of arousal, which is often followed by feelings of uncertainty, fear, and apprehension. Consistent stress and anxiety can greatly affect our spirit, making life seem less meaningful. However, there is no one theory of anxiety that explains the various clinical and biological data. Many theories have suggested possible etiological factors in the development of anxiety; the three main theories are psychodynamic, behavioral, and biological (Hansell and Damour, 2005). Psychodynamic View Freud proposed that anxiety is the result of unconscious psychic conflicts. When these conflicts, or forbidden impulses, threaten to become conscious, anxiety is experienced. Anxiety then becomes a signal to the ego to take defensive actions to suppress it. When the defense mechanism is successful, anxiety is lowered and a sense of security returns. However, if the conflict is intense and the defense mechanism is not successful, symptoms will display in the form of phobias, regression or ritualistic behaviors. Cognitive Behavioral View Behavioral theory suggests that anxiety is a result of learned or conditioned responses. Techniques utilized in the treatment of phobias and obsessive-compulsive behaviors support this theory. According to this hypothesis, anxiety results from a series of responses to certain stimuli. Over time, a person would develop a learned or conditioned response to the stimuli. This concept suggests that anxiety can be learned and unlearned as a result of experience. Biological View From the biological perspective, manifestations of anxiety may be experienced by physiological irregularity. Anxiety may be a warning of an underlying physiological process. In this case, anxiety could be caused by physical disease or abnormality and not necessarily by an emotional conflict. For example, people with multiple sclerosis, brain tumor, diabetes, or, anemia may experience anxiety stemming from their physiological processes. Examples of Anxiety Disorders Though there are varying categories of anxiety disorders, the most common are Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Phobias, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) manifests itself with feelings of chronic and persistent anxiety that last for six months or longer. A person who is experiencing GAD often feels as if they have no control or management capacity over their anxiety. This person may experience insomnia, restlessness, fatigue, uncontrolled behavior, and muscle tension. GAD can also result in a number of physical symptoms such as sweating, dry mouth, and tension headaches. This disorder can be debilitating enough to interrupt an individual’s social and professional life. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized anxiety disorder originates from two main factors: biological vulnerability to anxiety and stress due to negative environmental stressors. An individual may be genetically predisposed or have a natural inner tendency to live life in a tense manner. Any undue amounts of stress can move this naturally tense person into a level of nervousness that gradually moves into worry, then create physiological changes, and finally lead to GAD. Individuals affected with GAD show less responsiveness on most physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. They often experience chronic muscle tension, as well as intense cognitive processing in the frontal lobes, especially in the left hemisphere of the brain. This indicates worry without images, which cause the individual to experience extreme levels of worry without having the ability to create images for their current thought. Individuals with GAD are extremely sensitive to threat, especially threat with personal bearing. They seem to be more aware and attentive than people without GAD, and this awareness seems to be unconscious. They usually avoid negative effects associated with the threat at hand; therefore overlooking what may be a solution to their problem. This prevents the person from facing the feared situation and makes adaptation difficult. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Obsessive Compulsive Disorder also known as OCD is a chronic mental disorder most commonly characterized by intrusive, repetitive thoughts. These thinking patterns produce a compulsive behavior that the person feels driven to perform. Often, the sufferer would follow a personal routine applying special rules aimed at preventing some imagined anxiety-producing events. The obsession aspect of OCD is where individuals experience troubling repetitive thoughts, images, or impulses that are not only upsetting, but may not make much sense to the individual. Typical obsessions are in the area of cleanliness, such as a fear of germs, contamination, and dirt. The compulsion aspect of OCD is where individuals seek to cope with or manage their anxiety using routine, methodic actions known as rituals. These compulsions somehow help the sufferer negate worrying thoughts, but usually the impact of the rituals is short-lived causing the person to repeat them. Both obsessions and compulsions are troubling and embarrassing, so many people with this condition often hide their fears and rituals though they are not able to stop acting on them. A majority of the people affected by OCD have both obsessions and compulsions with only a small amount having only one aspect of the malady. There are a number of treatment methods for OCD ranging from psychotherapy to self-help and medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be the most effective form of therapy for because it challenges the dysfunctional and irrational beliefs and thoughts that lie underneath the obsession, as well as the fear that such obsessions produce. During this type of therapy, an OCD sufferer may have a dual approach of gradual exposure to the feared stimulus combined with medication that tempers the anxious emotional state. In regard to the latter, it is believed that individuals with OCD have a lower level of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin has an important role in regard to proper regulation of mood, sleep, and other functions. A class of antidepressant that has been shown to treat OCD most effectively is the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Antidepressants can help with the treatment of OCD because they increase levels of serotonin in which OCD sufferers have been known to have a lesser amounts. Specific antidepressants that have been effective in treating OCD include Clomipramine (Anafranil), Fluvoxamine (Luvox), Fluoxetine (Prozac), Paroxetine (Paxil), Sertraline (Zoloft), and Citalopram (Celexa). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In comparison to GAD and OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be the most experientially troubling of the anxiety disorders. Also known by popular phrases such as railway spine, stress syndrome, shell shock, and battle fatigue, the sufferer of PTSD is haunted by horrific experiences that have attached the person’s emotions, psyche, and senses (visual, auditory, and even olfactory). Such events might be rape, various forms of abuse, natural disasters, and battle experience, all coming back to the sufferer in such forms as flashbacks and nightmares that can significantly impair social and occupational functioning long after the event has passed. Similar to GAD, there also seems to be a negative impact in certain brain functioning with PTSD. For example, soldiers who experienced intense fighting in the Vietnam War with PTSD showed a 20% reduction in the volume of their hippocampus compared with veterans who did not have PTSD. In addition to this evidence, it has been theorized that the amygdala may be in a semi-permanent state of hyperarousal, where the sufferer is not able to â€Å"turn off† the hypersensitivity of the amygdala, which regulates the fight or flight response. Treatment of PTSD has been greatly helped by Horowitz’s creation of the Stress Response Syndrome. This is a model that maps a common pattern of typical responses to stressors, real or imagined. In regard to the sometimes unpredictable and shifting symptoms of PTSD, the Stress Response Syndrome has helped therapists with a logical and phased outline of emotional or impulsive states in which to guide a PTSD sufferer through. These states are: Stressful event, Outcry, a dual state of Intrusion and Denial, Working through, and finally Completion. It has been theorized though, because of the sometimes shocking memories associated with PTSD events, that sufferers may not adequately ever reach the final state of completion. This may be especially true because PTSD often enter deep episodes of depression, substance abuse as a coping method, and even periods of psychosis. Like other anxiety disorders, treatment is varied for PTSD sufferers with psychotherapy and medication. Again, a cognitive behavioral approach is advised, especially by using gradual exposure or remembrance of the stressor with the therapist being careful to not have the patient experience the exposure too deeply. Medications are meant to manage PTSD symptoms from intrusive flashbacks (antidepressants and antipsychotics), hyperarousal (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and anticonvulsants), psychosis (atypical antipsychotics and anticonvulsants), depression (antidepressants), and panic attacks (antidepressants, MAO inhibitors, and benzodiazepines). A Non-Traditional Setting for Anxiety Besides traumatic situations, anxiety can also surface in areas that are not seen as traditionally stressful, for example, sports. Athletes must often experience and manage various levels of nervousness, apprehension, and fear. Sport psychologists believe that anxiety is a reaction that is measured using various scales through the observation of cognitive and physiological symptoms that appear in reaction to a stimulus. In relation to the environmental stressors associated with sports, this could be upcoming performance, intense competition, or possibly the expectation put on athletes by friends and family. Anxiety in connection with sports is a provocative topic for research since its management can affect a persons athletic performance positively or negatively (Mellalieu, Hanton OBrien, 2004). The relationship between anxiety and sports is a complex one, since it involves anxiety responses that are unique for each athlete along with the variable of different sports. For example, anxiety responses felt by athletes in an individual, non-contact sport (such as tennis) might differ greatly from anxiety responses felt by athletes in a team, contact sport (such as football). This disparity elicits different anxiety responses due to the divergent task demands of the sports (Mellalieu, Hanton OBrien, 2004). Unlike general sufferers of anxiety disorders, athletes on the other hand have a kind of built-in outlet for the anxiety as well. In fact, there is a great amount of literature regarding the beneficial relationship of anxiety in conjunction with sports. In particular, there have been many studies that have exclusively focused on children, and how beneficial sports activities have done to improve their self-esteem, confidence, mood, and mental health, in spite of the presence of anxiety as well. For an in depth look at this specific subject, further research is required. References Carlson, Neil R. (2007). Physiology of Behavior. Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon Antai-Otong, D. (2003). Current treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 41, 20-28. Gioia, M. C., Cerasa, A., Di Lucente, L., Brunelli, S., Castellano, V. Traballesi, M. (2006). Psychological impact of sports activity in spinal cord injury. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine Science in Sports 16, 412-416. Hansell, J., Damour, L. (2005). Abnormal psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Hunt, D (2005). What your doctor may not tell you about anxiety, phobias, panic Attacks. The all-natural program that can help you conquer your fears. New York, New York: Grand Central Publishing. Mellalieu, S. D., Hanton, S. OBrien, M. (2004). Intensity and direction of competitive anxiety as a function of sport type and experience. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine Science in Sports 14, 326-334. Research Papers on Anxiety DisordersThree Concepts of PsychodynamicThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseResearch Process Part OneIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenGenetic EngineeringThe Project Managment Office SystemUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresPersonal Experience with Teen Pregnancy

