African Americans Consequence Essay

The African Americans played a major role before and after the Civil War, beginning from 1861 to 1870, which helped shape the course and consequences of the Civil War. In determining how African Americans shaped the course and consequences of the Civil War, one must assess how African Americans were given more opportunities. Politically, African Americans began to have a role in voting and to have the President and Republican Party fight for their full freedom. Socially, the African American’s class began to be looked at differently. Ideologically, the African Americans were being looked at as equal and made sure that people knew they were people too. Although African Americans had to continue to fight for their equality, they did, in fact, shape the course and consequences of the Civil War by having political, ideological, and social actions. African Americans had no rights to vote or involve themselves in politics but that changed after the Civil War. Giving African Americans the right to vote shaped the consequences of the Civil War by African American’s views being looked at as well. On August 1865, the Convention of the Colored People of Virginia was proceeded which claimed that since African Americans are free, they deserve to vote (Doc H). The African Americans spoke of being given suffrage, and then they were given the right to vote. This shaped a consequence of the Civil War because the African American’s views were no longer over looked. During the Civil War, no one J. Crespo P a g e | 2 paid attention to what the African Americans wanted but afterward, they were granted the voice to speak about what they wanted. After being heard and given the right to vote, the African Americans had participation in Constitutional Conventions. A map shows the following: the participation of African Americans and Whites in Constitutional Conventions during 1867-1868. (Doc J). Politically, the whites did not want to be overtaken by the African Americans, so they had a larger participation to overrule the African Americans. The whites wanted a powerful Democratic Party that supported their wanting. The African Americans still participated in the conventions to make sure the Republic Party was strong enough to continue to give the African American their rights. African Americans participating in the Constitutional Conventions shaped one of the consequences of the Civil War by not letting whites take over the political system. Not only did the African Americans have a consequence politically with being heard and not having white supremacy, politically African Americans were also given their freedom. African Americans were being given their freedom. Politically, African Americans were being granted a change in society. Abraham Lincoln published a letter on August 26, 1863 that proposed the following: the African Americans as a whole, everywhere, should be granted their freedom for they fought for the North (Doc C). Abraham Lincoln was trying to persuade the Whites to agree on freedom for the African Americans in the United States. African Americans were being freed everywhere instead of just the North. Politically, this helped the African Americans tremendously because they were going to be freed everywhere. One of the consequences was African Americans being freed in the North, but then African Americans were going to be freed everywhere, including the South. After the letter sent out by Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party decided to try to get an amendment that freed all African Americans. In 1864, the Republican Party’s platform stated the following: they wanted an Amendment to J. Crespo P a g e | 3 officially end slavery everywhere (Doc D). Politically, the African Americans were beginning to be seen as people throughout the nation. This consequence after the Civil War proved that African Americans were no longer going to be slaves anywhere. African Americans found their freedom with the help of the political power of Abraham Lincoln and Republican Party. Then the African Americans were socially looked at differently. The African Americans were no longer such a low class because people began to look at them differently and notice the good things about African Americans. Socially, the African Americans were being helped by the people. On July 30 1861 General Benjamin F. Butler reported to the secretary of the war stating the following: the African Americans should be free since they are a part of the North (Doc A). Socially, the North no longer presented the African Americans as property. This shaped the Civil War because the African Americans became part of the Union that fought for the North. Then after the Civil War was won and the African Americans were freed, their school system proved them socially equal and good as the whites. In March 1864, Charlotte Forten, an African American teacher in South Carolina Sea Islands, said the following: she spoke of how happy the African American children were to learn and how much knowledge they have attained (Doc E). Socially, the African Americans were no longer looked at as less smart than the Whites. The consequence of the Civil War with the African Americans socially with schools showed their equality to whites. Socially, the African Americans were no longer looked at as slaves or less knowledgeable. The African Americans, ideologically, were no longer looked as property. The African Americans were beginning to be looked at the same as the whites. The African Americans no longer were looked at as property. Ideologically, the African Americans caused a consequence of the Civil War to be looked at as people. On March 7, 1864 in The New J. Crespo P a g e | 4 York Times it stated the following: African Americans have gone through a drastic change to now be free Americans in the United States equal to the whites (Doc F). The African Americans were no longer the property they were once known of; African Americans were people just as the Whites. Ideologically, this proved that a consequence of the Civil War was the change of equality that African Americans had. After The New York Times had posted the article, Thomas Nast from Harper’s Weekly on August 5 1865 had posted the following: a picture of lady liberty standing next to an African American Union Solider asking â€Å"And Not This Man? † (Doc G). Ideologically, the picture proved that the people no longer were going to look at African Americans as property so they should be treated equal. The North wanted the South to have the same thoughts about African Americans. This set a consequence of the Civil War by having the African Americans no longer being looked at as slaves as they were when the war had begun. After the African Americans were no longer looked at as property, the African Americans made sure the Whites thought of them as people no matter what. African Americans were going to deal with racism and injustice but they made sure that the whites knew they were people also. Ideologically, the African American consequence after the Civil War was that African Americans are people, not slaves nor property. On August 20 1862 in New York during the resolution of African Americans in Newtown, African Americans stated the following: they wanted to make sure that the President knew that they were not going to leave because the United States was their country also that they were going to fight in for their freedom (Doc B). This constructed the course of the Civil War because the African Americans began fighting in the Civil War. Ideologically, African Americans were looked at as people in the nation of the United States to fight along the Whites for their freedom and country. After the Civil War, when African Americans were no longer slaves and granted their freedom, some J. Crespo P a g e | 5 whites resisted the full freedom of African Americans. In 1867 with Rebecca Parsons she went through the following: she went back to receive her kindred since she was a free slave but the owner would not allow her to because they were â€Å"his† (Doc I). Although, Parsons did not allow Rebecca her children it proved that Parsons realized she was also people because she demanded them back from him. Rebecca is no longer a slave who has to stand down, she also had rights which proved she is as equal as Parsons. Ideologically, after the Civil War this was a consequence by African Americans no longer being looked at differently because they were people also. African Americans ideologically created the course and consequence of the Civil War by being looked at as people and not slaves. African Americans shaped the course and consequences of the Civil War by ideological, social, and political reasoning. African Americans were known in the United States as slaves and property but they no longer were during and after the Civil War. They became people of equality to the whites in the United States. They no longer had no say in politics; they were given rights and opportunities to speak of their views. They no longer were viewed as property but people. Also, they weren’t the low class everyone had always labeled them as. African Americans helped the Union win the war to win themselves the freedom they deserved.

