Exhibitions of Kiki Smith in Brooklyn Museum Essay

Exhibitions of Kiki Smith in Brooklyn Museum - Essay Example During the exhibition, Smith displayed her artworks such as the Walking Puppet. She further displayed the Installation image of major Henry Trippe House Chamber Room during the 2010 exhibition. In 2005, Smith was elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York. Smith currently lives in New York and the Pace Gallery has represented her since 1994. She has been exhibiting annually since 1982 at Fawbush Gallery in New York. In 1990, she received acclamation for her exhibition at Museum of Modern Art, New York. She exploited the use of ceramic, fabric, paper, and glass for her work. Her work reflected the physiological and psychological body power. Smith’s first full-sized sculptures were stoic figures. The sculptures showed naked male and female couple. They exhibited leaking body fluids from both the figures. The figures also show human power and powerlessness through the presence of a blood pool. The sculptures present issues regarding sexuality and gender. Smith ha s produced many accolades. Her recent accolades include Theo Western Berger Women of Excellence Award in 2010, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award and Purchase School of Arts in 2010. She recently did work on U.S State Department Medal of Arts that was given by Hillary Clinton in 2012. In the year 2009, she finished her 50th Edward MacDowell Medal and Women in the Arts Award. Smith has several exhibitions. Her work has featured in the PACE gallery exhibition frequently. One such exhibition where her work featured was the FOG Design + Art Fair in 2015 in San Francisco. The exhibition explored spiritual aspect her work. Smith has a great relationship with Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum has an important cultural institution in U.S. The Museum has a vast collection of Smith’s artistic work. Such work involves After Lewis Carroll of 2003, Lebbeus Woods of 2004, Logan Elm Press, and Universal Limited Arts Editions, Inc. among others.

Factors related to strategic management and leadership that make the Essay

Factors related to strategic management and leadership that make the company highly successful - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that business strategy is an extremely important and perhaps one of the most frequently used buzzwords in the contemporary business literature. Business firms are finding their ‘strategies’ as pathways to success because the strategy of an organization necessarily incorporates planning, people, processes, patterns, procedures, and perspectives. Strategy within an organization is a specific pattern of decisions that defines and determines the objectives of the firm to provide certain structures related to achieving the goals Managing human, as well as non-human resources and utilizing the organizational capabilities effectively, are at the very heart of formulating and implementing the business strategy. Deckers Outdoor Corporation designs manufacture and markets stylistic, innovative and high-quality footwear for men, women, and children with causal and outdoor wearing. The company was founded in 1973 by a student of California University to produce sandals for beachgoers and surfers. The company markets its footwear products and accessories such as handbags and outerwear under three brands, namely UGG, Teva and Sanuk primarily through U.S retailers and international distributors. The company also markets its products directly to end-users both in a home and abroad through its website. Deckers Outdoor gives more importance to finding and building niche brands into global lifestyle leaders through its innovative design and brand differentiation. Its brands are designed with a view to meet specific needs of different groups, activities, jobs, and people around the world. What makes the company and its brands different is that it never caters ordinary outwears. Apart from the three major brands- UGG, Teva and Sanuk, it markets TSUBO, Ahnu, MOZO, Hoka etc. TSUBO is designed for providing a line of casual footwear and Ahnu for outdoor performance and lifestyle footwear. MOZO is developed with a view to providi ng a line of footwear that combines running shoe technology with work shoe toughness for people who spend long hours working on their

Idea Initiation In A Young Company

Idea Initiation In A Young Company Making the business plan has been a great hands on experience to learning about small business development. We were not only required to study theories on how a business is created but actually do it ourselves. For me it has been a great learning experience as I had to make a decision to think like an entrepreneur and develop the qualities an entrepreneur has and incorporate the qualities of creativity, drive and a willingness to take risk. The aim of the below report is to summarize my contribution to this project as well as the key areas of idea initiation, teamwork, presentation experience, alternative scenarios and learning gained as well as other areas covered in the development of the business plan. Teamwork All three team members contributed to make this project successful and worked together to create an efficient team. Idea Initiation After several sessions of brainstorming the group decided on a Business and technology magazine under the guidance of Mrs Priti Punatar through the process of identifying opportunity by means of problem solving. Presentation Experience A learning experience about time management, public presentation and the importance of thoroughly understanding the business venture an individual wants to undertake as well as understanding the involvement of investors in the entrepreneurial process. Alternative Scenario Consideration of both best and worst case scenarios allows BT to prudently predict steady growth rate. Team Work A new venture team is defined as the group of founders, key employees and advisors that moves a new venture from an idea to a fully functioning firm and so with our team it was the case of bringing together people with different abilities and strengths to create a strong unified force to achieve the objective of making a successful business plan. Each individual brought their own individual set of skills and played a different role in the planning and execution of the business plan. Our team was formed keeping in mind the strengths of its members and tasks were delegated accordingly. Priyanka who is good with numbers did the financial plan as well as the marketing plan, Krupa who has the strongest organizational skills dealt with the organizational structure and risk analysis and I was delegated the task of Industry analysis due to my research skills as well as the operational plan. Initially our team consisted of four members; Priyanka, Krupa, myself and Joyce Issowe who later dropped out due to medical complications. Working efficiently in a team is a key success factor for anyone who wants to be a successful entrepreneur as he/she will be required to meet with and bring together a venture team to work with. We were very lucky in that, although our team involved the coming together of three highly opinionated individuals all were willing to listen and respect the others opinions which allowed us to come up with the best viable solutions in a dignified manner. In my opinion, each individual within the team worked efficiently to ensure the success of the team. The executive summary, the business and appendices were completed with hard work from all the three team members equally. All In all, every team member put in the required effort, all meetings were attended in time and all our planned goals were reached Process of Idea Initiation In this most fundamental process our first and basic concern was to come up with a firm that would be entrepreneurial in nature as opposed to being salary substitute or lifestyle oriented. The business had to be feasible, innovative and we needed to have both the passion and knowledge required for it. Initially through the process of brainstorming our group had a number of business concepts to go with. Joyce had suggested a dairy farm, Krupa suggested a school for performance arts, Priyanka suggested an engineering consultancy and my own suggestion was a web based real estate firm. By the process of elimination using our checklist we realized that a dairy farm wasnt innovative enough, we didnt have the expertise required for an engineering consultancy and the market wasnt ready yet for a web based real estate venture or a school for performing arts. As the foundation of any successful business lies in recognizing opportunity, we decided to speak with a few people, in our social network, involved in different industries whilst researching the trends in various fields and industries. Finally under the supervision of Mrs. Punatar, we decided to work on a business and technology magazine that would be the first of its kind to be produced in Tanzania. Due to the growth in the economy and changing social factors such as more graduates entering the labour market and increasing diversity the need for information had arisen and there was a lack of a locally produced business magazine. We realized the window of opportunity was wide open and circumstances were just right. Therefore our business concept came about; A business and technology magazine for Tanzanians, by Tanzanians. Through this process I learnt that opportunity needs to be defined, timely, attractive and of value to the end user. I learnt also to identify opportunity through observing trends, finding a gap in the marketplace and solving a problem. Apart from this I saw how economic and social factors account for the creation of opportunities and how different characteristics such as prior experience, creativity and social networks help entrepreneurs and finally I learnt to apply the 5 steps of generating creative ideas as well as the different techniques involved such as brainstorming and surveys. Presentation Experience Important factors considered by investors in their decision making process include determining that the company has focus, specific solutions for the needs of the market, that customers are willing to buy the product and that the dynamics of the company are strong. They need to know that the company is run by smart people who can control expenses and make a profit. If expected to invest, they in turn need to trust the management team running the business in terms of their experience, maturity, reputation as well as a track record of success and personal interaction therefore is a must. Also investors cannot be expected to have the time to sit down and go through lengthy documents, they want to get instant answers for any concerns or queries. The process of crafting the slides to be presented, and ensuring the presentation would cover all essential areas whilst summarizing the entire business concept, was a challenging one that taught me about time management, extraction of essential information from available data and the involvement of visuals to convey essential points. All three members of the group presented the plan in parts with me introducing the business, the problem we aimed to solve and our business model. Krupa then took over and covered management team, industry analysis and competition leaving Priyanka to finish the financial overview including; share offering, payback, profitability, break even analysis and current status and projected use of funds ending with exit strategy for investors. Crucial lessons were learnt during this presentation about capturing and retaining the interest and attention of our potential investors, maintaining the set time limit as well as the importance of confidence and a deep understanding of the business venture. Alternative Scenario The success of any business is dependent on external as well as internal conditions. Internal factors are easier to control and predict relative to the external factors. With regards to external conditions, there is always some degree of uncertainty. In order to be prudent all figures taken within the business plan have reflected a pessimistic view of the worst case scenario. In order to achieve this and to reflect alternative scenarios that may arise due to unpredictable factors the revenue included in the business plan is less than that actually expected by investors. Due to the unpredictability of Macro-environmental factors the number of subscriptions has been kept at minimum and the advertising revenue included is less than what the firm will target to achieve. Another relevant point concerns the break even analysis. To keep alternative scenarios in mind, both best and worst case of total revenue have been considered whilst the figure taken for cost has been kept at maximum in line with the accounting principle of prudence. This allows investors to be comfortable to know that the minimum success will be as presented in the business plan with an additional potential for greater growth. Business partnerships have also been taken into account in order reflect alternate means to achieve a target. This can be seen as in the outsourcing of printing to keep costs low as well as the establishment of a network of free lance contributors. Figures for costs and budget in the analysis of the financial statements have also been calculated after the consideration of the alternative growth scenarios and B%T therefore is expected to have steady growth as a worst case scenario where the best case reflects a quicker point of break even and higher profitability. Learning and Usefulness of the Business Plan The experience of coming up with a business plan opened up my eyes on the many aspects that are necessary to be considered whilst starting up a business. Extensive research is required together with knowledge of the industry. I have realized that an entrepreneur must have a clear vision on how exactly his company will work and perform. Before making a business plan myself I had no idea of how important it is. This document includes all research and analysis showing feasibility of a new venture and how all the different resources needed may be brought together synergetically. In developing a business plan it becomes necessary to look at every single aspect of the business and it therefore provides a clear picture of whether a new venture is likely to succeed or fail. The business plan analyses the potential of turning an idea into a source of revenue and in so doing answers the question of viability, industry attractiveness and growth, size and buying power of target market, attractiveness and uniqueness of the business model, availability of skilled labour, completion, ROI, legality and critical risks. It can be stated therefore that it is a critical document providing answers to investors for them to make an informed decision on whether or not to turn a particular idea into a business venture. This process has taught me a lot. I learnt to apply Porters 5 forces model in considering substitutes, new entrants, existing rivalry, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers as this was necessary in order to determine the attractiveness and profitability of the industry and position our firm where we could make maximum profit. In carrying out competitor analysis I understood the type of competitors BT would face and was therefore able to develop strategies to allow the firm to compete successfully for example, establishment of BTs brand before the emergence of future competitors. Through the next step of developing a business model we had to apply what we learnt in class to create an effective model for BT as was the case with applying knowledge on financial analysis and the value of pro forma statements, forecasts and budgets to determining success of the new venture. I also learnt how to develop a successful marketing mix through looking at the issue of core product versus actual product. All in all this process has shown me that a business plan is the most important tool needed in the entrepreneurial process as is incorporates within it everything any stakeholder would need to know about the viability of the idea and its conversion to a business venture.

