American Culture and Traditions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Culture and Traditions - Assignment Example Most of the Native Americans can be found in Hawaii and Alaska where they have settled and practiced their cultural activities over time. To remember the modern day Americans are using costumes and writing books which cause their awareness and the respect they should deserve. Some of the costumes used in Halloween portray the Natives culture and the way of life. I once wore a costume that made me resemble the American Natives from the South. ‘Redskin’ is referred to as an offensive word in the American community and to some, it is a taboo since it violates rights of the Native Americans. Most people use it as a slang word while referring to the Natives due to their ‘reddish skin.’ I would recommend the change of the name ‘Washington Redskins’ to another name that does not fall on racial and cultural lines. The team represents the Washington State in the national basketball teams. The name may bring a different meaning depending on the understanding hence leading to racial debates despite it representing the color of their uniform. For example, a Native American’s basketball team may feel offended while playing with the Washington Redskins due to the commentary of the game. The use of other names such as ‘Whiteskins’, ‘Yellowskins’ and ‘Black skins’ would cause alarm and racial debates in the country due to use of racially offensive names . It may lead to a neo-racism era that involves cases of racial discrimination in the modern day society. Most Americans prefer having generous relationships with the Native Americans as compared to ‘Blacks and ‘Latinos due to various reasons. The Natives have been respected due to their rich social and cultural activities (Schaefer 2012). Their geographical locations also serve as a reason since they are found in remote North and South areas of the United States which include the North and south. They lack social interactions hence limited cases of racism.  

Behaviors of customers and Environment Influence on Marketing Essay

Behaviors of customers and Environment Influence on Marketing - Essay Example Attracting customers is an integral part of marketing, but retaining them is even more important. This can be achieved through several means including understanding the behavior of current and future customers and the environment. In addition, recognizing changes in the market environment allows the firms to capitalize on marketing opportunities or prepare for threats in the market. Understanding of the market environment requires the firms to be conversant with current market trends, technology developments and competitors’ strategies. Therefore, this paper seeks to analyze customers’ current and potential behaviors and the market environment, as well as they affect marketing strategies. In order to successfully market their products firms need to understand both the behavior of current and potential customers and the influence of the marketing environment. In understanding the current customers’ behavior, marketers are able to do an analysis of their buying trends. This also helps to recognize the prevailing needs of the customer and hence produce products that satisfy target customers’ needs. It is also very important to be aware of the consumer buying process so as to influence the choice of the consumer. In doing so, it is paramount to understand that the buying process consists of several stages, all of which are of great interest to marketers (Thomas, 1995, p.248).

Personal Statement for master's degree at Cambridge university Essay

Personal Statement for master's degree at Cambridge university - Essay Example The memory of my childhood in Kazakhstan is full of questions related to economics. Why is there nothing on the shelves in the shops? Why do my parents need to queue all morning for basics such as flour and sugar? At the time, I did not understand the intricacies of a transition economy or how the policy of Shock Therapy for the Kazakh economy in the 1990’s lead to the poverty, hyperinflation and unemployment that I witnessed all around me. Once I understood that these social realities could be explained and possibly prevented by studying and applying economic knowledge, I made the firm decision to study Economics at university. For me, a decision to study economics is much more personal than simply selecting a future profession. I want to study economics to solve the problems that surrounded me growing up in Kazakhstan. This decision has lent great focus to my academic endeavours. I am a great candidate for studying at Cambridge because I have a strong history of academic ach ievements. I was proud to be awarded The President’s Bolshak scholarship and was a recognized Gold Medal scholar, meaning I graduated with distinction in all of my courses. I also excel at mathematics courses and have a natural ability for working with numbers. My first step towards my future degree in Economics was a foundation course at UCL, which I completed last year. The Economics module introduced me to the theory as well as the practical side of Economics. Currently, I am earning a BSc in Economics at the University of York. My undergraduate courses are expanding my knowledge, though most of it is focusing on theory at this point. I am currently learning about micro and macro economics as a part of my undergraduate studies. In addition to these standard economics courses, I have added modules that highlight my math ability. These courses started with Dynamic Modeling for Economists in my second year and continuing with Industrial Economics in my third year. The former is by far my favourite field of Economics: I am fascinated to learn the techniques available for modeling economic processes which evolve through time and for solving dynamic economic problems. I have also elected to add a concentration of advanced mathematics that I believe will help me with my graduate studies at Cambridge. In addition to these formal studies, I am getting real world experience through internships. I have worked at The Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Competition Protection. This agency is in charge of monitoring and ending monopolistic practices. While there, I helped investigate the telecommunications sector in Kazakhstan, helping to identify monopolistic practices. Last summer I was able to work for PricewaterhouseCooper back home in Astana. I assisted in data analysis for the â€Å"Samruk-Kazyna† project. I also serve as vice-president of The York Kazakh Society, handling all financial arrangements for the club. My most exciting experience so fa r has been travelling to New York City on a scholarship to participate in a three week seminar on finance. In addition to my academic pursuits, I have two great passions in my life. I love to compete in debate and go ballroom dancing. These activities help my studies by giving me a way to relax and sharpen presentation skills. Continuing my study of Economics at Cambridge is very important for my future. Cambridge is universally recognised as a top tier school for Economics. My goal is to study in the graduate school at Cambridge so I will be equipped with the best