Henry Fayol Theory of Management Essay

DEFINITION OF PUBLIC SPHERE THEORY In rhetoric, the places were citizens exchange ideas, information, attitude and opinions. The concept of Habermas public sphere is a metaphorical term used to describe the virtual space where people can interact through the world wide web, for instance is not actually a web, cyberspace is not a space, and so with the public sphere. It’s the virtual space where the citizens of a country exchange ideas and discuss issues in order to reach agreement about ‘matters of general interest’(Jurgen, Habermas 1997:105) HISTORY OF JURGEN HABERMAS Jurgen Habermas was born in Dusseldorf, Garmany in 1929, he had served in the Hilter youth and had been sent to them. The western front during the final months of the war.  Habermas entrance onto the intellectual scence began in 1950s with an influential critique of Martin Heideggers philosophy.  He studied philosophy at universities of Gottingen and Bonn, which he followed with studies in philosophy and sociology at the institute of social research under Maz Horkheimer and Theoder Adono. In the 1960s and 70s he target at the university of Heidelberg and Frankfurt am main. He then  accepted a directorship at the Max Pianck institution in stamberg in 1971. In 1980 he won prize and two years later he took a professorship at the university of Frankfurt, remaining there until his retirement in 1994. Habermas on the public sphere, he means first at al a dominant of our social life in which something coming out in which public opinion can be formed. The right is guaranteed to all citizen. A position of the public sphere comes in being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble to form a public body. Citizens behave as a public body when they confer in an unrestricted fashion †¦ i.e, with the guarantee of freedom of assembly and association and the freedom to express and publish their opinions†¦ about matters of general interest. The contemporary publics sphere is characterized according to Habermas. By the weathering of its critical roles and capacities. In the past publicity was used to subject people or the present political decisions to the public. Today the public sphere is recruited for the use of hidden policies by interest groups. For Habermas, the principles of the public sphere are weakening in the 20th century. The public is no longer made out of masses of individuals but of organized people that institutionally exerting their influence on the public sphere and debate. Habermas introduces the concepts of â€Å"communicative power† as the key normative resources for countering the norn-free steering media of money and administrative power. Linking †˜communication’ with ‘power’ already suggests a mix of the normative resources of communicative action with the impersonal force of power. Is such a conceptual mix stable? As the source for democratic legitimation of the use of state power, communicative power is a central notion in Habermas’s democratic theory. Although, in the medium of in restricted communication†¦ new problem situation can be perceived more sensitively, discourses aimed at achieving self-understanding can be conducted more widely and expressively, collective identities and need interpretations can be articulated with fewer compulsions then is the case in procedurally regulated public sphere. HOW HABERMAS ANALYSIS PUBLIC COMMUNICATION Habermas analysis public communication in medieval times there existed no separation or distinction between private and public sphere, dure to the class pyramid of the feudal system. This system for Habermas positioned greater power at every level and to this day conventions regarding the ruler persisted, with political authority retained by the highest level. Rulers saw the state and not as representatives of the state – meaning that they represent their power to the people and not for the people. According to Habermas, by the late 18th century feudal institutions were finally disappearing along with church’s rule, making way to public power which was given autonomy. Rulers become public entities and professionalism bore the first signs of the bourgeois which become autonomous in relation to the government. Representational publicity was pushed over by a public force that formed around national and territorial sentiment and individual struggling with public power found themselves outside its collective power. The term â€Å"public† did not refer to the representation of a man with authority, but rather became the legitimate power of exercising power. The public sphere, according to Habermas, was the final stage of these developments. HOW IMPORTANT HARBERMAS THEORY Solutions can be raised and tested for potential objections without the pressure to put ‘opinion’ immediately in practice. Uncoupling communicated opinions from concrete practical obligations tends to have an intellectualizing effect. Furthermore, a great deal of political communication that does not immediately call for political action is certainly crucial to the political discourse a robust, democratic society. Free sphere plays an essential role in the political process as a cooperative search for truth. We should not be misled into thinking that the public sphere amounts to nothing more than a public arena in which people talk about politics. Nor does the public sphere have merely instrumental value for bringing ‘relevant information’ into political process. The public sphere is a normative  concept that plays a key role in the process that culminates in legitimate political decisions. According to Habermas, institutionalized democratic lawmaking and judicial review alone are insufficient to confer democratic legitimacy. Alone with legislative decisions, judicial and administrative decision are only ensured legitimacy through the normative reasons generated by an un-subverted public sphere. Otherwise, political decisions are dedicated by the power struggles within the political system and not by citizens themselves who, as the addresses of the law, are the ones affected. Without robust political public sphere, there is little check on the administrative power that dictates the flow of communication and power within the political system and the citizenry. Thus, the public sphere theory is more inanely an arena for talking politics. It is the primary site for detecting problems, for generating radical democratic infuses, and for the deliberation of citizens, all of which are necessary for democratic legitimacy. In the following, I distinguish the important normative aspects of the informal public sphere theory. 1. Its communicative and organizational structure 2. The capacities required to meet its deliberate role within a deliberative politics and 3. The qualified out comes or effects generated by the public sphere. This last aspect will lead into the discussion of crucial role of communicative power.

