Using a UK retailer of your own choice, assess their Own Brand Essay

Using a UK retailer of your own choice, assess their Own Brand strategy - Essay Example The retail business is highly related to the perception and preference of customers. Sainsbury’s in order to develop its brand strategies has become completely customer oriented and has adopted strategies accordingly. The market share of Sainsbury’s in the year 2011 first quarter is estimated to be around 16.5 percent (Shannon, 2011). The market position of Sainsbury’s is quite strong in London as well as South East. It is observed that the retail branding is generally a customer oriented approach. The five major areas where Sainsbury’s has recognised growth were ‘great food at great prices’, ‘greater number of complimentary food chain’, ‘reaching maximum customers by means of extra channels’ and ‘increasing the space of supermarket’ along with ‘active property management’. These strategies have helped the retail store to sustain itself in the third position. Sainsbury’s possesses two formats of stores namely traditional super market stores and convenience stores (Li, 2008). The retail business strategy is different from the strategies of other businesses. In this paper, the brand strategy in retail sector has been discussed. The paper seeks to discuss about the brand strategy of Sainsbury’s. The brand strategy developed by the company in their retail business enables it to acquire more customer loyalty and this aspect has been highlighted in the paper. The importance of this strategy in fulfilling the need and expectation of customers has also been included in the paper. The paper also comprises of the relationship between services of the company and the need of customers. 2.0 Retail Branding The retail branding is considered as a well known concept in present scenario. The business in retail industry is growing rapidly and generating more chains of businesses. The branding of retailers is different from other product brands. The retail branding is genera lly ‘multi-sensory’ and it is developed by focusing on the knowledge of consumers. The brand image is adopted in different ways in this type of business. In the retail outlets there are various attributes that act as persuading factors for consumers such as quality of products, brands that are sold, services, appearance of store, the price level, behaviour as well as service of employees among others (Ailawadi & Keller, 2004). The business of retail industry is based on their adaptation towards the trends of society as well as taste of customers for new products. This adaptation generally influences more consumers. There is a chance of retail business to be eliminated from the society if it is incapable to fulfil the requirement of market. In this type of business, major focus is provided towards the customers as they are directly linked to the product of the stores (Mansoory & Mehra, 2010). 3.0 Strategy of Sainsbury’s The brand of Sainsbury’s was essentia lly developed with an intention to provide customers with healthy, fresh, secure and delicious foods. The company has focused towards various approaches before adopting strategies. Their main focus has been on quality, fair price, fresh food, innovative food and other product lines. Based on these aspects, the company developed its strategies to fulfil customers’ expectation (J-Sainsbury, 2010). The strategy of the company is principally based on the five areas and based on this strategy, brand image is developed. It also provides emphasis on the five selected strategies so as to enhance their business and retain customers (J-Sainsbury, 2010). In the first strategy of ‘great food at fair price’ the company has an intention to provide healthy, fresh, safe and tasty food and thus it has continued to make innovation in their product. These innovative products facilitate them to be a leader in delivering the quality products at fair prices (J Sainsbury Plc, 2011). Th e main focus in this strategy is to provide extreme importance on

Hamburger Hill The Things They Carried Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hamburger Hill The Things They Carried - Essay Example Irvin’s film showed that one of the first things that the soldiers faced when arriving â€Å"in country† was a stark reminder of the serous risk to their lives, as they were asked to sign insurance papers and various other legal forms in case they did not survive. This legal reminder of the danger that faced them was backed up by a serious of training talks given them while in camp, including sessions showing them how serious, stealthy, and committed their enemies were, and even how such normal personal concerns such as hygiene and communication could lead to injury or death. At every level, the new recruits were told to follow orders and to respect their fellow soldiers, and they were told that the only way they would come out alive is if they stuck together. This was perhaps the major theme of Irvin’s film and it played a strong element in O’Brien’s essay, in the story of the dead soldier Lavender, who died because he wandered off. This process of early acclimation also included instruction on the use of weapons and the necessity of negotiating the many different factors that they would face during the war, from physical wounds to sexually transmitted diseases to psychological wounds from opinions of the people back home when they returned. O’Brien describes the variety of planned and makeshift provisions that the soldiers carried with them into battle, including bug spray, odd superstitious charms, and varieties of weapons. Each man carried their own materials, but O’Brien’s essay suggests and Irvin’s film represents that they also carried their humanity, their hopes and fears. Only in the battle did they also learn to love each and appreciate each other and stick together. Irvin’s film spends a great deal of time in the early moments showing the soldiers horsing around and fighting, listening to music and playing cards, in order to stress the need for camaraderie among the soldiers. One o f the keys to this camaraderie was following their leader without question. While the new recruits learned to take this lesson in stride during the early training, they didn’t quite believe it. When they are dropped in the combat zone at minute 41:20, one new recruit tries to calm the nerves of another by saying â€Å"these guys know what they’re doing† in regard to their officers. The nervous recruit replied with a sarcastic â€Å"Oh yeah, definitely.† By the end of the film, all such sarcasm had disappeared. They had seen the necessity of trusting one another and pulling together in the heat of fire. They had learned that their leaders and the bravery of their fellow soldiers was perhaps the most important thing ensuring their survival. O’Brien’s essay echoes this sentiment, as he relays the feelings of the fictional leader of the platoon he describes. He shows how Lt. Cross takes personally the loss of soldier under his command because he lost focus for a moment. He claims that Cross â€Å"felt the pain... blamed himself† (p. 6). He had become distracted by his own humanity and his own personal needs for a moment and the soldier had wandered off, not to fight but to urinate. He was killed. Both works stress the way soldiers kept each other honest and diligent, looking out for each other even as they argued among each other. One of the major themes that Irvin emphasizes throughout his film is the difficulties of navigating race

Expressiveness And Effectiveness Of The Visualization Computer Science Essay

