Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Population - Essay Example From these projections, we can see that the future population growth seems to slow down as compared to the past growth which accounted for most of the increase in food demand. However, although the population growth in developing countries shows promising reduction rate, it will still be slightly higher than that of developed countries. This could be mainly because of higher fertility rates in the developing countries than the developed countries. There is always the threat of a society overtaxing the available agricultural resources thus returning to a subsistence level of existence. This is the Malthusian catastrophe which depends on the fact of exponential human population growth and arithmetic growth of agricultural resources. To prevent the possibility of a growing human population with demands that surpass agricultural capability, there should be a way to avert radical social changes such as a decline in population. One such solution is the reduction of fertility rates by promoting the use of birth control methods especially in the developing countries. This is because they have higher fertility rates thus higher population growth rates. This method would substantially reduce the growing difference between the developing and developed nations thus avert the Malthusian

Alternative Assessment Essay Example for Free

Alternative Assessment Essay Consequently, assessment has also undergone a massive reform. This has led to a wider range of assessment now than there was twenty-five years ago (Gipps, 1994). Evidence has shown that educational systems have undergone assessment reforms, which are coincident with curriculum reforms (Nitko, 1995). A number of assessment methods have been applied in the Ghanaian educational system since the introduction of schooling in the country (MOE, 1987). The educational reform in Ghana began with the hope that learning was to be more practical and examinations should be based on practical oriented syllabus. What had emerged was that the cost and difficulties involved in assessing students’ practical work and the unreliability of teachers’ assessment had resulted in a return to the status quo, that is pen and paper tests. Currently, Ghanaian teachers tend to monitor students’ understanding through pen-and-paper tests and exercises in class, and move through the syllabus and textbook with little or no attempt to use new instructional strategies if students do not understand the material. The use of pen-and-paper tests has been used almost exclusively by schools to monitor students’ achievement. These tools have also dominated examination for the 1 professional certification of teacher and college admission. These strategies of assessing students have come under severe criticism by many educators (Wolf, 19891). The perception that much of what gets tested is not relevant or has not been taught to students has been a source of concern to many educators and parents. Such concerns have made educators direct their attention to a new approach to testing variously described as â€Å"performance assessment†, â€Å"authentic assessment†, portfolio assessment†, and â€Å"alternative assessment† (Winzer, 1992). The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) call for significant change in the way mathematics is taught. In conjunction with this demand for change in mathematics instruction, a change format for assessing students is needed. To document these new expressions of teaching and learning, alternative assessments have emerged as the vehicle by which students and teachers can organise, manage and analyse life inside and outside the school. One of the most exciting and liberating things about the current interest in assessment is the recognition that numerous assessment tools are available to schools, districts, and states that are developing new assessment systems. These tools range from standardized fixed-response tests to alternatives such as performance assessment, exhibitions, portfolios, and observation scales. However, in Ghana, alternative assessment is relatively an unknown concept and only few researches have been conducted in this area. Each type of assessment brings with it different strengths and weaknesses to the problem of fair and equitable assessment. Recognizing the complexity of understanding performance or success for individuals, it is virtually impossible that any single tool will 2 do the job of fairly assessing student performance. Instead, the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (1996) suggests that an assessment system made up of multiple assessments (including norm-referenced or criterion-referenced assessments, alternative assessments, and classroom assessments) can produce comprehensive, credible, dependable information upon which important decisions can be made about students, schools, districts, or states. Since the influence of testing on curriculum and instruction is now widely acknowledged, educators, policymakers, and others are turning to alternative assessment methods as a tool for educational reform. The movement away from traditional, multiplechoice tests to alternative assessments, variously called authentic assessment or performance assessment, has included a wide variety of strategies such as open-ended questions, exhibits, demonstrations, hands-on execution of experiments, computer simulations, writing in many disciplines, and portfolios of student work over time. These terms and assessment strategies have led the quest for more meaningful assessments which better capture the significant outcomes we want students to achieve and better match the kinds of tasks which they will need to accomplish in order to assure their future success. Billions of dollars are spent each year on education, yet there is widespread dissatisfaction with our educational system among educators, parents, policymakers, and the business community. Efforts to reform and restructure schools have focused attention on the role of assessment in school improvement. 3.  After years of increases in the quantity of formalized testing and the consequences of poor test scores, many educators have begun to strongly criticize the measures used to monitor student performance and evaluate programs. They claim that traditional measures fail to assess significant learning outcomes and thereby undermine curriculum, instruction, and policy decisions. The way in which students are assessed fundamentally affects their learning. Good assessment practice is designed to ensure that, in order to pass the module or programme, students have to demonstrate they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. To test a wide range of intended learning outcomes, diversity of assessment practice between and within different subjects is to be expected and welcomed, requiring and enabling students to demonstrate their capabilities and achievements within each module or programme. The aim of this paper is to provide a guide to the range of alternative assessment tools available, to discuss the potential benefits and difficulties in using the approach and suggest a process for its use. Alternative Assessment Alternative assessment is a generic term referring to the new forms of assessment (Winzer, 1992). It includes a variety of instruments that can be adapted to varying situations. The teacher and the students can collaboratively decide which procedures are to be used for assessment (Huerta Macias 1995). Individual students are also often given the responsibility of selecting specific products of their work on which they will be assessed. It provides the students with the opportunity to reflect on his/her learning 4 experience, pointing out what he/she understands, and the factors that contribute to his/her lack of understanding. The main goal of alternative assessment is to gather evidence about how students are approaching, processing, and completing â€Å"real-life† tasks in a particular domain (Garcia and Pearson, 1994). Alternative assessment may include interviews with students, journal writing by students, developing portfolios of students’ work and writing of reflections. Also, students are encouraged to engage in small co-operative group learning and may be assessed individually and jointly. Alternative assessment, most importantly, provides alternative to traditional assessment in that it; i. ii.does not intrude on regular classroom activities; provides multiple indices that can be used to gauge students progress; and iii. provides information on the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student (Huerta-Macias, 1995; p. 9) One of the major advantages of alternative assessment as a tool for assessing students is that it empowers students to become partners and decision makers in their learning (Smolen et al 1995). Curran (1997) in his study with middle level educators found that alternative assessment is most valuable for students’ involvement in metacognitive learning. Vlaskamp (1995) found that alternative assessment processes engage students to become active in learning. The processes offer them opportunities for reflection and to be thoughtful respondents and judges of their own learning. Lee (1996) 5 found that the real value of alternative assessment is an information source for teachers and a learning tool for the students. Alternative assessment includes a variety of instruments that can be adapted to varying situations. These instruments include the use of checklist of students’ behaviour or product, journals, reading log, videos of role plays, audio tape of discussions, self evaluation, questionnaire, work samples and teacher observation of anecdotal records (Huerta-Macias, 1995, p. 12). According to her, the teacher or instructor and students can collaboratively decide which procedures are to be used for assessment in a given class. Individual students are also given the responsibility of selecting specific products of their work on which they will be assessed. Portfolio Assessment The concept of portfolio assessment comes from the field of fine arts in which portfolios are used to demonstrate the depth and breath of an artist’s