Buying Behavior, Perception in Indian Dth Industry

RESEARCH ON BUYING BEHAVIOR AND PERCEPTION IN INDIAN DIRECT TO HOME (DTH) INDUSTRY ____________________________________________________________ _ TABLE OF CONTENT Page No. Chapter 1 . Executive Summary 2-5 Chapter 2 . Overview of Indian DTH industry 6-24 Chapter3 . Top Players of the industry 25-27 Chapter 4 Introduction to the topic 28-61 Chapter5 ,Findings and Discussions 62-67 Chapter6 .Conclusions and suggestions 68-71 REFERENCES ANNEXURE List of Tables and Figures 4. 1 Pie chart of Number of respondents in different age groups 4. 2 Pie chart of number of males and females respondents 4. Pie chart of number of middle and lower level respondents 4. 4 Pie chart for the number of company’s engagement in csr activities 4. 5 Pie chart of percentage showing are these reports published 4. 6 Pie chart for response to statement formation of safe and healthy work environment 4. 7 Pie chart for response to statement contribution to regional lifestyle 4. 8 Pie chart for response to statement equality of opportunities . 9 Pie chart for response to statement continuity and creation of Regional culture 4. 10 Table and Pie chart for response to statement balance between Work and Personal life 11. Table and Pie chart for response to statement Sustainable corporate culture 4. 12 Table and Pie chart for response to statement resource cycling and Waste Reduction 13. Table and Pie chart for response updated technology 14. Table and Pie chart for response to statement reduction of environmental burden 15. Table and Pie chart for response to statement reduction of green house gases that lead to global warming. 16. Table and Pie chart for response to statement preservation of water resources and water quality 17. Table and Pie chart for response to statement reduction of environmental burden-product and services 18. Table and Pie chart for response to statement compliance 19. Table and Pie chart for response to statement corporate governance 20. Table and Pie chart for response to statement risk management. 21. Table and Pie chart for response to statement education to the society 22. Table and Pie chart for response Competitive Compensation 23. Table and Pie chart for response satisfied working hours 24. Table and Pie chart for response good quality of products 25. Table and Pie chart for response good quality of after sale services 26. Table and Pie chart for response timely delivery of products 27. Table and Pie chart for response compliance with the prescribed security measures 28. Table and Pie chart for response transparency and fairness in purchasing 29. Table and Pie chart for response hearing the opinion of the suppliers 30. Table and Pie chart for response reward for the voluntary improvement of the suppliers 31. Table and Pie chart for response survey on customer satisfaction 32. Table and Pie chart for response recognition of the negative impact of the product on the society 33. Table and Pie chart for response protection of customers information EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Report is on the topic â€Å"RESEARCH ON BUYING BEHAVIOR AND PERCEPTION IN INDIAN DTH INDUSTRY†. The objective of the research is to find the consumer’s behavior and perception in buying the DTH services in the Indian market. This will be done with help of a Questionnaire Survey based on the Consumer’s ‘Black Box’ through the entire decision making process of the consumer, which are as follows: †¢ Problem Recognition †¢ Information Search †¢ Evaluation of Alternatives Purchase Decision †¢ Post – Purchase behavior And also with the help of certain important factors that contributes heavily towards the consumer’s decision of buying a DTH service, in India, like the following: †¢ Celebrity Endorsements †¢ Other’s Influence †¢ Purchase Timing †¢ Purchase Amount †¢ Dealer Choice In short the research is carried -out to know what goes in the consumer’s mind before he finally buys the DTH services in the Indian market and also to know, when , where and how the consumer buys the services of DTH, in the Indian DTH market. Now, before starting with achieving the objective of the research, I have started with firstly explaining the buying behavior of the consumer in general with the help of its definition and then the entire report is based upon the buying behavior of consumers in the DTH industry. Although the report is an industry specific report but still I have briefed a little bit about all the major players in the Indian DTH industry. The following are the players about which a little brief has been done in the report: †¢ TataSky Satellite Television Dish TV †¢ Airtel DTH †¢ Sun Direct †¢ Reliance big TV †¢ Videocon D2H This is followed by the Literature Review on the buying behavior of consumer’s in DTH industry which contain’s the Overview of the Indian DTH industry, Technical aspects of DTH service, Factors that contribute towards the success of DTH services in India, what does the industry people, media, and customers said about this industry. The researc h methodology that has been used is the descriptive type and the data is collected through both the primary and the secondary source. For the primary source a Questionnaire was prepared for the survey to know the consumer’s behavior in buying the DTH services. The survey was conducted on people who are already enjoying the services of the DTH irrespective of age, income, lifestyle, gender etc. The questionnaire revolved around the consumer buying behavior and was designed to know the complete steps of buying behavior of consumers for the DTH industry in India. For the secondary source journals and articles in the magazine, news paper and internet have been used in achieving the objective of the research. The sample size was 150 users of DTH services in Delhi and NCR. All the questions from the questionnaire have been analyzed and findings have been inferred from it with the help of the graphs and the tables, making all the information very easy to read, analyze and infer the key findings from them. This is followed by the complete accumulated findings in bullet points from the research and then the suggestions for the DTH industry as a whole and for the DTH players in industry based on the Objectives of the research and the Findings of the survey & research which could increase the performance and sales for the companies. References that has been used in the entire preparation is also provided along with the questionnaire at the end of the project report. CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR DEFINED Consumer buying behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy products It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behavior analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Each method for vote counting is assumed as a social function but if Arrow’s possibility theorem is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of the social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonocity, unanimity, homogeneity and weak and strong Pareto optimality. No social choice function meets these requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relation with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind, the productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of the cycle, the consumer. Belch and Belch define consumer behaviour as ‘the process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and desires'. MAJOR DTH PLAYERS IN INDIA 1. TATA SKY – SATELLITE TELEVISION Incorporated in 2004, Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. Tata Sky DTH endeavors to offer Indian viewers a world-class television viewing experience through its satellite television service. The TATA Group is one of India's largest and most respected business conglomerates. It comprises 93 operating companies in s even business sectors: information systems and communications, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. The TATA Group has operations in more than 40 countries across six continents and its companies export products and services to 140 nations. The Group and its enterprises have been steadfast and distinctive in their adherence to business ethics and their commitment to corporate social responsibility. This is a legacy that has earned the Group the trust of many millions of stakeholders in a measure few business houses anywhere in the world can match. The SKY brand, owned by the UK-based British Sky Broadcasting Group, brings to Tata Sky the reputation of more than 20 years experience of satellite broadcasting. SKY is well known for the innovative products and services launched by BSkyB, such as DTH broadcasting in 1989, digital satellite broadcasting in 1998, interactive television services in 1999 and the SKY+ personal video recorder in 2001. Tata Sky joins an international group of DTH businesses that includes platforms as far apart as the UK and Italy in Europe, and Mexico and Brazil in Latin America. Tata Sky has established an extensive customer service network across the country. It has engaged a field force of approximately 3000 service engineers who are complemented by high-end 24Ãâ€"7 call centres, manned by multi-lingual customer service associates, trained to solve all customer problems. Tata Sky takes direct responsibility for installing and servicing the hardware at every subscriber's home, thereby ensuring the highest levels of customer service. 