Expressiveness And Effectiveness Of The Visualization Computer Science Essay Visualization is a method or a transformation of data or information into images, diagrams, or animations. Concise Oxford Dictionary states that visualization means to imagine or remember as if actually seeing. Besides, in Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, it has defined visualization as the act or process of interpreting in visual terms or of putting into visual forms. [1] In another words, visualization is the communication of information using graphical representations. There is no longer an obstacle for collecting data or information though extracting necessary values from collected information has turned out to be gradually more complex and complicated. Since early days before the written language has formalized, we have been using pictures for communication and visual imagery has been an efficient way to correspond both tangible and abstract ideas. We, humans, have complex and great vision system which we utilize and rely for everything we do on a daily basis while the speed of analyzing text is quite limited for us by the sequential process of reading. Purpose of Visualization The main reason of visualization is to convey, explore and analyze information. To be more specific, visualization is used to present large amount of information compactly from various view points and at several levels of details. Furthermore, it helps us extract the important information which is hidden within the data. Visualization is essential to manage todays world information of computers, satellites, digitized systems and etc. Some data sets are naturally better to be represented visually since we possess the abilities of powerful human vision system. Graphical representation makes easier for analyzing the data especially when all the information and its relation are segregated with different colors, shapes, and size. [1] As todays technology is tremendously growing and with the inventions of all the computers and their capabilities to generate large data sets, visualization is the most suited technology to extract and study the information from collected raw data. Some examples of visualization comprise mapping the blogosphere, web trend map which is a detailed study of the current online trends, and hierarchical structure of the internet that displays the connectivity and how it is being managed. In addition, visualization offers considerable financial advantages in todays competitive world. Computer simulation together with visualization can save product expenses and time required for production. Types of Visualization Therere few terminologies which can be used to represent visualization. Scientific visualization in computer science field means the method of graphically displaying real or simulated data. It is a fundamental process in the innovative realization of scientific ideas and its basic visualization techniques contain surface rendering, volume rendering, animation, processing algorithms and other sensory presentation such as sound or touch. [1] Another phrase to express visualization is data visualization. Data visualization is more general compared to scientific visualization as its data sources involve business, marketing and financial data which are beyond sciences and engineering fields. [1] Moreover, it consists of statistical processes and other standard data analysis techniques. Information visualization is used to visualize abstract information and abstract structures, directory files on computers, hypertext documents on World Wide Web, etc. [1] It draws on the intellectual history of several customs like computer graphics, human computer interaction and statistical graphics. Visualization can be classified based on context in which data exists. Based on the data sets, the techniques of visualization are differed. Scientific visualization methods are used when data exists up to three spatial coordinates and time dimension whereas information visualization is for data in higher dimensional or abstract spaces. Scientific visualization and information visualization overlap each other and they are allied fields. [1] The relationship of three different visualizations can be found as in figure 1. Figure 1: Types of Visualization Visualization Process Figure 2 illustrates the steps of visualization process. [2] The very first step of designing visualization is about analyzing the data to be visualized. It is necessary to find out whether data from a database, a file or some source, simple or complex, is able to be structured and allows for easy modification to suit its visualization. The designer needs to take note of the presentation of the visualization results and the information the users wish to extract from the enormous data set. Raw data will be then transformed into symbolic representations. Secondly, the data values themselves or the data attributes are mapped as graphical objects, such as shapes, lines, color, position and size. The last component of visualization process is rendering of graphic objects by the computer onto the display and generation of visualization for the users interpretation. Figure 2: Visualization Process from High Level View Visualizing Information One of the fundamental questions in information visualization is how to describe expressiveness and effectiveness, the two mathematical measures of visualization, which can be applied at all stages of visualization process. Besides when visualizing, therere some important parameters to consider such as visualization and symbols, graphic features and the eight visual variables. Expressiveness and Effectiveness of the Visualization Jock D. Mackinlay, an American visualization expert, states a visualization is expressive if a visualization encodes all relevant information and only that information. [3] That denotes the person may see all information he/ she wants to examine without any distractions. Therefore, expressiveness measures the concentration of information. Perfect visualization means with ideal expressiveness and it is tough to achieve in reality. Expressing too much information will lead to interference of interpreting essential information and expressing less information will miss out important datasets need to be visualized. Effectiveness means that all information is presented clearly and quickly in a cost effective manner. [3] Hence effectiveness measures a precise cost of information awareness. Beshers Feiner, the scientists, adapt these two measures and express it as potential expressiveness and potential effectiveness. [3] A visualization is potentially expressive, if it has the potential and under the user control to display all essential information over time. It is potentially effective, if the information presented is sufficiently clear over time. Visualization and Symbols In visualization, symbols create a wide range of new possibilities for visual effects. Symbols have been used to connect with many intentions and they play as valuable roles in information visualization. Visual objects are graphical symbols which are parts of visualization like arrows, labels, dots and etc. To discover relations or patterns of visualization, Cleveland states that there are two major steps. [4] The first step is a mapping between graphic symbols and the represented data. Lastly finding patterns on the screen that imply the patterns in the data. Graphic Features Graphics are represented in three or more dimensions. Every single point of a graphic is construed as a relation between two positions x and y with a third variable value z. Graphics can be analyzed in three main steps. [2] First is to perceive groups of objects pre-attentively, followed by characterizing those groups cognitively. The final step is to examine special cases which are out of the group. The Eight Visual Variables To represent different aspects of the same information, choosing visual variables is crucial and can affect the perception and understanding of the presented information. Thus, it is essential to understand graphic primitives and their variables. The eight visual variables are as below. [2] Position It is the most important visual variable and changes in x, y location. In visualization, the spatial arrangement is the very first thing to be done. That is the reason why positioning has the greatest impact on the display of information. Shape Shapes or marks refer to points, lines, areas, volumes, and their compositions, and they are graphic primitives that