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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

How far can metrosexual men go?

Metrosexuals are well-educated, sensitive and straight urban dwellers keeping touch with his feminine side. They usually go for manicure and could even have their hair taken care of by stylists and not the barbers. These men love shopping and even wear jewelry. Their bathroom counters are full of male products that include moisturizers and some makeup. They work on their physiques at fitness clubs as opposed to gyms and this appearance gets them a lot of attention that delights them. Metrosexuals are mostly found in large cities especially media centers. There is however imitations and experimenting among men in other smaller cities.These men have a great concern for how they appear. Their lifestyle displays characteristics stereotypically linked to gay men. â€Å"Metrosexuality† traces its origin from an article by Mark Simpson in â€Å"The Independent† in 1994. He described a metrosexual man as one who has high income and lives or works in the city, where he can find the best shops. Metrosexual men are proving to be among the best markets for cosmetic products in the decade. In 1980s, these men were only found in fashion magazines, TV ads or gay bars. Later in the 1990s they were allover and even doing their shopping.The trend The term’s popularity rose after Simpson wrote another article â€Å"Meet the metrosexual. † Euro RCSG Worldwide, an advertising firm, immediately adopted this term for marketing studies. Some careers have been known to attract metrosexual men. They include music, media, table waiting and modeling. Popularity of this metrosexuality rose following increased integration of gays into society and a decline in taboos towards those deviating from masculinity notions. Shortly after, Canada, Belgium, some US states and Holland enacted legislation for gay marriages.Metrosexuality aroused a lot of curiosity when a marketing agency tried exploring the changing face of American men. According to this research titled, â⠂¬Å"The Future of Men: USA,† there is a new clique of men who reject traditional male roles and do as they please no matter what the society thinks about them. The media and male magazines such as Maxim and FHM have greatly influenced men to become metrosexuals. They have devoted a lot of their space to fashion. They encourage the men to dress fashionably. Homosexuals are also believed to have contributed towards metrosexuality.Despite metrosexuals being totally heterosexual, the homosexual movement helped in the society accepting an effeminate lifestyle and characteristics. Consequently, the society is now very comfortable with homosexuality. Displaying it on television is no longer a taboo since the heterosexual males are now comfortable with the homosexuality culture. Metrosexual men are more sensitive and effeminate than their fathers were. They are have shown willingness to push the restrictive gender boundaries defining what in masculine and what is feminine and still co nsider themselves â€Å"real men.† Metrosexual men are secure in their sexuality. Pedicures and facials do not make them less heterosexual or less masculine. Research has revealed that 43 per cent of men are not satisfied with their general appearance. Sixty-three per cent of them are particularly not happy with their abdomens. This leads to their seeking the services of cosmetic surgeons for minor aesthetic operations. Abdominal liposuction for wiping out love handles has become very popular. Lip augmentation surgeries and Botox injections have also become very popular among men.Opting for cosmetic surgery among men is usually a last resort in improving their personal appearance. They dress well, groom well and move to cosmetic surgery. These procedures include laser skin resurfacing, chin augmentation and eyelid surgery. Sometimes metrosexual men’s preoccupation with personal appearance can take to the extremes. It can interfere with schoolwork, career and relationsh ips. This is where a therapist’s advice should be sought to create a healthy and more sensible approach to personal appearance. All men, regardless of their sexual orientation, are developing a big interest in their personal appearance.They visit hairdressers instead of barbers. They also avoid the use of soap because they say it is harsh on the skins, go to the gyms instead of sports, and find it difficult to decide what to wear. They spend a lot of time on the mirror, in boutiques and bars instead of pubs. They also dance at night clubs and go to salons. Marketers have responded to this trend by dropping the macho element from all the products that target men. Tough male images have completely been done away with even on car and beer advertisements. Fashion chains for men are increasing.Some women’s stores like Esprit have launched products for men as well. Men’s magazines have their fashion coverage since more ads are coming in. Fashion and grooming adverts f or FHM, a men’s magazine, have been increasing for the past three years. Two decades, vanity, skin care and male fashion were identified with homosexuals. This has now been abandoned. Even the workplace has experienced changes for men. The growing number of white collar workers brings with it the need for good appearance. For effective competition in the work environment, one must take care of his body, cut his hair neatly and dress well.Even beer marketers are using a less masculine tone in communicating with men. They have also changed the how they buy their electronic goods, cars and home ware. In buying of electronic goods, for instance, men are no longer interested in the traditional male attributes such as gadgetry and technical features. Instead they follow what could be called female attributes such as the store’s environment, service and other intangible attributes. Vehicle advertisers are emphasizing more on the people driving and their feelings and not the v ehicle’s physical specifications (Trubo, 2008). Proponents’ viewTraditionally, men are supposed to avoid feminity, restrict their emotions, disconnect sex from intimacy, pursue achievement and status and be self reliant, aggressive and homophobic. However, statistics have shown that pursuing achievement and status has lost its importance compared to how it was in the past. Restricting emotions and disconnecting emotions from intimacy is no longer important to men either. Men do not find sexual freedom enthralling any more. The modern man shows less avoidance of femininity and embraces attitudes and customs that were stereotypically a reserve for women.Masculinity has had a considerable shift over the years. The modern concept of masculinity is very different from that of ancient times. Certain aspects of modern style and behavior perceived as feminine were actually masculine in the past. They include jewelry and makeup. Feminity came to conquer masculinity and the latt er became restricted (Simpson, 2002). Metrosexuality is seen as a counter-reaction against this change. Some men have a feeling that they are too restricted within their gender roles. It is a way of establishing more equality between men and women by shifting towards androgyny.Cultural and attitude changes towards masculinity have led to changes in the conservative masculine norms. This can often be seen in the media, especially TV shows Culture and the environment had to change for the metrosexual men to start appearing. According to Simpson, gays gave the initial prototype for metrosexuals. Media has played a major role in portraying metrosexuality as straight. It has bought them out as heterosexual men keeping touch with their feminine side. They coordinate colors, are deeply concerned about exfoliation and are manscaped.Consumer culture encouraged men to go shopping, buy magazines and spend freely to improve appearance. Consumer capitalism has helped in doing away with unmoistur ised, repressed and old-fashioned heterosexuality in favor of metrosexuality. The conservative, self-denying, straight and modest man did not do much shopping. He had a duty to earn money to be spent by his wife. He was substituted by a different kind, who has more interest in his image than his so called identity. This metrosexual man is more concerned at how he is being looked at.This man has been so much sought by the advertisers. Some people are of the view that metrosexuality is a phenomenon that just occurred naturally. Metrosexuality will very soon become our everyday vocabulary. Being metrosexual should not be treated as wrong. Those against metrosexuality use stereotypes to argue out their stand. Such stereotypes expect men to be insensitive, cold-hearted, thug-looking and grungy, which is not the reality. Ironically, many respected icons like Diddy, Usher and Kanye West are actually metrosexual but are role models to many.When we look at individuals who embrace metrosexual ity, we notice that they do not attach themselves to gender norms of the society. But clearly, metrosexuals are making an attempt to be different and find who they really are. This mindset is as old as mankind. Every society has a small group of people who look at what is normal for only a specific time before creating a different â€Å"normal† to express themselves. In most cases, this bears fruit in cinema, art and music. In the society, men and women expected to follow specific guidelines for their gender.Failure to following these rules qualifies one to be labeled as an outcast. Despite the society accepting metrosexuality in men, it is still hesitating in allowing heterosexuals to create a unique guideline to be followed. The opponents’ view By the society accepting and integrating homosexuality, many strange cultural customs have been created. On the other hand, metrosexuality has caused even greater havoc but silently. It has been argued that metrosexuals act ga y, causing social interaction problems since they are straight with identity issues. This eventually starts affecting even family lives.Divorce rates are on the increase since men cannot keep their word and women having to take up men’s jobs. Great leaders world over have encouraged strong family institutions. They argue that these are the foundations of strong civilization. But since families are breaking up, the society will also follow the same course. Opponents assert that metrosexuality has had a great impact on dating nowadays. Dating is today a complicated ritual more often than not ending up in heartbreaks rather than providing a learning experience for those involved. Worse still, many cannot find dates while others play around with other people’s hearts.Others engage in dangerous sexual behavior. It is argued that if women acted like women and men like men, the laws of attraction would take effect and make relationships interesting and healthy. Men must be de cisive, driven but understanding while women must be caring, delightful, free and loyal. This balance can never find a replication in any other way (Serio, 2006). It is common for men and women to go the same salons, wear the same jeans, watch sports together and share beer. They even watch the same movies. Opponents of metrosexuality argue that this phenomenon spells disaster.They refer to it as â€Å"unisexification. † These opponents have linked unisexification to the society’s downfall. They further claim that as men behave like wassies and women become more aggressive, a platform is created that causes family break-ups, gender role reversal and dysfunctional relationships. Kids end up growing in mental and emotional problems. This could lead to more drug abuse and violence. Earlier civilizations knew it. They depicted that the balance is vital for opposites. They argue that if all things were the same, life would be unbearable.Gender equality does not exist. Gende r roles exist and there is a whole lot of difference between the genders. This is in terms of their biological, mental and emotional attributes. These attributes are the foundation of a strong society. They balance and stabilize families, relationships, work, schools and homes (Serio, 2006). People should therefore be themselves. Men should act like they ought to and ladies should behave like ladies should (Serio, 2006). Conclusion The issue of metrosexuality is complex and controversial. There are two arguments about this issue.On is a strong proponent for metrosexuality while the other is opposed to it. One thing remains clear though. The society has changed tremendously over the ages and will continue changing. Some aspects of the society that were so important in ancient ages have now found themselves in oblivion in the modern world. This is because they could not work for today’s society. Traditionally, men and women have particular gender roles. It is evident that these roles have been changing with time to keep up with the world’s advancements. Also, men were stereotypically associated with certain attributes.These were meant to distinguish them from women. They included acting tough, cold-hearted and generally in control. Women were also assigned specific attributes that identified them as ladies. They included being soft, caring, loyal, and supportive and so on. In today’s society, these notions cannot apply in their entirety. This has given rise to the concept of metrosexuality. Metrosexual men are only trying to find themselves. As a matter of fact the future is metrosexual. Gone are the days when men and women alike were restricted to particular gender attributes.People should be allowed to be themselves, and metrosexuality is one such way. There is no doubt therefore that metrosexuality has a future. Reference Coad, D (2008) Gender, Sexuality and Sport Suny Press Flockner, (2004). Metrosexual. Emece Editores Serio, L. (2006):M etrosexuals and the downfall of society, retrieved from www. diserio. com, on November 20, 2008 Simpson, M. (2002). Meet the metrosexual, retrieved from http://www. salon. com, on June 22, 2002. The Age Company (2008)Rise of the Metrosexual, retrieved from www. theage. com, on November 20, 2008 Trubo, R. (2008)Metrosexuals: It’s a Guy Thing; Medicine Net .