2. DISH TV DISH TV is a division of Zee Network Enterprise (Essel Group Venture). EGV has national and global presence with business interests in media programming, broadcasting & distribution, speciality packaging and entertainment. Zee Network incorporated dishtv to modernize TV viewing. dishtv is India’s first direct to home (DTH) entertainment service. By digitalizing Indian entertainment, this enterprise brought best television viewing technology to the living room. It not only transmits high quality programmes through satellite; but also gives a complete control of selecting channels and paying for them. To experience the new life breathing in television technology, dishtv extends high quality broadcast and thorough entertainment. It imparts DVD quality picture and stereophonic sound effects to the customers. It promises to change the experience of TV viewing with its uninterrupted transmission service. The endeavour enters next level of entertainment with futuristic features, such as EPG (Electronic Programme Guide), parental lock, games, 400 channels, interactive TV and movie on demand. dishtv also brings exclusive national and international channels for the first time in India. dishtv uses NSS-6 to broadcast its programmes. NSS-6 was launched on 17th December, 2002 by European-based satellite provider, NewSkies (one of the only four fixed satellite communications companies with truly global satellite coverage) ishtv – India's first KU-band DTH entertainment service, hopped on to NSS-6 from an INSAT satellite in July 2004. The change in the satellite was to increase the channel offering as NSS 6 offered more transponder capacity. 3. AIRTEL DTH Direct to Home (DTH) service comes to you from Bharti Telemedia Limited, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited. Bharti Airtel Limited is t he flagship company of Bharti Enterprises and is India’s largest integrated and the first private telecom services provider with a footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. As India's leading telecommunications company, the Airtel brand has played the role of a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Airtel since its inception has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom sector in the country with its world class products and services. With DVD quality picture and sound, your TV viewing experience will change forever with Airtel digital TV. Now witness the magic of television with best and widest variety of channels and programmes ranging from Sports, Music and General entertainment to best on-demand content on Airtel Live. What's more, you can choose from the best movies of Bollywood and the world, listen to radio, play games, along with a host of other interactive features and change the way you watch television. 4. SUN DIRECT Sun Direct – India's youngest and most exciting state Of the art DTH Company. Sun Direct uses the latest MPEG-4 based technology to increase broadcast capacity. Sun Direct confirms to provide next-generation services in fast-growing and emerging markets quickly and efficiently. Sun Direct will be supported by Irdeto's conditional access solution to manage content and revenues in the satellite broadcasting venture. Sun Direct selected Oracle based on its convergent multi-service capabilities and proven real-time scalability allowing it to consolidate billing operations, enables powerful new service offerings and improves visibility into customer information across services. Sun Direct Pvt Ltd, the leading direct-to-home (DTH) service provider is all set to redefine the television viewing in the country. Sun Direct today created history by launching the first ever High Definition (HD) broadcast on DTH platform in India. Sun Direct: Sun Direct is a 80:20 joint venture between the Maran family and the Astro Group of Malaysia. Sun Direct offers all customer premises equipments like the dish and Set Top box free of cost to the customer, which is a practice followed by DTH platforms across the world. Sun Direct is the first one to adopt the advanced MPEG4 technology offering better compression and signal quality and is the first to offer HD TV (High definition) content. Sun Direct offers all customer premises equipments like the dish and Set Top box free of cost to the customer offering more than 200 channels, with 7 basic packs and 41 add on packs. 5. RELIANCE BIG TV Imagine a satellite TV service that suits you and your family’s interests, passions and busy schedules. Picture all of your favourite channels, shows, and movies at your fingertips —it’s time to step into the BIG world of entertainment. Reliance is excited to present the next landmark of TV entertainment in India. With Reliance BIG TV Digital Service, you can experience spectacular entertainment, blockbuster movies, up-to-the-minute news, and your favourite programs at the click of a button. Transform your home with Reliance BIG TV Digital Service, powered by MPEG – 4 technology for the first time in India. Reliance BIG TV has fantastic features like pure digital viewing experience, more channel choice, many exclusive movie channels, easy programming guide, interactive services, parental control, 24Ãâ€"7 Customer Service and lots more — Ensure a never before viewing experience with unlimited hours of fun and entertainment for your entire family. 6. VIDEOCON d2h It is world’s 1st satellite television, via state of art satellites, which means you no longer have to tolerate all the hassles associated with Cable TV. No more frustrating disconnections right in the middle of an intense game. And whether you’re watching a Hollywood thriller or a Desi blockbuster, Videocon d2h results in a â€Å"The End† to all the unnecessary interruptions. We invite you to experience a world of awesome digital entertainment, crystal clear pictures, ultra sharp sound and state of art technology which uses the revolutionary MPEG -4 with DVB S2. This means you’ll be able to notice the minutest of details on your favorite celebrity. And hear every scream, every sound. Even if it were a faint sigh. We will provide you unique active services, multi lingual user interface, more movie on demand channels, radio channels, cross genre tickers and many more value added services. Our interactive Direct to Home (DTH) Services will be available through Satellite LCD, Satellite TV, Satellite DVD as well as a Satellite Box (STB). We bring you cutting edge technology through our services, which will make your home the most exciting place on earth. The Products i. e. Satellite LCD, Satellite TV, Satellite DVD are owned and marketed by UDCL. The DTH services and Satellite Box are marketed by BBCL subject to terms and conditions of Customer Agreement. OVERVIEW OF THE DTH INDUSTRY Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite television is becoming a buzzword in the satellite broadcast industry due to the fact that DTH offers immense opportunities to both broadcasters and viewers. Thanks to the rapid development of digital technology, DTH broadcast operators worldwide have been able to introduce a large number of new interactive applications in the television market besides a large number of entertainment programmes over a single delivery platform. In addition, since digital technology permits a highly efficient exploitation of the frequency spectrum, the number of TV channels that can be broadcast using digital technology is significantly higher than with analogue technology. The increased number of television channels allows the operator to satisfy the demand of a number of niche markets with dedicated transmissions. In general, DTH service is the one in which a large number of channels are digitally compressed, encrypted and beamed from very high power satellites. The programmes can be directly received at homes. This mode of reception facilitates the use of small receive dish antennas of 60 to 90 cm diameter installed at convenient location in individual buildings without needing elaborate foundation /space etc. Also, DTH transmission eliminates local cable operator completely, since an individual user is directly connected to the service providers. However, a digital receiver is needed to receive the multiplexed signals and view them on a TV. DTH, in sharp contrast to Cable TV, lends itself to easy monitoring,and,control. Transmission in Ku band is most appropriate and widely used for the purpose. As mentioned above, all the encoded transmission signals are digital – thus providing higher resolution picture quality and better audio than traditional analog signals. All the advantages of the digital transmission, as applicable to the terrestrial transmission are relevant in the satellite transmission also. Over the last three years, the direct-to-home (DTH) satellite industry has come on strongly worldwide. It has grown from a niche delivery mechanism into a mainstream business. The spread of subscription-based DTH satellite TV promises to enhance choices for many households in developing countries. With the Government throwing open the DTH sector in the country,a handful of players have come up with grandiose plans to enter the market. Given the stiff level of competition this premium services will face from the existing multi-channel cable network, possible entrants need to clearly grasp a few of the winning rules of the game. A DTH OFFER COMPRISES SIX ELEMENTS : [pic] Content: The movies,news channels,sporting events,and/or general entertainment features that constitute an offer to consumers. Space: Ownership or access to sufficient transponders in the right orbital slot to broadcast an offer to a specific area. Ground: The ability to distribute, install and service dishes and set-top boxes(otherwise known as customer premises equipment, or CPE), combined with access to relevant technology and manufacturing capabilities. Subscriber management: Ability to acquire and