Marketign Strategies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketign Strategies - Research Paper Example According to Neyman (n.d.), there are three fundamental strategies that can be used to maximize profits in a business: 1. Maximize every order’s dollar size 2. Maximize the frequency of sales 3. Maximize the volume of customers. Some of the useful ways in which each of these three marketing strategies can be implemented are discussed below: Businessmen should look out for ways in which they can increase their sales, without having to compromise upon profitability. One way to achieve this is by making use of the â€Å"buy one get one free† strategy. For instance, let’s suppose there is a businessman who owns a pizza hut. The businessman can achieve the three objectives mentioned above by offering the customers to have one personal size pizza for free upon purchase of a family size pizza. Then, when a considerable number of customers are able to make use of this deal, the businessman can upgrade the offer by offering the customers a family size pizza for free upon purchase of one family size pizza but with an addition of only five dollars. A customer loyalty program can often work wonders when maximization of profits is the goal. Such programs require the owner to provide the customers with a pre-defined discount upon shopping of a certain level. For instance, if a customer spends up to $100 at a shop, he/she can be granted a discount of 10 per cent upon the next order.

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Research paper - Essay Example The banjo can have four or five strings and is made from a gourd, used as the sound box, covered with hide or plastic. The instrument developed from African instruments (banjar, bandora, banza) that were introduced by slaves (Banjo). The banjo’s predecessor was played in seventh century Africa (Mazbrow). In the seventeenth century, the instrument consisted of a long pole and attached gourd with three or four strings, made from horsehair, catgut, or hemp plant. At first it was played by West African wandering musicians, but by the eighteenth century was played by slave musicians in the West Indies. Knocking and beating was the style used. Notes began to slide and bend once tuning pegs and a flat board for fingering was added (Banjo). This â€Å"banjar† instrument was played in Maryland and Virginia from the mid-eighteenth century. It had a skin head, pegs, and a short thumb string. In Africa, the banjar was played with the talking drums but, in response to a slave uprisi ng in South Carolina, drums and horns became illegal, and the traditional way of playing was adapted to banjar solos (Banjo). The combination of banjo and fiddle, at the core of Appalachian music, was played exclusively by black musicians for about 100 years, before white musicians adopted it (Mazbrow). Just as spirituals were used to communicate escape plans, black banjo songs communicated subversive methods to survive slavery. Many of these songs used cunning animals, like foxes and snakes, to camouflage their message (Banjo). Black banjar music began to have a strong influence on the fiddle playing of Appalachian immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. Soon, white Appalachian musicians were playing the instrument in the same thumping style as the black Appalachian musicians. For some time, white banjo players depended on black banjo players, not only for rhythm and style, but even for acquiring a banjo in the first place (C. Conway 146). Mutual interest and instrument design collab oration soon modified the banjar, replacing the gourd with a wooden rim and open back. Sweeney, an Irish American added a fourth melody string, and the short drone thumb string was kept, so now the banjo had five strings (Banjo). Although African-American Appalachian musicians played the banjo throughout the nineteenth century, white Appalachian musicians dominated the emerging radio and recording technology (Banjo). The first white banjo player to achieve fame for his music, Joel Walker Sweeney, learned how to play the banjo from a neighboring plantation slave, and mid-nineteenth century white banjo players usually performed in black-face (Mazbrow). It was white performers whom people connected to hillbilly music, even though white banjo players had adopted a black musical tradition (Mazbrow). In fact, there has always been a lot of white pride in fiddle and banjo music, by those whose tradition came from Appalachian ancestors, and would never conceive of any black African American contribution to their musical heritage (Mazbrow). Appalachian fiddle and banjo music is popularly thought to be Irish and Scottish, but is syncopated and polyrhythmic, showing African history (Mazbrow). Polyrythm is alien to European music and central to African (Mazbrow). The typical way of strumming the banjo is to brush down with the backs of the fingernails while the thumb plucks the

Leadership and Organizatioinal Change Research Proposal