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Excellence in Customer Service & Organisations

BSBCUS501C Work Related Project Question 1 Excellence in customer service is the objective of all organisations wishing to be successful. However, there is often a gap between customer expectations and management perceptions of customer expectations. Organisations often fail to get close to their customers and correctly read their expectations. Other reasons for customer service problems include: not listening to or collecting information from customers * poor, or no, focus on the actual design of processes to turn identified customer needs into products and services * gaps between what the organisation intends to produce for its customers and what its systems do actually produce * gaps between what the system is intended to deliver for customers and what it actually does deliver * cost constraints, or failure to set and meet realistic performance standards, which affect what the organisation can actually deliver * poor staff attitudes, training levels and working materials * gaps be tween what salespeople promise and the actual service or product quality Source: Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry (1990) In approximately 2000 words comment on these statements. By implementing customer feedback strategies, the organisation will be able to discover the company's strengths and potential weaknesses, as set by the actual customer. Reacting on the feedback in a timely and appropriate manner will increase revenues and customer satisfaction.Although a customer feedback programs will be an added cost in the beginning, long term it will save money for the organisation, as it costs far more money to get new customer’s than keep a satisfied, existing customers. Understanding what customers think of the organisation will improve service delivery and quality of products leading to business sustainability. By conducting market research and analysis of customer’s needs and expectations, an understanding of what the customers think about the organisation can enhance the continuous improvement process within the organisation. Customer perceptions are a subjective assessment of actual service experiences. Customer erceptions and customer expectations play an important role in service marketing and are the standards of performance against which service experiences are compared, and often formulated in terms of what a customer believes should or will happen. Supplying reliability to the customer will have the highest influence on the customer’s perception of quality and ability to perform the promised service effectively with efficiency. Responsiveness from employee’s and the willingness of the organisation to help customers and to provide them with a prompt service to deal with their queries, concerns or complaints will determine how the customer perceives the organisation.Giving the customer assurance and inspiring trust and confidence in the product or service supplied will encourage and support the organisations objectives or goals. Showing the customer empathy, caring and individualized attention during the process will enhance the customer’s individual experience with the organisation. By not knowing what customers expect is one of the root causes of not delivering to the customer their expectations. This is the difference between customer expectations of the service and the organisations understanding of those expectations. Unwillingness to ask customers about their expectations will not address current issues, service providers may think that they know what is best for their customers but without research, information and data, they may well be misaligned.Feedback strategies may include electronic feedback mechanisms using intranet, internet and email, feedback forms, questionnaires, formal or informal surveys and interviews or databases and other controls to record and compare data over time. Market segmentation to understand the needs of the market are important. Market segmentation is the grouping of customers sharing similar requirements, expectations and demographic or psychographic profiles. Segmentation is usually done to understand the needs of customers more elaborately or distinctly. When asking customers for their input or feedback, they need to feel as if their opinions matter, they are more likely to continue supporting the organisation if they feel their feedback has been taken seriously and into consideration.Listening to the customer and acting timely on their feedback is important for the organisation, failing to understand a customer’s needs can result in widespread negative comments about the organisation and the loss of customers and potential customers. By not listening to customers and understanding what they need from a product or service will not allow the organisation to maintain its effectiveness in the market place, producing poor quality products or service and effecting overall profitability for the organisation. Each organisation needs to de velop and establish procedures, standards and guidelines for customer service requirements and communicate these to all staff. By establishing courses of action to accomplish specific goals, utilising information and data obtained through feedback will assist in identifying and acting upon the customer’s needs.These may be established through strategic or action plans that identifies the customer’s need, arranges for, and obtains resources needed to accomplish the desired goals and objectives. By collecting information and data, planning areas for improvement that will improve the final output, will increase the quality of the service or product supplied. Identifying and acting timely on these inputs will ensure a competitive edge is maintained for the organisation. Identifying existing and potential problems or issues and obtaining relevant information about the problem will ensure the specific or root cause of the problem is identified. Once this has been achieved re commendations and corrective actions can be developed and proposed for implementation.By performing a gap analysis to measure the organisations current performance against their desired outcomes can identify areas for improvement. Analysing data and quantifying the information will establish where the organisation currently is and where they need to be. Gaps may exist in various stages of the input process that affects the outcome. Poor quality raw materials or excessively priced materials will directly affect the quality and cost of the final product or service. Gaps may exist in the process and need to be identified promptly. Ensuring all customers internal and external are part of the review process ensures opportunities for improvement are identified and acted upon timely.Gaps or areas for improvement need to be identified so quality products or service can be maintained. Employee loyalty needs to be earned, rather than assumed and this is achieved through commitment and communi cation by the management team. Organisations need to express and act on a commitment to develop employee’s career objectives by introducing initiatives that make employees believe that their current job is the best path to achieving their career goals, delivering customer satisfaction and feeling valued within the workplace. By including opportunities for personal growth and investing in the professional development of people within the organisation will improve outputs.Identifying correct resources and developing well-defined career paths and conducting analyses of current practices will highlight these areas where training, mentoring, and coaching, or areas of improvement are required within the organisation. Establishing effective working relationships among team members and participating in solving problems and making decisions allows employees to be empowered and part of the process, increasing participation levels and drive to complete desired changes. Communication to employees and customers, expressing ideas and information clearly and concisely, sharing information will all assist with accomplishing the goals or vision set out. A common characteristic of successful services is teamwork. A feeling of teamwork is created when employees see other employees and management as key members of the team.The lowest-level employee must feel that management; from their immediate supervisor to the CEO of the company, cares about them and that they are a critical part of the organisation’s success. This is achieved when every employee is involved in the organisation’s decision process and committed to providing a high level of service to customers, the company and to other employees. Cost constraints can affect the quality or price of the final service or product. Good purchasing practices are integral to organisational success. Developing budgets and resource plans, managing materials, equipment or labour will create quality products for custo mers. During the planning process of resource procurement, identifying the need is the first step in the process.Organisations may be required to upgrade the current capacity of buildings or machinery used in the process to meet new orders or upgraded products. Investment funding may be necessary if new plant and facilities are needed. Skills of the workforce may need to be improved or obtained to operate new systems and produce the new product or service effectively. A raw material needs to be assessed for cost and quality as an input. If materials are too highly priced the end product would be too expensive for the consumer, equally, if the materials were of poor quality, the end product may not reach the customers expectation levels, in each case the consumer would be hesitant in purchasing the goods or product.Ensuring a timely supply of raw materials enables the organisation to supply a constant flow of service or product outputs. Healthy cash flow is essential if business is t o respond to changing demands and requirements in any production activity. Quality management of resources bring together all inputs, ensuring that these are timely and consistent that will achieve quality products and an effective, efficient workforce. Employee’s need to understand the needs of the customer and what they actually require. By understanding who the customers are, both internally and externally, and actively listening to the customers to identify their needs, the employees can then check that customer needs have been met.Proactively engaging with customers to understand their needs and gaining feedback will highlight areas for improvement. Employee attitudes can affect an organisation's growth and profitability. Early detection and resolution of employee attitude problems can minimize the effect of poor performance and strained relationships within the workplace. Recent organisational changes may have contributed to changes in employee attitudes that may not ha ve clearly described the role requirements. Employee’s attitudes may have changed based on the availability of resources necessary to perform their job functions or because of poor relationships with supervisors and managers. In some cases, the employee's job functions may be too challenging for their skill set.Training informally or formally utilising mentoring, coaching or external facilitation may be required. To perform their job role according to the organisational standards, employees must have the correct equipment and resources. The equipment needs to be in good condition and the employees must have the knowledge and training to properly use the equipment to enhance the quality of their work. Retaining customers through effective customer service enables easier growth, indirectly and directly by sustaining healthier volumes and margins, and by business expansion from word-of-mouth referrals. An improved level of customer retention through effective customer service al so improves staff morale, motivation and an increased productivity.Improved employee morale and motivation resulting from reducing customer attrition also positively benefits staff retention and turnover. Improving customer service, especially empowering and listening to customer service staff, offers many organisations a bigger return on investment. Employees who follow established procedures and guidelines for customer service and who are committed to customer needs, presenting themselves in a polite manner even under situations of high pressure can quickly attend to the customer’s requirements. Understanding the level of service required ensuring quality procedures are followed in providing services and taking corrective actions where possible to meet the customer’s needs will re-enforce the organisations commitment to service quality.Providing frequent and clear concise communication from management on what is expected and how the service is to be performed will su pport established policies and procedures. Providing employees with constructive feedback to help them understand how the service is to be performed and what management expects from the service, will provide employees with product and service knowledge so they can perform their jobs in a professional manner. Training employees in the correct methods of performing the service and how to communicate effectively with customers, supervisors and with other employees will enhance professionalism within the organisation.The quality of service delivers results in customer satisfaction and their retention, as it reinforces the perception that the value of the service received is greater than the price paid for it. Promises are made to consumers by organisations advertising using sales promotions and sales staff to promote products and services. These promises may be explicitly stated or they may be implied that the organisation can offer these services. If the organisation does not provide t he service that is promised, there is a gap between what customers expect and the service received. To increase customer exposure, organisations are tempted to make promises that may be difficult or even impossible to deliver.Communication through these channels tends to raise customer expectations and set certain standards to assess the service in the minds of customers. Any discrepancy between promised and actual service tends to broaden the customer gap. The tendency to over promise increases with pressure to achieve greater profits or to meet competitive claims. In both cases, severe damage to the organisations image can occur since it is unlikely the organisation can fulfil the service as promised. Each organisation should ensure that what they say they can offer, they will give to the customer as promised. This forms the backbone of the service bundle established by the organisation to achieve expected customer service.