deactivate subscribers,bill and collect from them, activate pay-per-view movies and perform customer service. Financing: The provision of credit to customer seeking to buy or lease CPE. Government relation: Ability to navigate government procedures and regulations to obtain permits and so on. So diverse are these requirements,that no existing player in any market will be able to fulfill all of them on its own. This, the industry will be populated by consortia and it is unlikely that more than one or two DTH consortia will be able to achieve break-even. STRATEGIC AND SUCCESS FACTORS : Exploit Bottlenecks: In this market,content and transponder capacity are scarce and controlled by a few players. With content, access to unique local language material is critical. In a market like India,all a DTH player may need to do is repackage existing channels that are not universally available. In sports, some players have won an advantage through long-term rights purchases. Broadcasting rights to cricket in India, for example,belongs to ESPN for the next five years. It also controls the right to football for West Bengal(the most popular league) for ten years. The second obvious bottleneck is in transponder capacity. A modest DTH offering is likely to require a minimum of 10 to 15 transponders-almost a dedicated satellite. The number of satellite that can broadcast to a particular region is limited by physics. Move First: In the DTH industry, a credible and well managed first-mover service has a tremendous advantage over others. In India, a first mover may effectively shut out competition. Exploit Market Niche: In some markets, the segment of consumers who desire highly specific content may be large enough to form the core subscribership of a DTH service. An example of this could be again cricket in our country. Any DTH consortium must decide how it will deal with a number of strategic choices that will determine its success: Build an appropriate content offer: This is the single most crucial choice a DTH company will make. In a remote town with no access to television, for example,even a DTH bouquet of just two channels might seem attractive. Transponder costs are also a factor in an appropriate content offer. It is the bouquet size that determine how many transponders are needed,creating a tradeoff between the cost of transponders and the richness of the offering. Leverage killer content: A subscription service could use its rights more effectively. It might secure the exclusive right to broadcast a sporting event live, even if it is shown on free TV later. Offer superior services: Cable companies are frequently criticized for installation delays, billing errors and surly staff and the nature of cable plant makes signals prone to disruption. Staff and customer service issues relating to CPE installation and maintenance may yield a fine of differentiation above and beyond picture quality. PLACE BETS ON Another strategic choice consortia must make is which markets to make bets in. A few rules of the thumb are: Number of TV households: the number of TV households and its rate of growth determines how easy it will be to break even and how quickly, if at all, a developing market will become attractive. TV advertising and its growth: Ad revenue are also available to a DTH service provider, so the existence of a robust or growing ad market is important. Technical barriers to access TV: Even if DTH offers are likely to be thin on the ground,it is possible for a company to own a piece of the chain that links a service to subscribers. Until recently, Sky had a monopoly on the UK encryption standard, Videocrypt and could effectively dictate the terms of DTH competition, This was because it had a large installed base of set-top boxes using this standard. Ownership of key content: The availability of sports and film rights is a crucial determinant of market attractiveness. In India, such rights are divided among many separate players. In such a case, no rights owner is likely to be strong enough to play kingmaker. Position in a market: The most important asset is arguably an ability to play a unique role in the DTH value chain. This advantage may reside in business that have little or no obvious connection with DTH. A company that has pioneered a business offering credit for consumer durables in a developing country, for instance, might be well placed to supply finance to purchasers of CPE. INDUSTRY SAYS MEDIA AND CUSTOMER SAYS: Despite the global financial meltdown, the future of DTH industry in India has numerous opportunities. A 20 per cent annual growth is being witnessed in the DTH sector and there is still scope for more. Int he current context of the global financial meltdown, the Direct to Home (DTH) industry in India is in the throes of multifarious challenges and opportunities. The ‘big game’ is all about shaping up grandiose plans to master the winning rules to garner as much portion of the Indian DTH pie as possible by a handful of players. Since the DTH space denotes ‘big value’, akin to the space occupied by television [pic] and telephony, inter-firm rivalries have thrown up price wars, discount schemes, procurement of transponders, ambitious targets for improving the subscription base, popular bouquet of channels, set top boxes with superior quality of videos, improving content, etc as a desperate means to entice the Indian viewer. A neat 20 per cent annual growth is being witnessed in the DTH sector in India with over 8. million households having digital pay tv According to Harsh Bijoor, a brand consultant, â€Å"Since Dish TV, the biggest market player on the Indian soil, has not scraped even five per cent of the pie, there is plenty left for other players to eat. † In the early 2008, five major players, Zee’s Dish TV, Tata Sky, Reliance ADAG, Sun Direct and Bharti Telemedia formed an umbrella body – DTH Operators Association of India (DOAI). The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting As sociation of India in its ‘2008 Pay TV Piracy Survey’ have predicted that the Grey TV market of around USD 1. billion will gradually be taken over by the legal DTH industry. Marcel Fenez, chairman CASBAA, said, â€Å"Despite the global sinking of economies, the Asia Pacific market is healthy and the decline in growth will not derail the industry. With 1. 7 million digital cable subscriptions, the digital pay-TV market is finally taking off and this degree of penetration represents a tipping point for our industry in Asia. † Starting with a million strong subscriber base in August 2006, Tata Sky, a DTH joint-venture Company between Star (owned by Rupert Murdoch) and the Tata Group, now has more than 2. million connections and the forecast for 2012 is that it will further increase to eight million. The Indian DTH growth scenario bodes well for the advertising industry as well with over Rs 30-40 crores being earmarked by these companies annually for advertising reve nues. While Tata Sky has roped in Amir Khan and Gul Panag for its promotion, endorses for the Dish TV. MD and CEO of Tata Sky, Vikram Kaushik, recently confirmed in an interview that the company estimates were standing at Rs 40 billion for its final funding requirement as ‘competitive entries’, ‘explosive growth in volume’ and customer acquisition have jacked up the costs. Tata Sky recently launched the NDS-developed XTV personal video recorder (PVR) that enables the customers to watch a particular TV show while recording another. It is being hailed a ‘major introduction’ in the Indian DTH market. Within a few days of its launch 2, 500 PVRs, priced at Rs 8, 999, were sold as claimed by the Tata Sky MD, Kaushik. This places Tata Sky among the top 19 ‘pay-TV operators’ around the world with NDS solutions being a unique introduction to facilitate flexibility of PVR to their subscribers. A deal along similar lines was announced by Bharti Airtel, in the provision of DTH services, dependent on NDS for its conditional access. N Arjun, executive director Bharti Telemedia, expressed enthusiasm about the company’s expansion plans by disclosing that his company looked forward to providing the best of home entertainment services via Airtel digital TV in terms of latest technology and exciting content. â€Å"Since DTH is the future of home entertainment, with the support of our technology partner NDS, we will render superior, state-of-the-art services to our DTH service customers†, he said. Sun Direct, which entered the DTH sector as a discounted brand in opposition to Tata Sky, notched at a 30 per cent premium and supposedly mopped up over a million subscribers within a short time span. Tata Sky, though placed at a launch-premium of Rs 1,000, is open to segmentations. A demand of a tax holiday of five years from the government has been mooted by the DOAI that should incentivise the DTH industry as its market has reportedly surpassed the Japanese one in the last five years. The Indian DTH industry players look forward to a seven times multiplication of its market, about 40 million subscribers by 2015, from a total of 165 million pay TV households. Analysis Since 1959, when Indian television was first launched and the state owned Doordarshan aired just two channels in black and white as recently as 1991; the world of entertainment has made rapid and unusual strides. The turning points were the 1982 Asian Games when colour television was introduced and the 1991 liberalisation and deregulation that ushered in the era of foreign investments and foreign channels that egged the domestic players to jump into the foray. From large metros, satellite TV moved to smaller towns that spurred the sale of TV sets and brought about