Leadership and Organizatioinal Change - Research Proposal Example Background to the Study Leaders are critical in change process given the role they play in the entire process. Leaders, for example, develop vision and strategy for the organization, create the need for change, identify new approaches to adopt, and even empower employees to take part in change process (Seidman and McCauley, 2011, p.47). As a result, leaders are critical to the success of change process. However, modern organizations due to internationalization and globalization have people from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnics, and so on. Given that, these people have to work together and help organizations achieve their goals, best ways have to be found on how well such people from diverse cultures can work together for the good of the organization. This therefore requires leadership teams of organizations to identify and implement the best strategies in order to establish cross-cultural teams that help organization achieve its goals. Although there is growing literature con cerning the positive role cross cultural teams plays in enabling organizations realize goals (Voutsas, 2011, pp. 116-117) there is little literature concerning how leadership teams can participate in establishing the most effective cross-cultural teams. Statement of the Problem Due to numerous dynamics in the environment, business managers and leaders have found change to be inevitable. Organizations have found out that having a heterogeneous workforce in globalized world is unavoidable. As a result, more and more people from different cultures are likely to work together in one organization. Due to this, organizations’ leadership has to find the best ways of establishing and managing effective cross-cultural teams in order to achieve objectives of the organization. Purpose of the Study The aim of this study is to establish the appropriate ways organizational leadership can take part in establishing effective cross-cultural teams in an organization. This will be achieved thro ugh analyzing a number of international firms that have heterogeneous workforce. Objectives The objective of the study is to identify and analyze strategies used buy firms to establish effective cross-cultural teams. The understanding is that organizational change can effectively be carried out through the input of cross-cultural teams. Research Questions This study will be guided by the following research questions: What strategic role can cross-cultural teams play in change management of an organization? How can organizational leadership create and sustain effective cross-cultural teams? Hypothesis Effective cross-cultural teams should promote good: communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, interpersonal relationships, leadership, and collaboration, which in turn are likely to results into effective organizational change. a) Independent variable The independent variable to be studied includes the function of cross-cultural teams in an organization. b) Dependent variable The dependent variables to be studied include skills with regard to communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, interpersonal relationship, leadership, and

Translation theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Translation theories - Essay Example zes, and utilizes translation principles to arrive at three main translation categories that are translation theories founded on source-oriented perspectives, linguistic translation theories, and recent translations. While source-oriented translation approaches developed from the 2nd century B.C to the 20th century A.D., the linguistic translation theories began during the second decade of the 20th century and lasted for 50 years. However, the last three decades of the 20th century led to the birth of the descriptive branch of translation that was subdivided into process-oriented, function-oriented, and product-oriented translations. The recent translation includes the target-oriented approach to translation that includes Toury’s norms in translation (Venuti, 2000, p. 198). Different translation theories are used in different translation purposes. This paper evaluates the differences between Gideon Toury’s Norms in translation theory and Lawrence Venuti’s translator’s invisibility theory. The comparison begins by placing the norms in translation theory in wider context, offers a description of the translator’s invisibility theory, compares the two theories, and finally, performs an assessment and evaluation of the implication of the two theories for practical translation. At the start of the present translation period was the descriptive translation branch in Israel since 1970s. During this period, Israeli researchers affiliated with descriptive research used the polysystem theory by Even-Zohar in 1990, and the aspect of norms established by Gideon Toury in 1995 (Benjamins, 2008, p. 64). Since Israeli is a multilingual and multicultural state, translation of other languages into Hebrew was committed to a target-oriented approach. The polysystem theory of literature and culture involves all cultural, literary, linguistic, and social aspect, but did not account for single-text translations. Instead, polysystem viewed single-texts as a system operating

Comprehensive Australian Programme of Law Reform Essay