Definition and Examples of Prepositional Phrases

Definition and Examples of Prepositional Phrases In English grammar, a  prepositional phrase is a group of words made up of a preposition (such as to, with, or across), its object (a noun or pronoun), and any of the objects modifiers (an article and/or an adjective). It is only a portion of a sentence and cannot stand on its own as a complete thought. Prepositional phrases often tell where something happened, when it happened, or specify which one. Because of these functions, theyre often essential to understanding a sentence. Key Takeaways: Prepositional Phrases Prepositional phrases are groups of words starting with a preposition.Prepositional phrases often function as modifiers, describing nouns and verbs.Phrases cant stand alone. A prepositional phrase wont contain the subject of a sentence. Types of Prepositional Phrases Prepositional phrases can modify nouns, verbs, phrases, and complete clauses. Prepositional phrases can also be embedded inside other prepositional phrases. Modifying Nouns: Adjectival Phrases When something modifies a noun or pronoun, its an adjective, so when a phrase does it, its an adjectival phrase. These types of phrases often specify which person or thing (what kind, whose). In context, they make clear a distinction between several possibilities. Sheila is the runner with the fastest time. Its likely there are other runners who are slower, as the sentence is specifying who is the fastest. The phrase is modifying (describing) the noun runner. Adjectival phrases come directly after the noun they modify. The boy with her is her son. The phrase with her is specifying a certain boy; its an adjectival phrase. There could be other boys, but the one with her is the one thats being described. The boy is a noun phrase, so the prepositional phrase is an adjective. If we want to make the boy even more specific, wed further qualify it with an embedded phrase. The boy with her on the tricycle is her son. Presumably, theres a boy with her thats not her son, so the sentence is specifying which boy with her is her son. Modifying Verbs: Adverbial Phrases Adverbs modify verbs, and sometimes the adverb is an entire adverbial phrase. These phrases often describe when, where, why, or how something happened or to what extent. This course is the most difficult in the state. The prepositional phrase specifies where. There might be other courses that are more difficult in other states, but this one is the most difficult here. Lets say its just one difficult course of several in the state, i.e., This course is among the most difficult in the state. The among phrase is an adjectival phrase modifying (describing) the course, and the final phrase remains adverbial, still telling where. She ran the marathon with pride on Saturday. The first prepositional phrase specifies how she ran (a verb), and the second specifies when. Both are adverbial phrases. List of Prepositions Here are some of the most commonly used prepositions in English. Be aware that just because a word in a sentence is on this list doesnt mean that its being used as a preposition in any particular context. Many of these words can also be other parts of speech, such as adverbs or subordinating conjunctions.   aboutbehindexceptoutsideabovebelowforoveracrossbeneathfrompastafterbesideinthroughagainstbetweeninsidetoalongbeyondintounderamongbynearuntilarounddespiteofupatdownoffwithbeforeduringonwithout   Preposition, Conjunction, or Adverb? To tell if a word is a preposition, look to see if it has an object. If theres a clause following it, youre likely dealing with a conjunction. If its at the end of a clause instead of the beginning (or the end of a sentence), its likely an adverb. After In this example, there is no object following after, and the word introduces a clause, so its clear that after is a conjunction: After we ate, we went to the theater.In this example, there is an object following after, which means it is used as a preposition: After lunch, we went to the game. Before In this example, there is an object following before, which means it is used as a preposition: Youve put the cart before the horse.In this example, there is no object following before; it is being used as an adverb: Ive heard that somewhere before.In this example, there is no object following before and the word introduces a clause, so its clear that before is a conjunction: Come over before you leave. Out In this example, there is an object following out, which means it is used as a preposition:  The cat followed the child out the door.In this example, there is no object following out; it is being used as an adverb:  Would you like to go out for lunch? When these words are part of a verb phrase, theyre adverbs. You check out, look up, and call off something, so these words might appear to be prepositions with objects. But they cant be split off from their verbs. He checked out the book. Out the book is not a prepositional phrase, as you dont go out a book. Examining Your Writing If your writing often contains really long sentences, look at prepositional phrases as a place to cut the chaff or reorganize when revising. Too many of them in a sentence can make it difficult to understand if the sentence gets over 25–30 words or so, depending on how far apart the subject is from its verb. This issue can often be fixed by splitting a long sentence into two or three shorter sentences or moving the verb closer to its subject.

Core competency questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Core competency questions - Essay Example The most challenging experience concerned my friend, who thought that his sexual orientation is not normal. This challenge was solved through giving him appropriate counseling, and making him understand that millions of homosexuals are happy with their sexual orientation. Perseverance is important because it ensures awareness on a national problem is adequately created. For example, fundraising awareness and project for the organizations taking care of children with disabilities. The fundraising campaign was a success due to the folk music group which raised money through performances in charity events. The fundraising awareness was a success due to proper management of the campaign. My leadership practices entailed leading my group members through examples, by working hard in meeting the campaign targets. The idea of raising money through folk song performances was most effective for the campaign, because my family members always sung folk songs at home. The most challenging part of the fundraising campaign entailed keeping the folk dance group focused during rehearsals. This challenge was overcome through motivating the group members by reminding them of our ultimate aim of providing finances to the disabled children. A challenging situation occurred when a college had an accident at the workplace. The situation was difficult because she fell down the stairs and hurt her knee. I responded to this situation by immediately making her comfortable, and then taking her to the health facility. The reaction was effective because, the patient got medical attention in time. The most important consideration during the accident was proper emergency planning. This involved conducting first aid to monitor seriousness of the accident and the timely arrangement of transport to the hospital. The challenging experience during the accident is that I was tired already from the day’s work. I overcome this

Comparative character analysis Research Proposal

Comparative character analysis - Research Proposal Example The reason for Paul and Dave’s sense of entrapment stems from their lack of social and economic power. While Paul was born to a middle-class worker who had â€Å"a worthy ambition to come up in the world†, Dave was condemned to the life of a farm laborer. Disillusioned by their surroundings, both of them felt the need to salvage their situation. Whereas Paul thought money could transform his identity, Dave was misled to believe that owning a gun could help him earn respect. Though both Paul and Dave share a common goal - to rise above their ordinary existence, they end up adopting different means to achieve it. Whereas Dave sweet talks his mother into giving him the two dollars required to buy the gun, Paul does something drastic – he steals one thousand dollars. These different actions cast both of them in different lights. The reader finds Dave childish in his strategy for getting a gun. â€Å"Mebbe Ma will lemme buy one when she gits mah pay from ol man Hawkins,† Dave speculates, sounding every bit a boy as he resolves, â€Å"Ahma beg her t gimme some money.† After he procures the gun, he is mighty careful in hiding it. Later, when he is overcome by the desire to hold it, he makes sure that he is safe and he plows â€Å"two whole rows before he decide[s] to take out the gun† . He then casts careful glances in all directions and then after being sure that he is not being watched, carefully unfastens the gun from his leg, a nd proudly flashes it before the mule: â€Å"Know whut this is, Jenny? Naw, yuh wouldn know! Yuhs jusa ol mule! Anyhow, this is a gun, n it kin shoot, by Gawd!† . He promptly then issues a warning to Jenny: â€Å"When Ah pull this ol trigger, Ah don wan yuh t runnacka fool now!†. It is an irony that he tells Jenny exactly what he should be paying heed to. The silly words that Dave utters, only amuses the reader and they instantly