represent data. There are infinite number of shapes and they are used for categorization. Size Size changes in area, length or volume. It influences the way of individual data representation and display. Brightness Brightness or luminance is good for large interval and continuous data. However, there is a limitation to distinguish among all those different levels of brightness. Color It changes according to two parameters, hue and saturation. It requires mapping of data values to individual color codes. Orientation Orientation changes in alignment. It cannot be used for all marks. For example, circles look the same even their orientations change. Shapes with natural single axis are the best to apply orientation. Texture It is a combination of many other visual variables including marks, color, orientation and so on. Motion Motion describes all visual variables change over time and it can convey more information. Human Perception System Visual perception means the ability to interpret and process information from visible light in the surrounding environment. Not everyone perceives data exactly the same. Different viewers differently interpret the identical visual representations. When designing visualization, to reduce the confusion later on, the designers need to take account of color usage of graphical entities for accurate measurement, quantity of distinct entities, and etc. Besides, we also need to consider the primitives that humans usually detect pre-attentively and the level of accuracy we perceive various primitives. Consequently, when we visualize data, it is a basic requirement to learn the limits of human perception since we need to factor in these limitations and avoid producing images with vague or deceptive information. Visual System The human eye is composed of many parts. [5] They obtain visual images, focus them accurately and send messages to the brain. The main sensory component of vision assembles light scattered from objects and forms a two dimensional function on the photoreceptors, the small sensory devices which respond in the presence of photons making up light waves. Information related to the external objects in the environment is captured through the visual system. Light rays from an object enters through the outer part of the eye, named the cornea. It helps the eye to focus to make things look sharp and clear. Then, the light rays travel towards an opening called the pupil, the dark round circle in the middle of the colored part of the eye. The colored eye is called the iris and the pupil is just a hole in the iris. The iris controls the amount of light goes into the eye. Besides, your eye also possesses a lens to focus the light rays. Light passes through the lens till the back of the eye, the retina. It has millions of tiny light sensitive cells sending messages to parts of the brain, the optic nerves. Field of View A pair of normal healthy human eyes can view about 200 degrees horizontally where approximately 120 degrees of which are shared by both eyes and giving rise to whats known as binocular vision. [6] It has a field of view of 135 degrees vertically. However, as we get older, these values decrease. Both of human eyes are positioned more or less on the front of our heads and it is common in prey species as it helps increase an animals total field of view. Angular Resolution Angular resolution refers to the minimum distance at which our eyes can differentiate things of the same size and shape from each other. [6] The typical set of human eyes has an angular resolution of one minute of arc. It means objects one degree apart from each other can be distinguished. Therefore, angular resolution is useful when we need to differentiate similar objects. Nevertheless, every human eye is different and their angular resolution varies based on eyesight strength, eye shape and age. The Blind Spot The photoreceptor cells in our eyes are used to perceive light and information being received is relayed to the brain via the optic nerve. Blind spot is the visual field where it lacks the light detecting photoreceptor cells on the optic disc of the retina. [6] A small part of the field of vision is not perceived as there are no cells to detect light. Normally, with two eyes, the brain interpolates the blind spot based on surrounding details and information from the other eyes so that the blind spot would not be detected. However, blind spot can be perceived easily with one eye closed. Perceptual Processing Attention acts as a critical role in perceiving information. Perception can be pre-attentive or attentive. Usually the flow of perceived information starts from the low level pre-attentive towards the high cognitive stages. Professor Treisman states perceptions that can be performed in less than 200 to 250ms are regarded as pre-attentive. [7] Initiating random locations of the elements in display by human eyes normally take at least 200ms. That determines attention cannot be pre-focused on any particular situation and information is processed in parallel by the human visual system. Pre-attentive perception requires its objects to possess a unique feature, such as color and size. For attentive perception, it uses short term memory and it is selective. Attentive tasks convert premature image effects into a well-structured objects. Attentive perception is generally slower and often signifies aggregates of what is in the scene. When designing visualization, the designers should take note of pros and cons of the human visual system and provide well-suited visuals to the viewers for easy analysis. Thus, in order to use the visual features effectively and not to produce visual interference effects masking information in a display, the visualization creators should be aware of the attentive tasks and the pre-attentive visual features like length, width, hue, intensity, lighting direction, and so on. Data Foundation The very primary step of visualization is the data to visualise. It is a must to explore and examine the characteristics of the data since it can be from many different kinds of sources and has a wide variety of attributes and features. Data Types Data can be differentiated into two main types: ordinal (numeric values) and nominal (non-numeric values). [2] To be specific, ordinal values mean: Binary values those with only 0s and 1s Discrete values integer values from a very particular division Continuous real values Nominal values are: Categorical values from list of possibilities Ranked categorical variables with significant ordering Arbitrary infinite range of values without significant ordering Scale is another useful technique of sorting data variables since each graphical attribute from raw data possesses scale associated with it. There are three attributes of scale: Ordering relation ranked nominal variables and ordinal variables which can be ordered in some manner Distance metric all ordinal variables where the distances of different records can be calculated Existence of absolute zero variables with fixed lowest value Data Pre-processing In reality, real world data that is to be analyzed can be incomplete, noisy, incoherent and cumulative. Those raw data need to be transformed somehow into an understandable format and the process of its transformation is known as data pre-processing. Data pre-processing can greatly improve the quality of data visualization results. There are some different aspects of data pre-processing: Metadata and statistical Missing values and data cleansing Normalization Segmentation Sampling and sub-setting Dimension reduction Mapping nominal dimensions to numbers Aggregation and summarization Smoothing and filtering Raster to vector conversion For more information about data pre-processing techniques refer to [2]. Visualization Techniques for Different Types of Data Visualization techniques will be differed for different types of data since they comprise special characteristics. Main types of data and useful visualization methods for them will be discussed in this section. Spatial Data Spatial attributes identify