Monday, July 29, 2019

California State teaching requirements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

California State teaching requirements - Essay Example There is also a PDF file which covers the teachers requirements in order to conform with the of the â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act 2001†. This is a well set out over 43 pages, covering everything in a bullet pointed of diagrammatical format and is very easy to comprehend. There are certain standards that must be maintained by teaching staff and these are laid down both on a national and state basis. The National Board of Professional Teaching standards (NBPTS) website outlines the range of standards which teachers should seek certification in. These cover a range of areas: - A number of the above are broken down into various age sectors such as 3-8, 7-12 and early adolescence. Each section is presented in an easy to follow format, which leads you through every step of the process of regulation and certification. California’s teaching standards are essentially based upon the NBPTS standards described. However in this case they are contained within six areas of best teachers techniques. This can be view by visiting the California department of Education (CDE) website and following the links for professional development. In the section marked teaching. In this area there are PDF files available that cover the requirements of the â€Å"No child left behind Act† together with National and State standards. The CDE website also provide details of content (achievement) standards and curriculum frameworks. The content standards cover six key learning areas over, in total 1038 pages. The curriculum framework covers eight subjects over a total of 1992 page. However, one does not have to read all of these documents, concentrating instead on the subject areas in which one is going to be concentrating. In general terms I found that both the NBPTS and CDE websites easy to follow and the subject matter contained within them produced on a step-by-step basis which made it a simplified system to follow. More detailed information was available once one had selected the

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Female Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Female Economy - Essay Example Research suggests that private wealth in America is most likely to grow by sixty percent in the year 2020 (Silverstein & Sayre, 48, 2009). It also suggests that fifty percent of this wealth would go to women. Although women have contributed positively in several fields, yet they experience discrimination and are often underestimated. They are often labeled, differentiated on basis of age or salary, characterized on basis of typical women concept or are incompetent as compared to men. This paper seeks to analyze the issue of gender differentiation and discrimination in the business domain in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. Frequently, women are discriminated and often underestimated because of several reasons including chauvinist viewpoints, opposing and clashing policies, stereotyped, discrimination on basis of age, etc. Frequently, they are considered to be incompetent as compared to their male counterparts. Research suggests that in financial institutions, women are most likely to experience such characterizations and differentiations (Silverstein & Sayre, 52, 2009). Females in the financial industry and its institutions have made massive attempts and struggles in order to advance in their careers. However, it should be noted that women in the financial domain have the necessary education as well as the experience, yet they do not get promotions because of constant stereotype, labeling and the general culture of the corporate. Research suggests that women employed in financial services are often underestimated and their supervisors and colleagues often talk to them as if they do not have the basic knowledge on the subject. Company Profile Dresdner Kleinwort was founded in the year 1995. During this time, Kleinwort Benson had been acquired by the Dresdner Bank. Additionally, it gained global recognition by means of "the acquisition of the US investment bank Wasserstein Perella in the year 2001" (Christopher, 107, 2010). Its branch in Frankfurt has been successful in commencement of "trade in emission credits" (Christopher, 107, 2010). However, in the year 2008, the company experienced downfall when it's Mergers and Acquisition Department was shut in the year 2008 by Commerzbank. In the year 2009, its office in Japan was shut down. The management of Commerzbank asserted that no additional benefits or bonuses would be given to the Commerzbank group including Dresdner Kleinwort" (Christopher, 108, 2010). In the year 2010, six female employees of Dresdner Kleinwort filed a case against the investment bank because of gender discrimination and differentiation. The case was filed because they did not receive promotions and th eir pay was less as compared to their male counterparts. The case was filed because its female employees were treated as second-class workers. A study conducted in United States demonstrated that more than seventy percent of top management positions were occupied by white males in finance and banking industry. Analysis Environment Dresdner Kleinwort is considered to be a medium sized banking firm, which offers several diverse services and products related to finance. The services which it provides include "capital market products, foreign exchange derivatives and options, loans, collateralized

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Ethical Use of Assessment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Use of Assessment - Research Paper Example As a function of this, this particular analysis will seek to analyze the way in which school counselors are employing a new variety of risk assessment tools in order to draw inference on key levels of violent tendencies or anti-social behavior. Naturally, such models are not in and of themselves a perfect or all encompassing tool due to the fact that many individuals who have exhibited the type of sociopathic tendencies that have become the thing of nationwide news never exhibited any known or verifiable symptoms; however, it is nonetheless a key area of growth into which the high school counselor can seek to polish his/her skill level as a means of seeking to draw down the very real level of risks that currently exists within our current educational system. Naturally, one of the most important functions of this particular tool of violent risk assessment is to help to provide a level of information with regards to the propensity of a given student to display potentially harmful behav ior both to themselves, their loved ones, or those within the educational environment. As a means of reviewing the effectiveness of such an approach, a litany of studies has sought to measure such a determinant within the recent past. Several of these studies, such as the one Bernes and Bardick, indicated that school bullying was oftentimes a key determinant of violent behavior that is one of the few warning signs that the school counselor has the ability to be aware of (Bernes et al 2007). In such a way, seeking to implement the given assessment tools to both of the affected parties within a situation in which bullying takes place is a fundamental starting point in seeking to provide insight into one of the key and causal areas that affects upon the level of violence. Other studies have indicated that despite violence prevention efforts, one of the most powerful mechanisms in which school officials can seek to both deter and understand the existence of violent behavior and its prec ipitating factors is to ensure that the seriousness and extent of violent and pre-violent behavior within the student body is a determinant that is thoroughly and thoughtfully weighed by the shareholders within the process (McAdams 2011). With regards to the ethical concerns of enacting such an assessment tool, there are few if any that have been uncovered as a function of the research that has been employed within this brief analysis. Moreover, the fact of the matter is with regards to the application of the assessment tool, the ethical concerns that are presented with regards to utilizing such a tool are far outweighed by the ethical concerns of not implementing it at all. In other words, the dangers associated with not putting into place such a tool of analysis are far greater than the ethical concerns that might be endangered by putting one into place (Cawood 2010). Lastly, with respect to how such a tool of assessment would integrate with different ethnic and culturally diverse groups, the level of assessment and the individual assessment tools that have thus far been listed work across these groups and provide the same level of inference. This in and of itself is important to note due to the fact that few of the other assessment tools that could be put into place or utilized by a high school counselor would have the same level of

Friday, July 26, 2019

Using psychological skills training to develop soccer performance Essay

Using psychological skills training to develop soccer performance - Essay Example The aforementioned intervention program was comprised of relaxation, imagery and self-talk on position specific performance measures. Using a multiple-baseline across individuals design, five participants had three performance subcomponents assessed across nine competitive matches. The results of the study indicated the position specific intervention to enable at least small improvements on the three dependent variables for each participant. Social validation data indicated all participants to perceive the intervention as being successful and appropriate to their needs. Following a discursive analysis of the data, the research findings are presented. The findings provide further evidence to suggest the efficacy of sport, and position-specific interventions. Despite interest in applied psychology, evidenced in the increase in the studies examining the efficacy of psychological skills on sporting performance (e.g., Patrick & Hrycaiko, 1998; Rogerson & Hrycaiko, 2002; Thelwell & Greenlees, 2003), knowledge remains limited. Limitation has been determined by the scarcity of studies on the efficacy of psychological skills within an open skilled, team sport setting (Kendall, Hrycaiko, Martin, & Kendall, 1990; McPherson, 2000). Consequently, the present study sought to address the aforementioned shortcoming through the articulation of a role specific intervention for soccer midfielders, while examining the intervention's efficacy on role specific subcomponents, such as the execution of successful tackles, the completion of successful passes, and ability to control the ball (Luongo, 1996). Of the few studies which have examined the pertinence of psychological skills to sporting performance, only a minority has examined performance sub-components. Using a multiple-baseline design across subjects, Swain and Jones (1995) applied a goal setting intervention targeting specific basketball subcomponents. Each participant's performance subcomponents were assessed through the first half of the competitive season. Mid-season, participants were requested to select one performance subcomponent which they perceived beneficial to improvement. Using goal setting approaches to the targeted behavior, 3 of the 4 participants experienced improvement in their targeted area. No changes were evident in non-targeted behaviors. The practical implication was that while psychological skills benefit performance, performers cannot transfer acquired skills to alternative situations without understanding the how and why of their targeted utilization. Identification of the varying requirements of soccer midfielders is prerequisite to the utilization of psychological skills intervention. A primary requirement is the ability to cover great distances within 90-minutes, as supported by numerous scientific studies (e.g., Reilly, 1996; Rienzi, Drust, Reilly, Carter & Martin, 2000). Studies on elite English Premier League midfield soccer players confirm the necessity of the capacity to run approximately 12,000m per match (Strudwick & Reilly, 2001)., consequent to midfielders being required to both link the defensive and forward and act as both offensive and defensive when, and as, required. A soccer midfielder is further required to carry out complex motor skills, to possess finely tuned perceptual skills and to have advanced decision-making skills. As activity is prolonged, fatigue sets in and skill command becomes difficult (Taylor, 1995). The exigencies of exploring relaxation