talents and capabilities. A portfolio is a systematic, well organised collection of evidence used to monitor the growth of a student’s knowledge, skills and attitudes (Bonnestetter, 1994). It is a purposeful collection of students work that exhibits to the students and others the student’s efforts, progress or achievement in (a) given area(s) (Reckase 1995). This collection according to them should include: ? Student participation in selection of portfolio contents ? The criteria for selection, and evidence of student self-reflection (p. 12) To fulfil the purpose of portfolio assessment as a methodology based on multiple measures and high content validity, the portfolio is to be composed of materials that 6 should be selected jointly by the student and the teacher to reflect the students work over the entire schooling period. activities. To help the students select materials for the portfolio, a set of guidelines should be made available to the students. The guidelines include how the content of the All work are to be taken directly from the classroom portfolio is to be selected and the criteria that would be used to assess the portfolios. The contents of the students’ portfolios are to include the following: i. ii. iii. iv. individual assignments (homework and tests); group assignments; self reflection on each selected student or group work group reflection on group work. The reflections are to indicate evidence of learning mathematics in the school, what they know and can do. They are also to explain what they have understood and the action that contributes to their understanding. They are to identify what they still do not understand and explain the cause of their lack of understanding and what they can do to change the situation. Journal A journal is a daily or weekly record of occurrences, experiences or observations (Berenson and Carter, 1995). Journal writing by students can be used to record the daily and weekly mathematics learning experiences and the attitude of students towards mathematics. The journal can be used to keep track of the students’ progress in  mathematics and to gain insight into the understanding and misunderstanding of the 7 student. The journal can also be used to document the students attitudinal changes during the project. Students are asked to write three sets of journals in each semester (term). The first one is to be written during the first week of the semester (term), the second in the fourth week and the third journal in the last week of the semester (term). At the beginning of the semester(term), the students should be asked to write journals to indicate their previous and current feelings about mathematics. They are also to assess their strengths and weaknesses in mathematics, pointing out the factors that contributed to their failure or success and describe what they need to do. During the fourth week of the semester, the students would be asked again to write journals to identify ideas they understood easily during discussions with the teacher or their colleagues, and then explain why it was easy for them to understand such ideas. They are to identify ideas, which are still difficult for them to understand, and explain why they thnk they are having such difficulties in comprehending these ideas. They are to comment on a homework or class test they did, and explain why they thought they did well or did not do well. They are to identify aspects of their work that needed improvement. They are also to explain what they learned from doing homework or taking a test and state what they would do differently if they are to do the homework or take the test again. During the last week of the semester(term), students are to write another journal. They should be asked to express their feelings of the test, classwork, homework etc, and their feeling about mathematics. They are to state whether there is any improvement in 8 their learning or understanding of mathematics, and identify things, which contribute to their understanding or lack of understanding. Journal writing can be used as means of regularly focusing on course progress and possible modifications. The journals are the first step in placing the responsibility for learning with the students. Research had found that the journal was an important diagnostic tool in three important ways. First, as a writing sample, it provided information about students’ strengths and weaknesses in mathematics. Second, the journals gave an indication of how the students perceived themselves, and finally, the journals revealed students’ perceptions of the mathematics learning process. The journal the students write will help teachers to know early in the course how students perceived themselves as mathematics learners and how they understood the learning process entailed. Whenever their work was seen, evaluations were made which either corroborated their assessment or highlighted their misconceptions. With this information, the students will be helped to become better more efficient learners. When misconceptions are discovered, students will be helped to establish realistic expectations about what mathematics skills they need to achieve their goals. In fact, the first journal they write is an important point of reference when working with individual students and helping them to identify their objectives during the learning process. Research findings show that journal writing provides the opportunities for the students to reflect on the learning process, and to develop new learning skills. These opportunities will help the students to identify differences between their school experiences and those they are encountering at college. 9 Challenges Testing for accountability purpose is essentially large scale testing and for this reason it relies on tests that are relatively cheap, brief, offer broad but shallow coverage, are easy to score and reliable (Gipps, 1994). Alternative assessment by contrast is timeconsuming, tends to provide detailed multi- dimensional information about a particular skill or area; (and because of time factor, depth may be exchanged for breadth), scoring is generally complex and usually involves the classroom teacher Standardisation of the performance is not possible and therefore reliability in the traditional sense is not high (Mehrens, 1992). However, alternative assessment in general, has become the cornerstone of educational reform movement. The arguments for using these forms of assessment to support instructional practice are that; (i) they engage students in tasks that are more comprehensive and consistent with the goals of a discipline or resonant with the desired outcomes of educational process; (ii) they provide detailed evidence about student’s thinking that enables more specific instructional decision making; and (iii) they encourage students to take active role in their own assessment enabling a sharing responsibility for learning (LeMahieu, et.al. 1995, p11) Many educators are of the view that alternative assessment must be held to the same stringent standard of reliability, validity and objectivity as those achieved by standardised norm referenced assessment, if it is to provide credible and legally defensible measure of learning and performance (Linn and Burtin, 1994). 10 Objections to alternative assessment are often voiced in terms of validity, reliability and objectivity. Questions that focus around these issues are: i. ii. iii. Does the instrument measure what it is supposed to measure? Is the instrument consistent in its measurement? Is the instrument unbiased? (Garcia and Pearson, 1994). Alternative assessment represents the best of worlds in that it looks at actual performance on real life tasks, such as writing, self-editing, reading, participation in collaborative work, and doing a demonstration in front of a group. These procedures are in themselves valid (Garcia and Pearson, 1994). As regards reliability of alternative assessment, Huerta Macias (1955), mentions triangulation as a means of ensuring reliability in a qualitative research. In qualitative research, triangulation refers to the combination of methodologies to strengthen a study design. When applied to alternative assessment, triangulation refers to the collection of data/information from three difference sources/perspectives teacher, student, and parent. On the question of objectivity of alternative assessment, research findings show that, standardised tests merely represent agreement among a number of people on scoring procedures, format or content. These individuals are not objective; they just collectively shared the same biases. In this regard, Huerta Marcias (1995) says that standardised test is not more objective than an alternative assessment. Other challenges of alternative assessment have to do with curriculum and instructional practice. Torrance (1993) reviewed the impact alternative assessment has on curricular and instructional practice in the context of the National Assessment in England and Wales. Among the concerns raised were exorbitant demands on teachers, adding up 11 to two to three hours of extra work daily. Teachers also reported dissatisfaction with managing assessment interactions with small groups of students while trying to maintain the focus of all students. Torrance (1993) concluded that teachers treated assessment as a special activity set apart from teaching, and they felt obliged to do this by the instructions they received, a vision at odds with the integrated assessment and instruction offered by alternative assessment advocates. The question of relative practicality of alternative and traditional assessment in terms of time consumption has been raised by many authors (Linn, 1993; Gipps 1994). Research results indicate that alternative assessment is not more time consuming than traditional assessment on the part of the students. Research has shown that students can cope with the time demands of the alternative assessment(Eshun Abledu, 2000). Educational Implications and Recommendations The following educational implications and recommendations are made for improving the academic performance and enhancing positive attitude of students in mathematics: i. Through alternative assessment processes, the teacher is given the opportunity to know from the students’ journals and portfolios the positive and negative points of his teaching process and work out strategies for his subsequent teaching. ii. Alternative assessment processes offer a chance for the development of better student- student and student-teacher relationship. During their group work and discussions of their journals with the teacher a friendly climate is generated which helps them to get to know one another better. 