data in 1,2 or multi dimension. Visualizing spatial data is defined as mapping spatial data to spatial attributes on the screen. [2] Techniques of visualization of those data include histograms, linear probes, flow visualization, vector field visualization, slice plus isosurface, isosurface plus glyphs and so on. Geospatial Data Geospatial data or geographic information classifies geographic locations and boundaries in the real world. [8] They include coordinates and topology on earth. Examples of geospatial data consist of climate, environmental, economical and sociological and credit card payment locations. Visualization methods of such data can be completed using dot maps, pixel maps, network maps, choropleth maps and cartograms. [2] Multivariate Data Multivariate data is lists or tables of data that arises from more than one variable. It normally doesnt have an precise spatial attribute. [2] Multivariate data can be visualized by point based techniques like scatter-plots and force based methods, line based techniques like graphs, parallel coordinates, andrews curves and radial axis techniques, and region based techniques which are bar charts, histograms and tabular displays. Combination of above techniques are also applied sometimes. Trees, Graphs and Network Bertin declares that trees, graphs and network visualization demonstrates the relationships of each data recorded, similarities among values and attributes, parent and child nodes, connectedness such as networks between countries around the world, shared classification and derivation. [9] Space filling methods, non space filling methods, displaying arbitrary graphs and networks, and node link graphs are some of the methods for trees, graphs and networks visualization. maps, pixel maps, network maps, choropleth maps and cartograms. [2] Text and Documents By applying suitable visualization techniques, valuable information can be obtained from huge resources of information such as digital libraries, text files from your computer and billions of words in your thesis paper. Searching comparable patterns and outliers within the text or documents will be painful without visualization. Tag clouds, word trees, text arcs and arc diagrams can be used for visualizing single documents. Visualization practice for collections of documents are self organizing maps, themescapes and document cards. [2] Interaction Concepts Techniques John and his group clarify that interaction within data visualization is a helpful structure for transforming what the users see and how they perceive it. Interactions will transform visualization images to better and smooth transitions. Summary of interaction techniques are discussed as below. [10] Navigation It allows the users to adjust the cameras position and scale the vision. Examples include panning, rotating and zooming. Selection Selection refers categorizing an object or collections of objects. To be precise, it grants the user to control the regions of interest. Highlighting, deleting and modifying are types of selection. Filtering The size of data mapped on the screen is reduced by filtering techniques by reducing or omitting dataset, dimensions or both. Reconfiguring It is to change the way analyzed data is mapped to visualization graphical attributes like reordering data layouts in order to provide a diverse way of viewing data. Encoding Users are permitted to control graphical attributes such as point size, line colors to discover different features of visualization. Connecting Connecting means linking different views or objects. Abstracting and Elaborating It is to modify the level of detail. Hybrid Hybrid defines combining the above techniques together. Effective Visualization In fact, visualizations implemented by the designers have larger risks of being ineffective than being effective. It is not very simple to build effective visualizations where the users satisfy as there are many chances of data being distorted and lost during the mapping process, or data presented is too confusing and complex for the users to interpret, and so on. A successful and effective visualization efficiently and accurately transmits the preferred information to the viewers. Therefore, the designers should take in consideration of what the targeted users really want to observe from the results so that they will be able to visualize effectively. Intuitive Data Mappings Ed H. Chi explains that it is essential to consider the importance of data semantics and the context of the user. [11] To avoid any misinterpretation, the designers should be able to predict the users expectations. Choosing data-to-graphics mappings that provides the users mental model will significantly support in interpretation. The designer should take note of the compatibility between scale of data and graphic attributes on the screen. Besides, they should utilize humans abilities to correlate position on the screen medium with position in real world. Selecting and Adjusting Views It is obvious that one view is hardly satisfactory to express all the information enclosed in the dataset. Expecting the view modifications which are most useful to the users is one of the major factors of developing an effective visualization. Common view operations are as follows. [2] Scrolling and Zooming Operations This operation comes in handy when the dataset is too huge to be presented as one whole at the resolution that the viewer wants. Color Map Control It allows the user to make changes of individual attribute colors or entire palette. Mapping Control Mapping control helps the viewers to toggle among different ways of visualizing the same data and to discover the distinct features which might be hidden. Scale Control The user can focus on specific data subsets by applying scale control where they can modify the range and distribution of values. Information Density The designers decision, to verify how much information to display, plays an important role for an effective visualization and representation. Alexandru [12] points out that if there is too little information to present, it is the best to display the results as text. Conversely, if the data has too much information to present, it might cause confusion, lose essential information within the data, and face with obscurities in interpretation. In such cases, the user should be permitted to disable or enable different components of the presentation. Keys, Labels and Legends Most of the visualizations are ineffective because they lack useful and supported information to aid them. [2] Keys, labels and legends are therefore very helpful. Examples include captions, mappings used, grid marks, units of axes, key for symbols, color bar and etc. Using Color with Care Color can add significant visual appeal to a visualization but can also significantly decrease the effectiveness of the communication process. [2] Usage of color is context dependent and the characteristics of dataset itself can influence how the colors are noticeable. The designers should not forget there might be some color blind users as well. The Importance of Aesthetics Visuals, with both informative and pleasing to the eye, are known as the best representations. If the visualization is aesthetically pleasant, it attracts the viewers to analyze it in greater details. [2] Some useful guidelines for attractive visualization designs are as below. Focus The users attention should be drawn towards the most vital part of the visualization. Balance Balancing the screen space is another aspect to take note of designing pleasing visualizations. The most important components should be placed in the center. Simplicity Representing too much information will confuse the viewers. The designers should get rid of features which can be removed without losing information wanted to pass on since it is the best to be as simple as possible. Misleading Visualizations b c

The Life and Works of Langston Hughes Essay -- essays research papers