Theme of Change in The Crucible, Sky High, Titanic, and The Colour Purp

The global social systems throughout history and today are a constant movement of change seen in emotional, mental and physical patterns. Changes alter perception and perception can manipulate things to change. â€Å"The Crucible† by Arthur Miller, â€Å"Sky High† by Hannah Roberts, â€Å"Titanic† directed by James Cameron and â€Å"The Colour Purple† by Alice Walker, convey the concept of change in an inevitable occurrence or voluntary decisions throughout all aspects of life. Throughout the four texts, various techniques are used to portray these messages, for instance, anecdote, juxtaposition, music, and film techniques. Miller incorporates the character Reverend John Hale in â€Å"The Crucible† as representation of the whole changing town of Salem. Hale is a paradoxical figure that discovers the absence of evil in the people due to the injustices of court decisions. When Rev. Hale first arrives in Salem in Act one, he is very objective about the whole situation of witchery. He questions Tituba and Abigail about all the events that occurred in the forest such as the girls' dancing, and he believes â€Å"witchery† was involved. The Salem witchcraft trials began as a result. Hale's personal feelings tell him that Abigail and her friends are innocent, but his Puritan background prevents him from questioning the authority of the court. However in Act Three, Hale realizes that John Proctor, the accused, is an honest man when he would willingly ruin his own reputation in the hopes of exposing Abigail as a â€Å"whore†, and denounces the proceedings and left. Ironically, Rev. Hale retur ns to Salem to encourage the accused to lie in order to save their lives. This demonstrates that Hale's beliefs changed dramatically as a result of the injustices of the court. He be... ...e right,† but she says it’s all she has. Eventually, Celie stops thinking of God as she stops thinking of the other men in her life and tells God off, writing, â€Å"You must be sleep.† But after Celie has chased her patriarchal God away and come up with a new concept of God, she writes in her last letter, â€Å"Dear God. Dear stars, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God.† This re-imagining of God on her own terms symbolizes Celie’s move from an object of someone else’s care to an independent woman. Walker emphasizes here that the ability to express one’s thoughts and feelings is crucial to developing a sense of self. Individuals and groups are influenced by change that is cataclysmic, whether it would be inevitable or voluntary. As discussed above, change can be seen as acceptance. Once one accepts this change it is adopted but one must live to fulfill it.

Women in Hamlet

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the roles of women are dependent on men. There are only two women in the play who have a direct relationship with Hamlet. Ophelia, who looked up greatly towards Polonius, Laertes who has a great influence on her life as well as Hamlet. The other female role is Gertrude, Hamlets mother always trying to impress the men in her life not only her son but previous marriages. As these women are the most important female characters in the play it is first shown through Ophelia. Ophelia is not independent as she has to rely on men such as her father, brother and boyfriend.First, she is greatly obedient for her father willingly to do what he requests her to do without hesitation. Polonius gives her advice to take in a strong manner to break it off with Hamlet knowing she must listen. She responds with respect â€Å"I shall obey, my lord† (I. iii. 136). She tells him that she will do as he asks obeying his commands, because he is the only one she may go t o until she gets married. Not able to make decisions for herself either way for the fact if she married Hamlet he would be making them for her.Also, Hamlet was the man she considered spending her life with and was willing to do what he would ask of her trying to win his affection. Although, after listening to her father, by agreeing to stop seeing Hamlet, he over reacts on her with anger, mocking in which her reputation is ruined and how she will never find a man. She does not defend herself after these comments knowing you cannot battle against a male, yet later cries to wish he did not react that way â€Å"Oh, woe is me / T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!† (III. i. 160-1).Requiring the desire to please all men, this makes her feel terrible although she did satisfy her father. Another influence she significantly admires and respects is her brother Laertes. Before his leave, he gave her great advice in which she took account of since her brother was like a role m odel, promising, â€Å"I shall the effect of this good lesson keep / As watchman to my heart. †(I. iii. 45-6). Wanting to make him feel proud and show prove how she is capable of taking care of herself.Later, with the loss of her father and absence of her brother, as well as being apart from the man she loves, is one of the reasons to why her life ends early. She drowns as explained, that her garment pulled her down. Moreover, it is as if she had no one around to motivate her to fight to live, since none of the men are around to regulate her to do so. Furthermore, Ophelia a young woman is obligated to abide by the rules of men as well as the Queen of Denmark also who relies on their comfort.Gertrude’s oblivious personality makes her dependent on the men in her life shadowing not only King Claudius but King Hamlet and her son Hamlet as well. The love for her son ends her life in tragedy by drinking from the chalice of poison that King Claudius prepares for Hamlet. Altho ugh, she knows not to drink the chalice as the King warns her not to, nevertheless, does it anyways symbolize as a sacrificing mother. Before her death the last she says, â€Å"No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet! / The drink, the drink! I am poisin’d† (V.ii. 303-4).This depicts what happens if women are disobedient as she was to her husband which led to her death and also portraying how saving Hamlets life was what she had to do being selfless and caring. In addition, Gertrudes need for attention is seen after her quick marriage following the death of King Hamlet. Losing the feeling of importance, where she needs, and rapidly gets over her husband’s death moving on explaining to hamlet, â€Å"Do not for ever with thy vailed lids / Seek for thy noble father in the dust† (I. ii. 70-1).Revealing how her values of affection are far greater than her moral righteousness and respect of herself not considering others approach on situations. Marrying K ing Claudius, she is highly dependent on him, who is able to persuade her in fictitious ideas others might not allow themselves to believe yet Gertrude constantly does. Such as after, he hears of the death of Polonius, tries to make it sound like he is helping Hamlet with his best interests when in reality he plans to kill him.As he assures the Queen, â€Å"It had been so with us, had we been there / His liberty is full of threats to all† (IV.i. 13-4), the king attempt to secure his own safety first sending Hamlet off somewhere far by seeming like it is for a greater intrest. Gertrude is oblivious to her surroundings which present it easier for the King to manipulate in addition for her disregard for her own place and her ultimate confusion. Gertrude is a strong character by her title as being the Queen, nevertheless forced to obey and concur with reinstated ideas by the King, losing attention from King Hamlet and sacrificing herself for Hamlet.The woman of Shakespeareâ€℠¢s play Hamlet needs guidance in order to achieve fulfillment. Ophelia, seen loyal and obedient to her father Polonius, brother Laertes and listening to other males such as Hamlet recognized throughout the play, displays her devotion to make them pleased. Finally, Gertrude has a high power considering all the women and even men, still fights the struggle between impressing men in order to achieve satisfaction. They both play the passive roles in the play; this shows that all women were not measured as equals.