an upgradation from black and white television viewing to the colour one. With time, more and more changes took place and finally the DTH services arrived. DTH operations in India could be enhanced if the dearth of satellite capacity is removed by increasing the number of available Ku-band transponders that at present is 12 on Insat 4A, which in turn would mean more channels for viewing. Tax burdens on DTH are another area of complaint for operators. Around 40 per cent of revenues are siphoned off to pay taxes and license fee and another 12 per cent for services imposed by the Central government. Apart from this, there are entertainment taxes that differ from state to state. Cable TV operators also give a stiff level of competition to the DTH sector by suppressing their prices artificially by way of under-declarations. This has pressurised the DTH operators to cut their profits to the extent of making them unviable. At present, there are 80 million TV households in India, of which over seven million are DTH ones. Since the penetration is just under nine per cent, there is much room for a massive growth rate†, according to the Bharti Airtel’s head of brand and media, Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan. â€Å"This is what the company is focusing on, to enhance its subscription base to 20 per cent,† he added. Industry analyst Siva Sundaram said that India w ill be the leading power in Asia by 2010 in the field of cable market and by 2015; it will be the most profitable in the area of pay TV market. Interestingly, the rural rich were the first to positively respond to the advent of DTH industry and those in the remote areas with no or unreliable access to the cable services will be tapped in by the DTH players. The ‘Indian Readership Survey 2008 R2’ findings have shown that the Dish TV is the largest player with over 3. 1 million subscribers, followed by DD Direct, Tata Sky and Sun Direct, which has a predominance in the southern zone. The zone wise analysis puts the western zone with 2. 24 million topping he subscriber base charts and the North, South and East following the lead. While the ‘big game’ hots up between the DTH service providers, the regular big Indian couch potatoes may keep surfing the channels and choosing from the burgeoning options. CONCLUSION : A few things are assured in the DTH industry even in the face of paradigm shifts. First, the value of transponders is likely to fall as compression allows more and more content to go through t he same satellite, and as more satellite are launched. Second, as bandwidth explodes, so will demand for content. Obscure sports and the like will become more valuable;conversely, much of the content that is currently valuable will face downward pricing pressure. Niche content providers will emerge. The industry is likely to be characterized first by a period of fragmentation and then by an increasing concentration of global consortia as unprofitable participants fold. What is clearer than ever is that satellite TV is here to stay and will play role in bringing television to mass around the world. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The objective of the research is to find the consumer’s behavior and perception in buying the DTH services in the Indian market. This will be done with help of a Questionnaire Survey based on the Consumer’s ‘Black Box’ through the entire decision making process of the consumer, which are as follows: †¢ Problem Recognition †¢ Information Search †¢ Evaluation of Alternatives †¢ Purchase Decision †¢ Post – Purchase behavior And also with the help of certain important factors that contributes heavily towards the consumer’s decision of buying a DTH service, in India, like the following: †¢ Celebrity Endorsements †¢ Other’s Influence †¢ Purchase Timing †¢ Purchase Amount †¢ Dealer Choice In short the research is carried -out to know what goes in the consumer’s mind before he finally buys the DTH services in the Indian market and also to know, when , where and how the consumer buys the services of DTH, in the Indian DTH market. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DEFINED Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In this we study the various steps that are generally adopted by researcher in studying this problem along with the logic behind them. RESEARCH DESIGN The research design selected is of descriptive type. Data is collected through Primary and Secondary sources. PRIMARY SOURCE: A Questionnaire was prepared for the survey to know the consumer’s behavior in buying the DTH services. The survey was conducted on people who are already enjoying the services of the DTH irrespective of age, income, lifestyle, gender etc. SECONDARY SOURCE: Journals and articles in the magazine, news paper and internet have been used in achieving the objective of the research. SAMPLE SIZE: A Sample size of 150 existing users of DTH services was included in the survey through questionnaires (25 each from North Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi, East Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida). The Sample was selected irrespective of age, gender, lifestyle, income. †¢ TABLE 5. 1 WHAT SERVICES DID YOU USE BEFORE DTH SERVICES ? |Local Channels |142 | |Doordarshan Channels |8 | GRAPH 5. 1 ANALYSIS : From the above pie-chart we can analyze that 95% of people surveyed were using local cable as against 5% who were using Doordarshan channels. INFERENCES: We can infer from the pie-chart that majority of people surveyed were using the services of local cable operators and thus it also reflects that very small segment of people use only Doordarshan channels as a source of entertainment in Delhi & NCR. †¢ TABLE 5. 2 WHAT WERE YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF DTH SERVICES BEFORE YOU USED IT ? |High Initial Cost |42 | |High Monthly Rentals |66 | |Poor Customer Service |22 | |Poor signal |30 | GRAPH 5. 2 [pic] ANALYSIS: From the above given bar diagram we can analyze that 28% of people perceived DTH as it absorbs High initial cost,44% as High monthly cost,15% as Poor customer service & 13% as Poor Signal. INFERENCE: We can now infer that most of the people before using DTH services thought it to have Heavy Monthly Rentals and also as something that had High Initial Cost attached to it . Poor Signal was also an issue that people had thought DTH to be associated with and few people had perceived its Customer Service as poor. TABLE 5. 3 WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO SWITCH TO DTH FROM THE EARLIER SERVICES USED BY YOU ? BECAUSE DTH PROVIDES : |Better Service |45 | |Economical |5 | |Beeter Picture Quality |60 | |Interactive services |40 | GRAPH 5. 3 [pic] ANALYSIS: According to customers, reason for switching to DTH, because DTH provides: 30% believe it as better service, 3% as economical, 40% as better picture quality & 27% coz of interactive services by DTH. INFERENCE: We can infer from above that most of the LCO’s customers left them and switched to DTH because of their problems with poor picture quality and people also ditched LOC’s because of poor services from them and also lack of interactive services which was there in DTH. A very small percentage of people left LOC’s because of prices charged by LOC’s †¢ TABLE 5. 4 WHERE DID YOU SEARCH FOR INFORMATION ON DTH BEFORE BUYING ONE ? |Internet |55 | |Dealers |55 | |Friends |30 | |Newspapers |10 | GRAPH 5. 4 [pic] ANALYSIS: We can analyze from the above given graph that 37% each of people surveyed searched information on DTH from Internet & Dealers. 20% consulted Friends and 6% from Newspapers. INFERENCE: An interesting comes from the fact that when it comes to searching information about the DTH services when deciding to buy them, most of the people prefer to search it on Internet & an equal no. of people visit Dealers to gather information. People also prefer to consult their Friends more than using Newspapers as a source of Information search. TABLE 5. 5 ON WHAT PARAMETERS DID YOU EVALUATE ALL THE AVAILABLE DTH SERVICES BEFORE DECIDING TO BUY BRAND OF DTH SERVICE ? |Good Reputation |40 | |Price |10 | |Interactive Services |40 | |Picture Quality |60 | GRAPH 5. 5 ANALYSIS: We can analyze that in terms of evaluation, 39% people rated Picture Quality,27% each as Good Reputation and Interactive Services and 7% as Price as the major alternative evaluation factor. INFERENCE: We can infer that the most important point of evaluating the available DTH options was the Picture, which was of paramount importance for prospective customers followed by Good Reputation and Interactive Services followed by the Price which only a meager population voted for. †¢ TABLE5. 6 DO CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS YOUR DECISION IN BUYING DTH SERVICES ? |Yes |35 | |No |115 | GRAPH 5. 6 [pic] ANALYSIS: We can analyze that 77% of people surveyed said that Celebrity endorsements do not have any impact on their decision in deciding which brand to by or not to by and only 23% people agreed that id does contribute towards their decision. INFERENCE: It is an interesting inference from the above given graph and data that inspite of almost all DTH companies going for Big Celebrities to endorse their brands, customers gave a thumbs down to celebrity endorsements with 77% people saying that they are not at all influenced by it and only 23% saying yes to this idea. TABLE 5. 7 WHO WAS THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR FINAL PURCHASE DECISION ? |Dealer |35 | |Family |20 | |Existing Users |80 | |Only Me |15 | GRAPH 5. 