The Life and Works of Langston Hughes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å" In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone, I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan – Ain’t got nobody all in this world, Ain’t got nobody but ma self. I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’ and put ma troubles on the shelf.† The above excerpt is from Langston Hughes prize winning poem, â€Å"The Weary Blues.† Hughes, considered to be one of the world’s outstanding authors of the twentieth century (Ruley 148), is a prolific poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, autobiographer, and a writer a of children’s books (Andrews, Foster, Harris 368). David Nicholson says of Hughes, â€Å"He strove to reflect an American reality ignored or distorted by other American writers (504).† The magnificent poet dealt with many struggles in his life and was criticized by many critics for the poem, â€Å"The Weary Blues†, as well as his other works. The lyricist overcame this scrutiny and his struggles, to become a successful, talented writer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Langston Hughes, of French, Indian, and African decent, was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902 (Andrews, Foster, Harris 368). His parents, Carrie and James Langston, were not apart of Hughes’ childhood. Carrie Langston was a small town debutante; she left her son with his grandmother to go live in Kansas City to pursue an acting career (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). As for his father, James Langston, a mixed, cold, man who detested blacks, ran off to Mexico (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). Hughes loved his mother hopelessly and yearned to be with her (Rampersad 4) but his mother showed no interest to be with her son (Bloom, Bloom’s 12). On the contrary, he vigorously loathed his â€Å"runaway† father (Rampersad 4). Without parents, his maternal grandmother, Mary Langston, in Lawrence Kansas raised the writer of verse (Andrews, Foster, Harris 369). Mary’s first husband rode with John Brown on the attack of Harper’s Ferry in 185 9 (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). Her second husband recruited soldiers for the fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth Massachusetts regiment (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). Being married to two men who aided in ending slavery, Mary raised young Hughes on the stories of her family’s ancestors who fought to end slavery (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). From his grandmother he learned the need to struggle on behalf of the ideals of social justice and African American progress (Smith 367). The ab... ... evident. The lasting impact Langston Hughes had on society through the twenties to the sixties is still apparent today. Works Citied Page Andrews, Williams L. Ed.; Foster, Frances S. Ed.; Harris, Tardien. Ed. The Oxford Companion to African American Literature: New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Bloom, Harold. Ed. Bloom’s Major Poets Langston Hughes. PA, Broomall: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Bloom, Harold. Ed. Twentieth Century American Literature. Vloume 4. New York, New Haven, Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Hall, Sharon K. Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism Yearbook 1986. Volume 44. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1987. Marowski, Daniel G. Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume 35. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1985. Rampersad, Arnold. Ed. The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume 1: 1902-1941 I Too, Sing America. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1986. Ruley, Carolyn. Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume1. Detroit, Michigan: Gale   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Research Company, 1973. Smith, Valerie. Ed. African American Writers. Volume 1. New, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001. The Life and Works of Langston Hughes Essay -- essays research papers The Life and Works of Langston Hughes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å" In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone, I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan – Ain’t got nobody all in this world, Ain’t got nobody but ma self. I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’ and put ma troubles on the shelf.† The above excerpt is from Langston Hughes prize winning poem, â€Å"The Weary Blues.† Hughes, considered to be one of the world’s outstanding authors of the twentieth century (Ruley 148), is a prolific poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, autobiographer, and a writer a of children’s books (Andrews, Foster, Harris 368). David Nicholson says of Hughes, â€Å"He strove to reflect an American reality ignored or distorted by other American writers (504).† The magnificent poet dealt with many struggles in his life and was criticized by many critics for the poem, â€Å"The Weary Blues†, as well as his other works. The lyricist overcame this scrutiny and his struggles, to become a successful, talented writer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Langston Hughes, of French, Indian, and African decent, was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902 (Andrews, Foster, Harris 368). His parents, Carrie and James Langston, were not apart of Hughes’ childhood. Carrie Langston was a small town debutante; she left her son with his grandmother to go live in Kansas City to pursue an acting career (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). As for his father, James Langston, a mixed, cold, man who detested blacks, ran off to Mexico (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). Hughes loved his mother hopelessly and yearned to be with her (Rampersad 4) but his mother showed no interest to be with her son (Bloom, Bloom’s 12). On the contrary, he vigorously loathed his â€Å"runaway† father (Rampersad 4). Without parents, his maternal grandmother, Mary Langston, in Lawrence Kansas raised the writer of verse (Andrews, Foster, Harris 369). Mary’s first husband rode with John Brown on the attack of Harper’s Ferry in 185 9 (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). Her second husband recruited soldiers for the fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth Massachusetts regiment (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). Being married to two men who aided in ending slavery, Mary raised young Hughes on the stories of her family’s ancestors who fought to end slavery (Bloom, Bloom’s 11). From his grandmother he learned the need to struggle on behalf of the ideals of social justice and African American progress (Smith 367). The ab... ... evident. The lasting impact Langston Hughes had on society through the twenties to the sixties is still apparent today. Works Citied Page Andrews, Williams L. Ed.; Foster, Frances S. Ed.; Harris, Tardien. Ed. The Oxford Companion to African American Literature: New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Bloom, Harold. Ed. Bloom’s Major Poets Langston Hughes. PA, Broomall: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Bloom, Harold. Ed. Twentieth Century American Literature. Vloume 4. New York, New Haven, Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Hall, Sharon K. Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism Yearbook 1986. Volume 44. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1987. Marowski, Daniel G. Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume 35. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1985. Rampersad, Arnold. Ed. The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume 1: 1902-1941 I Too, Sing America. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1986. Ruley, Carolyn. Ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume1. Detroit, Michigan: Gale   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Research Company, 1973. Smith, Valerie. Ed. African American Writers. Volume 1. New, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001.