Cooking: Water and Chicken Essay

Cooking has been my specialty since I was a child. This is one of my strongest talents. I can cook a variety of recipes from my local Ethiopian cuisines to the modern American recipes. Some of the foods I can boast off are â€Å"injera†, a local food of Ethiopians and spicy chicken sandwich but today I want to prepare chicken breast ready to be fried or baked. This is called simmering. Simmering is cooking the chicken with chicken broth or water. This makes the chicken tender and soft, ready to be fried. Firstly, rinse each chicken breast. If the breasts are frozen, allow them to fully defrost before boiling. The chicken breast can also be defrosted in the microwave, in the refrigerator, or by soaking it in a bowl of cold water. After defrosting the chicken is soaked in salt water it take the slimly taste out of it. Most Africans do this before cooking any poultry and dairy products After defrosting; fill a pot with water or chicken broth. The broth will be a better choice since it has a lot of flavoring. Place the chicken breasts in the pot, making sure that each piece is fully submerged under water or broth. Add more water or broth if necessary. Do not add more water or broth if not needed or this tends to make the chicken softer and even watery in extreme cases. If you want this to cook faster, cut the breasts into halves or in quarters. This is also a good way to ensure that the inside of the breast thoroughly cooks. Thirdly, place the pot on the stove. Bring water or broth with chicken to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. The temperature must be right; this it must be too hot or lower. Cover the pot and allow the chicken to cook until the insides are no longer pink. Cook time will vary depending on the size and type of breast. Chicken breast can be skinless or boneless, either way; they should be cook for about thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, remove pot from the source of heat carefully to avoid getting burn. Drain liquid from the pot, and transfer breasts to a plate. Chicken should be white in color and be easily pulled apart with hands or a fork. At this point they are ready to be fried; baked or even eaten. Chicken that is boiled in only water can be very bland tasting. Adding vegetables and/or broth to the pot, and season your chicken with various cooking sauces and spices will give it some nice, warm taste. This is the most perfect time for to fry the chicken. Deep frying is my preferred choice but other methods include pan-frying or even baking. Either ways the chicken is well-prepared and ready to be eaten. The fryer should be a deep fryer so the chicken can be completely submerged in the fryer. Flour is used to coat the skin of the chicken; this gives the chicken its crispy coating and a fine layer of skin. Vegetable oil or olive oil is the best choice for frying. After the fryer is heated to the right temperature, the chicken is gently lowered into the pot to prevent the oil splashing around and causing burns. It takes of 30 minutes and above to get the chicken fully and wholly fried; during this time a watchful eye must be kept on it so it doesn’t burn. After this, they are ready to be served. They can be eaten with almost anything from stir-fries, fajitas to salads.

The theory behind Reaganomics essays

The theory behind Reaganomics essays The theory behind Reaganomics was sound, but when applied in real life its consequences are still present more than ten years after the fact. The tax cuts applied early in Reagan's first term cemented the ideology for what the next eight years of his reign would uphold. The Economic Recovery Tax Act would cut taxes roughly twenty five percent over a three-year period. The ideology of Reagan's administration quickly received supporters of what he was doing. Entailed in these tax cuts were reductions in welfare programs which was also a popular idea amongst Reaganites. But what is puzzling is that David Stockman held a large portion of the truth of these tax cuts from Reagan and the public. What would occur with the ERTA was a substantial deficit. This deficit was not the intent of Reagan. Reagan's intent was that the tax cuts would allow the public to have more money. This additional money which would have otherwise been spent on taxes was supposed to be put back in the economy by the people. The ability of people to now spend more on homes, cars and other goods would boost the prosperity of the economy. But Stockman had a theory of his own. He saw that this deficit would force Congress to make cuts of its own on social programs. Stockman with held this information from the public and from Reagan so that when Congress would reallocate funding, it would avoid giving it to social programs. Stockman's theory does not make sense with the political views of the time. If Reagan and the public were in favor of cutbacks on the welfare system, why would Stockman with hold this information from a population who was in favor of the result? Stockman was an intelligent man who for some time worked in the House of Representatives and had connections to many people in Washington. He served as the budget director for the Reagan Administration. As budget director, his intentions were to acquire a balanced budget by the next t...

Essay on Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software DevelopmentEssay Writing Service

Essay on Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software DevelopmentEssay Writing Service Essay on Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software Development Essay on Optimization of Human Resource Allocation in Software DevelopmentIn actuality, outsourcing grows more and more popular in the contemporary business environment, including software development. Outsourcing becomes popular because it allows saving costs and using services of companies or professionals, who have the extensive experience in the target industry, for example, software development. Researchers (Fairley, 2011) argue that outsourcing can provide ready-made solutions fast because the company can use services or products that have already been developed by the company providing outsourcing services or products. Furthermore, outsourcing increases the reliability of outsourced services or products, which are thoroughly tested or already used in other companies successfully. Therefore, outsourcing is the best solution in a short-run perspective that means that if the company needs to enhance its software development fast, then it should better prefer outsourcing.On the ot her hand, leveling practices and detailed assessment of employees’ skills and abilities is time consuming and may be costly. The assessment of employee skills and abilities requires time to determine the level of professional level of development of each employee. On the ground of the information collected in the course of the assessment of each employee skills and abilities, the company can start implementing the leveling practices (Futrell, Shafer, Shafer, 2002). At the same time, there is a risk that leveling practices can fail to bring positive effects for the company, if the professional level of employees is low and they cannot enhance the organizational performance and develop software of the high quality. Therefore, leveling practices may need the further training of employees of the company to enhance its software development. The extra training is time and cost consuming.On the other hand, practices leveling are more profitable compared to outsourcing in a long-run perspective because the enhancement of the company’s human resources and software development makes the company independent of external suppliers (Schiel, 2009). Moreover, software development within the company increases the safety of the software and data processing within the company that is particularly important today (Martin, 2009). Therefore, practices leveling is costly but long-run effects are more beneficial compared to outsourcing, but the high costs of practices leveling makes it unworthy implemented, if the company needs to enhance its software development fast.Discussion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The analysis of existing literature and advantages and drawbacks of the two solutions concerning the software development reveals the fact that the choice of either option depends on specific needs of the company. If the company needs to enhance its performance fast and introduce the software development fast too, then the company should introduce out sourcing because this solution will bring positive effects fast. In such a way, the company can save time and costs and enhance its software development fast.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Alternatively, the company should choose practices leveling and the assessment of employee skills and abilities to enhance further its software development practices leveling, if the company has costs and time to spend on the improvement of employees’ performance. In the long-run perspective, this solution is more efficient compared to outsourcing because it makes the company more independent of external suppliers of software development. At this point, the company can choose practices leveling, if the company has well-qualified professionals, who can boost its software development fast or if the company is ready to invest substantial funds into the professional development of its employees with further investments in research and development to enhance its software developmen t by means of internal resources of the company. Such internal resource allocation can bring considerable benefits because all investments remain within the company.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the same time, outsourcing is disadvantageous for companies, who have already allocated substantial resources to their software development because, in such a case, the company will not only become dependent on external suppliers but also will have to cut jobs. Therefore, the company will need to conduct restructuring after the job cuts caused by outsourcing. In such a situation, other employees of the company can feel uncertain in their future in the company because job cuts, once started, may wreak panic among employees. Hence, there is a high risk of the deterioration of employees’ performance.Conclusion and recommendations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, the software development should rely rather on practices leveling than on outsourcing. Outso urcing is more efficient in a short-run perspective and can help to boost the software development fast. However, practices leveling help the company to enhance on software development in a long-run perspective,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hence, it is possible to recommend the company to focus on practices leveling to lay the foundation to the efficient software development in a long-run perspective. In such a way, the company can allocate its resources efficiently and invest into the company’s development.