Reach Out and Touch Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reach Out and Touch - Coursework Example She does this in attempts to describe the color of her skin and declares it magical as the child seems never to have seen someone of her color before. In addition, the child’s expectations of the neck to come off by touching it indicate a wonder from the child’s perspective. The difference in skin color between the children and the narrator is what drives the children into reaching out to her out of wonder as it seems as though they have never seen such before. From the narrator’s perspective, it seems her skin color has attracted more attention towards her as she appears to be used to it and even sees it okay for the children to touch her. In respect to age, the children’s reaction to the colored woman is with wonder and innocence while the grown women react differently. The mother’s child disciplines her children by slapping their hands and hushing them off, while the narrator smiles at them and even wishes she was seated next to them to assure them that their reactions were okay. When I was about five years, my family was hosting my aunts and uncles for a Thanks Giving ceremony. One of my uncles, however, didn’t look like the rest, according to my judgment. He looked scary and I did not not want to be anywhere near him. The rest of the family seemed not to be worried and actually behaved as though he was normal. I however came to learn that he had survived third degree burns on his body after arsonists burned down his

Causes of Obesity and Strategies for Change

Causes of Obesity and Strategies for Change Introduction Generally, obesity is the accumulation of fatty deposits build up inside a persons body. This occurs when the tissues become excessive fat. Worse, obesity may interfere with and injure organs and eventually cause serious health problems. Being overweight is associated with a higher risk if you have a medical problem such as diabetes and heart disease. Apart from limiting the physical and social activities, life expectancy was much shorter in the patient. The problem of obesity is becoming more prevalent among students. Obesity is the second most common disease in Malaysia after heart disease. Studies show that 15% of children aged 12 to 19 years have a problem of overweight and fatness. This problem is higher among children who come from poor families because of a lack of awareness of the importance of having the ideal body weight as compared to richer households. In this assignment, students are required to tell the causes of obesity and the ways to overcome it. Main body What causes obesity in teenagers? Among them are neither balanced diet. Balanced means that the calories and energy that must be earned at a rate equal to the amount of energy released or calories to be obtained through the diet and can only be removed through activities, exercises and so on. Teens often take advantage of snacks such as crackers, instant noodles and soft drinks as well as foods that are high in fat. They did not know that actually these foods contain high calories. Increases a persons weight when they eat more than what can be burned by the body and excessive calories are stored as fat. Weight gain and obesity and obesity resulting from excess intake of calories will not occur in a certain number or a week, but the fat in the body will be collected and stored for several months and years. To ensure that weight is always on a normal BMI or ideal weight, one must ensure that the energy in the body is at a normal, balanced diet. In addition, the duration of sleep can also contribute to obesity. If a person in bed, the individual is likely to have the disease of obesity. If a lack of sleep, the same problem will be faced, namely the risk of weight gain. Hormone released by the body during sleep will control the rate of appetite and energy levels in the body. For example, the hormone insulin to control sugar levels in the body when a person is sleeping. Therefore, if a person lacks sleep, the energy content of sugar in the body similar to diabetics. If teens do not have to sleep on an ongoing basis, they will have high hormone in the body called ghrelin. Ghrelin is a hormone that is responsible for increasing the rate of an appetite. At the same time, when a lack of sleep, the individual will also have low leptin content in the body. Leptin is responsible to suppress appetite. The main causes of this obesity is genetics. A gene of a person have a strong influence on a person’s weight. It is like, if a person has obesity, the person maybe inherited it from the parents. Obesity also tend to run in their families, or few of a family member has obesity since young. The chances of being obesity are greater if any one of their parents are obese or both mother and father are being obese. The genes in a person’s body could affect the amount of fat which is in your body. Even a child could adopt the habits of or from their parents, which is something like eating habits. Eating not in a very proper and controlled way will lead a person to obesity too. A person’s lifestyle choices are one the causes of being obesity. Overeating also can contributes to obesity. Nobody is following the food pyramid and control their eating habits according to the food pyramid. Some of them are in diet, but are they following the proper diet? These peoples thinks that they are in a correct way and following a good lifestyle. But they are eating a diet which is very high percentage in calories come from sugary, high in fat, refined foods promotes weight gain. In children lifestyle, there is no activity, outdoor activity which involves physically. These children are very inactive in physical activity. They are more interested in inactivity such as playing games, watching television, listening to music and so on. Lack of exercise contributes obesity to adults and it also makes them difficult to maintain weight loss. Age of a person is also playing an important role of being obese. As a person get or grew older, the person will tend to loss muscle if the person is less active. Muscle loss of a person can slow down the rate which it burns calories of a person’s body. If a person does not reduce the calorie intake as he grew older, the person might gain weight and being obese. Menopause is another cause of being obese. Many women gain their weight during menopause and gain more fat around their waist. Pregnancy is another factor for a woman being obese. Women gain weight when they are pregnant to support their babies gowth and development. But after giving birth, some women can easily lose their weight and for some women it is very hard to lose their weight. They even gain more weight. This may lead them to obesity. Lack of sleep can increase the risk of obesity. People who sleeps fewer hours are like people who likes eating food that is higher in calories and carbohydrates, which also brings them to overeating, gain weight and obesity. Getting a good sleep helps us maintain a healthy balance of the hormones which can makes us feel hungry or full. Lack of sleep results in a higher sugar level, which may increase our risk for getting diabetes. To prevent obesity caused by this problem, we should eat more vegetables, fruits and other protein sources such as fish. We also need to reduce the use of oil to fry food and cooking by steaming, baking or boiling. In addition, laziness and dislike of exercise is also a cause of obesity. When we pamper the body by not doing any exercise movement, the fat will continue to accumulate in our body. Finally, a chubby little body, plump, and fat. Therefore, we must exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Among the exercises that can be done by those who are lazy or difficult to perform the movement was brisk walk, swim, or play badminton. This exercise can prevent injuries. In addition, the increase in fast food restaurants and food sold in packages or cans also be a cause of obesity. Fast food restaurants such as KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut favorites, especially those who work because they no longer need to bother to cook a meal after a hard days work. Although the food is provided by fast food restaurants are tempting, people should be aware that food intake should be reduced because the food is not nutritious and contain levels of salt, sugar, and fat. Among the steps that can be taken to prevent ourselves from this problem is to adopt a well-balanced diet. We must take into account the need of carbohydrates, fat and nutrition in accordance with age. Therefore, we must make the food pyramid as a guide in the selection menu or foods for a healthier life. In addition, we must eat on time regularly, especially the three main meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) was the slogan healthy eating, healthy life to ensure that people eat a healthy diet. This is because we are not only healthier but happier and more secure life without diseases if we are wise in choosing healthy foods and a balanced diet every day. Aside from the diet and doing regular exercise, we should not be fooled by slimming products rising galore in the market. Various slimming products sold and advertised that can obscure the users eyes. Users should be careful because often ingredients in slimming products can be harmful to health, but, most of the product is not a guarantee of safety from the Ministry of Health. Therefore, use of this product is not safe and can cause a variety of negative effects that can affect health. Use of these products is not able to lose weight otherwise detrimental to health. Therefore, we must seek the advice and insights of a qualified physician before using any slimming products available in the market.

business :: essays research papers

I. Executive Summary Accents will be formed as a consignment company specializing in the resale of high quality used furniture in the consignment market. Its founders are former managers of retail services, personal finance, and brand allocation, all in the retail industry. They are founding Accents to capitalize on a service they offer in a virtually untapped market. Accents offers reliable, high quality furniture and appliance to college students for apartments, dorm rooms, on a discount scale. A true alternative to traditional furniture stores, Accents offers a high level of practicality, convience, and know-how. Customer must know that shopping at Accents is a more relaxed, and inexpressive way to furnish their new homes, apartments, and offices. Accents must also be able to maintain financial balance, through creative pricing, while delivering a higher value to its clients. Initial focus will be development in the college market, or for other persons in the Kalamazoo market. 1. 3 Keys to Success *Ex cellence in fulfilling the promise completely confidential, reliable, trustworthy expertise and information. *Developing visibility to generate new business leads. *Leveraging from a single pool of expertise into multiple revenue generation opportunities: retainer consulting, project consulting, market research, and market research published reports. 2. 0 Company Summary Progressive Consulting is a new company providing high-level expertise in international high-tech business development, channel development, distribution strategies, and marketing of high tech products. It will focus initially on providing two kinds of international triangles: *Providing United States clients with development for European and Latin American markets. *Providing European clients with development for the United States and Latin American markets. As it grows it will take on people and consulting work in related markets, such as the rest of Latin America, and the Far East, and similar markets. As it grow s it will look for additional leverage by taking brokerage positions and representation positions to create percentage holdings in product results.