Leader case study on Steve Jobs Essay

Question 1 EXPLAIN HOW EACH OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS OF OUR DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP APPLIES TO STEVE JOBS LEADING APPLE? As defined by Mr. Achua; leadership is the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change. He defined effective leader to be someone who have the five elements of leadership as mentioned in the above figure. Mr. Steve Jobs has been a good example of being an effective leader for Apple. The five elements in his personality are discussed as follows; _INFLUENCE_ Influencing is the process of a leader communicating ideas, gaining acceptance of them, and motivating followers to support and implement the ideas through change. Mr. Jobs has been a perfect example for this element. He has influence not only his employees as well as his customers by bringing innovative products that his customers want. According to the case the people who left Apple says though Jobs hogs the credit but they’ve never done better work. This is how influenced his people from him. They were loyal and gave Mr. Jobs great respect. _ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES_ Effective leaders influence followers to think not only of their own interests but also of the interest of the organization through a shared vision. Mr. Jobs didn’t think about his own interests while working in Apple, the example of him hiring John Scuelly to bring professional management into power in place of himself is a prove, that he wanted his company to grow. It was his vision that made the companies he worked for a success. _CHANGE_ There is no doubt if it is said that change was the most important element that Mr. Steve had for being an effective leader. Apple has been a perfect example of change and it was only possible because of Mr. Jobs. Discussing the company’s â€Å"think different† advertising campaign, Isaacson writes, â€Å"They debated the grammatical issue: If ‘different’ was supposed to modify the verb ‘think,’ it should be an adverb, as in ‘think differently.’ But Jobs insisted that he wanted ‘different’ to be used as a noun, as in ‘think victory’ or ‘think beauty.’ † This shows that he always wanted to be different and unique. Bill Gates also said that Jobs did things differently and it’s magical. According to the case; Jobs wanted to bring about change, took innovative risk.[1: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/10/apple-after-steve-jobs.html] _PEOPLE_ Leadership is about leading people. As per the case Jobs had been a controversial figure in business. People who have worked for Jobs over the years have mixed reactions to his leading people. Some call him temperamental, aggressive, tough, intimidating, and very demanding. He has been known to verbally attack people who make mistakes and are not meeting goals and expectations. Yet, employees who perform up to expectation are well rewarded. Even many who feared him also had great respect for him as he did inspire loyalty, enthusiasm, and high levels of performance through continuous innovation. Even people who left Apple say it’s often brutal and Jobs hogs the credit, but they’ve never done better work. Hence they intend to follow him. _LEADER FOLLOWERS_ An effective leader needs to share his ideas and listen to others and implement their ideas to be effective. It is due to Mr. Jobs good training that Apple is still working well. When Mr. Job was sick back in 2004 and  2009, Mr. Tim Cook (present CEO of Apple) was given his position and through Mr. Jobs guidance he ran the company. He made his follower the next leader and trained him well for the job. According to the case while working with the design team, he used to take input from the followers into what is designed and how. Mr. Jobs always inspired loyalty, enthusiasm and high levels of performance through continuous innovation from his followers. QUESTION 2: IDENTIFY LEADERSHIP ROLES PLAYED BY JOBS AS CEO OF APPLE. WHICH ROLE WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT? Figure 1: Leadership Managerial Roles by Henry Mintzberg The traits of all managerial roles defined by Mintzberg can been seen in Mr. Jobs being the leader of Apple. But the most important role that he played was being an entrepreneur that comes under decisional role. Following are the roles that he played while leading Apple; _FIGURE HEAD_ Mr. Jobs performed the figurehead role for Apple when he used to represent the organization. He used to make announcement for the launch of products, interacted with the customers. Signing official documents, entertaining clients or customers as official representatives. He used to give live interviews. He also used to informally talk to people and attend outside meetings as an organizational representative. _LEADER_ Mr. Jobs played the leader role that is of performing the management functions to effectively operate the managers’ organization unit. According to the case he made decision for hiring professional management. He used to do coaching and give instructions to design department specifically. He used to confront people if the performance of employees falls but also used to  reward them if they performed well. _MONITOR_ Mr. Jobs performed the monitor role when he used to gather information for innovative products, to discover problems and opportunities, and to understand events outside the organizational unit. He was a perfectionist. He used to monitor everything very closely. According to the case he was obsessive CEO who wanted his product to be practically perfect in every way. He was the one who stop the launch of one of Apple right before the launch date to be sure it’s perfect. _DISSEMINATOR_ Steve also played a disseminator role when he used to work with the design team. When some information needed to be transferred to the employees. When Mr. Cook become active CEO in 2009, Steve used to make decisions and convey them to him to bring it into action. _SPOKESPERSON_ Mr. Steve was a great spokesperson for Apple. He used to interact with people outside organization through seminars, meetings and interviews. The reason why people know him really well is, he used to speak to the public on behalf of Apple. _ENTREPRENEUR_ Steve Jobs is one of the best entrepreneurs. Through self-assessment he realized that his strengths was in developing new products. He believed the future of Apple depends on the frequent product introduction and transition. His vision for Apple made him a