Challenges For The Contemporary Business Organizations - Samples

The present business scenario offers huge opportunities as well as various challenges for the contemporary business organizations. One of the key opportunities that are being present to the business organizations is the internet and online marketing facility (Eid & EI-Gohary, 2013). In the recent time, internet boom helps in changing the existing business scenario to the whole. More organizations are gearing up to increase their presence in the online market. In addition, numerous organizations originated which operates only based on internet. Thus, organizations having the opportunity to tap the internet facility will have huge potential in the future. Medicare is one such start up which will be primarily internet based and will provide online medical care service to their customers. In the current scenario, people have less time to go for any doctor appointment, compare the charges of various hospitals and doctor fees. Thus, Medicare will provide an online portal where people can c ompare the rates in various hospitals; can take online appointments for their chosen doctors (Solano-Lorente, Martinez-Caro & Cegarra-Navarro, 2013). In addition, they can give reviews regarding the service being provided by the hospitals and the doctors. These reviews will further help other people in having the prior idea about the hospital or doctor they are choosing. Medicare aims at changing the existing scenario of providing health care to the patients by offering a holistic approach to the health care under one roof. In the initial stage, the organization will operate in the Australian regions. Sydney will be chosen for the initial pilot project. Necessary feedback gathered from the customers during the pilot project will help to modify it according the market requirement and will expand it in other Australian regions afterwards (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). The healthcare industry in Australia is quite potential and emerging with increasing average spending in the healthcare. Medicare will implement a holistic approach in determining their strategies to gain more market foothold. The strategy will be the market penetration strategy. It will help to increase the market share by implementing extensive marketing activities and customer engagement schemes. The vision of the organization will be to be the leading company in providing online healthcare in the global market. Start ups naturally do not comprise of complex hierarchical structures. Thus, Medicare will implement flat and horizontal organizational structure. It will help to reduce the gap between the higher management and the employees. Further, the communication process in the internal organization will be enhanced between the higher and lower levels (Ashkenas et al., 2015). In the initial stage, the organizational structure will be divided in four main departments. One department will be responsible for the marketing and sales. They will look after the acquisitions of the client and marketing the services in the market. The second department will be responsible for financial aspect. They will look after the allocation of the financial resources in the organization and maintaining effective financial norms. The third department will look after the management of the human resources to maintain and enhance the performance of the employees (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). The fourth department wil l be responsible for the software development. This department will look after the managing the portal effectively. The technological part will be looked after by them. These four departments will be headed by the separate department heads with all having independent decision making capability. Medicare will obviously face the external and internal environment forces that will have implications in their operations. PEST analysis will help to determine the various factors that will affect their performance. The first factor is political which refers to the government policies and stability in the region of operations (Galvaan, 2012). Political stability in Australia is favorable with having various government incentives to promote start ups. It will ease the process of gaining initial capital for operating. The next aspect is economical which refers to the condition of the economy in the particular region. Australia is a developed country and is having positive per capita expenses for health care which will help to increase the market share more rapidly. Being an industrially developed country, people will have more access to the internet and will have less personal time. Thus, it is an opportunity for Medicare to have extensive market penetration whose unique proposition is providing convenience (Barreto, 2012). The next aspect in the PEST analysis is social which refers to the social culture and structure in the society. Majority of the population in Australia is having access to mobile internet and most of them are comfortable in surfing and handling apps (Shiau & Luo, 2012). Thus, it will not be a difficult task for Medicare to market their services. Technology is the last aspect which refers to the advancement of technologies in the industry. Medicare is fully based on internet and technology. Thus, they have to be technologically advanced at all stages to stay ahead in the competition. The more advance and updated technologies they will use will help them in providing more convenience to their customers. Internal environment refers to the working environment of the employees (Korzynski, 2013). One of the key internal forces is the skill sets of the employees. The more diversified and updated skill set will be with the employees, the more will be their competitive advantage. Innovation i s another important criterion that will determine the effectiveness of the organization. The sector where Medicare is operating is fully innovation based. Thus, periodic innovation will help to stay ahead in the competition. According to the Robson risk management model, the first step is to perceiving the risk that can be associated with the organization. In the case of Medicare, the perceived risks can be the strategic risk. Strategic risk refers to the uncertainties regarding the change in the market perception (Frigo & Anderson, 2012). The preference pattern of the customer may change which will make the particular service irrelevant. On the other hand, the more superior service being introduced by the competitors may make the service provided by Medicare obsolete. Other perceived risk may be the financial risk that is quite common for any business organization. Operational risk may also be relevant in the management of Medicare. The next process is the assessment of the risk with having evaluated the level of impact in the organization (Covello & Merkhoher, 2013). Medicare will have contingency plans to reduce the impact of the risk in the business. Internal environment will be effectively managed i n order to reduce the probability of the risk and its impact. To enhance the performance of the organization, measures such as human resource management will be effectively implemented in order to enhance the productivity of the employees. Medicare will implement employee welfare schemes which will help to motivate the employees in providing effective service. Job rotation and employee empowerment will be promoted to reduce the monotony of the employees and enhancing their job satisfaction. Periodical skill development training will be provided to the employees in order to equip them with diversified abilities to face the business challenges (Ji et al., 2012). The key functions of Medicare will be acquiring more client or merchant which will be displayed from the portal. In this case, client or merchant refers to the hospitals and doctors who will subscribe with Medicare. It will enable to garner more traffic in the site which will help to attract more revenue. It is a revolving and interrelated process due to the reason that, more client acqui sition will help to attract more traffic and vice versa. The more traffic it will garner from the market will help to generate more positive word of mouth and buzz among the customers. It will enable them to increase their brand identity and image. This will further help in expanding the market in the global scenario. Thus, organizational performance will get enhanced with the enhancement of the basic functions of the organizations. More traffic in the site helps to garner more revenue from the market and eventually it will help to increase the resource allocation for their various activities. Thus, the customer service and convenience will get further enhanced. Thus, it can be concluded that in the era of internet boom and online market, Medicare will create a place of its own if being managed properly. Though, healthcare is emerging as one of the most profitable sector in the Australian region, but still the area where it is willing to operate is having much less amount of competitors. Thus, Medicare will have a huge untapped market to p enetrate. If designed and organized effectively, Medicare will change the entire scenario of providing health care in the global market. Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014).  Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T., & Kerr, S. (2015).  The boundaryless organization: Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons. Barreto, I. (2012). A behavioral theory of market expansion based on the opportunity prospects rule.  Organization Science,  23(4), 1008-1023. Covello, V. T., & Merkhoher, M. W. (2013).  Risk assessment methods: approaches for assessing health and environmental risks. Springer Science & Business Media. Eid, R., & El-Gohary, H. (2013). The impact of E-marketing use on small business enterprises' marketing success.  The Service Industries Journal,  33(1), 31-50. Frigo, M., & Anderson, R. J. (2012).  Strategic risk management: the new core competency. John Wiley & Sons Limited. Galvaan, R. (2012). Occupational Choice: The Significance of Socio?Economic and Political Factors.  Occupational science: Society, inclusion, participation, 152-162. Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014).  Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Ji, L., Huang, J., Liu, Z., Zhu, H., & Cai, Z. (2012). The effects of employee training on the relationship between environmental attitude and firms' performance in sustainable development.  The International Journal of Human Resource Management,  23(14), 2995-3008. Korzynski, P. (2013). EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION IN NEW WORKING ENVIRONMENT.  International journal of academic research,  5(5). Shiau, W. L., & Luo, M. M. (2012). Factors affecting online group buying intention and satisfaction: A social exchange theory perspective.  Computers in Human Behavior,  28(6), 2431-2444. Solano-Lorente, M., Martà ­nez-Caro, E., & Cegarra-Navarro, J. G. (2013). Designing a Framework to Develop eLoyalty for Online Healthcare Services.  Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management,  11(1). End your doubt 'should I pay someone to do my dissertation by availing dissertation writing services from

Modern Democracies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Modern Democracies - Research Paper Example This means, in communities that act by voting, that rule belongs to the majority, as no other method has been found for determining peaceably and legally what is to be deemed the will of a community which is not unanimous† (Bryce, and Bryce 20). Keeping in accord to this definition if the modern systems of governance are followed, mainly two types of approaches towards democracy can be found, namely: multi partisan and bipartisan. In a democratic system as the common people have the sole authority to select the government by their voting power, thus, depending on their political ideology, creed, and dependence on political system parties are formed and they aim at functioning as the representatives of common people in the context of conveying their requirements to the government. In a bipartisan political structure as that of the United States the nature of democracy is determined by two major parties. The incidents of fraud in election had a major role to play in leading the U nited States political scenario to adopt the bipartisan structure. ... However, since mid 1980s several neo-liberal reforms were implemented quite in accordance with multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural demography of Brazil. The multi-cultural demography of the nation played one of the most important roles in the genesis of multi-partisan political structure and consequently provided the common people of the nation with freedom of choice so that urgent reforms can be introduced in different domains of the democratic existence within the Brazilian political context (Lemanski-Valente 89-90). Thesis Statement: The approach towards democracy in both bipartisan and multi-partisan system is to a great extent dependent on political culture of the respective nations. However, in respective system, approach towards democracy generates certain issues that will be focused with adequate attention on the structure of the United States of America (bipartisan) and Brazil (multi-partisan). The issues in approaching democracy from countries with bipartisan str ucture (such as the United States): The bipartisan structure of the United States received greatest challenge in late 1980s in approaching democracy once the Cold War was over. Ensuring democracy to the U.S. citizens became highly difficult during this time as the Cold War aftermath period was jeopardized by three major factors, namely wide spread of the liberal economic principles due to capitulation of the Soviet Union as well as of the communism; increasing economic interdependence among nations that was considered to be incompatible with traditional ideals of national sovereignty; and finally, the challenge over national sovereignty within the national itself due to negative impacts of

Three negative impacts of Parental divorce on children in Contemporary Research Paper