Information Processing And Implications To Teaching And Learning

In Journal 1, the research worker carefully examines the construction of the information treating theoretical account. This is done so that we can understand how each of the construction works and to see the connexion between cognitive schemes and tactic and how it influences the efficiency of acquisition. Learning is done in a assortment of ways. Some instructors would desire their pupils to memorise certain information, or even utilize some expressions like in topics like Mathematicss and Science to work out jobs or have the accomplishments to utilize certain equipment or tools to execute a undertaking. For case, the usage of power point for undertaking work, the usage of any musical instruments in playing music, usage of cock or wrench in mending occupations and so on. Therefore, the scholar shapes his cognition by retrieving, memorizing, practising and others. In both the diaries, they emphasize on the importance of Information-Processing Model and how or what happens when the information is received by the scholar. Harmonizing to Babadogan ( 1995 ) and Ozden ( 1998 ) in Ali Ozel ( 2009 ) , larning is the scholar ‘s ascription to the things go oning or environing the person like his past life, memory and theoretical account. The person is described as active and looking for information. The learner than interprets the information with his progress cognition and attempts to do a meaningful apprehension of the cognition he has gained. In Information-Processing Model, the chief accent is the scholar and the environment harmonizing to both diaries. The scholar interacts with the environment when the simulation activates the receptors. The information is so transferred to the short-run memory ( STM ) . It merely keeps of import information in STM with the aid of selective perceptual experience. In the Journal 2 by Ali Ozel ( 2009 ) , the research worker negotiations about larning schemes used and gives accent on them and on how to larn and what to larn to organize one ‘s ain acquisition ( Weinstein & A ; Mayer, 1956, Wittrock, 1986 ) . These larning schemes are the key points in forming of an single information processing theoretical account. The person ‘s cognitive tactics determines the signifier of storage like in the signifier of tabular arraies, diagrams, charts or images. These can be done by repeat, forming, remembering, directing knowledge consistently in order to better our ability to understand, retrieve and memorise the information for subsequently demands. In short, it helps in organizing the information received in a systematic manner. Both the diaries wrote about cognitive schemes and how these schemes help in bettering a more systematic acquisition signifier. A cognitive scheme is a combination of a figure of cognitive tactics.STAGE MODEL OF INFORMATION ProcessingShort-run memory is besides called working memory and relates to what we are believing about at any clip. In Freudian footings, this is witting memory. It is created by our paying attending to an external stimulation, an internal idea, or even both ( Huitt, W. ,2003 ) . Another major bound on information processing in Short-term memory is in footings of the figure of units that can be processed at any one clip. Harmonizing to Miller ( 1956 ) , he gave the figure as 7 + 2, but more recent research suggests the figure may be more like 5 + 2 for most things we are seeking to retrieve. Because of the variableness in how much persons can work with. For some persons it could be three and for some it could be seven. Therefore, it is necessary to indicate out of import information. If some pupils can merely treat three units of information at a clip, so as pedagogue we must do it a point to do them understand that of import three units of information. Each person has different reading of the information received. Therefore, it may differ from one person to another ( Gagne et al, 1993 ) . In the Short Term Memory, the information received corsets for a short period of clip like 15-20 seconds ( George Miller, 1956 ) . By transporting out coding and forming information good, the information in our Short Term Memory can be transferred to the Long Term memory ( LTM ) . In the Long Term Memory, the capacity is limitless and the continuance is much longer in maintaining the information. Here is where meaningful acquisition signifiers take topographic point. The theoretical account below proposes that information is processed and stored in 3 phases.Figure 2.1: The information processing attack to knowledge ( Huitt, W. ,2003 ) .It is critical that the scholar attends to the information at this initial phase in order to reassign it to the following 1. There are two major constructs for acquiring information into the Short Term Memory. First, persons are likely to pay attending to a stimulation if it has an interesting characteristic. We are more likely to acquire an orienting response if this is present. Second, persons are more likely to pay attending if the stimulation activates a known form. Students try to retrieve relevant anterior cognition. There are four major types of organisation that are most frequently used in instructional design: Component ( part/whole ) — categorization by class or certain facet ( e.g. , when learning a diagram or theoretical account ) Sequential — chronological ; ( e.g. , transporting out an experiment measure by measure ) Relevance – manage thoughts to do it meaningful. Transitional ( conjunction ) – words or phrases that is related and doing meaningful connexion with the alterations over clip ( Huitt, 2003 ) . Chunking is a major technique for maintaining information in short-run memory ; it is besides helps in hive awaying information into the long-run memory. Repeat or rote-learning is a technique we all use to seek to larn something. Simply memorising something does non take to larning. We all have anecdotal grounds that we can retrieve something we memorized, for illustration an essay or short verse form, but the truth is how much or are we able to retrieve it after some clip?3.0 Long TERM MEMORYLong-run memory is besides called preconscious and unconscious memory in Freudian term. Preconscious means that the information is easy recalled or remembered while unconscious refers to informations that is non available during normal consciousness. It is preconscious memory that is the focal point of cognitive psychological science as it relates to long-run memory. The two procedures most likely to travel information into long-run memory are amplification and pattern. There are several illustrations of amplification that are normally used in the instruction and acquisition procedure. Some illustrations are as below: Imaging – to be able to make a mental image. Method of locations-to be able to recover information which is good organized and located. Rhyming – information to be remembered is arranged in a rime. As information is stored in long-run memory, it is organized utilizing one or more constructions like indicative mood, procedural, or imagination. Declarative Memory is information that we can speak about. Semantic Memory are facts, problem-solving schemes and larning schemes. Schema / Schemata is about linking thoughts of a specific experience into a meaningful system. Script is a declaratory cognition that captures general information about a everyday series of events ( Stillings et al. , 1987 ) Program is a set of regulations that explains what to make in a peculiar state of affairs Model is a set of propositions that describes some facets of our experience. Episodic Memory is our personal experience. Procedural Memory is a accomplishment that we learn like driving a auto or siting a motorcycle. Imagination is from images4.0 REVIEW OF JOURNALSThe diaries reviewed are quantitative and qualitative diaries. Journal 1 is a qualitative diary whereby the research worker gives feedback on his reappraisals on information processing and its deductions to learning and larning. On the other manus, Journal 2 is a quantitative diary where the research worker negotiations about the pattern of information processing theoretical account in the instruction of cognitive schemes and examines which schemes are most normally used by primary school instructors. In Journal 1, gives a image of how information is stored and how an person can do a meaningful larning out of an effectual scheme used in hive awaying information. As mentioned earlier, both the research workers in both the diaries talk about the importance of environment and how it influences an person ‘s learning procedure. In Journal 1, the research worker says that each person has different ways of construing information received. For illustration, when utilizing the hearing stimulation, for one person, the sound of birds peeping may be fantastic and quieting but for another person the same sound may annoy him as he finds them upseting. Therefore the information received may differ from one person to another person. In Journal 1, the research worker besides talks about the procedure how information is transferred from the short-run memory to the long-run memory. The research worker explains the term cognitive tactics and cognitive schemes. Below is an illustration of what is cognitive maneuver used by a pupil who is fixing for an English scrutiny. In this instance, the pupil prepares for the Unified Chinese School Examination ( UEC ) . The pupil looks through all the past twelvemonth inquiries in order to fix for the scrutiny particularly looking at the composing subjects and the linguistic communication constituents tested in the past old ages. The pupil so tries to foretell inquiries that might come out for that peculiar twelvemonth by analysing the inquiries carefully. After that, taking the past twelvemonth inquiries, he will fix the replies for each inquiry by memorising what is already in the mention books or will seek to reply