Statistical Analysis (FINAL) Unit 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Statistical Analysis (FINAL) Unit 5 - Essay Example Through the groups formed we intend to find out if age is a factor that affects job satisfaction or not. Using the central measures of tendency, mean mode and median we therefore can determine the variation in job satisfaction. From the mean; we want to determine the average value of the observations in the intrinsic ,extrinsic and overall job satisfaction. This gives us a picture of where we expect the values of the different observations to lie. From the results, of the findings we have 5.336 as the mean for the intrinsic ,4.54 for the extrinsic and 4.352 for the overall job satisfaction mean. All this values of the findings lie centrally placed when compared to other observations in the data. The median gives a picture of where the central value of all the observations I the data lie. From this we have the values,5.4, 5.75, and 4.63 for the median of the overall observations ad finally the extrinsic observations, intrinsic observations in that order. These values when keenly looked at are close to the mid values in the observations in the data. The mode also gives us the values that appear most times in the data. From this data we learn that the mode is 6.8, 5.33 and 8 for the overall values, intrinsic and extrinsic value s in that order. The mode is almost the central value for all the observations. From the measures of central tendency, we see that using age as a grouping factor we find that the results gi

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Comparison of two medieval theocracies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparison of two medieval theocracies - Essay Example Yet though both cultures developed theocratic systems of government during the medieval period, we will see that they came to that system of government through very different means and enacted quite different measures to secure and maintain that system. First, though, we should consider the nature of theocracy itself. In a theocratic government, religion forms the basis for political decisions. Government leadership and religious leadership are synonymous, since faith in the governing religion is a prerequisite to political power. Religious texts and tenets provide the backbone for civil law and government. Those members of a theocratic society who do not espouse the prevailing faith may be disenfranchised at best and persecuted at worst. Such was the case when Christianity became the prevailing religion in Western Europe during the Middle Ages — an ironic development since Christians themselves had been a persecuted class in the Roman Empire from the time of Nero (54-68) until the emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity in the early 300s (Tierney). The dramatic power shift led to the most significant power struggle of the medieval period in Europe: the uneasy problem of church and state. Constantine had brought the church to a position of previously unimagined power, but in return, he expected the unwavering alliance of the church — in matters of faith as well as matters of government, as the great debate over the Arian and Nicene faiths in the 300s demonstrated. The challenge was that Christianity had to win over strong, existing systems of government and people whose religious were as sophisticated and compelling (and sometimes more fun) than Christianity. How could a theocracy come to bear in a system of existing governments? The church was inventive — it assimilated pagan traditions to make its asceticism more

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Paraphrase - Essay Example If a firm is operating at or near capacity, it is not very likely to instigate a price war because it wants to raise its prices to increase profits. Also, a firm may not have the resources to dramatically reduce the price of a significant product. 6. â€Å"Pricing cooperation is more likely to emerge in markets where one firm raises a price and competitors follow suit and market shares remain unchanged. It is less likely to work well in markets where price matching may not leave market shares constant. Evaluate this statement. Can you think of circumstances under which price matching behavior could alter market shares? Greater prices will always benefit a company. Also, it is easier for a company to observe higher prices rather than lower prices. In this instance, the price of a good acts like an identical feature of the market. A firm that could gain a significant market share due to reducing prices would be inclined to employ price matching behavior. Firms that are perceived to produce high quality products may also think about this strategy. 7. Suppose that you were an industry analyst trying to determine whether the leading firms in the automobile manufacturing industry are playing a tit-for-tat pricing game. What real-world data would you want to examine? What would you consider to be evidence of tit-for-tat pricing? The real-world data that I would want to consider would be the advertised price for a product. To get a better understanding of the market, I would compare the current price with the last financial period. 8. Studies of pricing in the airline industry show that carriers that dominate hub airports (Delta in Atlanta, USAir in Pittsburgh, American in Dallas) tend to charge higher fares on average for flights into and out of the hub airport than other, non-dominant carriers flying in and out of the hub. What might explain this pattern of prices? First of all, carriers that

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Discuss Issues Related with the Police and Use Force Policies Essay

Discuss Issues Related with the Police and Use Force Policies - Essay Example As per the City of Edmonds Police Policy Manual section 1.3.1 use of force should be reasonable and needed to either arrest a person or control a situation. Officers should follow the rules and regulations of the department while using force. The manual differentiates between the words â€Å"force†, and â€Å"deadly force†. Force is â€Å"Physical action taken by an officer to assist that officer in controlling a situation or the behavior of others†, while deadly force is â€Å"The intentional application of force through the use of firearms or any other means reasonably likely to cause death or serious bodily injury† (MRSC). According to the Seattle Police Department Directives (2005) the use of force is applied as per the provisions of the RCW 9A. 16.010 and 9A16.020, depending on the overall situation emerging out of the circumstances. Types of situations demanding the use of force can be identified but upcoming scenarios cannot be guessed prior to their happening compelling the police officers to use force (Seattle Police Department). Police use of force, according to Engel (2008) has been an issue of research by different methods and statistical techniques that include not only official data sources but data from keen social observations, ethnographic research, officer surveys, citizen surveys and their analysis. Yet the scholarly research has not produced a comprehensive picture of the use force policies, leave alone the regular monitoring of the police use of force. Scholars like Garner, Maxwell, and Heraux, 2002; Hickman et al., 2008; Terrill and Mastrofski, 2002, have acknowledged the different parameters of monitoring the use of force. As a result it becomes difficult to explain the differences in results on the studies made on these subjects. The issue of monitoring the use of force is related to use force policies. Although these differences in the concept and monitoring of use of force have been identified by the

Monday, July 22, 2019

Give Five Difference on Quality Assurance and Quality Control Essay Example for Free