Three negative impacts of Parental divorce on children in Contemporary China - Research Paper Example The number of separations and divorces is still less than the United States but the marked difference is becoming less day by day. And the impact it has on Chinese children is pretty bad. They feel inferior to everyone else all of a sudden and cannot help but think that they have a broken family even if their parents ended it at the best of terms1. The Government of China has certain rules that everyone has to follow and one of them is the famous one child policy. If the one child of the family loses the only family he has ever known, it crushes him completely. This is one of the greatest negative impacts that take place, which he has, no sibling to share the scenario with. Most parents fight but get back together because they have various children and find sense and compassion in one of them, enough to patch things up. This is not possibly here because all alone; the child faces the worst of the deals and often and understandably so thinks that no one can understand what he is going through. Even though divorce is not uncommon in China anymore, it is still somewhat not an acceptable thing in society. To escape from the prying eyes and the pinging gossiping sessions, more often than not the parent moves away to another country. Usually it is the parent with who the child remains, through a custody settlement. This also has a negative impact on the young one. Leaving behind everything they ever know, they become accustomed to the new world, often feeling incomplete and hopeless. The reverse effect can also take place. Sometimes no one moves anywhere and the child has to face a lot of discrimination amongst the peers and the society because it is still an unacceptable trait in a lot of areas of China. Chinese people are usually very family oriented and have a fixed set of ethics and values, even in these times where such things are rarely found. It is

Consumer Perceptions of Mobile Phone Marketing A Critical Analysis Assignment

Consumer Perceptions of Mobile Phone Marketing A Critical Analysis - Assignment Example There is lack of clarity in conceptualization, and consequentially, in Operationalization of the concept, that is, measurement of the variables consisting of specific observations.   â€Å"Consumer perceptions of mobile phone marketing† has been relegated to the second place as an ‘incidental factor’ which could be inferred from the author’s statement, â€Å"Thus, it is proposed that a consumers level of involvement with their mobile phone will influence their decision to adopt or reject marketing communications sent via this channel†    Internet, telephone, and media are converging with greater velocity.   The mobile phone is the property of the user.   When his mobile phone is used without his consent for marketing, his initial reaction may be indifference or negative.  Ã‚  Ã‚  The individual’s perception is dependant upon the utility derived by him.   Therefore, blending utility aspect in marketing is necessary to improve the consumers’ perception.   Advertising through SMS is gaining momentum as a part of mobile marketing, and the marketing strategies of trade and business can’t ignore mobile phones in the field of advertising.   The sample does not represent the population meaningfully.   The samples used in the methodology might have been suitable for mobile phone usage in Colleges and Universities.   The observations would be homogenous as it will not reflect the disparities in income in the society.   Important factors such as such as income levels, age group, business or employment background, educational backgrounds etc. have no bearing on the samples selected for observation and analysis. The original study examined â€Å"how a consumers perception of the relative advantages, compatibility and complexity associated with mobile phone marketing, and their involvement with their mobile  phone, influenced their intention to accept marketing communication sent via this channel.†

Management of water of international rivers in the context of the Essay

Management of water of international rivers in the context of the international law - Essay Example d by the international law 39 3.2.2 Tigris and Euphrates rivers and international law 3.2.2.1 Historical development of the conflict on the management of water of Tigris/ Euphrates 40 3.2.2.2 Causes of the conflict 41 3.2.2.3 Response of the international community 43 3.2.2.4 The solution provided in the context of international law 44 3.2.2.5 Challenges related with the application of international law in the specific case 47 3.2.2.6 Critical analysis of the appropriateness and the effectiveness of the solution provided by the international law 48 3.2.3 Discussion on findings 50 Chapter F... As a result of the increased use of water, there have been serious damages to the environment. For example many rivers are receding, half of the global wetlands have been eroded and freshwater fish have virtually become endangered species.1 It is hardly surprising that in more recent times there has a been heightened awareness that the world expects to confront a water crisis.2 These developments over the last century have transferred over to state development of water conservation strategies that require a balancing of two conflicting interests: the significance of water for human existence and need to protect the earth’s natural resources. However, in order for the world’s natural resources to be effectively conserved, national laws, practices and policies require some form of harmony with one another. This is particularly so in the case of waterways which not only adjourn different international borders but are frequently traversed and used by many nationals. For thi s reason there have been attempts to harmonize national legal and policy strategies for the conservation of waterways at international law. In this regard, the management of international rivers is a particularly acute concern. The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses 1997 (hereinafter the Convention) has set the criteria by which the management of water worldwide should be based.3 Although national laws apply to the management of international rivers, those national laws are required to coincide with the criteria established by the Convention. In other words as a standard setting international legal instrument, the Convention should prevail over national laws of contracting states. However, this kind of expected

Investment Article Critiques (2) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Investment Article Critiques (2) - Essay Example These are Mutual funds with a variant dollar cost averaging. Currently many investors have made the decision to â€Å"go to cash† until the market stabilizes. Many have seen their mutual funds decline anywhere between 25% and 50% over the past years and are gun shy to reinvest at the moment leaving $8.85 trillion dollars in cash (Martin & Tsang, 2009, p. F3). The two approaches are to put all your money in at once at take the risk that it will rise or fall or, as with the variant of dollar cost averaging â€Å"a certain percentage of the investors money is invested each month for the next five or six months.† (2009, p.13) This can help mitigate the all at once method by using the average of the several timed investments to create a better percentage of return overall. However, both require a certain amount of overall risk in this particular market and while dollar cost averaging may help, if the market has not stabilized or bottomed out yet, both methods could still result in short term losses. While cash may still be king for some time yet, the only tried and true method of investment is, â€Å"Don’t Panic† as most down markets have proven the turnaround, if you can wait for it, far outweighs any reinvestment strategies in the long run. As mentioned in the previous article review there is over $8.85 trillion dollars in cash floating around in various accounts like money markets and bank deposit accounts, earning rock bottom interest, many as low as .1% annually. However, as investors see it, it is safe from the market at this time. The current Federal Reserve data states that this is, â€Å"equal to 74 percent of the market value of U.S. companies, the highest ratio since 1990.† (2009, p. F3) Talk about a real stimulus package! Martin and Tsang review several investments that have beaten the odds in 2008 and made money and offer this as the stimulus to investors to qualm

Consumer Perceptions of Mobile Phone Marketing A Critical Analysis Assignment

Consumer Perceptions of Mobile Phone Marketing A Critical Analysis - Assignment Example There is lack of clarity in conceptualization, and consequentially, in Operationalization of the concept, that is, measurement of the variables consisting of specific observations.   â€Å"Consumer perceptions of mobile phone marketing† has been relegated to the second place as an ‘incidental factor’ which could be inferred from the author’s statement, â€Å"Thus, it is proposed that a consumers level of involvement with their mobile phone will influence their decision to adopt or reject marketing communications sent via this channel†    Internet, telephone, and media are converging with greater velocity.   The mobile phone is the property of the user.   When his mobile phone is used without his consent for marketing, his initial reaction may be indifference or negative.  Ã‚  Ã‚  The individual’s perception is dependant upon the utility derived by him.   Therefore, blending utility aspect in marketing is necessary to improve the consumers’ perception.   Advertising through SMS is gaining momentum as a part of mobile marketing, and the marketing strategies of trade and business can’t ignore mobile phones in the field of advertising.   The sample does not represent the population meaningfully.   The samples used in the methodology might have been suitable for mobile phone usage in Colleges and Universities.   The observations would be homogenous as it will not reflect the disparities in income in the society.   Important factors such as such as income levels, age group, business or employment background, educational backgrounds etc. have no bearing on the samples selected for observation and analysis. The original study examined â€Å"how a consumers perception of the relative advantages, compatibility and complexity associated with mobile phone marketing, and their involvement with their mobile  phone, influenced their intention to accept marketing communication sent via this channel.†

Investment Article Critiques (2) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Investment Article Critiques (2) - Essay Example These are Mutual funds with a variant dollar cost averaging. Currently many investors have made the decision to â€Å"go to cash† until the market stabilizes. Many have seen their mutual funds decline anywhere between 25% and 50% over the past years and are gun shy to reinvest at the moment leaving $8.85 trillion dollars in cash (Martin & Tsang, 2009, p. F3). The two approaches are to put all your money in at once at take the risk that it will rise or fall or, as with the variant of dollar cost averaging â€Å"a certain percentage of the investors money is invested each month for the next five or six months.† (2009, p.13) This can help mitigate the all at once method by using the average of the several timed investments to create a better percentage of return overall. However, both require a certain amount of overall risk in this particular market and while dollar cost averaging may help, if the market has not stabilized or bottomed out yet, both methods could still result in short term losses. While cash may still be king for some time yet, the only tried and true method of investment is, â€Å"Don’t Panic† as most down markets have proven the turnaround, if you can wait for it, far outweighs any reinvestment strategies in the long run. As mentioned in the previous article review there is over $8.85 trillion dollars in cash floating around in various accounts like money markets and bank deposit accounts, earning rock bottom interest, many as low as .1% annually. However, as investors see it, it is safe from the market at this time. The current Federal Reserve data states that this is, â€Å"equal to 74 percent of the market value of U.S. companies, the highest ratio since 1990.† (2009, p. F3) Talk about a real stimulus package! Martin and Tsang review several investments that have beaten the odds in 2008 and made money and offer this as the stimulus to investors to qualm