12 iii. With alternative assessment the teacher is given a chance to break the everyday monotonous teaching routine. Activities are organised for the students that create a pleasant and motivating atmosphere in the classroom, which revives the interest of the pupils for the subject. iv. Alternative assessment processes lead to discovery learning and planning. Thus, it is valuable for increasing and maintaining the efficiency of the skills and concepts that the students learn. However, it makes heavy demands on the teacher to plan activities for the students. v. Students who have language problems will be unwilling to communicate in writing with the teacher. Teachers who use alternative assessment processes should rely more on oral interview than the writing of journal. vi. The positive benefits of alternative assessment lie not only in its  implementation but also in the teachers’ ability to extend and enrich the curriculum through the activities he/she arranges for the students. Thorough planning and understanding of the skills students must develop are prerequisite to successful implementation of alternative assessment processes. Teachers must be trained to live up to the task. It is recommended therefore that pre-service teachers be introduced to the alternative assessment processes. In-service and induction courses on alternative assessment can be organised for teachers who are already teaching. This training is worthwhile since teachers will have the means to bring about higher achievement in mathematics and higher attitudinal changes in female pre-service teachers towards mathematics. 13 vii. Teachers need to provide many opportunities for students to explore and reflect on mathematical concepts. Having students talk and write about mathematical concepts and how these ideas are applied in various problems situation can strengthen their understanding and provide valuable information to the teachers. It is therefore recommended that mathematics concepts be presented to students through the alternative assessment processes. This will then enhance the current programme of promoting the interest of girls in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME). viii. To evaluate our programmes and the progress students are making, me must look beyond the current traditional assessment alone, and find better ways of assessing students’ creativity, ability, and sensitivity in mathematics. The point is, continuous assessment ought to provide a more comprehensive view of pupils’ all-round performance. The Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other policy makers on education must adopt alternative assessment to improve female students’ performance and attitudes in mathematics. Conclusion Knowing mathematics is doing mathematics. We need to create situations where students can be active, creative, and responsive to the physical world. I believe that to learn mathematics, students must construct it for themselves. They can only do that by exploring, justifying, representing, discussing, using, describing, investigating, 14  predicting, in short by being active in the world. Alternative assessment is an ideal activity for such processes. Reference Brady, R. (1991). A Close Look at Student Problem Solving and the Teaching of Mathematics: Predicaments and Possibilities. School Social Science and Mathematics. 91(4), 144-150. Eshun B. A and Abledu, G. K. (2001): The Effects of Alternative Assessment on the Attitudes and Achievement in Mathematics of Female Pre-service Teachers. African Journal of Educational Studies. Vol. 1. p. 21-30 Garcia, G. E. Pearson, P. D. (1994). Assessment and Diversity. In L. Darling Hammond (Ed. ) Review of Research Education . 337-391. Huerta – Macias, A. (1995). Alternative Assessment: Responses to Commonly asked Questions. TESOL Journal. 5 (1) : 8-11. Smolen, L. et. al. (1995). Developing Student Self-Assessment strategies. TESOL Journal. Vol. 5(1) 22 27. Gipps, C. V. (1994). Beyond testing: Towards a theory of educational assessment. The Falmer Press, London. Lee, T. W. (1996). Mathematics portfolios. NCTM’s goals and students perceptions. A complex analysis. Abstract International 57 (6). Vlaskamp, D. C. (1995). Encouragement of Student Learning through a Portfolio Process. Dissertation Abstract International. 55(1). Mehren, W. A (1992). Using Performance assessment for accountability Purposes. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. 11, (1), 3-9. 15 Linn, R. L. Burton, E. (1994). Performance Based Assessment: Implications of Task Specificity. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. 13 (1) 5-8. Torrance, H. (1993). Combining measurement –driven instruction with authentic assessment: Some initial observations. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,15, 18-90. 16.

LOreal one of the leading cosmetic companies

LOreal one of the leading cosmetic companies Introduction It is era of globalization where competition are increasing day by day, due to competition, it is hard for company to keep hold policy , old method of production . Companies need change to stay in the market. LOreal is a one of leading cosmetic company who is producing world famous brands , company regular making changes , like acquisition policy , building new research centres in most of developed countries. Using technology, and making stakeholder collaboration through using this technology. Organization structure and culture of the organization can play key role in the process of change . Change is not just changing the method of production but can be any type of change , either recruiting polices , making fair laws , adopting new laws which are implementing etc. Company background LOreal is known as the worlds leading cosmetics organization which has a portfolio that consists of many worlds dominant beauty products. Company sales almost 80% doing from outside the France, with action in every key region . It is only Cosmetics Company which has distribution, almost 140 countries. In year 1907 a young French chemist Eugene Schuler, developed a creative hair-colour formula. The named this new, completely safe hair dye Aureole. The history of LOreal began; Eugene Schueller invented and manufactured their own products. LOreal started their production with hair-colour business, but the company quickly pronged out in to other beauty products. Company marketing more than 5 hundreds brand and which have thousands of special products in all division of the beauty business. Styling aids, Hair colour, permanents, body and skin care, cleansers and fragrances. They are found in all distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper the supermarkets, health and beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail. DIFFERENT BRANDS AT LOREAL LOreal strives to make a reality within the reach of every woman and every man. CONSUMER PRODUCTS Ggarnier LOreal Paris Le club des createurs Maybelline ny Soft sheen Carson PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS Loreal professional Kerastase Redken Matrix Mizani LUXURY PRODUCTS Lancom Biotherm Helena rubinstein Kiehls Shu uemura Giorgio armani Ralph lauren Cacharel Viktor rolf Diesel ACTIVE COSTEMETICS Vichy La roche-posay Ineov Skin ceuticals ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS Kotler .P. (1996) Planning start with complete analysis of companys situation, company do analyse environmental to find the opportunities and to escape threats of environment. For change and its implementation environmental analyse is play dominant role. SWOT ANALYSIS Needham Dave Dransfield Rob( 2000) SWOT analysis is known as strategic planning tool which used to assess strengths , weaknesses , opportunities and threats STRENGTH LOreal is considered the biggest seller of hair care and beauty product in the whole world, spotlighting on 19 global brands. Numbers of these products are expanded through price and some by culture image. LOreal is building the attraction of various cultures through its products. Consequently, LOreal is reaching out more people across a bigger range of incomes and cultures. The 2nd strength is that LOreal offering a huge significance and spending lots on research and improvement uses and expands leading-edge technology and effectively introduces new product. Company has about 16 research centres across the world and 13 evaluation centres. Its opened recently opened new research and development centre in, Shanghai China . LOreal strategy of diversity and training of its workforce is one of the assets. Company employing group of people from different backgrounds which leads to improve creativity and innovation. Development and preparation can play vital part of life at LOreal each year approximately 100 employees attend industry-specific and leadership development training and conferences at LOreal management development centres in Tokyo, Paris and New York. LOreals acquisition strategy- aspirant on integrating recognized and well-known brands. Examples of unbeaten acquisitions are Carson Inc which measured as the 3rd largest provider of adult womens hair relaxer in America. The acquisition of body shop the British natural based cosmetics retailer with bout 2,290 stores through out worldwide. Company making more attractive to the green consumer those strives no doubt after look both their environment and body , there is no doubt. Company strength stated as strong sales diagonally all geographical area with rising posting market the faster like for like growth rate for the phase. Its took advantages of economies of scale in packaging and advertising result as a LOreal operation profitability which has been increased through cost cutting