Give Five Difference on Quality Assurance and Quality Control Essay Quality Assurance (Qa) Qa Is Process that is use to Create  amp; enforce standard amp; guideline to improve the Quality of  Soiftware Process amp; Prevent Bug from the Application Quality assuranceis a process in which all the roles are  guided and moniteered to accomplish their tasks right from  the starting of the process till the end Quality Assurance:- customer satisfication by providing value for their money by always supplying quality product as per customer specification and delivery requirement. Quality Control: QC is evaluating the product,identifying the defects and suggesting improvements for the same. It is oriented towards Detection eg:Testing. Quality Control is a system of routine technical activites,   to measure and control the quality of the inventory as it   is being developed. Quality Control includes general methods such as accuracy  checks on data acquisition and calculation and the use of  approved standardised procedure for emission calculations,   measurements, estimating uncertainites, archiving  informations and reporting. Quality Control (QC)Qc is a process that is use to Find Bug  From The Product , as early as possible amp; make sure they  get Fixed   Quality control is a process in which sudden checkings are  conducted on the roles   Quality Control :- QC is evaluating the product,identifying the defects and suggesting improvements for the same. It is oriented towards Detection eg:Testing. What are 8 principles of total quality management and key benefits the eight principles of TQM: 1. quality can and must be manage 2. everyone has a customer to delight 3. processes, not the people, are the problem 4. very employee is responsible for quality 5. problems must be prevented, not just fixed 6. quality must be measured so it can be controlled 7. quality improvements must be continuos 8. quality goals must be base on customer requirements. The concept of TQM (Total Quality Management) Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950s and has steadily become more po pular since the early 1980s. Total Quality is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the companys operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations. Total Quality Management, TQM, is a method by which management and employees can become involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is a combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful practices. Some of the companies who have implemented TQM include Ford Motor Company, Phillips Semiconductor, SGL Carbon, Motorola and Toyota Motor Company. TQM Defined TQM is a management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions (marketing, finance, design, engineering, and production, customer service, etc. ) to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational objectives. TQM views an organization as a collection of processes. It maintains that organizations must strive to continuously improve these processes by incorporating the knowledge and experiences of workers. The simple objective of TQM is Do the right things, right the first time, every time. TQM is infinitely variable and adaptable. Although originally applied to manufacturing operations, and for a number of years only used in that area, TQM is now becoming recognized as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector organizations. There are a number of evolutionary strands, with different sectors creating their own versions from the common ancestor. TQM is the foundation for activities, hich include: * Commitment by senior management and all employees * Meeting customer requirements * Reducing development cycle times * Just In Time/Demand Flow Manufacturing * Improvement teams Reducing product and service costs * Systems to facilitate improvement * Line Management ownership * Employee involvement and empowerment * Recognition and celebration * Challenging quantified goals and benchmarking * Focus on processes / improvement plans * Specific incorporation in strategic planning This shows that TQM must be practiced in all activities, by all personnel, in Manufacturing, Marketing, Engine ering, R;amp;D, Sales, Purchasing, HR, etc. The core of TQM is the customer-supplier interfaces, both externally and internally, and at each interface lie a number of processes. This core must be surrounded by commitment to quality, communication of the quality message, and recognition of the need to change the culture of the organization to create total quality. These are the foundations of TQM, and they are supported by the key management functions of people, processes and systems in the organization. Difference between Product Quality and Process Quality 1. Product quality means we concentrate always final quality but in case of process quality we set the process parameterProduct quality means we concentrate quality of product that is fit for intended use and as per customer requirement. In the case of process quality we control our rejection rate such that in-house rejection is at minimum level. | | 2. Product quality means we concentrate always final quality but in case of process quality we set the process parameter 3. Product quality is the quality of the final product made. While Process quality means the quality of every process involved in the manufacturing of the final product. 4. Product quality  is focusing on meeting tolerances in the end result of the manufacturing activities. The end result is measured on a standard of good enough. Process quality focuses on each activity and forces the activities to achieve  maximum tolerances  irrespective of the end result. Something like a paint can manufacturer, the can and the lid need to match. A product quality focus on whether the paint can and lid fit tight enough but not too tight. This focus would require cans to be inspected and a specific ratio of defective would be expected. Process quality, the can making activities would be evaluated on its ability to to make the can opening exactly 6. 000 inches. The lid making would be evaluated on its ability to make  lids  6. 10 inches. No cans would be defective if the distribution of output sizes is narrow enough. The goal of process quality is to force narrow variance in product output to be able to expect close tolerances. This focus on process quality typically generates higher product quality as a secondary outcome. 5. When we talk about software quality assurance, we often discuss process measurements, proces s improvements, productivity increase, quality improvement etc. And when we talk about quality improvement, mostly people think about product quality improvement. Most of the time people forget about process quality improvement. In fact, people find it difficult to differentiate between product quality and process quality. Let us find out the difference! During software development we have work products like requirement specifications, software design, software code, user documentation, etc. Quality of any of these work products can be done by measuring its attributes and finding of they are good enough. For instance, a requirement specification may be ambiguous or even wrong. In that case, quality of that requirement specification is bad. So during quality assurance audit (peer review, inspection etc. ), this defect can be caught so that it can be rectified. During software development project, a lot of processes are followed. The top processes are the project processes like project initiation, project planning, project monitoring, and project closure. Then we have development processes like  requirement development, software design, software coding, software testing and software release. All of these processes are not executed perfectly on any project. Improvement in these processes can be achieved if we have audits of these processes. For instance, these audits are done by using standards like CMM (Capability Maturity Model). These standards dictate as to how any project or development process needs to be executed on any project. If any process step is deviating too much from these standards then that process step needs to be improved. The most important job of any software quality assurance department is to audit and ensure that all processes on projects being executed in that organization adhere to these standards and so quality of these processes (project amp; development) is good enough. Effect of ISO on Society Society ISO standards help governments, civil society and the business world translate societal aspirations, such as for social responsibility, health, and safe food and water, into concrete realizations. In so doing, they support the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. Social responsibility 1 November 2010 saw the publication of ISO 26000 which gives organizations guidance on social responsibility, with the objective of sustainability. The standard was eagerly awaited, as shown by the fact that a mere four months after its publication, a Google search resulted in nearly five million references to the standard. This indicates there is a global expectation for organizations in both public and private sectors to be responsible for their actions, to be transparent, and behave in an ethical manner. ISO 26000, developed with the engagement of experts from 99 countries, the majority from developing economies, and more than 40 international  organizations, will help move from good intentions about social responsibility to effective action. Health ISO offers more than 1 400 standards for facilitating and improving health-care. These are developed within 19 ISO technical committees addressing specific aspects of healthcare that bring together health practitioners and experts from government, industry and other stakeholder categories. Some of the topics addressed include health informatics, laboratory equipment and testing, medical devices and their evaluation, dentistry, sterilization of healthcare products, implants for surgery, biological evaluation, mechanical contraceptives, prosthetics and orthotics, quality management and protecting patient data. They provide benefits for researchers, manufacturers, regulators, health-care professionals, and, most important of all, for patients. The World Health Organization is a major stakeholder in this work, holding liaison status with 61 of ISO’s health-related technical committees (TCs) or subcommittees (SCs). Food There are some 1 000 ISO food-related standards benefitting producers and manufacturers,  regulators and testing laboratories, packaging and transport companies, merchants and retailers, and the end consumer. In recent years, there has been strong emphasis on standards to ensure safe food supply chains. At the end of 2010, five years after the publication of ISO 22000, the standard was being implemented by users in 138 countries. At least 18 630 certificates of conformity attesting that food safety management systems were being implemented according to the requirements of the standard, had been issued by the end of 2010, an increase of 34 % over the previous year. The level of inter-governmental interest in ISO’s food standards is shown by the fact that the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organizations has liaison status with 41 ISO TCs or SCs. Water The goals of safe water and improved sanitation are ingrained in the UN Millennium Development Goals. ISO is contributing through the development of standards for both drinking water and wastewater services and for water quality. Related areas addressed by ISO include irrigation systems and plastic piping through which water flows. In all, ISO has developed more than 550 water-related standards. A major partner in standards for water quality is the United Nations Environment Programme. The Waterfall Model was first Process Model to be introduced. It is also referred to as a  linear-sequential life cycle model. It is very simple to understand and use. In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed fully before the next phase can begin. At the end of each phase, a review takes place to determine if the project is on the right path and whether or not to continue or discard the project. In waterfall model phases do not overlap. Diagram of Waterfall-model: Advantages of waterfall model: * Simple and easy to understand and use. * Easy to manage due to the rigidity of the model – each phase has specific deliverables and a review process. Phases are processed and completed one at a time. * Works well for smaller projects where requirements are very well understood. Disadvantages of waterfall model: * Once an application is in the  testing  stage, it is very difficult to go back and change something that was not well-thought out in the concept stage. * No working software is produced until late during the life cycle. * High amounts of risk and uncertainty. * Not a good model for complex and object-oriented projects. * Poor model for long and ongoing projects. Not suitable for the projects where requirements are at a moderate to high risk of changing. When to use the waterfall model: * Requirements are very well known, clear and fixed. * Product definition is stable. * Technology is understood. * There are no ambiguous requirements * Ample resources with required expertise are available freely * The project is short. The basic idea here is that instead of freezing the requirements before a design or coding can proceed, a throwaway prototype is built to understand the requirements. This prototype is developed based on the currently known requirements. By using this prototype, the client can get an â€Å"actual feel† of the system, since the interactions with prototype can enable the client to better understand the requirements of the desired system. Prototyping is an attractive idea for complicated and large systems for which there is no manual process or existing system to help determining the requirements. The prototype are usually not complete systems and many of the details are not built in the prototype. The goal is to provide a system with overall functionality. Diagram of Prototype model: Advantages of Prototype model: Users are actively involved in the development * Since in this methodology a working model of the system is provided, the users get a better understanding of the system being developed. * Errors can be detected much earlier. * Quicker user feedback is available leading to better solutions. * Missing functionality can be identified easily * Confusing or difficult functions can be identified Requirements validation, Quick implementation of, incomplete, but functional, application. Disadvantages of Prototype model: * Leads to implementing and then repairing way of building systems. Practically, this methodology may increase the complexity of the system as scope of the system may expand beyond original plans. * Incomplete application may cause application not to be used as the full system was designed Incomplete or inadequate problem analysis. When to use Prototype model: * Prototype model should be used when the desired system needs to have a lot of interaction with the end users. * Typically, online systems, web interfaces have a very high amount of interaction with end users, are best suited for Prototype model. It might take a while for a system to be built that allows ease of use and needs minimal training for the end user. * Prototyping ensures that the end users constantly work with the system and provide a feedback which is incorporated in the prototype to result in a useable system. They are