The US and California Essay Example for Free

The US and California Essay The US and California Constitutions have changed in relationship to power in various ways as follows:- †¢ The relationship between the legislature and the judiciary has been one of the key constituents determining change. Thus when the Congress felt that the judiciary was assuming an all powerful and important role, an amendment has invariably come about in the US Constitution. †¢ One of the key issues which have been affected is the power between the North and the South or agricultural versus industrial economies of both the regions as signified by abolishment and resistance to slavery respectively. This has been one of the most complex issues which has been addressed through the Constitution affecting economic, political as well as social lives of people through abolishment of slavery in the 13th Amendment. The ratification of this amendment by states with the north leading the way during the Civil war and the secessionist Confederate States of America following up after defeat is an important period of change in the Constitution which has virtually reordered power. †¢ A part of the series of Reconstruction Amendments, the 14th and 15th Amendments in the Constitution granted citizenship and equal rights to non whites as any other citizens. This is one of the most powerful changes in the Constitution which has had a lasting impact not only in power, society and economy within American society but also in making the United States a beacon of freedom and liberty to the entire World. †¢ In California, the emergence of the Constitution of 1879 could ideally indicate the influence of power and its ability to reorder society in the State. The Constitution was adopted in times of grave economic and social crisis. During such periods there is limited influence of the government and public confidence on ability of the state to function effectively is also restricted. This has been reflected in the changes to the Constitution which placed restrictions on the power of the legislature. On the other hand with a view to carry out social and economic reform through the instrument of the Constitution, the document evolved was so detailed that even common statutes were included within it thus reflecting the influence of the times. Bibliography 1. Hyink, Bernard L. California Revises Its Constitution, Western Political Quarterly, September 1969, pp. 637-654. 2. Lee, Eugene. â€Å"The Revision Of California’s Constitution†. CPS Brief, Vol 3 No 3. April 1991. Berkeley : University of California.