Costco Wholesale Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Costco Wholesale Corporation - Case Study Example Though less readily measurable, it is apparently accompanied by a shrinking of activities for the few remaining general merchandising wholesalers and a loss of sales for small stores carrying women's and children's apparel, particularly in low and medium-quality lines. Costco is a closed-door store which allows only "members" access to the store through membership eligibility as defined by rather broad classifications of government employees, teachers, union members, or employees of government contractors (see Appendix 4). The chain carries a wide range of soft goods and apparel, but also gives major attention to furniture, appliances, food, and automotive supplies. Several of the closed door operations have recently opened their doors to the general public. "Examples of Costco's incredible annual sales volumes included 96,000 carats of diamonds (2006), 1.5 million televisions, $300 million worth of digital cameras, 28 million rotisserie chickens (over 500,000 weekly), 40 percent of the Tuscan olive oil bought in the United States, $16 million worth of pumpkin pies during the fall holiday season, $3 billion worth of gasoline, 21 million prescriptions, and 52 million $1.50 hot dog/soda pop combinations" (Thompson p. 2008, p. C5). Low operating margins achieved through volume sales and limited service expenditures for clerks, delivery, credit, and so on have allowed prices which average about 15% below those of the department stores and specialty shops with which discount stores compete in the sale of soft goods. Full-size food supermarkets are being established within many of the new large discount stores. Because of consumers' long experience in comparing food values between stores and because of the frequency of food store visits by the average family, these food departments are attractive to the soft-goods stores as traffic builders, and are frequently operated with planned narrow margins (or even planned losses) to maximize their drawing power (Costco Home P age 2008). Chief Elements of the Costco's strategy The uniqueness of Costco strategy is that it proposes advantages and benefits to its members only, except gasoline and beverage products. The closed-door stores depend primarily on word of mouth and on mail promotion to their members to publicize the attractive values offered. Costco does not make extensive use of advertising media to give publicity to the low prices and special values which they offer. Major retail innovations involve an "invention" of new means of performing the retailing function. They are dependent on concomitant developments in products, in physical handling technology, and in organization at the wholesale supply level; but, most important of all, they are dependent on changes in the income, location, and style of life of consumers (Drejer 2002). In contrast to other retailers, Costco proposes wide product rage: "Whereas typical supermarkets stocked about 40,000 items and a Wal-Mart Supercenter or a SuperTarget might have as many as 150,000 items for shoppers to choose from, Costco's merchandising strategy was to