efforts. WEAKNESSES Organizational decentralized structure which makes control more tricky. Global market functioning , the problems increase due to coordination and control of performances and image. Companys geographical power is currently determined on western European over trust on full grown Western European market ,which gives maturity offers few predictions for growth. During 90s LOreal was hit by claims over past links to racial discrimination, anti-Semitism which are giving of jobs to Nazi co-workers after the World War two. They went some way to satisfy there critics with a boardroom change and other measures. Liliane Bettencourt, LOreals main shareholder, is known as the wealthiest lady in France. Two years ago LOreals slogan was reduced from Because Im worth it to Because youre worth it after fears in France that the original emerged too money-oriented. During July 2007, the Garnier division and an external employment agency were fined à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬30,000 for employment practices that disqualified non-white women from sponsoring its shampoo, Fructis Style. LOreal is report as proverb the decision was incomprehensible, and will challenge the measure in court. During May 2007, LOreal was one of number cosmetic manufacturers ordered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia (The TGA is responsible for conducting assessment and monitoring activities to ensure that therapeutic goods accessible in Australia are of an acceptable standard and that access to therapeutic advances is in a timely manner) to withdraw advertising regarding the wrinkle elimination capabilities of their products. One experienced candidate said she realize it was not eligible because she was of mixed race. In July 2007, the British Advertising Standards Authority knocked LOreal for a television commercial on its Telescopic mascara, featuring Penà ©lope Cruz, stating it will make you eyelashes 60% longer. In reality, it only made the lashes look 60% bigger, with thickening and separating the roots and by thickening the tips of the lashes. They also failed to state that the model was wearing false eyelashes, a common trick of the trade. Rumours of LOreals failing in US have been seriously inflated as The groups North American division is yet the smallest contributor to sales, accounting for approximately 25% of the total in the first nine months of 2007 and contributing barely 13.5% of sales growth in that period. Different emission gases causing harm to environment Great disaster for the environment storage of different fuels and chemicals underground. Different flammable and gases toxic mainly fire used for different chemical reactions is consider major risk for environment. It is first French organization which is convicted for racial bias cosmetic giant fined for its recruitment campaign. July, 7 2009 The Guardian an article regarding worlds biggest beauty firm Part of the cosmetics giant LOreal was found guilty of racial discrimination after it sought to exclude non-white women from promoting its shampoo. It is a landmark case, the Garnier division of the beauty empire, along with a recruitment agency it employed, were fined à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬30,000 ( £20,300) each after they recruited women on the basis of race. The historic ruling the first time a major company has been found guilty of systematic race discrimination in France saw a senior figure at the agency given a three-month suspended prison sentence.(The Guardian, July, 7, 2009). OPPORTUNITIES Company has chance to develop rising presence in promising markets their activities in rising areas such as Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East where growth in cosmetics and toiletries sales is normally to precede that of global sales. It has a three largest potential market to expand which are Russia, Brazil and china. LOreals acquisition of already recognized brands offered opportunities to enter new areas at lower costs Diversity by promise. Training at school levels Adopted measures to combat discrimination and support diversity and equal opportunity for all by signing charter for Corporate Commitment to Equal Opportunities in France. Worldwide profit sharing scheme Increase in proportion of Female manager up to 54% and 34% in management committees LOreal set up 22 Observatories on diversity in France. LOreal helped the Disadvantaged finding jobs about 657,429 applications received of which 63,691 were interviewed and 2,333 managers were recruited which is 15% higher than 2005. Follow Up and Integration Track FIT is a project started by LOreal for optimum integration of new employees. LOreal since 2001 started Worldwide Profit Sharing Plan implanted in all the countries. Opportunities for suppliers with a commitment of long term partnership based on mutual respect, sharing of information, transparency and strong communication and high standards. Share their expertise with suppliers to overcome challenges in the outer world with regular business reviews, logistics, and development, packaging and innovation meetings. SHE (Safety, Health and Environment) to identify strategic business opportunities. Signing up of letter for Ethical Commitment by suppliers available in 11 languages. Opening of 89 new stores in Western Europe 15, North America 8 and rest of the world 66. LOreal market share with Body Shop in 2006 is 15.6% THREATS Rivalry from private labels, LOreal is facing threats from growing shocks of private label products. Several of private label cosmetics and toiletries are getting better in quality and attracting customers. The bigger problem for global brands like LOreal is that the retailers are turning over more and more shelf space to their own labels. Brand Copying risk Dubai Perfume Company Bellure sold low-value scents that it stated smelled same as perfumes. It marketed the products on this basis, using wrapping that winked at the related company designs, and published assessment charts that named exacting company perfumes. LOreal sued for infringement of its trademarks and passing off, declaring that Bellures marketing materials took excessive advantage of the quality and repute of LOreals perfume brands. Company won the first round in the High Court, but in 2007 the case came to the Court of Appeal. It is now in limbo, pending a ruling from the ECJ, but a swing the other way looks likely. The Court of Appeals view was that the public are not stupid. It was unconvinced there was any likelihood that a low-value smell-alike product would be confused with the original and took the view that, even if Bellure gained an advantage through comparing its products to LOreals, it did not follow that it was an unfair advantage. (I marketi ng journal)  (Nov 28, 2007): PORTERS FIVE FORCES Porter (1980) in an industry the state of competition depends on five basic competitive forces. The combined strength of these forces establishes the final profit possible in the industry, where profit potential is prà ©cised in term of long run return on invested capital. Not all industries have the similar potential. They differ fundamentally in their ultimate profit potential as the collective strength of the forces differs; the forces range from intense industries. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers power is high as there is a large range of products and every company is competing to attract the customers. Nevertheless LOreals sole products put it in the top of competition. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Bargaining power of traders is low because of LOreals acquisitions of several brands and also due to its huge market share which gives it the potential for monopoly. Additionally, LOreals strategy is to create strong and long term relationship with their traders. Competitive Rivalry: Aggressive rivalry in the cosmetic industry is high. There are many of existing cosmetic companies challenging in the market and the major competitors of LOreal are Unilever and Proctor Gamble. LOreal decreases the competition by acquiring many well known brands in the market and also, it succeeded to stay ahead of the competition because of its strong portfolio of global brands. Threats of new entrants: The threat of new candidate is low and it is hard for new companies to enter this market. Barriers to entering this market contain: The extensive time and expense essential to build a brand status to overcome existing costumers likings. The extensive costs for promotional and commercial activity to protect the distribution and situation of a new entrants products in retail outlets. The incapability of a new candidate to recover rapidly its huge investment in promoting its brand. The difficulty of securing shelf-space in retail outlets. Threat of Substitutes: Products alternative are not presented in the market. LOreal products are distinguished from other products because of its strong assurance to research and development. It functions 12 research and development centres around the world. All of its products are based-on intensive scientific research and on gradually more targeted advance to enhance the quality. It employs 3,000 scientists who work in state-of-the-art research centres around the world. This allows it to justify price differences as compared with low priced products and retailer brands. (Loreal websit) Information Technology and LOreal Koontz H and Weihrich H( 1999) IT can play vital role affecting the scale ,nature of business for instance ,IT used in connection to sales based ordering (SBO) or efficient consumer response (ECR) ,provide help to organisation to reduce the cost and remove the time barriers . John Dawson (1996) IT provide knowledge based investment , alliance based investment and productivity based investment ,which provide opportunity for new entrants in the market .For LOreal success IT is a key factor , it can further help to reduce the cost and making the right decision at right time , at right cost , at right place. LOreal operating in many countries, IT provides the connectivity with all stakeholder and first hand interaction. Diversification of business Zook and Allen (2001) It suggest that most sustainable growth Pattern is that of the strong or leading core business that remuneration from continual reinvestment, constant adaptation to circumstances or business environment, and persistent leveraging of the competitive advantage formed by these strengths into new markets or geographies, applications, or channels. Further suggest that management teams constantly meet with opportunities for concentric diversification and that taking advantage of these opportunities is at times absolutely necessary in order to strengthen the core. Leavitt, H.J. (1965), Diversification helps to manage the change , like company build their operation in many countries and reduce the cost. CHANGE MANAGEMENT Czarniawska, B. (1999), Change management (or change control) is the process during which the changes of a system are implemented in a controlled manner by following a pre-defined system with, to some extent, reasonable changes. Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a present state to a desired state. The current definition of Change Management includes both organizational change management framework and individual change management models, which together are used to manage the people change management. Individual change management A number of techniques are available for understanding the transitioning of individuals through the phases of change management and strengthening organizational development initiative in both government and corporate sectors. Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Leftwich, R.L. (1979), An early model of change developed by Kurt Lewin described change as a three stage procedure. The first stage he called unfreezing. It involved overcoming inertia and dismantling the existing ideas. In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of confusion and transition with a little tinge of chaos. The old picture is being replaced by a new one.. The third and final stage he called freezing (often called refreezing by others). The new ideas are being accepted and ones comfort level is returning to previous levels not completely though. Rosch (2002) argues that this often quoted three-stage version of Lewins approach is an oversimplification and that his theory was actually more complex and owed more to physics than behavioural science. Different theorists give different versions according to their research and experiences respectively. . Although elaborating the process to five stages, Judson (1991) still proposes a linear, staged model o f implementing a change: (a) analysing and planning the change; (b) communicating the change; (c) gaining acceptance of new behaviours; (d) changing from the status quo to a changed state, and (e) consolidating and institutionalising the new states. ADKAR The ADKAR model for individual and organizational change management was developed by Prosci with participation from more than 1000 organizations from 59 countries. This model describes five required stages for change to be realized successfully on an individual level. The building blocks of the ADKAR Model include: Awareness of why the change is needed Desire to support and give input in the change Knowledge of how to change Ability to implement new skills and behaviors Reinforcement to sustain the change Organizational change management Fill C (2002), Organizational change management includes techniques and tools for managing the people side of the change at an organizational level. These tools are used by the leaders of the organization and include a structured approach that combined with an understanding of individual change management, provide a model for managing the people side of change. Organizational change management processes include techniques for creating a change management strategy (readiness assessments), engaging senior managers as change leaders (sponsorship), building awareness of the need for change (communications), developing skills and knowledge to support the change(education and training), helping employees move through the transition (coaching by managers and supervisors), and methods to sustain the change (measurement systems, rewards and reinforcement) The role of the management Leftwich, R.L. (1979), Managements responsibility and particularly that of administration is to detect trends in the macro environment as well as in the micro environment so as to be able to identify changes and initiate programs and determine the economic scenario . It is also important to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee behavior patterns, work processes, technological requirements, motivation and availability of resources. Management must assess what employee reactions will be and craft a change management program that will provide support as workers go through the process of accepting and adopting the change. The program must then be implemented, communicated effectively throughout the organization, monitored for effectiveness, and adjustments be made where necessary. Organizations exist within a dynamic environment that is subject to change due to the impact of various factors both external and internal . To continue to operate effectively within this e nvironmental roller coaster, organizations must be able to change themselves in response to internally and externally initiated change in minimum span of time and be adaptable to change,hence flexible enough . However, change will also impact upon the individuals within the organization. Effective change management requires an understanding of the possible effects of change upon people, and how to manage potential sources of resistance to that change. For instance people react within the organization by forming anti groups and retaliate and oppose the change. Mostly technological changes trigger this point and when new systems are replaced by old systems then conventions take a stand and people react and oppose this transition. Change can be said to occur where there is an imbalance between the current state and the environment on the whole. Decision Downloading Czarniawska, B. (1999)Often changes are initiated at a very senior level of management in the organization without any participation from others. For example, mergers, layoffs, and company acquisitions rarely involve input from employees at any level but the most senior. In fact, most employees are kept in the dark. These situations require special types of change management practices. As the decisions get unfolded to the rest of the organization there is a high probability that misunderstandings, angwish, and resilliance will surface. Researchers have determined that employee buy-in can be hastened by assertively unfolding the decision. Executives who use an assertive style of downloading or announcing the decision include the following points in their message: a) how the decision was made b)reasons why it was made c) what alternatives were considered d) how it fits in with the organizational mission and aims e) how it impacts the organization f) how it impacts employees. Executives who use this more vigorous approach to communicating double the rate of acceptance when compared to more impoverished methods. Change Management on the level of society Mats Larsson, in the book Global Energy Transformation (2009), suggests that change management will become necessary on the level of society in order to transform energy systems on a large scale globally|. Conversion of global systems of transportation, energy supply and industrial processes from grass root level is an undertaking that will require massive investments, change in individual behavior and company routines on a large scale and during a short span of time. This effort will also require the co-operation of many companies, public organizations and individuals. In order to achieve this on the scale of nations and regions, huge government expenditure will be required . Larsson mentions how the management principles and tools of change management could be applied in large scale national programs of mass transformation. Larsson uses as examples previous large scale change and development programs in the United States, in which many models that are now used in corporate change management projects have been developed and used. These programs are the transformation of US industry to war production during The Second World War, The Marshall Plan and The Apollo Program. Each of these programs have different focuses and management models, but they are examples of successful large scale change management efforts on the level of society. John P Kotters eight steps to successful change John Kotters highly recommended books Leading Change (1995) and the follow-up The Heart of Change (2002) describe a helpful formula for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to peoples response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and observe followed by the Kotters eight step change model that can be summarised as : Increase urgency,motivate people to move, make objectives real and relevant. Build the right team get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right combination of skills and expertise. Get the vision right get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency with essential ingredient of commitment. Communicate for buy-in Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to peoples needs and listen to the peoples needs. Harmonize their needs with the organizational goals on the whole. De-clutter communications make technology work for you rather than against for instance its a global village internet, media has advanced so much , so unfold the information down the organization as quickly as you can to penetrate deep into the minds of people for their fast adaptability to the new situation. Implement the change Remove barriers, enable potential feedback and lots of support from leaders reward and recognise progress and achievements after implementation of change. Create short-term wins Set aims that are easy to achieve in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones. Dont let up Foster and encourage determination and persistence ongoing change encourage ongoing progress reporting highlight achieved and