Comprehensive Australian Programme of Law Reform - Essay Example This move has been geared towards ensuring that the scope of potential liability is narrowed, for example through the limiting of personal liability borne by medical practitioners who give assistance to those people at a higher risk of injury or who need emergency medical help; and reducing the damages that may be awarded in such cases so as to confine the exposure of underwriters so that they could be able to give better and more affordable cover to those who need it. One important element to point out at this stage is the fact that most of these reforms actually did contrast with the recommendations put forward by the IPP Committee Report, which was in favour of national and uniform law response to the jurisdiction crisis on cases of liability, negligence and award of damages (Ellison, 2005). Indeed various governments that have come up since 2002 have tried to enact and implement law reforms that addressed liability, negligence, and damages. ... 2.0 The law reforms 2.1 Establishing liability The liability laws take into consideration the common law and statutes of federal and states governments. In these provisions, a person who is injured or has suffered a loss or otherwise incurred damage may institute an action aimed at compensation on the basis of the tort of common law of negligence that is based on fault; breach of contract; and breach of the provisions stipulated in the Australian Consumer Law that was effected in 2011 that replaced provisions of the Federal Trade Practices Act 1974 relating to product liability and safety of produce. In establishing the liability of a person in tort, the issue of foreseeability comes into play. A person has a duty of care to another person as per the law of tort. The defendant had a case to answer if he was in a position to see in advance reasonably, that the injured person would suffer loss or was at risk of doing so but the defendant failed to take necessary preventive action (Aust ralian Government Treasury; 2002; 2004; Harlow, 2005). This component of contributory negligence is comprised of two components namely the foreseeability of risk relating to harm and a calculation of the level of negligence also called the ‘negligence calculus’. Based on the above provisions, a person is free from liability for failing to take precautions if the risk in question is unforeseeable and can be established as being so. To know whether a risk is foreseeable or not, it is provided that such a risk should not be so probable to an extent that any reasonable person or someone in his or her common senses would ignore it (Trowbridge & Deloitte, 2002). Having already established the aspect of

Serving in Florida Essay Example for Free

Serving in Florida Essay She admires her, educated tongue, her graceful walk, her ability to swoon a listener when she reads, her success, her communication skills where she skillfully varies the way to she talks to depending on who she is talking to. 3. She is ashamed because she fails to use the proper verb and verbiage which in her eyes is disrespectful. When they talk with each other it is if they were paternal sisters separated only by education. 4. Their first meeting was not only at Mrs. Flowers house but that this meeting was filled with aromas of freshly cooked food (tea cookies), the cold taste of lemonade on the palate and an atmosphere laden and rich in success. â€Å"It was the equivalent of attending church â€Å" and attending church made her feel comfortable and so did Mrs. Flowers. This all influenced her because she learned that the person she liked, â€Å" liked â€Å" also liked her and this impressed her, and that coupled with all of the physical senses she now felt the emotional ones as well. And this would develop her into her mentors â€Å"way† of life. Answer to questions 1-4 in the Close Reading and #2 in the Writers Craft. 1. Para. 4 The aftermath of an historical hurricane†¦. †the smell of a dead city†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦para. 6 †this new urban landscape†. 2. Urban floodplain depicts the initial encounter to what the author sees and of which is just the surface of what to come in the latter part of the essay and segways into the â€Å" Life after Katrina â€Å". 3. In â€Å" Starting Again â€Å" he depicts how the most basic necessities are being established and provided to re-ignite and revive the once normal daily activities by way of the Salvation Army bringing primordial needs to the workers who will then bring back residents which then bring back the businesses and so on. He includes this because he notes that after destruction comes the re-building†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Still, destruction on a biblical scale also offers Noah-like opportunities for restoration after the flood â€Å". 4. I would define it as a person who possesses this â€Å" eco-geek† title as someone who is ecologically friendly, and an environmentalist who is also a tech-savvy academic in the intellect society of foremost thinkers. Writer’s Craft. #2. â€Å" I get out of my car, half suspecting the sweet, rotting smell of death† , â€Å" the main sewage plant†, â€Å"reeking of mold and rotted cat food†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. He brings clarity and vividness which brings sympathy and association to the five senses to which the reader can identify with.