the inquiries by using the cognition that he has gathered from larning that peculiar subject. Hence, the scholar is transporting out rote-learning or memorizing and besides critical thought takes topographic point based on his prior cognition which he has assimilated throughout his acquisition procedure. Therefore, the scholar applies his cognitive scheme by transporting out all these tactics. A scholar has to make up one's mind which cognitive maneuver is suited to be used in certain state of affairss in order to hold a meaningful acquisition. Learning schemes processed harmonizing to the information processing theoretical account can supply a more meaningful and lasting acquisition. In journal 1, the research worker besides emphasizes the importance of meaning-making and understanding what is taught and learnt. As an pedagogue, it is our duty in assisting the scholars to develop information processing accomplishments and use them efficaciously. As it was mentioned in 3.0, there are a figure of techniques that a scholar can utilize in assisting to hive away information consistently and understand the memorized information good. Again in diary 1, the research worker has given importance and stressed on the usage of cognitive schemes in steering the scholars ‘ when thought, memorising and taking the most suited cognitive tactics that can be used. This is because a scholar has to cognize which maneuver is used for a peculiar state of affairs as non every maneuver is suited. This is where metacognitive is really of import because a metacognitive scholar will be able to supervise and look into his ain acquisition schemes and to look into if it works for him. Therefore it is of import for instructors to learn her pupils to utilize cognitive tactics metacognitively. However, harmonizing to Biggs ( 1988 ) and Schoenfeld ( 1987 ) , to utilize develop these accomplishments are non that easy and it takes clip. That is why it is of import for instructors to utilize assorted learning techniques that will assist their pupils with. This will heighten their apprehension, retrieval and problem-solving accomplishments. The deductions of information processing in instruction and acquisition have been summarized as below harmonizing to the diary reviewed: Learners will be metacognitively in control of their ain acquisition Learners are more motivated to larn because they have a clearer end. Good scholars will be able to utilize selective perceptual experience to larn the most of import things in a topic or subject. Good scholars will be able to differenciate between the more of import inside informations and the less of import 1s. Good scholars will cognize how to utilize information and when to utilize it. Metacognitive scholars will be able to invent cognitive tactics to assist them remember something easy.USING THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH IN THE CLASSROOMPrincipleExample1. Derive the pupils ‘ attending. Use cues to signal when you are ready to get down like voice projection to bespeak you are get downing a lesson. 2. Bring to mind relevant anterior acquisition. Revision on the old twenty-four hours ‘s lesson. 3. Stress of import information. Provide handouts or compose on the board. 4. Information organized decently. Use logical sequence to constructs and accomplishments. Travel from simple to complex when showing new stuff. 5. Show pupils how to lump information. Present information in classs. Teach inductive logical thinking. 6. Give chances to pupils to lucubrate on new information. Connect new information to something already known. Expression for similarities and differences among constructs. Have group treatments. 7. Show pupils how to utilize coding when memorising lists. Use mental imagination techniques such as the keyword method, acronyms and etc. 8. Give chance for repeat of acquisition. State of import points several times in different ways during presentation of information ( STM ) . Have points on each twenty-four hours ‘s lesson from old lesson ( LTM ) 9. Give chances to larn of import concepts/skills. Drill on of import facts daily.Table 4.1: Using the Information Processing Approach in the schoolroom ( Huitt, W. ,2003 )In Journal 2, as it is a quantitative survey, the research worker surveies which learning scheme is spent more clip in organizing information processing, how clip intervals are spared for larning schemes and if there is a meaningful difference between the schemes at the facet of the clip for learning larning schemes? In this quantitative attack, the research worker had used a general study to see if there is a difference between the spared clip for learning larning schemes by category instructors in primary schools and organizing and treating information processing theoretical account. About 260 instructors in primary schools working in Istanbul Directory of Education were chosen based on convenience sampling. 51.9 % were females and 48.1 % were males. All of them were alumnuss from different subdivisions. A bulk of them have an experience between 6-10 old ages. The scheme learning tactics developed by Weinstein and Mayer ( 1986 ) and applied by Ozturk about learning larning schemes was used. The facets tested are attending, repeat, meaning, forming, callback, directing knowledge and instruction perceptual experience schemes. The study comprises two parts. The first portion is the clip span spared for learning larning schemes by instructors participated in the study. The 2nd portion is to find which larning schemes out of the seven tested has the most clip spared. The research worker used SPSS 7 bundle plan to find the meaningful differences of frequence, per centum and discrepancy. Data was collected utilizing the study method. Likert Scale of five was used to change over the replies into numeral informations. Harmonizing to the consequences of this survey, instructors spent more clip for repeat schemes ( 41.2 % ) and the least clip for forming. Teachers besides spend more clip to develop attending schemes ( 35.9 % ) . Therefore, the survey indicates that instructors want to organize an information processing profile related to attending schemes. They do this in every lesson and some instructors ne'er taught larning schemes at all from the survey conducted. Time spent for repeat and attending schemes were the highest because they provided pupils to organize a information processing theoretical account supplying them to mean their progress information with their anterior cognition at the facet of the clip spared for learning meaning schemes. From the research, it was besides found that there is a meaningful difference in instructors who spend more clip in learning schemes and instructors who spend less clip in learning schemes.DecisionThe decision after reexamining both diaries are, larning schemes should be taught to pupils in every lesson as they can steer in determining and organizing their acquisition consistently particularly when we use the learner-centered attack. Students should be taught to utilize organisation schemes and follow it decently. They should besides utilize the information processing theoretical account with the schemes that belongs to these tactics. The information processing theoretical accounts in learning and larning schemes should be developed and pupils should be encouraged to alter harmonizing to the current state of affairs and be independent scholars and minds. A good scholar will be able to utilize the information gathered and will cognize when and how to utilize it when they taught the effectual attacks of information processing. Information processing is of import and every instructor has to be familiar with this as by cognizing this, we can help our pupils in relation to retrieving things more efficaciously within the schoolroom scene. In information processing, the system involves the procedure of encoding, retrieval and storage whereby it explains how our centripetal registries and how the short-run and long-run operates. It is impossible to learn pupils new information in a short period of clip but we can learn them in â€Å" balls † to better their overall memory. This will assist pupils to be more focussed in their attending on acquisition by doing it more meaningful to them. It is besides of import to utilize acknowledgment in which instructor will demo their pupils how to utilize their imaginativeness or the procedure of association in order to retrieve new things. Encoding enables pupils to larn and retrieve and associate new information to old information. Use of images, concrete words and ocular AIDSs in the schoolroom will heighten this farther. Organization is a scheme used to better pupils ‘ memory and acquisition. This can be done by learning pupils an sum of information over certain period of clip. Rehearsing what has been taught is besides an effectual manner to increase memory. One could retrieve new stuff through practising, reiterating and associating new information to prior cognition. As an pedagogue, it is indispensable to ever happen new and interesting methods in assisting pupils retrieve new information that is taught to heighten their understanding better. As mentioned in Journal 2, clip spent more for repeat and attending schemes were the highest. However, it depends on the instructors ‘ lesson programs, course of study and instruction manners in order to run into the demands of single pupils. It is of import to utilize a assortment of schemes and attacks to assist pupils with retrieving what they have learnt particularly the new stuffs that they have learnt. It is a known fact that every pupils is able to larn and retrieve good if we provide them with the proper tools, techniques and counsel. Learning is an on-going procedure and every twenty-four hours in our lives we are larning new information. Therefore it is of import how we organize our acquisition and absorb new information on top of the old information that we already have.