great entrepreneur. Bill Gates also called him to be visionary with intuitive taste. He does thing differently and it was magical in the eye of Bill Gates. _DISTURBANCE HANDLER_ Steve performed the disturbance-handler role of leadership when he took corrective action when the company was about to get bankrupt. According to the case Jobs saved the company in a way that is not seen in the history of Silicon Valley. Hence it proves him being a disturbance handler. _RESOURCE ALLOCATOR_ Steve was also a resource allocator when he used to appoint people in teams and to work they were good at. He allocated Sculley to be the CEO is an e.g of resource allocator. _NEGOTIATOR_ He was a great negotiator. He used to make people convince about his ideas. People were so influenced by him that they said none of them has done better work than him. One of the reason was he was a good negotiator. QUESTION 3: WHICH LEVEL OF ANALYSIS IS THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THIS CASE? The primary focus of the case is to have an analysis of oneself i.e self-assessment. Discovering what a person is good at can make him reach high targets of life. As Steve Jobs did his self-assessment and did it right he knew he was good at making new and innovative products, so he focused all his attention in doing this job which made him succeed. Doing the job you enjoy and are good at is the key for career development and reaching the top of success ladder. He had a clear vision in his mind for himself and Apple which made him a great leader. So doing self-assessment and having a clear vision is the primary focus of this case. QUESTION 4: EXPLAIN HOW EACH OF THE LEADERSHIP THEORY CLASSIFICATION APPLIES TO THIS CASE, AND WHICH ONE IS THE MOST RELEVANT? A leadership theory is an explanation of some aspect of leadership; theories have practical value because they are used to better understand, predict, and control successful leadership. Leadership theory classifications include trait, behavioral, contingency, and integrative. Following is the explanation how all these apply to the case; _LEADERSHIP TRAIT_ theories attempt to explain distinctive characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness. Researchers analyzed physical and psychological traits, or qualities, such as high energy level, appearance, aggressiveness, self-reliance, persuasiveness, and dominance in an effort to identify a set of traits that all successful leaders possessed. According to the case Steve Jobs was also a person he was aggressive, very demanding, tough and intimidating. He always showed high level of energy. _BEHAVIORAL LEADERSHIP_ theories attempt to explain distinctive styles used by effective leaders, or to define the nature of their work.Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles are an example of behavioral leadership theory. This theory applies in the case by discussing different examples that showed Steve Jobs to be an effective leader. As discussed in the question # 2, Steve had showed almost all the managerial roles of being an effective leader when required. He had been an entrepreneur by introducing innovative products. He has been a spokesperson and a figure head for Apple. A resource allocator when he gave the CEO position to Sculley. A leader when he had to launch new products in a perfect way. A disturbance handler when he retrieve Apple back to the place that it deserved and so on. _CONTINGENCY LEADERSHIP_ theories attempt to explain the appropriate leadership style based on the leader, followers, and situation. In other words, which traits and/or behaviors will result in leadership success given the situational variables. Again Steve Jobs example has been used in this case to explain the contingency leadership. When he changed the culture back to entrepreneurial atmosphere. He was the man who had clear vision and  understood the requirement of time and worked accordingly. Another example that the case discuss is when he launch Pixar when working with NeXt. _INTEGRATIVE LEADERSHIP_ theories attempt to combine the trait, behavioral, and contingency theories to explain successful, influencing leader-follower relationships. Researchers try to explain why the followers of some leaders are willing to work so hard and make personal sacrifices to achieve the group and organizational objectives, or how effective leaders influence the behavior of their followers. In this case it is seen when people though were not given credit of work yet followed Steve and trust him blindly. He made his followers grow and they were loyal to him. After discussing all the theories, I believe that the most relevant theories to this case and Steve Jobs is _Integrative leadership_. The reason being that it contains all the rest of theories including leader – follower relationship that can be seen in Steve Jobs. The case mainly highlight _Trait and Behavioral leadership theories_ aspect in Steve Jobs personality however if he is studied in detail the Integrative leadership theories can be best applied to him. QUESTION 5: WHEN STEVE JOBS LEAVES APPLE AGAIN, WILL APPLE’S PERFORMANCE DETERIORATE AND GO BACK INTO A CRISIS OF NEAR BANKRUPTCY? WHY OR WHY NOT? As everyone knows that Steve Jobs expired in Oct 2011, it has been 2 years that Apple is performing under Mr. Tim Cook leadership. According to the present position of Apple in the world being the best company, it can be said that Apple performance has reminded the same. One of the reason could be Steve being a great leader trained his followers so well that it help the present management to sustain Apple position in market. Mr. Tim had been the CEO for Apple when Steve was sick and on leave. He made decision on behalf of Steve under Steve observation. So he has been trained to be the CEO and hence replaced Steve in a good way. However it won’t be wrong to say that the punch of innovation and bring new products in the market is missing be  the company has introduced improved versions of the products that Steve Jobs introduced. As people are so hooked up with Apple products it helps the company to sustain its position. But if the company doesn’t introduce something new soon its performance can be effected. As Apple is known for its innovation. The company recently launch Apple Map App but it was a failure. The perfection element that Steve products used to have was missing in it and Google maps were much better. But if we talk about financial performance then yes it has improved after Steve Jobs as well.