Word Length effects in visual word recognition

Word Length effects in visual word recognition The way letters in words are processed in our orthographic system is subject to considerable controversy. Theorists argue that letters in words are processed either in series or in parallel. This study attempts to resolve this debate by examining the effect of Word Length on decision speeds for words in a lexical decision task. A multiple regression analysis which included other linguistic descriptors such as Familiarity and Age of Acquisition was performed. The analysis indicated that Word Length is not a determinant of decision speed which implies that letters in words are processed via a parallel processing system. Further research needs to be conducted in this area in order to answer the research question. Implications of these findings in relation to word recognition models are discussed. Introduction Are letters within a word processed one at a time, in series, or does the skilled reader process all the letters in a word in parallel? Despite the deceptively simple nature of this question, researchers are still in disagreement as to how exactly we execute such a complex process. Early models of word recognition argued that words are read letter-by-letter serially from left to right (Gough, 1972). This model is consistent with Herons (1957) findings that when English speaking participants are briefly presented with a sequence of letters, they are more accurate at recalling left-hand letters compared to right-hand letters. This observed effect is reversed in readers of Yiddish (who read from right-to-left) which supports the notion that letters are processed in series (Mishkin Forgays, 1952; Sperling, 1963). The serial letter recognition model has been criticised for the fact that it fails to explain the Word Superiority Effect, which demonstrates how readers are better able to identify letters in the context of a word than in isolation (Paap et al., 1982). Over the past few decades, psychologists have therefore developed parallel distributed models (PDP) of reading which assume that letters in words are encoded simultaneously and draw heavily on what we know about the human neural system (Seidenberg Harm, 1991). http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfonts/science_of_word_recognition_files/Figure4.gif Figure ; Rumelhart McClellands Interactive-Activation Model (1981) An example of a PDP model is shown in Figure 1. According to this model, when a reader is presented with a word such as WORK, each letter either stimulates or inhibits different feature detectors (e.g. a circular shape for O, or horizontal and vertical bars for K,). These feature detectors then stimulate or inhibit different letter detectors, which finally stimulate or inhibit different word detectors. Each activated connection carries different weights, and therefore the word WORK in Figure 1 is activated more than any other word and is the one recognized by a reader. Although most recent findings are generally assumed to support the parallel processing hypothesis; a model which has recently gained attention is the Self-Organizing Acquisition and Recognition (SOLAR) model which implies an element of serial processing (Davis, 2010). Davis argues that visual word recognition relies on the formation of a spatial code to understand the orthographic input which is formed by a rapid left-to-right scan across letter representations that combines letter identity information with letter position information. A common way of studying how letters in words are processed is by measuring Word Length (WL) effects in Lexical Decision Tasks (LDT). In these tasks participants are presented with a word/non-word and their correct Decision Speeds (DS) are measured. The SOLAR model strongly predicts a WL effect in such tasks as the length of vector across the input layer should impact processing time. In contrast, parallel models such as the Interactive-Activation model predict no WL effects as it shouldnt matter how many letters there are in a word because they are all processed simultaneously. Several studies have examined WL effects however the findings are inconclusive with some observing significant WL effects; Forster Chambers ,1973; Whaley ,1978; ORegan Jacobs ,1992; Gilhooly Logie, 1982, whilst others failed to find a significant effect of WL; Frederiksen Kroll , 1976; Richardson ,1976. It is therefore clear that more research needs to be conducted in this area in order to resolve these conflicting findings. One of the main problems faced in investigating WL effects is the observed collinearity between over properties of words such as Familiarity, Age of Acquisition and Frequency which have been observed as predictors of DS in previous word recognition tasks (Gernsbacher, 1984; Gerhand Barry, 1998). Therefore when conducting an experiment which seeks to examine WL effects it is also important to account for other linguistic properties. A multiple regression analysis allows the experimenter to calculate the unique contribution of each linguistic predictor to the variation in DS and so is a popular method employed by many researchers in this area of research where collinearity amongst other variables is so high. The aim of this experiment therefore is to examine the effect of WL on DS in a LDT in which the linguistic stimuli has