How Long Should I Study for the SAT 6 Step Guide

How Long Should I Study for the SAT 6 Step Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In planning your SAT prep, you probably want to know how long you need to study. Is it weeks or months? Is it dozens of hours or hundreds? The answerto these questionsdepends on a variety of factors, including the scores you are hoping to get and how comfortable you already are with the test material from your general experiences in school and life. There’s no reason to torture yourself with endless SAT studying if your scores are already in the target range for your top choice schools. On the other hand, if you are still pretty far away from the scores you are looking for, you may have to work harder than you think. In this guide, I'll show you how to figure out how much you need to improve on the SAT, how many hours you need to spend to get there, and how you should build a study schedule before your next real test. Below are the six steps you need to follow to figure out your SAT study plan. #1: Figure Out Your SAT Target Score The easiest way to get a target score is to Google your top choice school and â€Å"average SAT scores†. You should find a 25th percentile score and a 75th percentile score for the school. The range between the two represents the scores of the middle 50 percent of admitted students.Aim for the 75th percentile score (e.g. a higher score than 75% of the school’s admitted students) as your target to make sure you have the best chance at being accepted! For more details about this, see our article on target scores.Remember, not everyone can or should have the same target score. It’s up to you to be realistic and assess your abilities while also challenging yourself. #2: Take a Practice SAT to Determine Your Starting Point It's important to know your abilities and weak spots before you begin studying. You can plan out your studying time based on how large of an improvement you need to make from your starting point to your target scores. Check out our guide to a set of official SAT practice tests available free online. You can also use your PSAT scores as a baseline for judging how much you will need to improve on the SAT if you've taken that test already. However, I would still recommend taking another practice test if you are in the latter half of your sophomore year and took the PSAT at the beginning of the year. (When I first took the PSAT in high school, I had no idea what was going on in the math section since I had just started my first geometry class. I was like "Shapes? Forget this!" and the proctor told me I had to stop disrupting the other students. Anyways, by the end of the year, everything was much less confusing.) Once you have your baseline scores, you can begin to see where you need to make improvements to reach your target. #3: Decide When You Will Take the Real Test We recommend taking the SAT for the first time during the fall of your Junior year(see the advice under "When Should I Take the SAT?"),but you may decide to take it earlier or later depending on your schedule and level of preparedness. In general, the early bird catches the worm (the metaphorical worm in this case being a higher SAT score).You will have more potential test dates available in the future and a better idea of where you stand if you start earlier. You will also run up against much less stress. You probably don’t want to be worrying about standardized tests while you're filling out college applications during the fall of your senior year. But what if you're in a scenario where you don't have your choice of test dates? Maybe you're planning a hot air balloon trip around the world that's happening at the same time as all the earlier dates. Maybe you'realready coming up on senior fall, and there's only one test date left. In this case, your test date is constrained, and you'll need to work hard to meet the suggested number of hours before your test. Whatever the case may be, you can still find a study plan that works for you. Sometimes you gotta miss the SAT to fulfill the dreams you and your beloved wife once shared. That's how life is. #4: Give It to Me Straight Doc, How Many Hours Do I Actually Have to Study? Based on your goals, you can figure out how many hours you will probably need to study. Follow this handy chart that shows the number of hours you should devote to poring over ancient tomes of SAT knowledge. Number of Points You Want to Improve By Approximate Hours You’ll Need to Study 0-30 Points 10 hours 30-70 Points 20 hours 70-130 Points 40 hours 130-200 Points 80 hours 200-330 Points 150+ hours This is a rough estimate, so itobviously isn't perfect. Each student has different levels of development in terms of study habits and test strategies. We'll go into more detail later about factors that might lead to score variations given the same amount of study time. But in our experience, this is roughly what it takes. If you want to improve by around 30 points, you'll be able to this with a light review, a single practice test, and retaking the official test. On the other hand,if you want to improve by 200 points or more, you'll need to make serious improvements in your understanding of fundamental content and skills.The SAT tests so much subject matterthat to improve by 200 points, you'll need to address deep content weaknesses. Tips and tricks aren't going to cut it. You also might not have this much time to devote to studying because of other commitments. That's why you should take these hourly estimates into consideration while still weighing everything on an individual basis to see what works for you. This brings us to... #5: Make a Study Plan Based on Your Time Constraints and Studying Style Ideally, you will still have at least six months or so before the test to formulate your study plan.As I've said, there is no one size fits all approach to this. You may not need to start studying six months in advance. Two months could be more than enough if you are already closer to your target score or prefer to study for longer chunks of time. Ask yourself how much of an improvement you want to make and then consider what is manageable in terms of time spent. Here are a couple of example scenarios: I Want to Improve by 70-130 Points, and I Have Many Other Commitments Try focused studying for an hour or two every week for however much time you have before the test.If you start at least a few months beforehand, you won’t be overwhelmed with yet another commitment. You'll gradually gain familiarity with questions and learn to avoid any silly mistakes that might cause you to lose points. If you can study for just two hours a week for two months, you should be able to boost your score by 100 points or so. I Want to Improve by Around 200 Points, and I Have the Summer to Study, but I’m not Sure Where to Start! Unstructured time is hard to manage, but this means you have your choice of when you are most comfortable and least distracted for studying times.If you schedule out a few hours each week where you will focus on studying, a couple months can be enough to improve your scores. The chart above recommends around 80 hours of studying for a 200 point improvement. If you have three months to study, that comes out to about five hours a week. Not so bad. If your parents invite their friends over for a barbecue, and they try to talk to you about your college plans in a desperate attempt to relate to you, you can use SAT studying as an excuse to avoid them. Everybody wins. I Want to Improve by 330 Points or More. Am I Crazy? No, you are (probably) perfectly sane!You should start studying earlier, but it’s doable if you are willing to put in some serious time and effort. Especially if your initial score is below average (typically less than 1000), you have a good chance of making a drastic improvement through studying. If you still have six months before the test, you should think about which day of the week you will be least stressed by other commitments and schoolwork and set that afternoon/evening aside for an SAT extravaganza. If you can block out fivehours a week for six months in advance of the test, you should start to see significant positive results. Also, if you happen to have the resources to hire a tutor, this is when you might consider doing so. Tutors have expertise and familiarity with the test material, so they can often help you see your weak spots when you might miss them. Since the SAT is very different from any test you might take in a regular class, it's hard to be a student who is new to the test and try to teach yourself question strategies that are alien to you. Learn from a wise mentor. #6: ConsiderFactors That Increase or Decrease Study Time You might have special circumstances that mean you need to customize your study plan more drastically. Some people should study for more or less time based on past experience and time management skills. You'll Need to Study Longer If: You've already studied a lot, and you haven't seen much improvement.This typically means you need to switch up your strategies in addition to studying more. Take a step back and look at how you have been approaching your study time so you can make productive changes. You're easily distracted.You might not get as much out of your blocks of study time if you are always being sidetracked by other things. Try scheduling out more time, and put your phone away while you're studying. It takes a while for you to learn from your mistakes.If you need to practice answering questions a few times before you understand your mistakes, you should consider studying for longer periods of time. You Might Improve in Less Time If: You are new to the SAT.If you are someone who has barely looked at the test before and just started studying, you are going to see larger score gains in a shorter amount of time. You are a super focused studier.What might take another person two hours to process will take you one, so consider dialing back your study time so you aren't overdoing it and getting test fatigue. You learn quickly from your mistakes.If you never make the same mistake twice, you also shouldn't overdo it with studying. You probably only have to get the wrong answer once before you can rely on yourself to get the right one in the future. Summary: How Long to Study for the SAT You can formulate your SAT study plan based on your goals and the statistics for your top choice schools.The key is starting early! Figure out your target score, take a few practice tests, and decide how much you need to improve.Then, assess your time constraints and be realistic about how much energy you can devote to studying. You’ve got this! What's Next? Check out our Complete Planfor when you should start studying for the SAT. This will give you a more comprehensive view of how to structure your time including what's tested, when you should take the test, and sample score goals for different levels of college selectivity. Also, take a look at our guide forhow to review missed questions on the SAT and ACT. If you can learn to effectively review missed questions, you will be a much more productive studier! Want to get a super high SAT score? Check out our perfect SAT score guide, written by a perfect scorer. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