excellent for designing good human computer interface systems. In incremental model the whole requirement is divided into various builds. Multiple development cycles take place here, making the life cycle aâ€Å"multi-waterfall† cycle. Cycles are divided up into smaller, more easily managed modules. Each module passes through the requirements, design, mplementation and  testingphases. A working version of software is produced during the first module, so you have working software early on during the  software life cycle. Each subsequent release of the module adds function to the previous release. The process continues till the complete system is achieved. For example: In the diagram above when we work  incrementally  we are adding piece by piece but expect that each piece is fully finished. Thus keep on adding the pieces until it’s complete. Diagram of Incremental model: Advantages of Incremental model: * Generates working software quickly and early during the software life cycle. More flexible – less costly to change scope and requirements. * Easier to test and debug during a smaller iteration. * Customer can respond to each built. * Lowers initial delivery cost. * Easier to manage risk because risky pieces are identified and handled during it’d iteration. Disadvantages of Incremental model: * Needs good planning and design. * Needs a clear and complete definition of the whole system before it can be broken down and built incrementally. * Total cost is higher than  waterfall. When to use the Incremental model: * Requirements of the complete system are clearly defined and understood. Major requirements must be defined; however, some detail s can evolve with time. * There is a need to get a product to the market early. * A new technology is being used * Resources with needed skill set are not available * There are some high risk features and goals. Difference between spiral model and incremental model Incremental Development Incremental Development is a practice where the system functionalities are sliced into increments (small portions). In each increment, a vertical slice of functionality is delivered by going through all the activities of the software development process, from the requirements to the deployment. Incremental Development (adding) is often used together with Iterative Development (redo) in software development. This is referred to as Iterative and Incremental Development (IID). Spiral model The Spiral Model is another IID approach that has been formalized by Barry Boehm in the mid-1980s as an extension of the Waterfall to better support iterative development and puts a special emphasis on risk management (through iterative risk analysis). 4 Reasons to Use Fishbone Diagrams The fishbone diagram, or the cause and effect diagram, is a simple graphic display that shows all the possible causes of a problem in a business process. It is also called the Ishakawa diagram. Fishbone diagrams are useful due to how they portray information. There are 4 Main Reasons to use a Fishbone Diagram: 1. Display relationships   The fishbone diagram captures the associations and relationships among the potential causes and effects displayed in the diagram. These relationships can be easily understood. 2. Show all causes simultaneously   Any cause or causal chain featured on the fishbone diagram could be contributing to the problem. The fishbone diagram illustrates each and every possible cause in an easily comprehendible way; this makes it a great tool for presenting the problem to stakeholders. 3. Facilitate brainstorming   The fishbone diagram is a great way to stimulate and structure brainstorming about the causes of the problem because it captures all the causes. Seeing the fishbone diagram may stimulate your team to explore possible solutions to the problems. 4. Help maintain team focus   The fishbone framework can keep your team focused as you discuss what data needs to be gathered. It helps ensure that everyone is collecting information in the most efficient and useful way, and that nobody is wasting energy chasing nonexistent problems. Agile software development is a group of software development methods based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change. It is a conceptual framework that promotes foreseen interactions throughout the development cycle. Rapid application development (RAD) is a software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The planning of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself. The lack of extensive pre-planning generally allows software to be written much faster, and makes it easier to change requirements. Code and fix Code and fix development is not so much a deliberate strategy as an artifact of naivete and schedule pressure on software developers. [5] Without much of a design in the way, programmers immediately begin producing code. At some point, testing begins (often late in the development cycle), and the inevitable bugs must then be fixed before the product can be shipped. See also: Continuous integration and Cowboy coding What Are the Benefits of Pareto Analysis? A Pareto analysis is an observation of causes of problems that occur in either an organization or daily life, which is then displayed in a histogram. A histogram is a chart that prioritizes the causes of problems from the greatest to the least severe. The Pareto analysis is based on the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, which states that 20 percent of effort yields 80 percent of results. For example, if an individual sells items on eBay, he should focus on 20 percent of the items that yield 80 percent of sales. According to Mindtools. com, a Pareto analysis enables individuals to make effective changes. Organizational Efficiency * A Pareto analysis requires that individuals list changes that are needed or organizational problems. Once the changes or problems are listed, they are ranked in order from the biggest to the least severe. The problems ranked highest in severity should become the main focus for problem resolution or improvement. Focusing on problems, causes and problem resolution contributes to organizational efficiency. Companies operate efficiently when employees identify the root causes of problems and spend time resolving the biggest problems to yield the greatest organizational benefit. Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills * You can improve your problem-solving skills when you conduct a Pareto analysis, because it enables you to organize work-related problems into cohesive facts. Once youve clearly outlined these facts, you can begin the planning necessary to solve the problems. Members of a group can conduct a Pareto analysis together. Arriving at a group consensus about the issues that require change fosters organizational learning and increases group cohesiveness. * Improved Decision Making * Individuals who conduct a Pareto analysis can measure and compare the impact of changes that take place in an organization. With a focus on resolving problems, the procedures and processes required to make the changes should be documented during a Pareto analysis. This documentation will enable better preparation and improvements in decision making for future changes. BENEFITS OF CONTROL CHARTS 1. Help you recognize and understand variability and how to control it 2. Identify â€Å"special causes† of variation and changes in performance 3. Keep you from fixing a process that is varying randomly within control limits; that is, no â€Å"special causes† are present. If you want to improve it, you have to objectively identify and eliminate the root causes of the process variation 4. Assist in the diagnosis of process problems 5. Determine if process improvement effects are having the desired affects 1st party audit First Party The first party audit is an audit carried out by a company on itself to etermine whether its systems and procedures are consistently improving products and services, and as a means to evaluate conformity with the procedures and the standard. Each second and third party audit should consider the first party audits carried out by the company in question. Ultimately, the only systems that should need to be examined are those of internal audits and reviews. In fact, the second or third parties themselves have to carry out internal or first party audits to ensure their own systems and procedures are meeting business objectives. SECOND PARTY (EXTERNAL) AUDIT Unlike the first party audit, a second party audit is an audit of another organization’s quality program not under the direct control or within the organizational structure of the auditing organization. Second party audits are usually performed by the customer upon its suppliers (or potential suppliers) to ascertain whether or not the supplier can meet existing or proposed contractual requirements. Obviously, the supplier’s quality system is a very important part of contractual requirements since it is directly (manufacturing, engineering, purchasing, quality control, etc. and indirectly (marketing, inside and outside sales, etc. ) responsible for the design, production, control and continued supportability of the product. Although second party audits are usually conducted by customers on their suppliers, it is sometimes beneficial for the customer to contract with an independent quality auditor. This action helps to promote an image of fairness and objectivity on the p art of the customer. THIRD PARTY AUDIT Compared to first and second party audits where auditors are not independent, the third party audit is objective. It is an assessment of an organization’s quality system conducted by an independent, outside auditor or team of auditors. When referring to a third party audit as it applies to an international quality standard such as ISO 9000, the term third party is synonymous with a quality system registrar whose primary responsibility is to assess an organization’s quality system for conformance to that standard and issue a certificate of conformance (upon completion of a successful assessment). Application of IT in supplying Point of sale  (POS) or  checkout  is the place where a retail transaction is completed. It is the point at which a customer makes a payment to a merchant in exchange for goods or services. At the point of sale the merchant would use any of a range of possible methods to calculate the amount owing, such as a manual system, weighing machines, scanners or an electronic cash register. The merchant will usually provide hardware and options for use by the customer to make payment, such as an EFTPOS terminal. The merchant will also normally issue a receipt for the transaction. Functions of IT in marketing Pricing Pricing plays an important role in determining market success and profitability. If you market products that have many competitors, you may face strong price competition. In that situation, you must aim to be the lowest-cost supplier so you can set low prices and still remain profitable. You can overcome low price competition by differentiating your product and offering customers benefits and value that competitors cannot match. Promotion Promotion makes customers and prospects aware of your products and your company. Using promotional techniques, such as advertising, direct marketing, telemarketing or public relations, you can communicate product benefits and build preference for your company’s products. Selling Marketing and selling are complementary functions. Marketing creates awareness and builds preference for a product, helping company sales representatives or retail sales staff sell more of a product. Marketing also supports sales by generating leads for the sales team to follow up. Market segmentation Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers who have common needs, and then designing and implementing strategies to target their needs and desires using media channels and other touch-points that best allow to reach them. Types of segmentation Clickstream behaviour A clickstream is the recording of the parts of the screen a computer user clicks on while web browsing or using another software application. As the user clicks anywhere in the webpage or application, the action is logged on a client or inside the web server, as well as possibly the web browser, router, proxy server or ad server. Clickstream analysis is useful for web activity analysis, software testing, market research, and for analyzing employee productivity. Target marketing A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise towards. A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy. The marketing mix variables of product, place (distribution), promotion and price are the four elements of a marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product in the marketplace. Function of IT in supply chain Making sure the right products are in-store for shoppers as and when they want them is key to customer loyalty. It sounds simple enough, yet why do so many retailers still get it wrong. Demand planning Demand Planning is the art and science of planning customer demand to drive holistic execution of such demand by corporate supply chain and business management. Demand forecasting Demand forecasting is the activity of estimating the quantity of a product or service that consumers will purchase. Demand forecasting involves techniques including both informal methods, such as educated guesses, and quantitative methods, such as the use of historical sales data or current data from test markets. Demand forecasting may be used in making pricing decisions, in assessing future capacity requirements, or in making decisions on whether to enter a new market. Just in time inventory Just in time  (JIT) is a production strategy that strives to improve a business  return on investment  by reducing in-process  inventory  and associated  carrying costs. Continuous Replenishment Continuous Replenishment is a process by which a supplier is notified daily of actual sales or warehouse shipments and commits to replenishing these sales (by size, color, and so on) without stock outs and without receiving replenishment orders. The result is a lowering of associated costs and an improvement in inventory turnover. Supply chain sustainability Supply chain sustainability is a business issue affecting an organization’s supply chain or logistics network in terms of environmental, risk, and waste costs. Sustainability in the supply chain is increasingly seen among high-level executives as essential to delivering long-term profitability and has replaced monetary cost, value, and speed as the dominant topic of discussion among purchasing and supply professionals. Software testing Difference between defect, error, bug, failure and fault: â€Å"A mistake in coding is called error ,error found by tester is called defect,   defect accepted by development team then it is called bug ,build does not meet the requirements then it Is failure. † Error:  A discrepancy between a computed, observed, or measured value or condition and the true, specified, or theoretically correct value or condition. This can be a misunderstanding of the internal state of the software, an oversight in terms of memory management, confusion about the proper way to calculate a value, etc. Failure:  The inability of a system or component to perform its required functions within specified performance requirements. See: bug, crash, exception, and fault. Bug: A fault in a program which causes the program to perform in an unintended or unanticipated manner. See: anomaly, defect, error, exception, and fault. Bug is terminology of Tester. Fault:  An incorrect step, process, or data definition in a computer program which causes the program to perform in an unintended or unanticipated manner. See: bug, defect, error, exception. Defect: Commonly refers to several troubles with the software products, with its external behaviour or with its internal features. Regression testing Regression testing is any type of software testing that seeks to uncover new software bugs, or regressions, in existing functional and non-functional areas of a system after changes, such as enhancements, patches or configuration changes, have been made to them. Verification and Validation example is also given just below to this table. Verification|   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Validation| 1. Verification is a static practice of verifying documents, design, code and program. 