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management Purpose This paper aims at exploring the role of emotional intelligence in affecting the conflict management styles used. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 233 employees from several banks. Correlation and regression was used to analyze the results. The findings are discussed in the paper along with some recommendations for managers and researchers. Findings The results revealed a significantly positive relationship between high emotional intelligence and usage of integrating, compromising and obliging styles of handling conflict. Low emotional intelligence was found to be associated with high use of avoiding and dominating style. Research limitations/implications The study has limitations which hold suggestions for future research including self-report issue, focus on only one sector i.e. banking sector for analysis located in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. Also, the study was one shot therefore there is need for longitudinal research to validate the findings. The need for applied research is also emphasized. Practical implications The paper provides practitioners with some advice about understanding and managing conflict through usage of emotional intelligence and the importance of its training is highlighted. Originality/value The paper is a contribution to the existing limited research on the topic. However previous researches offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. It explores the link between the EI and all the five styles of conflict management which has not been yet researched by any academician. Keywords Emotional intelligence, Integration, Compromising, Avoiding, Competing, Obliging Paper type Research Paper INTRODUCTION The study particularly focuses on the individual emotional intelligence abilities to manage a conflict as emotions play a key role in effecting behavior in general (Weiner, 1992) and negotiation behavior in particular (Barry Oliver, 1996). Emotional intelligence shall be analyzed for its connection to the recognition of conflict formation and its influence on the selection of conflict management strategies under different situations. The concept of emotional intelligence can be traced back to Thorndikes (1920) concept of social intelligence, Wechslers (1940) proposition of non-intellective abilities as well as Gardners (1983) conceptualization of personal intelligence. However, the term of emotional intelligence (EI) was originated by Salovey and Mayer (1990). Thereafter, it was the work of Goleman (1995) which globally popularized the construct of emotional intelligence and as a result of that, both practitioners and academia have started recognizing its importance in the world of organizations. In recent years the construct of emotional intelligence has been advanced as providing greater insight into organizational behavior (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Thus, this research focuses on analyzing the impact of individuals emotional intelligence on individuals ability to effectively manage the conflict. Therefore, it was analyzed that which of the conflict management styles are mostly used by individuals with high emotional intelligence. Findings regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management and conflict resolution patterns have mixed results. A very little research has been done on this topic, as to analyze the impact of emotional intelligence on all the five styles of conflict management. Previous researches have offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. Other studies have explored limited, only two to three conflict management styles. This study explores all the five styles of conflict management. Moreover, the study aims to find out that the individuals high in emotional intelligence are inclined to which of the conflict management styles i.e. relationship between EI and conflict management styles. Further, it aims to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence and constructive and d estructive conflict management styles. Exploring these relationships will prove to be a great contribution to the existing body of knowledge by revealing important findings in the study. This study will prove to be a source of understanding the benefits of using emotional intelligence in context of realizing conflict management. It will prove to be beneficial for the organizations in a way that it will induce them to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence for the healthy functioning of their organization which will result in several training programs for employees to develop emotional intelligence abilities. A foundation is laid to better explain the construct of emotional intelligence as supported by various researchers. Further, research investigates the emotional competencies of individuals within the organization that promote constructive conflict management styles. LITERATURE REVIEW Emotions Emotion in organizations as an academic field in its own right did not emerge until recently (Yeomans, 2007). Understanding the behavior in the workplace requires grasping the nature and effect of human emotion. Our behavior and feelings at work are affected when we experience emotions. This situation is particularly prevalent in the state of conflict in which emotions are experienced regularly when individuals interact with each other (Jordan Troth, 2004). Whether focus is placed on distinguishing between felt emotions and revealed emotions, recognizing distinct emotions that appear in workplaces or the temporary effects of negative mood, each of the authors see emotions an important determinant of employees response to workplace situations (Jordan, Lawrence Troth, 2006). Emotional Intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) was first proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1990) which was then popularized by Goleman in his famous book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, in which he made strong claims about contribution of emotional intelligence to individual success and specifically in workplaces. He identified intellectual intelligence as a contribution of 20 % towards success in workplace and remaining 80% may be attributable to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995). Since then, this area has got much attention in the field of leadership, Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. Researchers have defined EI as a distinct psychological skill that can be consistently gauged. Interest among social scientists on emotions as a domain of intelligence has grown in recent years. Before the importance of EI was realized in organizations, IQ was supposed to be sufficient for good human performance. Workers were indeed advised to put away their emotions at their homes before coming to work. But it is unrealistic to suppose that emotions can be left home or set aside when you arrive at work. Some people may assume, for a variety of reasons, that emotional neutrality is an ideal, but it is usually not good for an organization for it can hinder people to move into management roles. As emotional intelligence is critical to high performance, a person who knows how to stay motivated under stress, motivate others, manage complex interpersonal relationships, inspire others and build teams who are recognized specialists on a product or service are likely to get better results (Goleman, 2005). Thus, the idea of EI has attained some attention from some researchers in this age of customer-focused organizations due to the perception of it as a means to survive in present era of unfriendly, competitive and volatile environment (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). According to some scholars, e.g. Johnson and Indvik (1999) and McGarvey (1997), an employees emotional intelligence is likely to be higher when the organization is richer in the terms of emotions. It is easy to recognize low emotional intelligence in others. If the insensitive managers try to bulldoze their staff through steady criticism, loud voice, and veiled threats of joblessness will prompt the staff to great efforts. This attitude is emotionally unintelligent. The behavior of people to start having a dispute shouting match is also an emotionally unintelligent attitude. And once this behavior starts, it creates a downward spiral of low morale, avoidance and negative politics (Dreu, 1997). The reason for this behavior stems from emotions. Emotions provide us energy. Negative emotions create negative energy and positive emotions create positive energy. However, the emotionally intelligent are aware of this. They do not continuously think about how they feel. They do not reach the extremes of showing or hiding everything. They express what they feel when suitable, so that molehills do not grow into mountains (Bagshaw, 2000). The significance of emotions in work settings has been well-known. Emotional intelligence is a multi-dimensional concept that links emotion and cognition to improve human interactions (Jordan, Peter, Lawrence, Sandra, 2009). Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined emotional intelligence as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions (p. 189). This definition is comprised of three categories of abilities: evaluation and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion, and using emotions in decision making. Based on Mayer and Saloveys model of emotional intelligence, Wong and Law (2002) devised their own model of emotional intelligence which comprises of four abilities, Appraisal and Expression of Emotion (own and others), Use of Emotions and Regulation of emotions (own and others). Recognizing emotional intelligence as a set of cognitive abilities involves that a degree of individual effort is required for these abilities to be successfully utilized (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Appraisal and expression of emotion is the ability to properly determine and express ones own emotions as well as to be sympathetic, appraise and express emotions of others (Zhou George, 2003). Management of our own emotion can help us avoid annoyance, worry and grief and guide to become dynamic in our jobs and personal lives. Thus for a content life, one should learn how to manage ones emotion. Emotions and cognitions are highly interconnected and emotional intelligence allows people with the ability to use emotions to aid the effective cognitive processing of information. Individuals vary not only in awareness, appraisal and expression of emotions but also in their ability to use emotions in collaboration with their cognitive processes to enhance effective functioning (Gross, 1998). Individuals with low emotional intelligence cannot effectively use their emotions to aid cognitive processes and may find it difficult to coordinate among how they feel and what are they doing (Zhou George, 2003). People not only understand the emotions of others but also make an effort to manage these emotions. The management of emotion enables an individual to join or not to join himself from an emotion in a given situation depending on its utility at that given time. This is apparent in the individuals ability to have control on his immediate reactions and postpone his judgment and then to communicate them in a measured and careful manner (Dodgson, 1993). Conflict Conflict is a collective dilemma in which two or more individuals, families, societies or regions disagree with each other (Dzurgba, 2006). Interpersonal conflict comprises of two or more persons in disagreement. Organizational conflict refers to a disagreement between or within groups in an organization. The groups might be of employees, workers union or management. Organizational conflict is the one mostly prevalent in the workplace due to the fact that people continuously hold opposing views on different issues, interests, beliefs, objectives and ambitions (Deutsch, 1990). Some harmful consequences of conflict can demoralize an organizations efforts. However, handling them correctly can be useful for individuals and organizations by creating effective, more flexible working relationship which would enhance innovative output and create novel solutions (Omoluabi, 2001). Conflict Resolution During previous number of decades, researchers took a keen interest in conflict and its impact on organizations. Many researchers have focused on numerous factors such as styles of handling conflict Jehn, 1997; Jehn, Northcraft Neale, 1999), resolution strategies (Van de Vliert Euwema, 1994), conflict and justice (Ohbuchi, Suzuki Hayashi, 2001), theories of managing conflict (Rahim, 2002), conflict of interest and objectives (Vilaseca, 2002) and conflict management techniques (Fillbeck Smith, 1997). Conflict resolution is an alternative approach to handling conflicts. It is a procedure in which parties in conflict, through interpersonal communication are reached to an acceptable and harmonious point of agreement (Omoluabi, 2001). Based on the conceptualizations of Follett (1940), Blake and Mouton (1964), and Thomas (1976), Rahim and Bonoma (1979) differentiated the styles of handling interpersonal conflict on two basic dimensions, concern for self and for others. The first dimens ion explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy his or her own concern. The second dimension explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy the concern of others. These two dimensions result in five distinct behavioral conflict management strategies: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising. Integrating (high concern for self and others) style involves openness, exchange of information, and assessment of dissimilarities to reach an effective solution acceptable to both parties. It is associated with problem solving, which may lead to creative solutions. Obliging (low concern for self and high concern for others) style is associated with attempting to minimize the differences and focusing commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other party. Dominating (high concern for self and low concern for others) style has been linked with win-lose orientation or with forcing behavior to win ones position. Avoiding (low concern for self and others) style has been associated with withdrawal, or escape situations. Compromising (intermediate in concern for self and others) style involves give-and-take whereby both parties give up something to make a mutually acceptable decision (Rahim, 2002 ). Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management The basic notion throughout this paper is the intrinsically emotional nature of conflict. According to Gayle and Preiss (1998), a small amount of research has explored the emotional understanding of conflict in the workplace. However, Jehn (1997) suggests that emotions are an important component of conflict. Others including Thomas (1992), Ashkanasy and Daus (2002), and Bodtker and Jameson (2001) advocate that workplace conflict and emotions are strongly linked. They argue that as conflict is related to stress and pressure, it escalates emotional response and negative stimulation. Pinkly (1990) found a discrete rational versus emotional dimension to conflict management frame from his study on the disputants interpretations of conflict. Individuals, in the emotional frame which includes feelings such as jealousy, hate, anger and frustration, are more likely to work less effectively because emotions infest and generalize the rational and instrumental way of thinking (Thomas, 1992). Weisinger (1998) recognized emotional management as a major ability essential to handle conflict in the workplace and improve relationships in workplaces. Subsequently, Goleman (2001a) listed conflict management as a core competency in his model of emotional intelligence, noting that effective conflict management is important for retaining business relationships. Lubit (2004) stated that emotional intelligence is a competency that increases the individuals capability to deal with toxic managers by means of enhanced conflict resolution skills. Suliman Al-Shaikh (2007) concluded in their study that employees with higher levels of emotional intelligence are expected to have more established life due to fewer conflicts and calmness which evokes creativity and innovation in employees. One needs to have good relationships with co workers and supervisors and should have an understanding of their emotions and feelings to be creative. Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Handling Styles Influence of personality characteristics, interpersonal needs, individual behaviour, organizational status, emotions, power, rewards, beliefs, basic values amongst others also have a direct impact on the styles applied (Bodtker Jameson, 2001). Jordan and Troth (2002) study discovered that individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to search for integrative solutions when confronted with conflict and preferred not to avoid. They asserted that, for the emotionally intelligent individual, integration in the appropriate conditions may be a sign of their ability to recognize and regulate emotions. As a result, integration serves to enhance employees relationships with their co-workers and assists to accomplish their goals during times of change. Indeed, in move ahead with their research, Jordan and Troth (2004) showed that groups having higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to inform using integrative conflict resolution style to settle o n a real decision-making task. Alternatively, those teams having less ability to deal with their own emotions had more chances to engage in greater use of avoidance tactics which resulted in lower performance. The study by Jordan, Ashkanasy and Ascough (2007) also found out the less use of avoidance techniques by those having high emotional intelligence. However, Foo, Elfenbein, Tan, and Aik (2004) in their study using student groups in a simulated negotiation, somewhat surprisingly found that individuals with high emotional intelligence actually landed up with low performance in the negotiation due to the reason that to reach an integrative solution, these individuals agreed to the lowest to achieve an integrative solution. However they noted that their findings needed to be approached with some caution. However, Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) indicated that integrative style dealing with intergroup conflict was considerably used to a greater extent in higher performing organizations than in low performing ones. Ogungbamila (2006) found that the forcing strategy had a direct significant relationship with work frustration while confronting, withdrawing, smoothing and compromising strategies did not. Burke (1970) suggested that the integrating style was related to the effective management of conflict, while forcing (dominating) and withdrawing (avoiding) were related to the ineffective management of conflict. Goleman (1998) suggests that emotionally intelligent employees are well able to negotiate and effectively handle their conflicts with organizational members. Silvia (2002) determined that high emotional self-awareness acts as an impediment on individuals experience of strong emotions. In other words, individuals with higher emotional self-awareness will experience lower levels of emotional response in reply to emotion generating situations, and will be better able to resolve conflict effectively with their fellow members. The management of own emotions involves an individuals ability to connect or disconnect from an emotion depending on its usefulness in any given situation (Mayer Salovey, 1997). In some conditions, emotions of other members need to be managed to ensure that working relationships are sustained. For instance, unmanageable anger in the workplace can have a negative impact on relationships, particularly if the anger is communicated to specific individuals (Davidson, MacGregor, Stuhr, Gidron, 1999; Fitness, 2000). On this basis, managing own and others emotions may be the key to avoiding these negative consequences during a conflict situation. For example, when faced with personal injustice during a conflict episode, an individuals feelings of anger may motivate or distract them for resolving the conflict. The individual with high emotional intelligence would be attentive of their anger, be able to administer their anger and regulate it to motivate their behavior beneficially. On the other hand, an individual with low emotional intelligence may not be aware of their emotions or the source of their emotions and allow anger to consume their feelings and reside on the unfairness that may have hurried their anger in the first place. Each of these emotional abilities has suggestions for how individual perform in organizations and in particular how they resolve conflict (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). Extending the benefits of EI to the negotiation context, we expect that by regulating ones emotions, and by maintaining a positive negotiating environment, a negotiator high in emotional intelligence can create an environment in which both negotiating sides are satisfied with the way the negotiation was performed. Despite the possible benefit of high EI individuals to create a positive negotiating experience for both themselves and for the negotiating partners, it is uncertain whether an individual benefits by negotiating with a high EI partner. One dimension of EI is to direct their emotion abilities to improve personal performance (Law, Wong Song, 2004). Conceivably the high EI partner can extract greater value from the negotiation; for instance a high EI person can use abilities at understanding others (Wong, Law, Wong, 2004) to recognize that his or her partner is satisfied with the offer and not increase the offer further. Despite this possibility of personal performance at the expense of the partner, we expect that individuals profit by negotiating with high EI partners. Individuals high in EI can better gain the trust of others and trust encourages integrative bargaining (Naquin Paulson, 2003). Further, positive emotions lead to cognitive elasticity and innovative strategies in fashioning integrative negotiation outcomes (Kumar, 1997). In contrast, negative emotions guide negotiators to identify the situation as distributive rather than integrative. Integrative bargaining is helpful because the negotiation parties can discover each others interests and find ways to increase joint outcomes (Fisher, Ury Patton, 1991). THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Independent Variable Dependent Variable In order to give a clear picture of the proposed research, a conceptual framework has been developed. This gives a logical sense of the relationship between the selected dependent and independent variables. According to the above literature review the variables defined are as follows: Emotional Intelligence (Independent Variable) Integrating (Dependent Variable) Compromising (Dependent Variable) Dominating (Dependent Variable) Obliging (Dependent Variable) Avoiding (Dependent Variable) As it is evident from the conceptual diagram that as the increment in one variable i.e. Emotional Intelligence, produces a positive increase in the integrating, compromising and obliging style. The relationship is said to be direct and highly positive as the increase in Emotional intelligence produces a positive effect on the three styles. Whereas, high emotional intelligence will have a negative impact on dominating and avoiding styles of conflict management. In short, high emotionally intelligent individual will be less likely to use the dominating and avoiding style to manage a conflict. HYPOTHESES H1: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt integrating style during conflict. H2: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt compromising style during conflict. H3: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt dominating style during conflict. H4: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt obliging style during conflict. H5: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt avoiding style during conflict. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Participants The targeted population for this research was banking sector of Pakistan. As like other organizations, banks also have their own hierarchy including chain of command, span of control. This organization structure and psychological contract may often result in various conflicts within the organization. Hierarchy describes the structure of the management from top to down. Chain of command is mechanism in which power and authority is exerted and delegated from senior management to every employee at every level of the organization. Whereas, span of control, is the number of people who report to one manager in a hierarchy. Psychological contract refers to the perception of the two parties including the employee and employer where their mutual obligation may be viewed as promises and expectations towards each other. These all may have negative impact on job satisfaction, organization commitment and low trust level causing various task and relationship conflicts (Ali, 2008). Moreover, due to differences in personalities, a conflict can also occur e.g. a quality oriented person will have conflict with quantity oriented person. So to cope up with these issues, this study presents the importance of emotional intelligence in dealing with the individuals who cause conflict. The sample was selected from the private banks located in Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Total number of employees among which questionnaires were distributed was 260 employees out of which 233 employees returned the filled questionnaires. Response rate was 89 %. Each employee was working at managerial level.66 % of the respondents were male and 33% were female. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was applied to check whether the sample used was adequate or not. The value of our measure was 0.584 which showed that the sample selected was adequate and the results of the factor analysis would be useful. If the value is less than .50, the results of the factor analysis probably wont be very useful. Procedures The total questionnaires distributed were 260 in number among the participants. The questionnaire was self administered as by visiting the banks, employees were individually requested to fill out the questionnaire. Before giving the questionnaires, all questions were explained to the participants so they can easily complete the questionnaire and provide the accurate and relevant information. Only one questionnaire was provided to each respondent. After the completion of the experiment, 15 participants were excluded from the study as they were found to fill the questionnaire randomly without reading the questions. In addition, 12 of the returned questionnaires were not completed correctly. Therefore, these 27 were also excluded from the study, leaving a total of 233 usable questionnaires, with an overall response rate of 89%. The chances of error in the responses were also reduced by this method. The convenient sampling technique was followed as the data collection was done from the e mployees of private banks who were conveniently available to provide information. The data collected from the 233 questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) 13. Regression and Correlation was applied to the data to achieve the results regarding the relationship between the variables. Measures A single questionnaire (See Appendix) was distributed among employees of the bank, which was adopted from Wong and Law (2002) and Rahim (1983). The questions were carefully worded to avoid misinterpretation. The questionnaire layout was formatted in logical manner to ensure a higher response rate. Questionnaire included only closed-ended questions. Structured questionnaire was designed to measure all the independent and dependent variables on a 5-point likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (coded as 5) to Strongly Disagree (coded as 1). The questions also sought data on demographics of respondents. Conflict Management For getting responses on conflict management styles, one of the most commonly used models, Rahim (1983) who developed an instrument known as the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II or ROCI-II (Rahim, 1983) was used. This instrument measures the five conflict management styles of dominating, avoiding, obliging, compromising and integrating. The ROCI-II comprises 28 statements, seven of which relate to the integrating style, six each to the obliging and avoiding styles, five to the dominating style and four to the compromising style. Notwithstanding the different terminology, these styles are broadly parallel to those of Blake and Mouton (1964). The items were measured on a 5 point likert scale. The instrument has been tested in numerous studies and has been found to have a high degree of validity and internal consistency (Rahim, 1992; King and Miles, 1990; Weider- Hatfield, 1988). The respondents typically require 8 minutes to complete the ROCI II (Rahim, 1983). The population appropriate for taking responses is any member of the organization. As employees at the workplace has not much time to spend on filling out the questionnaire correctly, so this questionnaire was selected keeping in mind the time factor as well as the comprehensives of the questionnaire. The questionnaire measures all the conflict management styles in a brief and concise manner. Emotional intelligence As emotional intelligence is all about keeping ones own as well as others emotions in mind, regulating them and using them to solve a conflict, so a questionnaire having all these dimensions was aimed to be used. Emotional Intelligence was assessed using Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) (2002), based on the model developed by Davies, Stankov and Roberts (1998) and Mayer and Salovey (1997).This scale consists of 16 items. The WLEIS was designed as a short measure of EI for use in organizational research. It comprises of 16 items, responded to on a 5-point Likert scale and measuring four dimensions: Self-Emotion Appraisal, Emotion Appraisal of Others, Use of Emotion, and Regulation of Emotion. Wong and Law (2002) report good internal consistency reliabilities for their measure. RESULTS The targeted population for this research was the employees of the banking sector of Pakistan. However, sample considered was 233 employees from several private banks in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. All the result and analysis were based on these 233 responses. Data Analysis Technique Results were analyzed by using the statistical analysis software named Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 13.0. The demographic data included gender, name of organization, type of work, department, and duration of job. Correlation and regression tests were applied to analyze the variables where emotional intelligence was treated as independent variable while integration, compromising, dominating, obliging and avoiding were considered a