Gm Business Environment Essays

Gm Business Environment Essays Gm Business Environment Essay Gm Business Environment Essay 1. INTRODUCTION OF GENERAL MOTORS 1. 1 Brief introduction General Motors Company or better known as GM is an American multinational auto manufacturing corporation traded as NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM. Its headquarter is in America. The company was found first in 1908. In 2008, the major recession and global credit crisis drove car sales to near depression levels and dried up private sources of capital. GM, critically short of operating cash, received a bridge loan from the U. S. Treasury, under conditions that the company further accelerate a tough restructuring of its operations that had been underway for several years [1]. General Motors Corporation then filed for bankruptcy on June 1, 2009. In June, 2009, with a support from the U. S. Government, a new GM was reborn with four brands in the U. S. : Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. Since then, the company has grown up rapidly with more than 70% of its sales coming from outside of the U. S and become one of the world’s largest automakers. GM now employs over 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries. They sell and provide services for the brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling and China is the biggest market. After the bankruptcy and getting support from the US government, GM has changed their strategy and now re-emerging at the new GM is a very competitive spirit. 1. 2 GM mission and vision statement The New York Times evaluate that for most of the 20th century, General Motors was the biggest company in the most important industry in the world. : And after one of the biggest corporate collapses in history, the new GM made one of the biggest rebounds ever[2]. â€Å"Vision statement is concerned with what the organization aspires to be†. (Johnson et al. , 2010; p164). GM’s vision is to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles[3]. ‘A mission statement aims to provide employees and stakeholders with clarity about the overall purpose and raison d’etre of the organization†. (Johnson et al. , 2010; p164). GM works to be the leading auto manufacturer in style, technology, services and marketing of the auto business and surely in innovation. 1. Company’s core values According to Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2008), core values are the underlying principles that guide and organization’s strategy[4]. GM has some main core values focusing on five main areas: customers, employees, communities, dealers and suppliers. (1) Customers. the company always keep in mind that motor vehicle safety begins with the driver and convince customers with quality and safety. GM listens to their customers and the relationship with customers is critical to their vision. (2) Employees. GM’s business can not be developed well without innovative and skillful employees. GM welcomes and encourages all employees to perform at their highest potential toward achieving the company’s business objectives and each individual’s professional goals. The company invest in educating and training their employees. (3) Communities. GM support communities in various ways including sponsorships and participation in events such as Education, Health and Human services, Environment and Energy and Community Development [5] (4) Dealers: GM wants to create a profitable dealer network across all GM bands that reflects consumer diversity. (5) Suppliers. GM has developed and grown competitive, diverse supply base that will work together with GM to design, build and sell the world’s best vehicles. 1. 4 Company’s objectives â€Å"Objectives are statements of specific outcomes that are to be achieved. † (Johnson et al. , 2010; p55). Like other companies in the industry, GM’s objectives are (1) maintaining consistent levels of investment in engineering and product development to provide clients world best vehicle, (2) become profitable and minimal level of debt, (3) maintaining cost discipline to achieve bigger market share and (4) be responsible and sustainable to community and environment. . GENERAL MOTORS’ BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 2. 1 External environment PESTLE To analyze the impacts of external environment on GM’s business, the framework PESTLE will be used. â€Å"The PESTEL framework categories environmental influences into six main types: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. † (Johnson et al. , 2010; p55). Political factors: More laws and regulations are applied in different countries due to the economic downturn, import policy, fuel policy and consumers’ concern for environment and safety. For example in tax policy for importing cars in Vietnam is very high 100% 200%. In some poor countries where GM has office or branches, politics problems also affect auto industry. Economic factors: the economic downturn, inflation and unstable exchange rate have reduced the spending power of consumers. The credit crisis in Europe and economic problems in many other countries. Social factors: many people are jobless and reduce their spends or change the demand of vehicle. The gap between the rich and the poor is bigger and bigger in the world. Owning and driving a car shows the owner’s wealth and social status. Moreover, more people like environmental friendly vehicle. Technological factors: Technology is changing everyday and it requires the company to be updated and be more eco-friendly due to the trend of consumers. Many people have habit of using internet to look for a car before going to the shop and buy it so internet is really need to be focused on. Legal factors: more rule and regulations for safety standards and environmental impacts are being applied in many countries. Environmental factors: The environment is more and more polluted, too much smoke from factories and transport vehicles. This means that too much fuel has been used and need to be reduced. Therefore, many recent disasters like typhoons in Thailand, China, Earthquake in Japan and China where GM has the biggest markets really affected to the company’s business. 2. 2 Competitive environment Porter’s five forces framework â€Å"The Porter five forces framework helps identify the attractiveness of an industry or sector in terms of competitive forces. The five forces are the threat of entry into an industry, the threat of substitutes to the industry, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers and the extent of rivalry† (Johnson et al. , 2010; p55). Firstly, the threat of entry into an industry is low because there are many existing competitors in the industry and it costs lots of money to jump into the automobile business. Secondly, threat of substitutes to the industry is fairly high. Because of the economic downturn, the trend of using eco-friendly vehicles to save fuel and protect environment and traffic jams, other vehicles such as public buses, MRT, BTS are more preferable in many countries now. Thirdly, even the many consumers reduce their demand of buying a car, however, the bargaining power of buyers is low because simply they can not make a car themselves. The power of suppliers is fairy low because they can not produces a completed vehicle and really depends on its the company and the market. Raw materials are also easier to find in the high technology world. The last one is competitive rivalry which is really strong in automobile supplying market. Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan, Huyndai and many other companies are competing with GM everyday with new models, new shops, new plants For example, Ford is going to set up more plants in India and Huyndai have created more cheaper cars. In general GM is now facing very competitive environment with high power of buyers, threat of substitutes to the industry’s products and services and very strong competitive rivalry in the automobile market. In general the industry is not favorable to profitability and the core competence of GM is innovation. 2. 3 Competitors and markets Even now there are not many new entrants to the industry but there are many existing competitors in the automobile business. They are all big and developed such as Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mazda, Huyndai, Mercedes and BMW, etc The three biggest competitors of GM are Huyndai Toyota and Honda Motor. Please see the financial report of GM for the last 3 quarter in 2011 and you can see. Toyota Motor Corp is a Japanese auto manufacturer that is the closest competitor to GM, especially in terms of number of cars produced and market share. In 2008, when GM was in the bankruptcy, Toyota Motor Corp. became the largest automobile manufacturer in the world continued remaining in 2009 and 2010. Huyndai Motor Corp is a Korean company that is also close competitor to GM in terms of product lines and competitive price. Huyndai Motors also focus on mini and mid-sized sedans which are more preferable by the middle class consumer. Ford Company is a very closer competitor to GM in terms of its size and innovation. With a long history, Ford has become the leader in harnessing nature as an energy source and using zero-emission hydroelectric energy. Looking at the US News Ranking for cars, Ford is the company who has most cars at the top lists[6]. In 2010, massive recalls from Honda and Toyota caused an alarm to the auto industry and really shared GM more markets. GM is now attracting more customers by innovating their existing products and selling them at very competitive prices; and positioning themselves better into the new markets. 3. COMPANY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES 3. 1 Strengths Beside the external and competitive environment, the internal strengths of GM has really helped gain lots of its lost market share since they got back to their business in 2009. GM is still one of the leading company in the world automotive industry. These are the strengths of the company: Large market share is the core strength of GM. According to the Wall Street Journal, by the end of October 2011, GM had achieved the biggest share of the total market (18. 3%) in the US market[7]. [pic] [pic] Technology potential: GM’s global research resources allow the company to quickly investigate and integrate new technical areas of expertise. Safety and quality commitments: GM has announced that quality and safety are at their top of the agenda. GMs Passenger Sensing System is designed to help reduce the potential for inflation-induced injuries or fatalities to smaller occupants New business model centered on GM’s vision of designing, building and elling the world’s best vehicles. Good reputation of many brands such as Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and widely global distribution networks. Innovation and responsibility: GM is now providing more and more eco-friendly and sustainable vehicles to reduce impacts on the environment. This is absolutely suitable with the new trend of consumer. GM has the new team focused on results. The company has gathered and promoted many strong engineering talents with rich education. 3. 2 Weaknesses Many people said that retail was GM’s strength. Yes, it was. However it has turned to be a weakness as the company has invested too much money to maintain the their global distribution system for so many brands without getting profit back. GM has launched many new brands recently and spent a lot of money to promote, do marketing and maintain them together with existing brands while many of them don’t make any profit. Looking at GM’s annual reports[8] and comparing with the other competitors, GM has a poor financial strength. [pic] Source: Automotive Industry Competitor Analysis (CPM), available at www. carfreaks. info 3. 3 Value chain Analysis The value chain describes the categories of activities within and around an organization, which together create a product or service†. At GM, the value chain can be analyzed as the table below: (4) 3. 4 Managing people for capability development GM is an multinational corporation and employs about 210,000 employees in all over the world. Their employees are from more than 120 differ ent countries with different history, culture and lifestyle. So to manage well and develop the strategic capability of the company is very important. GM has done quite well educating and training. The company provide and encourage their staff to a lot of education and training. GM has built the content and classroom-ready lesson plans to help inspire students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers[9]. GM also applies staffing policies to develop an motivate their employees. The company also develop people’s awareness to direct people doing their right job to achieve company’s objectives. The new business model and the new leadership at GM have changed their management style to manage, value and motivate well their followers. 4. STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GM To implement the above portfolio strategy for GM, we use tools to put strategy into action. Implementation strategy is the final step of the strategic management process and many people said that this step is the most difficult step and it’s even more important than the strategy because if the company creates right strategy but implements it incorrectly, the strategy can not be supported to achieve the company’s objectives and vision statement, sometimes seriously the company probably goes to bankrupt or gets bad problems with the business. The tools to implement GM’s strategy can also be seen as the strategic recommendations for GM. They include structural type, leadership, information and control system and human resource. 4. 1 Structural type GM is a multinational company and structure is a key thing for success. The transactional structure which â€Å"combines the local responsiveness of the international subsidiary with the coordination advantages† (John et. al. , 2010, p441) will be a suitable type for GM. Because with this structure, each national unit such as in Vietnam, China and Thailand can operate independently following the strategy of the mother company and be more responsible for their business. Each country manager and management board must understand the culture where their customers and their employees live. GM should use Balanced scorecard to acknowledge expectations of different stakeholders who affect GM’s business, and to learn short-term innovation as well as long-term success. Balanced scorecard can be used at different levels, criterion and perspectives. 4. 2 Human Resources GM is a big company and their employees live and worked from over 120 countries in the world. GM recruits, chooses and employs right local people to work for the company and follow the overall strategy. However, human is not like other resources. Human Resources (HR), managers and management board should understand the local culture and diversify. Employees are very important for GM’s business. Good employees should be valued, motivated and given chance to education and promotion. In each country, GM should have different and specific rules and regulations for employees there. HR also needs to be sensitive with employees’ expectations and difficulties to encourage and motivate them well. 4. 3 Information and control systems GM needs to update and control information to make sure that the strategy is processing correctly. Moreover, information should be shared and communicated between staff in the company to make them feel comfortable to catch up any changes or problems. Information systems are to provide strategy-critical information on a timely basis, and whatever inventory, materials management, customers services, cost accounting and other administrative systems are needed to give the company important strategy-executing capability. These internal systems must support the management process, the way the managers at GM work together, as well as monitor strategic progress. [10] 4. Finance factors Finance is an important determinant of strategic success. To implement the strategy, it may cost the company money and it should be budgeted, estimated and control carefully because financial statement of GM has not been brightly yet. The company still have debts and financing need to be taken care carefully. 4. 5 Market leader GM has many well-known brands and another suggestion for GM to develop their mar ket to be the market leaders is that GM should increase their existing market share to high their growth also find new markets for the existing vehicles. Beside the Red Ocean Strategy which focuses more on head-to-head competition, GM should apply and develop Blue Ocean Strategy to create new markets by developing products, building good relationship with dealer networks and customers, finding niche market to focus on 5. CONCLUSION General Motors Company (GM) with a long history in the automotive industry has got back and step by step gaining its lost market share in the bankruptcy in 2008. With many strengths and competitive advantages, GM has gained huge market share in the U. S. nd many other countries such as China, Russia Moreover, in 2010 Toyota and Honda fell into many recalls which gave GM more opportunities to recover more quickly. [1] Company history and heritages, Globalization section, available at GM’s website: www. gm. com [2] Retrieved from topics.. [3] Akerson D. , â€Å"We are building a New General Motors†, General Motors Company 2010 Annual Report, p. 2 [4] G. Johnson, K. Scholes and R. Whittington, ‘Corporate value’, Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th edition, Pearson Education, 2008, p 163 164 5] More information at gm. com [6] U. S. News Ranking for cars, trucks, SUVs and hybrids can be viewed following this link: http://usnews. rankingsandreviews. com/cars-trucks/rankings/cars/ [7] Source retrieved from http://online. wsj. com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales. html [8] General Motors Company annual reports are available at gm. com [9] Company Innovation, information is available on GM’s official website gm. com [10] Information retrieved from: strategy-implementation. 24xls. com/en106