Musi History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Musi History - Essay Example It is evident that Ravel is not seen here as a minimalist. Rather, he scores points for being able to work within a theme. Ravel's beginning brings one to a cheery internal place. The middle of the piece becomes somewhat frustrated and slightly complicated with a few swirls of menacing notes, but they largely subside within a few bars of music. Ravel's minuet then comes to a peaceful close. Ideally, this piece is suited for lounge music at a wedding hall, because it has the elegance and grace that one might expect in fine dining music. Ravel's "Minuet" begins in the tone of "piano," a light tone. The notes in Ravel's arrangement generally stand alone, for the most part. It seems like it would be a relatively moderately difficult piece to play on the piano, though not impossible. Ravel's piece changes its loudness briefly to "mezzo forte" (medium loudness) but retreats to "pianissimo," which is very soft. As "Minuet" ends, he is on the softer side of the scale. In Claude Debussy's "Hommage Haydn," he winds all over the place, but it is with definite purpose-ultimately having a beginning, a middle, and an end. He starts out slow, being very intentional as to the path on which he is going to bring his listener. There is a light, airy feel to the music, as though one were sitting at the kitchen table at breakfast on a bright, sunny morning. All at once Debussy takes the listener by storm on a crescendo of sounds with several changes in scale in the background, until there is a groundswell of competing audio, which includes a darker tone to the music. This is the climax. Ultimately, however, this darker tone is resolved within the last half-minute or so of the piece, and the listener is once again allowed back into the realm of the sunny kitchen dreamscape. "Hommage Haydn" is a piece that begins in doux et expressif, "sweet and expressive," and in the tone of "piano," which is a light tone. In the piano piece, there are quite a few notes which must be held down to carry over to the next note, which indicate, at least at the beginning, a slowness to the piece. Very soon, however, quicker notes appear, and one can tell that the piece eventually moves faster. Ultimately it slows down again by the end. There are differences and similarities between these two pieces that tell volumes about Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, their musical styles, and perhaps their philosophies as composers. Ravel's "Minuet" is a charming piece that could be used as chamber music or in some other entertainment venue, because, to be frank, of its blandness. Although it is an exceptional piece of music, it does not stray much from being background music that one might hear played by a pianist at the dinner party of a well-to-do socialite. "Minuet" begins cheerfully, as does "Hommage." That is about where the songs' similarities end. Debussy's "Hommage" goes on to have a frightful crescendo come from out of nowhere in the middle of the piece, which strays from the sensible, plodding and timed nature of "Minuet." These piano pieces speak a great deal to both Ravel's and Debussy's sense of style as

Adidas Marketing Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adidas Marketing Project - Essay Example The tutor commented that she did not require the group members to give definitions for the 4 Ps in marketing but rather give marketing objectives and how to carry out promotions. She said the group should work towards giving more details about promotions and be objective in the presentation. Group members worked on the comments and included the details that and earlier been excluded so as to provide more details about promotions and marketing objectives. The course work imparted marketing research skills and knowledge on how to design and write posters. Under the 4 Ps, the paper looked into pricing, promotions, place, and the product. It also touched a little bit on the other 4 Ps but not deeply. The work had several advantages which included more details about 4 Ps, good poster design and structure and thus easy to understand. Any marketing executive would be impressed by the quality of the poster as it was highly informative and communicated effectively and efficiently. The disadvantage in the findings included a lack of market share which was very evident from the data used. The second disadvantage is that data used was neither current nor recent. The data used was three years old and thus did not give a true representation of the current marketing situation. Some of the most important factors were the product itself and the pricing strategies. These two factors are highly considered when developing a marketing plan. A product will be successful in the market if it is of good quality and its price is competitive.