7 [pic] ANALYSIS: We can analyze that Existing users are the biggest influence on the final purchase decision with around 54% people going for it followed by 23% for dealers, 13% for family and 10% deciding themselves. INFERENCE: We can easily infer from the above given graph and data that as expected nd as in all other industries that existing users are always the biggest influence on the final decision and it’s the same in the DTH industry, Dealers are also big influence on the final decision followed by family and ourselves. †¢ TABLE 5. 8 ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR DTH SERVICE ? |Yes |129 | |No |21 | GRAPH 5. 8 [pic] ANALYSIS: We can analyze that 86% of people using DTH services are satisfied with the services and only 14% people are dissatisfied. INFERENCE: We can easily infer from the above given data and graph that most of the people, as expected are pretty much satisfied with the DTH services, which provides so many added features with crystal clear picture quality. One more important thing that can be inferred is there are 14% people who are not satisfied with the DTH services, which should bother all the DTH players in the industry. †¢ TABLE 5. 9 IF DISSATISFIED,THEN WHAT IS THE REASON FOR DISSATISFACTION ? Poor Customer Service |8 | |Poor Picture Quality |2 | |Poor Signal Strength |3 | |Costlier than Expected |8 | GRAPH 5. 9 ANALYSIS: Now, we can analyze that out of 14% dissatisfied customers,38% people’s reason of dissatisfaction is Poor Customer Service and an eaqual no. people think that it costlier than expected followed by 15% with Poor Signal Strength and 9% with Poor Picture quality. INFERENCE: We can easily infer that first of all there are very little dissatisfied customers and the major reason for dissatisfied customer’s are either Poor Customer Service or the Monthly rentals are higher than perceived or expected. Very small amount of people blames it on Poor Signal Strength followed by Poor Picture Quality. FINDINGS FOLLOWING ARE THE FINDINGS OF THE REPORT 1. Most of the users of DTH services today have migrated from the local cable operators in comparison with the viewers of Doordarshan network. So therefore this can viewed step of Doordarshan network viewers to local cable operators. . Initially before using the DTH service the perception of it was that of something that High monthly rentals and that comes with High initial cost. Many people also thought that as it is a satellite network, therefore there would be a lot of signal problems, with few of them having doubtful perceptions about its Customer service. 3. The major reason that led to people switching fr om their previous services to DTH was Poor picture quality, Poor service and lack of interactive services (in the same order), which had an obvious solution in the DTH services. . It was found out that the prospective customers searched for information on DTH mainly from the internet and the dealers with equal no. of respondents going for them, wherein friends are also a good source of information. Newspapers no more are hot in information search in the DTH industry. 5. The most important parameter that the customers used to evaluate all the available DTH options was that it should have the best picture quality and then came the good Reputation and interactive services with the brand. Price was not of that importance as the industry itself is gripped in price-war. 6. This was an interesting but an unexpected finding. Although almost all the DTH players have roped in big celebrities to endorse their brand, still people gave this idea a thumbs down and said it did not affect their decision. 7. The biggest influence on the final purchase decision was found out to be the existing users of the service with more than half of the respondents going for it followed by the dealers, then family members and then the respondents themselves. 8. Talking about the post purchase behavior, a major chunk of population that was surveyed was pretty satisfied with the DTH service (86% of them) and will very much carry on with the DTH, wherein 14% of them showed dissatisfaction. 9. Now, the major reason of the dissatisfaction of the 14% dissatisfied customers were poor customer service and the fact that overall rent (different packages and different channels) was costlier than the expected. SUGGESTIONS FOLLOWING ARE THE SUGGESTIONS BASED ON THE REASEARCH OBJECTIVES AND FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY : †¢ Although the companies are targeting the complete set of television iewers across the country, but they should make extra efforts in specifically targeting the rurals whose only source of entertainment is Doordarshan channels only by customizing channel packages that suits their taste and their pockets as well. Catch them before they take the local cable operator’s route to reach DTH. †¢ Erase the prospective customerâ€⠄¢s perception of DTH services requiring High Initial & High monthle costs and also that as it is a satellite network then it will always have signal problems. Reach the prospects and tell them that these are wrong perceptions and tell the advantages. The Companies should keep on striving for better picture quality, better customer service, and more and more of interactive services because these are the reasons and problems why the customers have migrated from local cable operators (LCO). †¢ Now it was found out that the Dealers and the internet were the hottest zones for information search on DTH by the prospective customers. So, therefore the company’s should, for internet push in all the information regarding their product and service and also tell the prospects about the advantage of their services over the competitors. Evaluation of alternatives by the customers are one of the most important stage for the company and the findings point out that in choosing a DTH ser vice, the customer focuses mainly on the Picture Quality and the Interactive services provided by the company so these things should be provided best by the company to the customers. One more important point is although the DTH industry is gripped by price-war, the customers are willing to pay a little more if they get a better picture quality, more interactive services and better customer service. This was an interesting but an unexpected finding that although all the major DTH players in the country have roped in big celebrities to endorse their brand, but almost 78% of the respondents have rejected this idea and said that celebrity endorsements have no impact on their decision. So, therefore the companies should concentrate on ideas to effectively communicate their message to the final consumer rather than celebrities to convey the message, which in turn would save lots of money given to celebrities as brand ambassador. Now just before buying a product or service the customer nee ds to b pushed in his or her decision and the results have found out that the biggest influence as far as DTH services are concerned are The existing users and the Dealers. So, therefore in order to take care of the influence of existing customers the company has to provide the best of services to them in order to win the Word Of Mouth and to take care of Dealer’s influence the company should have trained sales personnel at the dealer counters. Although, the major TV viewing population are pretty satisfied with DTH services, there are few which are not satisfied and the major reason for their dissatisfaction are poor customer service and costlier monthly charges than expected. To take of the first reason the companies should understand the importance of customer service as a tool to increase sales and take care of the customer service and to take care of the second reason the companies should make the packages simpler and also a little economical. Above mentioned are some of the suggestions for the DTH industry as a whole and for the DTH players in industry based on the Objectives of the research and the Findings of the survey & research which could increase the performance and sales for the companies. The above suggestions have come after an extensive study of the â€Å"CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR† in the Indian DTH industry. CONCLUSION After extensively working on the buying behavior and the perception of the consumers in the Indian DTH industry, I came to know how important it is to understand and understand it to perfection, the buying behavior of the consumers as to how he behaves right from the point he recognizes a problem in his/her previous product or service, like in this case it was mainly the local cable operates. The companies here has to follow the customer from there on to the last step of post-purchase behavior which helps companies to retain the existing customers and win the new customers. The questionnaire that I prepared was a journey through the entire process of consumer’s perception and their buying behavior for DTH services. As it was directed at the current users, it was very fulfilling to understand what the current users of this service felt at each stage of the process and as a result of this survey’s analysis and inference from the table and graph, there were some interesting and important findings which in turn gave way to some of very important suggestions that can be of great help to current DTH players in the Indian industry to improve their sales and efficiency. To conclude, it was an experience that taught me a lot of things from understanding the in and outs of the Indian DTH industry, understanding the buying behavior of consumers, insights of market research, ways to efficiently and effectively interact with the respondents, to analyze and infer important information from the table and the graph. ———————– [pic]