Calculus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Calculus - Essay Example During elementary level of math education, one merely learns that divisibility by zero is not in any way valid or possible and becomes content at treating such case as closed without entertaining its logic any further. In Calculus, however, though the concept widely recognizes that functions do have domains and ranges within which they remain defined, the subject goes beyond such point as extending concern to limits of a function. By using the principle behind the asymptotes for instance whenever a function is rational, logarithmic, or exponential, Calculus enables a student to strive to grasp and appreciate the idea regarding how a function may come really close or approach a value at least even if it is never meant to cross its exact location. A function, according to Calculus, is said to be continuous in an interval [a, b] if it is continuous and defined at any point within this same interval. If this initial condition is not satisfied, then the non-continuity implies that the fun ction is also non-differentiable within [a, b]. Equivalently, the two-sided limits are stated in theorems that guide the study of whether a function’s limit does exist or not as x approaches a certain value and this requires tests to be conducted prior to conclusion.

Corporal Punishment Actually Means Hitting Children Research Paper

Corporal Punishment Actually Means Hitting Children - Research Paper Example Corporal punishment seems a simple and effective way to punish children when they stray from desired actions. Children seem to respond much quicker to physical punishments or even the threat of this than they do verbal corrections. Many parents believe that spanking is an acceptable form of punishment and consider the practice as an indispensable component of child-rearing. Others believe hitting anyone is wrong including and maybe especially, a person’s own child. Physically abusing another adult is a crime and when it involves a child, should be considered reprehensible as well. A civilized society should not permit a child to be abused simply because of some perceived biological right that somehow supersedes all others. Is spanking a positive, healthy and effective way to discipline a child or does this practice teach the child that violence is an accepted way to vent anger? This discussion will examine the argument from studies which advocate spanking as well as those whic h denounce the practice. According to Larzelere’s (2000) findings, whether children experience negative or positive outcomes due to their upbringing depends on the rate of recurrence of any disciplinary approach. This includes all types and does not single-out corporal punishment. Consequently, it is determined to be excessive recurrences of bad behavior that is the root-cause of negative outcomes such as excessive punishment – children are not bad because they’ve been spanked but are spanked because they’ve been bad. Parents understand that recurring bad behavior will hamper their child’s chances for a successful life as an adult and feel compelled to diminish poor behavioral patterns with disciplinary techniques they believe to be most effective. Most parents find it necessary to resort to the advice of those older than they regarding how best to handle disciplinary matters, thus acting without the guidance of emerging research and theories regar ding what motivates children and how best to redirect their behavior (Hernandez, 2007). â€Å"There are many aspects which influence parents in this hard job; for example, the culture in which they live, the economic situation in their society, and the religious environment† (Hernandez, 2007). For many of these groups, parents must either rely upon grandparent support and child-raising techniques or avoid raising their children altogether, leaving them to essentially raise themselves, as the parents must spend a majority of their time simply earning the necessary money to keep these same children fed, housed and clothed. This means children are either raised via archaic methods of punishment and behavior expectations or are raised without any boundaries, structure or cultural values. Without time or energy to research the latest knowledge regarding child behavior, what parents need is quality information regarding methods by which to effectively discipline their children with out needing to resort to violence or allowing their children to grow up without appropriate guidance. As it turns out, the most effective punishment techniques are established on the basis of a relationship between the parent and child that is positive and loving. The punishment methods are proactive but measured and administered with competency while being designed to both respect the misbehaving individual and present them with an opportunity to learn from their inappropriate behavior. Many of these concepts are based upon the teachings of Gandhi as they are outlined by R. Rajmohan (2000). According to Rajmohan, Gandhi believed that â€Å"Punishment and disciplinary action might make for an outer show of orderliness and