been generated taking into consideration; WL, familiarity, frequency, Age of Acquisition (AoA), Number of Neighbours (NoN) and Imageability, which have all been found to predict DS in previous research. If WL emerges as a significant predictor of DS then this is evidence for serial word processing and thus provides experimental support for the SOLAR model (Davis, 2010), whereas if no WL effects are found then this supports the assumptions underlying PDP models. Method Participants 12 second year undergraduate Psychology students (M= 19.75 years, m=2, f=10) from the University of Bristol with normal/corrected vision were recruited via an opportunity sample. Materials A computer based LDT was created using DMDX software. The stimuli in the task comprised of 150 words (all of which were nouns) and 150 non-words which were manipulated by the experimenter by changing a vowel in a word to another vowel or a consonant to a different consonant (Appendix 1). Linguistic stimuli were generated using the MRC psycholinguistic database (Coltheart, 1981) which selects lists of words, together with linguistic descriptors based on a number of selection criteria. Table 1 shows the linguistic descriptors and selection criterion of stimuli used in this experiment. Design This experiment used a within subjects repeated measures design. The LDT comprised 300 trials split into 6 test blocks; each block contained 25 words and 25 non-words which were randomly intermixed. Linguistic stimuli were displayed on the screen for 100ms. There was a 50ms break in between trials and participants had 2000ms to make their decision before the next trial commenced. Participants were given a break in between blocks to reduce fatigue effects. The experiment lasted approximately 30 minutes. Procedure In the computer based LDT Words or Non-words were presented individually to participants in the centre of a 1414 computer monitor in size 14 bold black Arial font with white background. Participants were instructed to press the Right Hand Shift button if they saw a Word or the Left Hand Shift button if they saw a Non-Word. Participants were informed of their confidentiality of results. Data analysis Participants correct Decision Speeds (ms) were recorded. Non-words were used as fillers and were not statistically analysed. Words with error rates of over 25% were excluded from the data set. Participants who responded incorrectly to over 50% of stimuli were excluded. Table 2 shows the 16 words that were removed from the data set as they failed to meet the criteria. The final data set is based on N=134 words and 12 participants. Results In the LDT, speeds of correct responses to words were recorded (M=669.62ms, SD=81.54, Error rate=8.28%). The experimental hypothesis aimed to examine the relationship between DS and WL; no significant correlation was found between WL and DS (r=.04), which is visually presented in Figure 1. Figure 1; Scatter graph demonstrating the non-significant correlation between Decision Speed (ms) and Word Length. A significant negative correlation was found between DS and Familiarity, which suggests that participants respond faster to words that are highly familiar (r= -.34, p Word length was found to be intercorrelated with AoA, Imageability and NoN (Table 3) which highlights a potential problem of collinearity. Correlations among measures of word attributes and decision speed, together with summary statistics. N=134 words. A simultaneous and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted on the correlation matrix to assess the contribution of the independent variables in predicting DS. In the simultaneous analysis all variables were entered into the regression at the same time and the effects of all other variables were partialled out from each other (Table 4). The overall fit of the model was R2=.121, F(6,132)= 3.24, p Simultaneous multiple regression analysis on correct response speeds in the LDT. Next, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted (Table 5). This analysis differs from the simultaneous analysis in the way that it enters variables into the regression one at a time on the basis of their contribution to improving the predictive power of the equation. The findings of the stepwise regression analysis was essentially the same as the simultaneous regression with Familiarity emerging as the only variable in predicting DS (F1,132= 18.693, p Stepwise multiple regression analysis on correct response times in the LDT. Discussion This experiment failed to demonstrate that Word Length (WL) is an effective factor in visual word recognition. There was no correlation between WL and decision speeds (DS) on the lexical decision task (LDT) which refutes the notion that letters in words are processed in series and therefore questions the theory underlying the SOLAR model (Davis, 2010) which postulates that we recognize words by performing a left-to-right scan across letters and so would have strongly predicted WL effects in the performed study. The results from this experiment therefore imply that letters in words are processed in parallel and thus support the assumptions embedded in parallel and connectionist models of reading (Seidenbery Harm, 1999; Rumelhart McClelland, 1981). The only linguistic predictor to emerge as an effective factor in decision speeds was familiarity, which is consistent with