future milestones. Make change stay Reinforce the value of successful change via new recruitment, promotional rewards, new change leaders. Blend change into culture. Cultural change Culture are known as norms , values , policies , strategy , and policies of the organization . Cultures represent the company way of doing the business. It is a era of globalization where though competition between the firms , cultural change play dominant role for the success of the organization . Organization structure represent the organization culture , if the organization have centralize organization structure , then decision make mostly central level , decentralize structure , increase power sharing between organization . Specially in case of LOreal it is big question how organization culture keep same in the world because, organization acquisition policy , create question mark for organization culture . Like Morrison took the Safe ways, but later the sold number of store because they cant adopt them according to their own culture. People who like a change tend to go through three stages unrealistic optimism , reality shock , and constructive direction . When someone fears or dislikes a change , a more complex process involving five tends to occur getting off on the wrong track , laughing it off , experiencing growing self doubt , buying in and moving in a constructive direction . Managers are challenged to help employees deal effectively with reality shock and self doubts. LOreal STRATEGY Koontz H and Weihrich H( 1999) Strategy term is a general programs of action and deployment of resources to attain comprehensive objectives. According to some authors mentioned strategy means guideline, or long term plans. Hardy Cynthia (1994) global strategy is Setting a a matter of adjusting as much as possible the business functions-manufacturing , procurement, marketing , distribution, and RD -within the constraint of trade and investment barrier in a way which provide the best possible product/market fits. In a few cases, the best fit is a standardized product; in others a customized product fits best. Making a global strategy often involves subsequent a zig-zag line between standardization and flexibility, trading off the costs and benefits of one against those of the other. Cateora R.Philip (1997) formative a firms global strategy and shaping the organization to achieve goals and objectives are the two middle tasks of global marketing management that describe the level of international integration of the company. Companies must contract with multitude of strategic issues including the extent of the internationalisation of operations. Company tends to develop multi-culture in their underlying brands. This strategy proves to be very successful in reality and even played a dominant role in LOreals success. The most representative example is Maybelline New York. LOreal developed Maybellines brand culture instead of upsetting it after its acquisition of Maybelline. The sales figure dramatically rose after the acquisition and Maybelline product enter into more than 90 countries. Maybelline became a stylish global brand for all women all around the world from a merely regional brand. LOreal to create the advantages is to spread around strategic investment by sharing the production of innovation between different product divisions. LOreal relied on distribution channel to carry out its strategy of brand structure. There are four product departments in LOreals structure. Every department has several brands and each brand has many names Strategic position of the company in relation to market Mabey (1994) Company is boosting their brands architecture through acquiring different brands and increasing its operation in the world market. Its acquired Maybelline brand in 1996 for their strategic policy, Mini nurse in China, In Japan Luxury brand Shu Uemura , through acquisition strategy. Future expansion the most fast growing markets like China market , effective and cost efficient strategy , Company is leading in cosmetic industry , and won number of certificate and hold major market shares as shown in below figure. Above diagram ,clearly shows the market share of the company ,which hold 45% share , it is leading position inmarket. Information system Strategy Cameron Kim ( 1993) Information technology can play a dominant role in this competitive world , information is data endowed with relevance and purpose. Data such as names numbers , and places need to be organized and interpreted in a timely manner if they are to be useful in decision making . Information should have a surprise effect, meaning that it should shed light on the unknown. Information that does not surprise or elignten the individual is probably irrelevant or redundant . Because information is the lifeblood of organization endeavor and strategic tool of increasing importance , manager need to ,view information as a resource , understand the cost of information , know how to organize and comprehend information and be familiar with the basics of information processing . Information technology includes all mechanical and electronic devices capable of producing , manipulating , transmitting and storing words , numbers , pictures and sound. The knowledge to operate these devices also qualifies as information technology .

Marital Discord in ‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert and ‘Like Water

In Literature and Life, Love is a powerful force. Sans love; feelings, desires and relationships may seem empty. This force however, can also be destructive, even may end a marriage. Marital discord, arising in general, due to infatuation, lust or affection for a third person, may crop up primarily facilitated by adverse familial, economic or societal conditions that do frequently find their mention in the written word. Some of these concerns like family, marriage, sexuality, society and death, are notably illustrated by the authors, Gustave Flaubert in Madame Bovary and Laura Esquivel in Like Water for Chocolate. Bring Rosaura in. These works under study present the marriages of Emma-Charles Bovary in Madame Bovary and Rosaura-Pedro in Like Water for Chocolate that are shaken at the end of each plot. It seems that marital discord is an indirect corollary of the roughness that was forced upon both the female protagonists, Emma and Tita. The cruelty imposed on Tita, as quite evident, was by virtue of her relationship with Mama Elena; her being the youngest daughter who was thus traditionally disallowed marriage and obligated to serve her mother for as long as she (mother) lived. On the other hand, on Emma’s rough times were much subtle and, to an extent, self-carved. Ms. Roualt lived with her father and while in a convent school, she was initially devoted to â€Å"learning her catechism well†. However, as romantic novels came along with an old spinster working there, Emma began to fancy the â€Å"love affairs†¦tears and kisses, skiffs in the moonlight†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 1 With these books, Emma would occasionally drift into the â€Å"alluring phantasmagoria of genuine emotion†1. Then, as the readers may understand, Emma started fantasizing and drawing a veil of... ...laws of Emma ( perennial dissatisfaction, adultery, extravagance) and Rosaura (jealousy) that end up in their tragedy. Works Cited 1 Page 36, chapter 6, part I, Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert and translated into English by Lowell Bair, Bantam Classics 2 Chapter 6, Volume 1, Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen 3 Page 60, Chapter 9, Part I, Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert and translated into English by Lowell Bair, Bantam Classics 4 Page 33, chapter 5, part I, Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert and translated into English by Lowell Bair, Bantam Classics 5 Page 32, chapter 5, part I, Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, translated into English by Lowell Bair, Bantam Classics 6 Page 86, Chapter 3, part II, Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, translated into English by Lowell Bair, Bantam Classics

Minimizing weather disruption in aviation: regard of Heathrow, British Airways and UK aviation system

Introduction More than any other mode of transportation, aviation is significantly affected by weather conditions including fog, thunderstorms, snowstorms, and wind as well as temperature and pressure extremes (Iyengar, 2002). Kulesa (2010) notes two major adverse effects of weather on aviation which are its impact on safety and efficiency of operation. The aviation industry must regularly deal with adverse types of weather to enhance safety while attempting to maintain integrity of flight schedules and to rein in on costs attendant to disruption, a significant budget item in aviation (Qualley, 2009). Weather disruptions at London’s Heathrow Airport in recent years have highlighted vulnerability in the industry. Of note was the adverse snow condition on December 18, 2010an exceptional event with unprecedented volume and speed of snow fall (AOA, 2013; DoT, 2013). This condition was compounded by capacity constraints and consequent lack of operational contingency since Heathrow operates at 9 9% capacity daily and the pre-Christmas period usually has high customer volumes (DoT, 2013; Seabury, 2012). The challenges of the day highlight prevalent problems and potential damage of weather-related disruption. A serious problem exists in the parallel forecast models run in the US and EU which give variations in weather forecasts. Conflicts are particularly often on parameters such as temperature of the day – which defines whether precipitation will fall as rain or snow (DoT, 2013; Qualley, 2009). On this day, weather forecasts and predictions were accurate and congruent and were received on time. Based on extensive experience on the part of British Airways (BA) and National Air Traffic Service (NATS), and in anticipation of greater challenges of disruption, a decision to cancel all BA flights between 1000 and 1700 was arrived at (BA, 2014; UK Parliament, 2011). There was however misjudgement among stakeholders on the severity of prediction and