1950-1960 Essay -- Essays Papers

1950-1960 During the 1950's, the United States experienced great change with the end of World War II, making it difficult to label the busy decade. America was the most powerful nation in the world and it was a time of complacency. The United States accepted two new states, Hawaii and Alaska (www.fifties.com). The science world boomed with new inventions; televisions broadcast nationally; rock n' roll was popular; commercial hotel and fast food chains became common; the car industry exploded; vaccinations for measles and polio were discovered; and birth control pills were introduced (Layman VII). Another event in the 1950’s was the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which limited presidents to two terms in office. The 1950's "baby boom" was also an affect from World War II. The American population increased 19% throughout the 1950's. One-third of Americans was under the age of fifteen (Layman 262). Another issue for the United States in 1950 was the Civil Rights movement. There was one court case that changed history forever. On May 17, 1954 in Topeka, Kansas, a black third grade girl, Linda Brown, was denied admission to a school that was for white children. Schools stigmatized black children, thereby denying them the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. The court finally agreed with Linda’s father and Thurgood Marshall. The United Sates was modernizing, however, discrimination was still a large problem (www.fifties.com). If American was a growing society, it was also a society on the move. Life was progressively getting faster. Drive-in business and shopping malls were convenient. Mass culture brought material wealth to America, but many wondered at what cost. Poorer citizens were ignored, and the work et... ...ed States was once again beginning to modernize and grow. This not only affected American attitude, but it affected art and literature throughout the world. WORKS CITED Berman, David. "Pop Art: An analysis of English and American Styles." (www.st.townson.edu/~dberma2/). Candace. "Index Fifties Web". March 15, 2001 (www.fiftiesweb.com). Ginsberg, Allen. "America." The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2. Ed. Perkins, George and Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. 1795. Hughes, Langston. "Feet Live Their Own Life." The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. Perkins, George and Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. 1604. IDA (15) University of Dayton Annual Reports. "Annual Reports of the President 1950." Layman, Richard. American Decades: 1950-1959. Detroit: Gale, 1994. Wehrle, William O. A History of the University of Dayton. Dayton, 1962.

Online Dating Essay -- Internet Cyberspace Technology Essays

Online Dating The Internet has always seemed like a completely separate world, very different from reality. There seemed to be so many endless possibilities. One is the new online dating craze, which has caught my attention a number of times. One rainy afternoon, curled up in a blanket at my computer chair, I decided to investigate it. I learned that as many of the baby-boomers start to become widowed or divorced, many are looking for mates, along with many others who are looking for companionship. With the new Internet-Age, many of these individuals turn to their computer to find someone. Online relationships are a growing phenomenon in the United States as well as internationally. After doing some research I could not develop an opinion on how I felt about this new trend. I found a group of specialists who had devoted some researching to it and I invited them over for dinner to find what their opinions were and why. I wanted only the best, the most opinionated, and the most interested in the topic to come and join me for dinner. I wanted to ignite a conversation that would involve many different views about the subject. I decided on three people to invite to my feast. First, I chose Robin Eisner, who works for ABC, and has studied the effects of spending time on the Internet. Next, I chose Laura Koss-Feder, who had interviewed several online couples and understands some of the positive and negative attributes of online dating. I also invited Erica D. Rowell for her knowledge and the studies she has done on online dating. About a week before they all came to dinner, I began to plan what I would make. After having talked to each of them several times on the telephone, I could tell they may de... ...et them up on, but they often do not develop into anything. They are often surrounded by married couples and may not know a lot of single people, so dating can be very difficult. In their loneliness, they turn to the Internet for companionship. Many may go just to look for a friend, but often they might end up meeting someone they want to date (par. 3). I think this is great for older people since they are often wiser so they know who to trust and are more careful when disclosing information to people online. They know they cannot trust just anybody. Younger people, who have not dated much or have not experienced true love, might fall for the words of another online, and this cold lead to disastrous effects. I would not advise anybody my age to date online, but for some older people I think it might be a great way to meet people as long as they are careful.