Embarrassing Moment

In society today students in general become lazier and procrastinate more than they have in the past. This laziness could cause the student to fail a course, and perhaps not graduate. However, if the appropriate time and effort is made toward anything and in particular studying, success has become a realistic goal. In my case, it all occurred on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009, it was suppose to be one of the happiest days of my life, but in fact, it turned out to be the sourest experiences I had to go through. Going back through the memories, I began the day as usual, waking up in the morning, having breakfast, and getting ready to go to school with all my friends to collect the results of the baccalaureate. I remember hearing the door bell, my friend Simon has just arrived to pick me up and give me a ride to school. I remember how excited we all were, singing, chanting, and exchanging ideas on how we were going to spend our summer vacation, not knowing what was going to happen next. When arriving to school there was a gathering in front of the principal’s office, the school administrative team was getting ready to post the results on the board in alphabetical order at noon. I could feel the vibe; everyone around me was happy, anxious, and exited for the event. Thirty minutes later, the principal walked right by us holding a stack of papers in his hand. At the moment the only thing that could catch my full attention was to see my grades. Trying to push my way through the front of the crowd, I recall seeing the facial expression my friend Karim had. He had passed and was jumping and celebrating in the middle of the crowd. Still not knowing my results, I already had gone through different emotions in a very short time. I was happy, exited and feeling a little bit dizzy; not until one of my school mates gave me a pitiful look, in which you know deep inside that something is wrong, I tried to convince myself that it is all in my head and that it wasn’t true. Finally, there I was standing in front of the list going through the names; I see my name and a â€Å"Failed† next to it. Refusing to believe the outcome, I blinked my eyes and read it again to make sure that It was me not somebody else. A big moment of silence followed, I couldn’t hear anything else except my heart beating at an unusual rapid pace. I became extremely nervous, I started sweating, my legs started shaking and I felt dizzier than before. I felt upset, unmotivated, shameful, sad, angry, and jealous. All what I could think about is how did I fail? And most importantly, how I am going to convey the news to my parents? What explanations and excuses l have to come up with? Is it typical teenager behavior? There could have been many things to blame for my failure, such as feeling of helplessness, lack of personal responsibility, inadequacy of my parents, TV, and video games and especially the influence of bad friends. I have the tendency of not letting go of things, which is why I simply accepted the facts and commenced immediately at drafting an action plan so that it never occurs again. As Professor Robert Sutton stated ((Stanford University)), â€Å"when failure happens, the most important thing is to have an after event review to provoke sufficiently deep thinking — whether you talk about successes or failures is less important† Learning from Success and Failure, Monday June 4, 2007. Although, I couldn’t help noticing people’s expression when telling them that I failed, I battled very hard, I always felt ashamed. I entered the house and requested a serious talk with my parents about the results. They got mad. I couldn’t stand watching the disappointment on my mother’s eyes as they watered. Although, they made sure to punish me for the entire summer; I made sure to appeal my case and expressed that I absolutely took note what I made them go through. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had all what I needed to succeed in my life; and wonderful supportive parents. That helps me in every step of my successful life. It is true, everything is a learning experience; regardless if it is good or bad. There is always something to be learned. But all learning’s are not equal. I have found that if someone is going to spend his or her time pondering the past, focus on the wins not the losses. In conclusion, I am confident that lessons learned from doing well; arms you with a better chance at continuing toward your path of success.

Nursing Career Essay Example

Nursing Career Essay Example Nursing Career Essay Nursing Career Essay My Nursing Career Paper Nursing will be my major. The reason why nursing will be my major is because I want to become a nurse. I want to help others in need. I love helping other people. Another reason why I want to become a nurse is because my mom taught me in to become a nurse by many reasons. My mom had a major stroke, she cant walk, talk, eat, see, she is bed ridden, it is hard but my dad and I take very good care of her. I always help out a lot. It is a lot of responsibility for the both of us. I gain a lot of experience from this because I help change her, I give her medicine to her, I help my dad shower her, I o a lot to help my dad out with my mom. As you can see I really do love helping others and I will continue to help others. Yes I did decide my major before I entered college. I knew I wanted to become a nurse when this all happened to my mom in august 26, 2009. Yes It was hard for us when we found out from the doctors that she will never be her self again. Thats when I knew I wanted to become a registered nurse. Yes nursing will be hard but you Just have to follow your dreams and never give up. Yes I am satisfied with my course of study. It is very interesting to be because I love doing the things I do for people. I always help them out when they need money, or if they were sick, I would go take care of them. What was my was joyful because I always knew I loved helping people in so many ways. I would always inspire them. I would never let anyone down I would do the best I can do to help someone out and my family knows that. My friends reaction to me telling them I wanted to become a nurse was very shocking to them because they thought I would never help others. They thought I always hated everyone because I was quiet and because I was shy. Even if I hated someone or dislike someone I would still help them in every kind of way I can. After I told my friends what happened to my mom they were shocked for me. But one day they came up to me saying Jill, I never knew you cared for others so much by helping other people who need the help. Right away they said I am proud of the person you are. They never thought I would want to become a nurse. Did I put a lot of thought into nursing as to becoming my major? Yes I did because I knew a lot of hospitals need nurses. Nursing is very helpful to others because it shows you want to help others. It is a very good to know what you want to become in life. After everything happened to my mom I knew what I wanted to become. After everything with my mom it change life completely. It change my life completely because I knew I wanted to help my mom become a nurse because I saw the way my mom was. I am always helping my dad at things that never thought I was ever going to do but now after everything happened with my mom I know what I want to be. I want to become a registered nurse. There are many types of courses I need for nursing as my major. These courses re basic nutrition chemistry, psychology, human anatomy (structure of the body), physiology (how the body functions), human development, microbiology (germs), nursing science, pharmacology (drugs and medicines) and communication. The amount of time you need to study is about four to six hours of studying on week days and weekends. The more time you study the better you will review the material. It is very important to study and get very good grades. The courses I will be taking for nursing are going to be very useful in the future because you learned everything you need to know about becoming a nurse. You will need to know all the material to become a nurse. The level of difficulty of nursing is very difficult. There is a lot of studying involved. You have to be on task 2417 you cant let nothing get in the way. You have to take it seriously because it is very important because if your not paying attention you can hurt someone. Its difficult because there are a lot of courses you need for nursing. You need to take it seriously or your not going to succeed in to becoming a nurse. There are many and negative, effects of nursing. The positive effects are benefits, helping people who Anton do for themselves, you teach people how to do things for themselves, gives you confidence for dealing with situations. There are many negative effects of a nurse. There are many people who have long hours, exposed to many diseases, low staffing equals more responsibility equals a lot of high stress. College can help me with my nursing study by getting me in the program for nursing and to get my degree in it. No, nursing does not need a degree further than a bachelors degree. You can have your associates, and masters degree in nursing. There are many types of Jobs that are available for nursing. You can work at a hospital, nursing home, become a home health aid anything that is in your field. Are about five, careers that are in my major. No there are not other areas of work directly to nursing. The yearly salary for nursing is $64,690. Does nursing career require traveling? It depends on where you live at. But in New York, it does not require you to travel. Nursing will always be my major. I will always help people in need. It is my Job to help others and to never let them down. It is my Job to make sure they are well cared for while they are in the hospital.