actual weather conditions. In the confusion, Heathrow claimed ‘business as usual’ while BA (its largest carrier) cancelled its schedule. Media reports of continued operations even after eventual closure of airport also undermined the decisive action taken by BA and thousands of passengers continued to turn up for cancelled flights creating chaos (UK Parliament, 2011). The command and control structure was not employed proactively or efficiently (Seabury, 2012). Overall, the airport failed to recover as quickly as it could have done and the impact of the day was extended unnecessarily. BA’s extensive and refined contingency plans for recovery following disruption were not replicated by Heathrow airport and were thus not useful (UK Parliament, 2011; Kulesa, 2010). A lack of forward planning and lack of shared operational experience about the most effective approach for return to efficient regular operations was evident when the airport re-opened (DoT, 2013). Major emphasis was put on the op ening of the runway without regard to the taxiway, apron and stand infrastructure which are also essential for efficient airport operation (Deloitte, 2013; UK Parliament, 2011). The ineffective approach caused many of the problems faced on re-opening and impeded return to normal operations. Eventually, a decision by Heathrow airport to invoke the Scarce Capacity Protocol (SCP) designed to ensure fair and proportionate allocation of access to take-off and landing slots for airlines was reached. This protocol was however overly conservative and difficult to enforce, hindered by policing issues (AOA, 2013; UK Parliament, 2011). Various UK airports have similarly been affected by weather conditions to varying degrees though recovery has usually been swift. A number of these airports remain open to receive long-haul diversions in times of disruption (DoT, 2013; Seabury, 2012). Although weather forecasting would add value to minimization of disruption, AOA, 2013 and Deloitte, 2013 disclos e that none among UK’s civilian airfields has a dedicated forecasting service based on site. Closure, delay, and/or cancellation have far reaching consequences beyond the inconvenience caused to customers which portends erosion of passenger goodwill and loss of future revenue (BA, 2014; Deloitte, 2013). Costs associated with weather disruption vary depending on contingency and elusive to pin down exactly. Direct costs derive from airline operations such as diversion, cancellation, delay or insurance and include listed costs such as: fuel, crew, time, and aircraft operating costs, lost passenger and cargo revenue, hotel accommodation and meals, ground-based employee overtime pay, insurance, etc. (Deloitte, 2013; Seabury, 2012). Disruption, particularly for hub airport operations given their extensive connectivity may have widespread effects affecting myriad flight schedules and airport operations in far flung areas. Seabury, 2012 and Deloitte, 2013 estimate that one diverted f light can cause 2 to 50 flight delays, while a cancelled flight can result in 15 to 20 delays. British Airways has more recently in 2013 and early 2014 been impacted by adverse weather in its operations at home and internationally (particularly the US) and affecting its global network (BA, 2014). In 2012, the airline also suffered mishaps on its Airbus fleet due to the freezing of pilot tubes which feed vital air speed data to on-board computers facilitating the autopilot mode. This led to two emergency landings evidence of the risk weather portends to safe flight linked to the potential damage in loss of life, property as well as repute (BA, 2014; FoE, 2013). This scenario lays out a representation of problems and damages consequent to weather disruption at Heathrow affecting BA and the entire UK aviation system. Steps to minimise the effect of bad weather and the ramifications of decisions to stakeholders Accurate weather forecasts are a priority for safety and efficiency in aviation. This is a primary focus area in order to minimize effects of weather disruption (FoE, 2013; Seabury, 2012)†¦ Accurate information derived from congruent forecasts from numerous agencies enables an effective prediction of the extent of disruption and therefore appropriate response. The use of varied and possibly conflicting forecasts was the probable cause of conflict in the case above creating problems and compounding the issue (Qualley, 2009; Iyengar, 2002). Adverse effects of weather on the industry can be avoided if only airlines and the entire industry work together to interpret such natural phenomena better. Various agencies – both state and private – should participate in accumulating reports and materials on weather patterns useful in the creation of referential databases. These can th en be updated and shared widely across the industry to minimize the impact of adverse events. Uniformity and congruence of information should be aspired to and costs associated with provision of weather information should be addressed (Kulesa, 2010; Qualley, 2009). Despite additional costs, the development of meteorological capacity on site in airports manned by employees or forecast vendors should be made mandatory. This strategy will negatively impact weather forecast contractors and vendors. Timely transmission of forecasts is also essential allowing sufficient lead time for appropriate preparation, and early response (FoE, 2013). Such include the efficient conduct of the intricacies of flight planning such as re-routing, rescheduling, load and fuel balancing, among others, as well as institution of mitigation measures. Open and extensive communication and consultation among various players is paramount for coordinated and effective response towards overall reduction of impact. T his can be achieved through efficient and proactive use of command and control structures and involvement of external entities such as the broadcast media transmitting vital information to customers. During response, focus should be on the entire airfield and mix of essential operations in an interdependent system (Kulesa, 2010). Development of comprehensive and extensive protocols and contingency planning should be undertaken to facilitate response to disruption (Deloitte, 2013; DoT, 2013). These should entail forward planning, strategies and methods to govern operations, as well as effective business continuity plans to mitigate risks to the extent possible. Despite prohibitive costs, use of intricate computer programs in planning and response should be encouraged. Existing policies, protocols and measures should be realigned and restructured for better effectiveness and enforcement mechanisms should be instituted to ensure compliance (Seabury, 2012; UK Parliament, 2011). On-groun d mitigation measures such as de-icing and ploughing of snow should be made mandatory and part of essential procedure. Such measures may not sit well with independent industry players but should be enforced. At the operational level, measures to protect reputation and consequently the potential loss of business from inconvenienced customers should be instituted (Deloitte, 2013). Customer support programs and response centres undertaking such tasks as rebooking, refunds processing, and provision of information are thus essential. Airlines should also create alliances and agreements activated in times of disruption to enable support for affected players and entities (Seabury, 2012). Though it comes at a cost, this will serve to benefit customers and to reduce overall adverse impact of event. Safety measures such as enhanced flight briefings, appropriate pilot training, and continuous streaming of updated current information should be emphasized as weather is unpredictable and subject to change. Overall, comprehensive reviews of incidents and failures and generation of continuous applicable learning for particular locations and scenarios is beneficial. Regarding policy, the expansion of airport capacity at Heathrow and major airports, as well as creation of new airports is essential for better resilience (Deloitte, 2013; Seabury, 2012; DoT, 2013). With no spare capacity, Heathrow is vulnerable to short term operational disruption (BA, 2014; AOA, 2013). Capacity expansion may also enable diversion in times of need easing intense pressure and thus enabling better management of adverse events. Alongside such developments, it is also important to focus on surface connections such as rail and roads to ease pressures of domestic air travel and hence to free some airport capacity (DoT, 2013; Seabury, 2012). They could also serve in times of disruption facilitating diversions and airport transfers. These measures may not be popular however with political players and cust omers seeking convenience. References Airports Operators Association, 2013. The Airport Operator, Amsterdam: AOA. British Airways, 2014. Our Business. Matching capacity to demand. London: BA: Deloitte, 2013. Aviation and Sustainability. Niigita, Japan: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Department of Transport, 2013. Aviation Policy Framework. Report of Secretary of State for Transport. March 2013. London: HMSO Friends of Earth, 2013. Aviation and Global Climate Change. London: Friends of Earth. Iyengar, J., 2002. â€Å"The Role of Risk in Aviation under Adverse Weather Conditions.† In: Vickery, S., (Ed.) Research Issues. Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. Michigan State University. Decision line: May 2002, Pp. 7-10 Kulesa, G., 2010. Weather and Aviation: How Does Weather Affect the Safety and Operations of Airports and AviationViewed from: http://adds.aviationweather.gov/ on 18th Apr, 2014. Qualley, W., 2009. Impact of Weather and use of Weather Information by Commercial Airline Operations. Texas, US: Amrcorp. Seabury, 2012. Sustainable European Aviation: A position paper. Association of European Airlines and Seabury. Viewed from: www.seaburygroup.com on 22nd Apr, 2014 UK Parliament, 2011. Impact on transport of recent adverse weather conditions: Written evidence from British Airways. Session 2010-11. Viewed from: www.parliament.uk/publicaions&records/commons_select_committee/transport/transport/ on 18th Apr, 2014.