Theory and Evidence-Based Practice of Nursing Essay Example for Free

Theory and Evidence-Based Practice of Nursing Essay Introduction Evidence-based nursing is acknowledged as an approach to nursing care that guides to enhance patient outcomes. Qouting McEwen (2002) Kelly L. Penz and Sandra L. Bassenski pointed out that in nursing practice, formalities, remote, unsystematic clinical experiences and ungrounded opinions, and traditions as the basis of practice should be de-emphasized by incorporating into clinical practice evidence-based approach to nursing care. In explaining what evidence-based approach means, Penz and Bassendowski cited Estabrook’s (1998) explanation that evidence-based nursing â€Å"is a discipline in which nurses make clinical decisions using current best research evidence, which is then blended with approved policies and clinical guidelines, clinical expertise and judgment, and patient preferences† (Penz Bassendowski 2006, p 250). In other words, evidence-based nursing practice is more than just a research; it is more than a theory or practice. However, evidence-based practice of nursing is currently subject of debate among nursing scholars and educators. Gail J. Mitchell (1999) contends that the concept of evidence-based practice â€Å"is not only a barren possibility but also obstructs nursing process, human care, and professional accountability† (Mitchell 1999, p. 271). Mitchell argued that the usefulness of the evidence has been â€Å"wrongfully cast in the context of legitimizing nursing as a profession instead of describing evidence as one possible resource for supporting client’s decision making† (Mitchell, p. 271). The Relationship between Theory and Evidenced-Based Nursing Practice In nursing practice, theory is a pattern of knowing, Jacqueline Fawcett noted that theory comes from Greek word theoria, â€Å"To see† which means to reveal phenomena that is previously hidden from our awareness and attention. Deborah Upton (1999) pointed out that theory, practice, and research identify the science of nursing. Upton emphasized that theories embrace nursing as a science, which, in the case of evidence- based practice, the basic tenet is on sound information anchored on research findings and scientific development. Fawcett pointed out that theories constitute much of the knowledge of a discipline and theory and experiences are the lenses through which we conduct inquiry. The outcome of the inquiry comprises the evidence that finds out the adequacy of the theory. In nursing practice, theory guided practice means the traditional scientific approach to clinical care while in evidence-based practice a nurse can decide on the relevance of the evidence for the patient care. According to Penz and Baseendowski evidence-based practice fills the gap between theory, research, and practice. It means that theory alone or evidence alone is insufficient basis of clinical care, but combining the two make a useful clinical approach that has potential â€Å"to improve patient care in all clinical practice setting† (Penz Bassendowski p. 251). The relationship therefore of theory and evidence-based nursing practice is that evidence-based practice absorbed theories and incorporating it including research, patient’s preferences, and other approved guidelines of the clinical practice. Penz and Bassendowski noted the study of Alligood and Tomey (2002) suggesting that theoretical knowledge when blended into the practice of nursing, results to enhanced professional autonomy. Alligood and Tomey pointed out that when nursing theory is used to direct clinical opinion and decision making , nurses can comprehend what they do and why, and they are capable to explain this to other health professional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Further explanation of the relationship between theory and evidence-based practice can be established in the meaning and purpose of theory it self. Lynn Rew pointed out that it is theory that framed or determined what really count as evidence. Based on the premise that â€Å"theory is the reason for and the value of the evidence,† Rew provided a framework based on three factors: Components, Purpose, and Outcomes, which depicts ideal relationship between theory and evidence-based nursing practice. Rew pointed out that the components of theory are concepts and statement, while practice, is phenomena of concern and problems to be solved. The Purpose of theory is to organize ideas, while Practice delimits ideas, the Outcomes are theory construction framework for practice, and policies while in practice, evidence-based practice, generalizable programs, and interventions. She explained that concepts of theory reflect the phenomena of concern in a practice discipline, while the definition and purpose are abstractions of the practical problems to be solved in the practice arena. The outcomes of theory construction guides practice and policy development. Thus theory is highly related to evidence-based practice by virtue of determining the evidence. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite of the different emphasis of theory based nursing and evidence-based nursing practice, the aim of both camps is to advance the clinical care of the nursing practice for the benefit of the patient. However, the conflict of emphasis threatened to abolished the long established processes of clinical care in favor of evidence based nursing practice which are not really completely proven very successful in clinical treatment. Tracing therefore the relationship between theory and evidence-based nursing practice helps not only to understand what the conflict was all about but also it gives proper understanding of the nursing practice particularly the evidence-based nursing. Whether theory guided practice or evidence-based nursing practice, what is important is that the nursing practice should be understandable to nurses and to the patient.    Reference Fawcett, J.; Watson, J.; Neuman, B.; Walker, P.; Fitzpatrick, J. (2001) On Nursing Theories and Evicence. USA: Sigma Theta Tau International. http://classes.kumc.edu/son/nrsg750/articles/nursing_theories.pdf Mitchell, G. J. Evidence-Based Practice: Critique and Alternative View. Penz, K. L. Bassendowski, S. L. ( 2006)Evidence-Based Nursing in Clinical Practice: Implications for Nurse Educators. Canada. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. Vol.37, No. 6 (November/December) http://www.orthonurse.org/portals/0/EBP%20Clinical%20Practice.pdf Rew, L (2005) Adolescent Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Theory, Research. United States of America: SAGE Publication Upton, D. J., (1999) How Can We Achieved Evidence-based Practice if we a Theory- Practice Gap in Nursing Today? Journal of Advanced Nursing Vol. 29 (3) England: Blackwell Science Ltd.