previous studies that have reported its contribution to the efficiency of word processing (Gilhooly Logie, 1982; Connine et al., 1990). The fact that familiarity emerged as a predictor of DS may in fact provide support for parallel processing. It can be argued that if a participant is more familiar with a word, this suggests that they may have formed some internal representation of the word within their mental lexicon and therefore recognize it faster by processing letters in parallel. In this study WL was significantly correlated with several of the other linguistic descriptors such as AoA and NoN which highlights the problem of collinearity and so it is difficult to draw any clear conclusions from our data. Another factor which may have affected our results is the fact that WL was restricted to 9 letters. In a study conducted by Gilhooly Logie (1982) they used words of various lengths and found WL to be the strongest predictor of DS. This raises an interesting research question as to whether there is a maximum capacity of letters that we can process in parallel and then perhaps after a certain length, the demands on our processing system are too large and so we have to rely on other processes. It is therefore plausible that visual word recognition may involve a combination of both serial and parallel processing depending on WL, which challenges the assumptions of current models of word recognition. It would be interesting to expand upon this study by making several alterations; firstly by abolishing the word letter restriction to see if we observe WL effects, and also by increasing the number of linguistic stimuli used and the number and age range of participants. Furthermore it would be of interest to examine saccade movements whilst participants are doing the LDT which may provide further insights into whether words are processed in parallel or series. One of the aims of this paper was to try and clear up some of the confusion in the literature surrounding serial and parallel processing models; unfortunately we were somewhat unsuccessful in doing so. However the findings from this study do provide several interesting thought questions and future research expansions and suggest that maybe word recognition relies on elements of serial and parallel processing. References; Coltheart, M (1981). The MRC Psycholinguistic Database, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33A, 497-505. Connine, C.M., Mullennix, J., Shernoff, E., Yelen, J. (1990). Word familiarity and frequency in visual and auditory word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16 (6), 1084-1096. Davis, C. J. (2005). N-Watch: A program for deriving neighbourhood size and other psycholinguistic statistics. Behavior Research Methods,. 37, 65-70. Forster, K. I., Chambers, S. M. (1973). Lexical access and naming time. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12,627-635. Fredriksen, J. R., Kroll, J. F. (1976). Spelling and sound: Approaches to the internal lexicon. Journal of ExperimentalPsychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2, 361-379. Gerhand, S., Barry, C. (1998). Word frequency effects in oral reading are not merely age-of-acquisition effects in disguise. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24, 267-283. Gilhooly, K.J. and Logie, R.H. (1980). Age of acquisition, imagery, concreteness, familiarity and ambiguity measures for 1944 words. Behaviour Research Methods and Instrumentation, 12, 395-427. Gilhooly, K. J., Logie, R.H. (1981). Word Age-Of-Acquisition And Lexical Decision Making. Acta Psychologica. 50; 21-34. Gough, P.B. (1972). One second of reading. In Kavanagh Mattinglys Language by ear and by eye. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Heron, W. (1957). Perception as a function of retinal locus and attention. American Journal of Psychology, 70, 38-48. KuÄ era, H., Francis, W. (1967). Computational analysis of presentday American English. Providence, RI: Brown University Press. McClelland, J. L. Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An interactive activation model of context effects in letter perception: Part 1. An account of Basic Findings. Psychological Review, 88, 375-407 Mishkin, N., Forgays, D. G. (1952). Word recognition as a function of retinal locus. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43,43-48. ORegan, J. K., Jacobs, A. M. (1992). Optimal viewing position effect in word recognition: A challenge to current theory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18, 185-197. Paap, K. R., Newsome, S. L., McDonald, J. E., Schvaneveldt, R. W. (1982). An activation-verification model for letter and word recognition: The word-superiority effect. Psychological Review, 89 (5), 573-594. Richardson, J. T. (1976). The effects of stimulus attributes upon latency of word recognition. British Journal of Psychology, 67,315-325. Seidenberg, M.S., Harm, M.W (1999). Phonology, Reading acqusition, and dyslexia: insights from connectionist models. Psychological review, 106 (3), 491-528. Sperling, G. (1963). A model for visual memory tasks. Human Factors, 5, 19-31. Woodworth, R.S. (1938). Experimental psychology. New York; Holt. Toglia, M.P. and Battig, W.R. (1978). Handbook of Semantic Word Norms. New York: Erlbaum. Whaley, C. P. (1978). Word-nonword classification time. 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