1. Validation is a dynamic mechanism of validating and testing the actual product. | 2. It does not involve executing the code. | 2. It always involves executing the code. | 3. It is human based checking of documents and files. | 3. It is computer based execution of program. | 4. Verification uses methods like inspections, reviews, walkthroug hs, and Desk-checking etc. | 4. Validation uses methods like black box (functional)   testing, gray box testing, and white box (structural) testing etc. | 5. Verification  is to check whether the software conforms to specifications. | 5. Validation  is to check whether software meets the customer expectations and requirements. | 6. It can catch errors that validation cannot catch. It is low level exercise. | 6. It can catch errors that verification cannot catch. It is High Level Exercise. | 7. Target is requirements specification, application and software architecture, high level, complete design, and database design etc. | 7. Target is actual product-a unit, a module, a bent of integrated modules, and effective final product. | 8. Verification is done by QA team to ensure that the software is as per the specifications in the SRS document. 8. Validation is carried out with the involvement of testing team. | 9. It generally comes first-done before validation. | 9. It generally follows after verification. | Differences Between Black Box Testing and White Box Testing Criteria| Black Box Testing| White Box Testing| Definition| Black Box Testing is a software testing method in which the internal structure/ design/ imple mentation of the item being tested is NOT known to the tester| White Box Testing is a software testing method in which the internal structure/ design/ implementation of the item being tested is known to the tester. Levels Applicable To| Mainly applicable to higher levels of testing: Acceptance TestingSystem Testing| Mainly applicable to lower levels of testing: Unit TestingIntegration Testing| Responsibility| Generally, independent Software Testers| Generally, Software Developers| Programming Knowledge| Not Required| Required| Implementation Knowledge| Not Required| Required| Basis for Test Cases| Requirement Specifications| Detail Design| A programmer, computer programmer, developer, coder, or software engineer is a person who writes computer software. A quality assurance officer implements strategic plans, supervises quality assurance personnel and is responsible for budgets and allocating resources for a quality assurance division or branch. Levels of testing In  computer programming,  unit testing  is a method by which individual units of  source code, sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures, are tested to determine if they are fit for use. Intuitively, one can view a unit as the smallest testable part of an application. Integration testing (sometimes called Integration and Testing, abbreviated Iamp;T) is the phase in software testing in which individual software modules are combined and tested as a group. System testing of software or hardware is testing conducted on a complete, integrated system to evaluate the systems compliance with its specified requirements. System testing falls within the scope of black box testing, and as such, should require no knowledge of the inner design of the code or logic. In engineering and its various sub disciplines, acceptance testing is a test conducted to determine if the requirements of a specification or contract are met. It may involve chemical tests, physical tests, or performance tests. In systems engineering it may involve black-box testing performed on a system (for example: a piece of software, lots of manufactured mechanical parts, or batches of chemical products) prior to its delivery. Software developers often distinguish acceptance testing by the system provider from acceptance testing by the customer (the user or client) prior to accepting transfer of ownership. In the case of software, acceptance testing performed by the customer is known as user acceptance testing (UAT), end-user testing, site (acceptance) testing, or field (acceptance) testing. A sample testing cycle Although variations exist between organizations, there is a typical cycle for testing. The sample below is common among organizations employing the Waterfall development model. Requirements analysis: Testing should begin in the requirements phase of the software development life cycle. During the design phase, testers work with developers in determining what aspects of a design are testable and with what parameters those tests work. Test planning: Test strategy, test plan, testbed creation. Since many activities will be carried out during testing, a plan is needed. Test development: Test procedures, test scenarios, test cases, test datasets, test scripts to use in testing software. Test execution: Testers execute the software based on the plans and test documents then report any errors found to the development team. Test reporting: Once testing is completed, testers generate metrics and make final reports on their test effort and whether or not the software tested is ready for release. Test result analysis: Or Defect Analysis, is done by the development team usually along with the client, in order to decide what defects should be assigned, fixed, rejected (i. e. found software working properly) or deferred to be dealt with later. Defect Retesting: Once a defect has been dealt with by the development team, it is retested by the testing team. AKA Resolution testing. Regression testing: It is common to have a small test program built of a subset of tests, for each integration of new, modified, or fixed software, in order to ensure that the latest delivery has not ruined anything, and that the software product as a whole is still working correctly. Test Closure: Once the test meets the exit criteria, the activities such as capturing the key outputs, lessons learned, results, logs, documents related to the project are archived and used as a reference for future projects. Types of Performance testing Stress testing (sometimes called torture testing) is a form of deliberately intense or thorough testing used to determine the stability of a given system or entity. Usability testing is a technique used in user-centered interaction design to evaluate a product by testing it on users. Volume testing refers to testing a software application with a certain amount of data. This amount can, in generic terms, be the database size or it could also be the size of an interface file that is the subject of volume testing. Maintenance testing is a test that is performed to either identify equipment problems, diagnose equipment problems or to confirm that repair measures have been effective. When it comes to quality management, IT organisations can take a leaf out of industry’s book. Thanks to the success of companies like Toyota and Motorola, methods such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma are gaining rapid popularity. And with good reason. Quality is a good generator of money, and lots of it. Unlike industry, IT has no physical chain. This makes it more difficult at first to be able to take concrete steps towards the implementation of quality management. But the parallels are easily drawn. Regard a satisfied end user as the equivalent of a faultless end product, a carefully conceived system of applications as the equivalent of a streamlined production line and so forth. And similar to industry, things can go wrong in any aspect. The faultless implementation of processes leads to significant savings (and not forgetting satisfied end users). What should you focus on to set up quality management for IT within your own organisation and subsequently make money? The service excellence strategy Organise a strategy of service excellence for the internal IT services, where the optimisation of service to end users receives top priority. After all, poor quality leads to high repair costs. Especially in IT. Resolving incidents costs money (direct costs). And the indirect costs, such as loss of productivity are, though often unobserved, several times these direct costs. Focus on management and service processes The focus within IT is often on the projects and the functionalities of the systems. But to ensure service excellence, the performance of management and service processes are equally important. If these processes are substandard, it could result in a lack of clarity, unnecessary waiting times and – in the worst case scenario – to malfunctions. A reassessment of processes is vital to prevent these discomforts and reduce relevant costs. Measure the effect of failure and errors The effect of failure and errors at the workplace is rarely measured. Organisations often have no idea how much these mistakes are costing them and what the consequences are for the service to their clients. The costs of incidents and malfunctions are easy to calculate by using a few simple rules of thumb. When you do this regularly, it will become clear for everyone where savings can be realised (read: how much money can be made). This will suddenly put the investments made towards achieving higher quality in an entirely new perspective. Use simple, service-oriented KPIs The moment you have insight into what causes the direct and indirect failure and error costs, it’s a small step to define a number of simple and service-oriented KPIs. These KPIs can form the guideline for measuring and improving service quality. Examples of such KPIs are: * The average number of incidents per employee; * The percentage of incidents resolved during the first contact with the helpdesk (the so-called ‘first-time right’ principle); * The percentage of incidents caused by incorrectly implemented changes. Implement a measurement methodology Improvements within a quality system happen on the basis of facts. The collection of facts takes place through measurements within the operational processes, on the basis of preselected metrics (e. . the number of complaints). The key performance indicators (KPIs) show whether a specific objective has been achieved, for example a desired decline in the number of complaints, expressed in percentages. Don’t overestimate the power of ITIL ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) is a collection of best practices for the structuring of operational processes. Many companies have implemented IT IL in an effort to make their service more professional. ITIL lets you lay a good foundation to make the IT service more professional. But beware: it is no quality methodology. It might be good for defining IT processes, but offers no scope for actual improvement. So you will need a separate quality methodology in addition to ITIL. Most organisations require a drastic improvement in the quality of their IT services. Perhaps the realisation that this won’t be costing any money, but will instead generate it, offers the incentive needed to set to work earnestly on the issue. The end result means two birds with one stone: a service-oriented IT company that saves costs, and an IT company that truly supports the end users in carrying out their activities optimally. The Importance of Quality Improvement in Your Business Venture A career in the business industry requires you to be tough and flexible. Business is a difficult venture. You have to make your way through and outperform competitors. Businesses nowadays have also gone global. You have to compete with other business entities from the world over. Because of the tough competition in the business scenes, getting the attention and the trust of customers has become increasingly difficult. This is where quality improvement comes in. Quality plays a vital role in any business. Consumers want the best and want to pay the lowest possible price for products that are of the greatest quality. Moreover, quality is also one of the main components of being able to stay in the game despite the competition around you. Constant quality improvement is important in keeping you afloat. This has to do with eliminating or reducing the losses and waste in the production processes of any business. Quality improvement most often involves the analysis of the performance of your business, products, and services and finding ways to further improve them. There are certain techniques that can help you in achieving quality improvement. Knowing these steps can lead you to improved quality in your business. Benchmarking or comparing your company to the best or the top of the field will also be beneficial. You have to identify what makes an organization or company ‘the best’ and why the consumers want to purchase these products or services. Compare the quality and cost of their products with yours. Also include the processes that use to produce them. This can help you in looking for your own business factors that you have to improve upon for success. Setting up your own internal quality checks is important. You have to ensure that in ach step of making your product, you are meeting the standards of the industry and also providing your customers with the best products. This needs to be done with the least amount of waste and as few resources as possible. You need to be rigid about following the quality checks that your company has put forth. This will save you from having to deal with returned items and pr oducts. It also helps in guaranteeing the satisfaction of your customers. You need to assess your own production and your products. You need to know if these have passed the international standards on quality for the respective industry you do business in. Moreover, measure how your product is doing against others in the market. These are important in order to know what aspects you have to improve. You cannot afford to be forgiving when assessing. You need to be honest and blunt when gauging your own company. This will help you in finding needs for improvement. After assessing, you have to take the steps in making the necessary changes that will lead you to improvement. You may need to change your quality policy or do more research about your products and provide better features. You may also need to conduct training for your employees in order to update them with new methods in your processes. Quality improvement is not just a one-time process. It needs to be continued despite the success that a company or organization is appreciating. Competitors will always try their best to outwit you. And so, you have to continue on improving your products and services in order to offer more to your clients. This will not only lead you to more sales but also to a better reputation in the industry. Keep in mind that it is often more work to stay on top than to get to the top!