Evolution of Cognitive Psychology

Evolution of Cognitive Psychology Introduction Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology whereby scientists are motivated to study the underlying mechanisms of the higher mental processes in human beings. Therefore, to other disciplines, cognitive scientists are interested in understanding human perception, decision-making, attention, problem-solving, thinking, and the development of speech among other mental processes (Ruisel, 2010, p. 267). On the other hand, the term cognition is derived from cognosco, which in Latin translates to making decisions, discovering, learning, investigating, studying, or recognizing. However, cognition has been defined by most scientists as the processes involved in transforming, reducing, elaborating, storing, recovering, and using the sensory signal (input). Generally, cognitive psychology is focused on understanding the mental processes of acquiring, processing, and storing information in human beings (Ruisel, 2010, p. 268).Advertising We will write a custom research pap er sample on Evolution of Cognitive Psychology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As part of the highly integrative discipline of cognitive science, cognitive psychology is closely related and influenced by other disciplines such as neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, anthropology, biology, and physics. For instance, cognitive psychology is very much related and influenced by physics in that they both use experiments and simulations as research tools in predicting or comparing human behaviors through different models (Goldstein, 2008, pp.13-15). Moreover, with the advent of brain imaging techniques, cognitive psychology has found wide-spread applications in various aspects of neuroscience. There are three major approaches, which are widely in use in cognitive psychology to neuroscience: that is, neural, experimental, and computational approaches. In experimental cognitive psychology, innovative met hods applicable to most natural sciences are used to study specific aspects of human cognition, including measurement of psychophysical responses, eye tracking, and response time. Moreover, computational cognitive psychology employs computational models and formal mathematical methods in designing dynamical systems and symbolic representations of human cognition. Conversely, in neural, cognitive psychology, brain imaging, and neurobiological procedures are used to study different neural aspects of social cognition. The three approaches are, in most cases, interlinked and complementary in providing insights into the human mental processes (Goldstein, 2008, p. 15). The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology The contemporary form of cognitive psychology is marked by the use of different new technologies in understanding human cognition. However, the study of social cognition can be traced back to the 1800s and 1900s as exemplified by the published accounts of Aristotle (De Memoria), William James, Wundt, and Cattell among other scientists.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These early scientists marked the foundation for the development of cognitive psychology because their investigations and intellectual inquiries entailed the use of cognitive approaches in solving various psychological problems. However, in the early 20th century, the rise of behaviorism led to the decline of cognitive psychology. Here, the proponents of behaviorism including Watson, Boring, and Skinner attempted to investigate the link between the observable human behaviors and the visible stimulating conditions regardless of the underlying internal mental processes (Goldstein, 2008, p. 17). However, in the 1950s and the early 1960s, several events including Skinner’s account on verbal behavior (1957), Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s verbal behavior (1959), and Br eland’s report on â€Å"The Misbehavior of Organisms† led to the decline of behaviorism. Furthermore, behaviorism failed to provide an in-depth account as to how internal mental processes influence memory, performance, and complex learning in human beings. The failure of behaviorism to account for complex human behaviors such as language coupled with the introduction of the digital computer (1940s), Cherry’s attention experiment (1953), the opening of the first commercially-available digital computer (1954), the M.I.T. and Dartmouth conferences (1956), and Broadbent’s flow diagram led to the rise of what came to be known as the cognitive revolution (Goldstein, 2008, pp. 13-20). Throughout the cognitive revolution, most researchers were interested in using the information-processing approach as an alternative method for understanding behavior. Here, the researchers focused their attention on the idea that the mind might be the central information processin g device as opposed to the stimulus-response interactions proposed by the behaviorists. This approach was guided by the realization that the digital computer could process information in a step by step manner. The study of the mind contributed to the publication of the first textbook in cognitive psychology (1967) by Ulric Neisser, and the emergence of a group of scientists interested in investigating human perception, thinking, attention, language, problem-solving, and memory relative to the mind (Goldstein, 2008, p. 15).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Evolution of Cognitive Psychology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nonetheless, most learning institutions in North America and Europe have incorporated cognitive psychology into their curricula since 1970, and besides, most American psychologists have moved from the behaviorist’s approach to a cognitive one. The decline of Behaviorism and the develo pment of Cognitive Psychology As noted earlier, cognitive psychology is part of a more comprehensive and integrative discipline known as cognitive science. Therefore, cognitive psychology is closely related to other disciplines such as anthropology, neuro-anatomy, artificial intelligence, and philosophy, among other aspects, encompassed by cognitive science. Accordingly, the decline of behaviorism as the basis for studying behavior led to the integration of separate disciplines to form one primary subject, cognitive science, which provides the theoretical foundation for investigating and understanding complex behaviors. As a result, cognitive psychologists employ theories and research from other disciplines to study and understand different aspects of complex behaviors including measuring the duration of time that actions, organization, or planning take to occur in mind. Most importantly, the decline of behaviorism enabled cognitive psychologists to investigate the cognitive aspects involved in stimulus-response relationships (Goldstein, 2008, pp. 17-19). Therefore, the answers to the researchers’ questions regarding complex behavior have been drawn from many disciplines. For instance, it is well documented that philosophers have tried to account for cognition from different observable perspectives, and thus, it is evident that most cognitive psychology models have been developed around the ‘philosophy of mind’. Furthermore, the use of computers has been widely accepted into the field of cognitive psychology to develop computer symbols of mind and different models for studying information-processing relative to human cognition.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Equally, most cognitive psychologists have adopted the same approach used in building logic circuits in computers to study the functions of biological neurons in transmitting, storing, and processing information (Goldstein, 2008). Furthermore, the clinical insights into various disorders such as dyslexia, which have long been studied by linguists, have also found their way into the development of multiple models used to study the same diseases in cognitive psychology today. Therefore, it is notable that the impact of the decline of behaviorism on the development of cognitive psychology has been positive considering that it has allowed most scientists to tie the knowledge derived from several disciplines to various questions in cognitive psychology. Overall, the present-day approach to studying cognition is not only informed by behavioral characteristics, but also by the physiological procedures involving the study of the mind. References Goldstein, B.E. (2008). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education. Ruisel, I. (2010). Human knowledge in the context of cognitive psychology. Studia Psychologica, 52(4), 267-283.