Anti Americanism in The Middle East Essay Example for Free

Anti Americanism in The Middle East Essay Anti Americanism in the Middle East is caused by various factors. Some causes are genuine and others are a result of peer pressure or influence by the leaders and radicals. Since the attacks on Washington and New York, the conventional concept and wisdom about the motivation that fuelled such deadly terrorism is gelled. This violence that we are often told is a reaction to misguided and misinterpreted American policies. For many years, some American actions such as its constant support for Israel and for the unpopular, oppressive and marginalizing Arab regimes has supposedly produced profound hatred and grievances throughout the people of Middle East. These grievances and hatred have come to a boil gradually over time, and this explains the constant Arabs attack on America and its allies by the Middle East nations. As much as anti-Americanism is largely spread among Middle East people and governments there is something that is highly misleading in this concept. Middle East’s Muslim and Arab hatred of America is not just, a response to the actual united states policies. The American policies have been highly pro-Muslim and pro Arab over the years. It is clear that such animus is obviously as a result of self-interested incite and manipulation by different influential groups within middle east countries, groups that employ anti-Americanism as a strategy and foil to shift public attention and interest from more serious issues within the middle east society (Katzenstein Keohane, 2007). Anti Americanism is sometimes blamed and associated to the former president George Bush. Bush is a lightning rod behind the anti American feelings in the Middle East. This is because of the multiple wars happened during his tenure in office. Another cause is the American policies systems and power fuel resentment in the world. People from the Middle East are annoyed by the fact that as much as America is a super power it does very little to solve world issues. America has a reputation of backing policies which increase the gap between the poor and the rich. Another cause of anti Americanism in the Middle East is the fact that they have put themselves above the law. The American soldiers have killed many innocent people in the Middle East and no action has been taken against them. When the Islam leaders kill innocent people America leaders arrests and even kill them. Amerce is always bulling the Islam nations by discouraging the building of nuclear yet they have nuclear bombs themselv es. The American leaders like Bush have never been summoned ti the International Criminal Court for charges against Humanity despite the fact that they have caused the death of very many innocent people. The Americans have killed many people with drones which is very inhuman and no action has been taken against them (Hollander, 2004). Anti Americanism in the Middle East is also caused by the fact that America has created a worldwide impression that people from the Middle East are terrorists. People from the Middle East are linked with terrorist activities by America. This has influenced people from other nation’s perception on the Middle East people. When American soldiers attack the Middle East countries they don’t expect them to fight back. The American soldiers kill innocent women and children and when the nations engage in war they are regarded as threat to security. Anti Americanism is caused by the relentless support America gives Israel. The American government has supported Israel in almost all its wars against the Middle East nations. This has proved that America is totally against the Middle East nation and consequently causing the constant hatred between the Middle East people and America. The Washington foreign policy seemed to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Rubin, 2002). Americans prize personal empowerment and prize individualism more than the Arabs in the Middle East. The cultural values in America completely differ with the ones in America. Americans are Christians and the Arabs are Muslims. The countries don’t go along because some things that Arabs practices are considered irrelevant by the Americans. The religious and cultural difference between the two countries has also boosted the anti Americanism. Another factor that has led to the anti Americanism in the Middle East is the conflicting attitudes and policies toward military and security issues. The war in Iraqi and other countries in the Middle East has led to increased tension and negativism from the middle east people. Also the American foreign policy contributes to the hatred. The foreign policy seems to be selfish and against the Middle East. In the American foreign policy it is clear that America has no intention of working together with the Middle East. The foreign policy depic ts Middle East as the threat to world security. Anti Americanism is also contributed by the elite politicians and leaders who incite and preach against the Americans. This makes the people to have hatred towards America without particular reason. The Muslim leaders consider America as the major national threat. This incitement increases anti Americanism as people are influenced by the leaders’ sentiments (Lacorne, 2010) The Media has also contributed to the increasing anti Americanism in the Middle East. The media constantly programs which depict Americans as the enemies. The media portrays America as gods of war who are jealous of other nations. America does not support when the Middle East countries explore the nuclear weapons. The media keeps covering the programs which show the man less American drones roaming in the Middle East. This makes people to have continuous hatred against Americans. The drone issues have increased anti Americanism because it shows they are ready to kill people from Middle East at any time. The Arabs feel like Americans are denying them their freedom rights. They feel that they are always under threat and this makes them to be unsettled. Some tv reporters have been recorded inciting the general public against America. Recently the media majored on the coverage of the anti Muslim video that was released from America. This video clearly showed that some Americans hate the Muslims who are mainly found in the Middle East. The video has also been a major cause of anti Americanism especially with the media paying attention to it (Crockatt, 2003). There is also anti Americanism in the Middle East because there are those children who have been left homeless and orphaned because of the killings and bombings made by the American soldiers. These children grow up with total hatred against the Americans. There are also many people who were victims of the wars and some are friends and family members to people who the American drones killed. This causes people to be bitter thus increasing anti Americanism. The children grow up knowing that America is the cause of their sorrows. They consider Americans as selfish nation which only focuses on its national interests and gains on the expense of innocent peoples life. Anti Americanism has become a culture in the Middle East children are told by their parents that America is bad and they grow up with fixed minds against Americans. This perception is passed from generation to generation in the Middle East (Crockatt, 2003). For many years, anti-Americanism has become and served as a strategy of last resort which unsuccessful, failed political personnel, institution and movements in Middle East strive to improve their reputation and standing. America is accused for so much that goes bad in the Middle East and the general Arab world. This in most cases is used as an explanation or reason for social oppression, political and economic underdevelopment. By issuing responsibility and excuse for their own mistakes and shortcomings to America, Middle East leaders distract their peoples attention from internal differences and weaknesses that form their real grievances. And hence instead of pushing for equality for women, greater privatization, democracy, freedom of speech, due process of law , civil society or other relevant developments issues which are sorely needed in the Middle east, the leaders focus on hating America (Hollander, 2004). Also during the Cold War it was popular for people in the Middle East to portray American policies as anti-Arab. This was despite the concrete evidence in the contrary. This rhetoric became a common convenient strategy for radical regimes and movements to create legitimacy of their own and to refer to their opponents as Western (American) puppets. The nationalist and Islamist Radical Arab regimes also accused America backed governments of ignoring human rights and being antidemocratic to its people, This is despite the fact that the radical regimes in the middle east such as Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Iran have worse records as much as human rights is concerned (Crockatt, 2003). There are various explanations as to why the American actions have been disregarded in Middle East countries. First, whatever the level of U.S failure to comprehend Middle East, the Middle Easterners have greater inability to understand the Americans. Throughout the Middle East movements and leaders have always expect Americans to attack and kill them since they are enemies. This has caused greater tension between the Middle East and America. Secondly, it is vital to understand how tightly news and information is controlled in countries of the Middle East. It isn’t surprising at all those masses, which are shut off from the accurate information to constantly feed on biased antagonistic views which are always hostile and against the Americans. The people who have the capacity to present more accurate picture or information in this case are discouraged by censorship, peer pressure, and fear of being branded American agents. There are also the efforts to reduce all the American policies to a single issue: America support for Israel. The policies and true nature of Israel are also distorted in this context. This element and issue is significant to the salience and anti-Americanism rhetoric. Some people radical Arabs believe that Israel as a country is an evil agent which seeks to dominate the entire Middle East by destroying Islam and killing Arabs. This explains why Arabs view America’s support to Israel as evil. However, the truth, is that America has merely assisted Israel survive constant efforts from Middle East forces to subdue it. The American-Israel relationship was most ambivalent during Israels first years of existence, the United States totally refused to supply ammunitions and other aid. This relationship only intensified during the occurrence of hostile actions from the Arab Middle countries, which aligned with Soviet Union to sponsor the anti-American terrorism. The radicals also want to ensure that America fails in its peace efforts. It also explains why terrorism is always increased by people from the Middle East whenever it seems that American diplomatic pursuit of unity and peace might become successful. This explains why when Israel withdrew from Lebanon, motivated by America, was rebuked as a sign of weakness and a mark that the Israels enemies should start violence against the state. Also The Attacks in September were planned and organized at a time when peace process seemed to be closest to success. According to political analysts it is not an accident that Middle East anti-Americanism was at its peak at the moment when America was proposed to back and support creation of independent Palestinian nation which had its capital in east Jerusalem (Ceaser, 2003). Anti-Americanism is also useful in the oppressive Middle East’s Arab regimes It allows Middle East leaders to distract people’s attention from their own problems and failings. Instead of the leaders responding to important demands and issues such as, higher living standards; democracy, corruption, human rights, and incompetence, Arab rulers accuse America for their own ills and misfortune and refocus their anger against America. Middle east Arabic states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt have over the years obtained weapons and protection from America but the leaders still promote popular anti-Americanism by state controlled media and government policies . Iraq for example has used the anti-Americanism policy as a strategy in its efforts to; escape sanctions, get back to the Arab world, and rebuild its military strength. America is accused for murdering the Iraqis through sanctions, and no one remembers Iraq’s forceful seizure of Kuwait (Hollander, 2004).   The Middle East anti-Americanism has also proved very useful for other people besides the politicians. Anti Americanism allows journalists and intellectuals to vent and focus their anger against the government-approved enemy (America) instead of risking to criticize failure and injustices that they encounter at home. Anti-Americanism has also become useful for the general public. Holding America responsible and accusing them for everything that is wrong in their countries and lives helps them to explain how their world operates and why life seems not to improve for them (Revel, 2003). The major reason behind the prevalence of Middle east anti-Americanism is that it has been a useful strategy and tool for the radical leaders, moderate regimes and revolutionary movements to build their domestic support and pursue personal goals which have no significant costs. As a strategy in the middle east, anti-Americanism seems to provide something for every person. For the radical Islamists in the Middle East, anti-Americanism has been a method of mustering popular favor from people despite all attempts to implement a theocratic revolution fail as a result of being rejected by the masses. The Islamists in the Middle East have focused on anti Americanism instead of fostering xenophobia or channeling their battle from one that is among the Muslims in the Middle East to a struggle between all Muslims and Americans who purportedly disagree with Islam and seeks to destroy the Muslims (Revel, 2003). Conclusion Anti Americanism in the Middle East is bound to get worse as the leaders and the elite use it as a tool for distraction or reason for underdevelopment and excuse of underperforming. America has tried to win out the heats and interest of the people of Middle East but their efforts have been in vain. Even when the Americans act in good faith or in favor of the Middle East people the radicals still find a way to demonize their actions and used it against them. The Middle East media system is also another major cause because the content covered is highly manipulated to show America as the enemy. The internal conflicts experienced in the Middle East countries have posed impossible challenge and dilemmas for American policy makers. When America helps some friendly Arab governments such as Saudi Arabia and Egypts, it is blamed of sabotaging revolutionary movements against them. When America pressures Middle East governments to improve their positions on human rights or democracy, it is blam ed and accused of imperialism. Anti Americanism is there to stay in the Middle East since it has grown into and accepted public culture and believe system. It is also supported my religion differences, Where majority of Americans are Christians and people from the Middle East are Muslims (Gentzkow Shapiro, 2004). References Gentzkow, M. A., Shapiro, J. M. (2004). Media, education and anti-Americanism in the Muslim world.  The Journal of Economic Perspectives,18(3), 117-133. Revel, J. F. (2003).  Anti-Americanism. Encounter Books. Katzenstein, P. J., Keohane, R. O. (Eds.). (2007).  Anti-Americanisms in world politics. Cornell University Press.Hollander, P. (Ed.). (2004).  Understanding anti-Americanism: Its origins and impact at home and abroad. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. Rubin, B. (2002). The real roots of Arab anti-Americanism.  Foreign Affairs, 73-85. Lacorne, D., Rupnik, J., Toinet, M. F., Turner, G. (2010).  The rise and fall of anti-Americanism: A century of French perception. Macmillan. Crockatt, R. (2003).  America embattled: September 11, anti-Americanism, and the global order. Psychology Press.Katzenstein, P. J., Keohane, R. O. (2007). Varieties of anti-Americanism: A framework for analysis.  Anti-Americanisms in world politics, 9-38.Ceaser, J. W. (2003). A genealogy of anti-Americanism.  Public Interest, 3-18. Source document