RESPONSE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

RESPONSE - Essay Example This is because those that go through this program have a passion of providing the required care. In fact, their contribution is seen as a majority of new nurse graduate comes from the program (Black, 2014). Hence, the medical community should fully accept that they play an invaluable role. Moreover, I agree that few opportunities exist for the ADN to progress to BSN. Hence, the link should be improved by reducing credit required for online courses for all ADN program (Bartow, Hess & Ropelewski-Ryan, 2008). A lowering of the credit will ensure there is a high percentage of BSN than it is today. The furthering of studies by nurses, therefore, can be possible through lowering of credit required for online courses. Bartow, M., Hess, M., & Ropelewski-Ryan, G. (2008). Agenda for success: dimensions of access to baccalaureate programs for associate degree nursing graduates. Nursing Education Perspectives, 29.5. Retrieved from

Hobbes and Locke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hobbes and Locke - Essay Example Human beings naturally seek peace, and the best way to achieve peace is to construct the Leviathan through social contract. The Second Part: Of Commonwealth, shows the process of erecting the Leviathan by outlining the rights of sovereigns and subjects, and draws the legislative and civil mechanics of the commonwealth. He deduces twelve principals of the sovereign, proposes censorship of the press and the restriction of free speech rights for the promotion of order. The Third Part: Of the Christian Commonwealth, formulates the compatibility of Christian doctrine and the religious system of the Leviathan. He argues that though there is no God personally present in this world, even in the incarnation of Christ, there is a Prime Mover who intervenes in the world through the mediation of matter.Hobbes thus takes theological knowledge and reinterprets it to conform to his determination of natural facts and philosophical conclusions. The Fourth Part: Of the Kingdom of Darkness, engages in deflating false religious beliefs and argues that the political implementation of the Leviathanic state is necessary to achieve a secure Christian commonwealth.

How and why age discrimination operates in the workplace Essay

How and why age discrimination operates in the workplace - Essay Example It is a tragedy that age is lessening down the value of precious minds in the workplaces. Today, workplaces prefer young, fresh minds; while, those with experience are considered as old and bogus. Age versus experience is a very interesting debate; however, this is also true that workplaces are getting modern enough not to give space to the elderly employees. The value of experience is getting less; and, the value of young, gorgeous, handsome and fresh looks are in demand in workplaces today. What effect this discrimination creates on the aged employees is another important issue, because it gives rise to hopelessness and despair among them. What is interesting is that age discrimination starts at around mid-thirties which is not that big an age. It is not ethical for an employer to discard, de-select, fire, or abuse an employer because of his growing age. Ageism, is a growing concept in workplaces, and employers need to give serious consideration to it if they want experienced minds to generate ideas that are free of error and ambiguity. Unless a critical job is under consideration, like that of a pilot or a policeman, age should not be an issue. Age discrimination may be light or severe. This ranges from abusive remarks to proper bully. Severity converts it into harassment, which is totally illegal since it creates a sense of hostility and disrespect in the workplace environment. It is also important to discuss who the discriminator is. In a workplace setting, the harasser bringing about age discrimination may be the leader of the organization, co-workers, general staff such as canteen boy, and even customers. This paper tends to shed light on this important issue. Some important UK and EU laws have been described to give an overview of what measures are being taken to eliminate age discrimination in UK and EU organizations. Past research has been discussed in great detail, which helps understand how frequent age discrimination is and what are its effects. A counter-argument has also been discussed in detail to give a critical analysis. The report has been summarized in a concluding paragraph, and Harvard style of referencing has been used properly both for in-text citation and references section. This report can prove to be a beneficial study for those who want an overview of age discrimination in the workplace. UK and EU Laws regarding Age Discrimination Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 has been presented by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act is basically a unification and extension of already existing age discrimination regulations. It is in application since 2010 in all UK organizations. It not only protects older workers from discrimination at workplaces but also at other institutes like universities and trade associations (GOV.UK, 2013). Under this Act, older employees are protected in almost all matters related to workplace and job. This Act addresses both direct and indirect discrimination, and states that old age employees should be given equal opportunities of employment as young people, with the only exception that the employers have the right to reject or fire them if they have such a disability that hinders with their job performance. Employers are bound to make sure that the workplace environment is not hostile toward old age employees. They are bound to give them equal opportuniti

Why Business Law is significant and how it impacts our lives Essay

Why Business Law is significant and how it impacts our lives - Essay Example Laws are mainly formulated by the governments and also as a result of court decisions. That is, when a particular form of human activity is carried out by a group of people, there will be inconsistencies as well as violations, which could negatively affect the group themselves as well as other stakeholders including other groups or individuals. To prevent those issues, governments has come up with certain standard rules and regulations in the form of laws on how to carry out the human activity positively without negative impacts on the people. This is quite applicable to the key human activity of businesses because its survival and success mainly depends on how it treats or manages or entices its consumer. So, business laws relating to consumer care are the main laws, which maximally impact our lives. Each business law will stipulate the organizations on how to manufacture the products, on how to pack it, on how to market it or sell it, etc, etc. Although, each organization will have unique and different manufacturing processes, the basic point, is they need to follow certain laws as well as standards stipulated by the laws to ensure that the manufactured goods or offered service is of optimum quality and without any risks to the consumer. However, if there are any faults in the product or service after it reaches the consumer, due to faults or deficiency in any aspect of the organizational functioning, then also those business laws can be used by the affected consumer in the court of law. The laws can be used to get a simple apology to getting apt replacement for the deficient product or even financial compensation. Thus, it is clear that business laws maximally impacts our lives in a positive and helpful manner. Actually, the governments and other authorities will come up with laws including business laws based on common good, and it will be available to us all the time.

Form and Function in The Fountainhead Movie Review

Form and Function in The Fountainhead - Movie Review Example Regardless of the controversy over colorizing old works, of the good intentions of Rand's number one fan, regardless of such architects turned critic as Nancy Levinson, who in an essay on the film balks at its typical Hollywoodization of architects, (29-39) and regardless of the compulsion to "modernize" a storyline or script with the modern color wheel, The Fountainhead in its original format, condition, and shape is a testament to the themes, metaphors, and symbols, characters, and storyline of the novel by the same name. The film elements and creative choices, that is, contribute to the ideas expressed by objectivist philosopher and writer Ayn Rand. From the start of the film, the characters are constructed and developed to embody the ideals of Rand's message(s). She once said, My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity and reason as his only absolut e. (www.aynrand.org) Not only does the film's central focus-architects and architecture-affirm the architectural business, representing real-world players, but the characters, especially the protagonist, reveal Rand's outlook: Howard Roark represents this concept as an idealistic, principled individualist who refuses to conform to the rules of architectural school (resisting the copying of ancient, classical styles), who works blue collar jobs rather than buy into the popularism that is the architecture business, and who designs what he pleases. As the last ditch effort to grasp his autonomy, even, he destroys his greatest creation. When he is indicted, sued by the state, he makes his climactic stand: "The creator thinks; the parasite copies."

Excel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Excel - Essay Example But if the average is considered, then S & P 500 is a better company to invest in. Mean and median are two types of averages and are the most common. Mean is the average which is realized when you add up all the numbers and then divide by the count of the numbers, in this case after calculating the mean value for each of the firms, we realized the following data outputs, Abbots Laboratories 34.51503, Unilever realized a mean of 37.05433 while S & P500 realized a mean of 1654.891. The median is the middle value in the list of various numbers, to obtain median the numbers are listed in numerical order, after calculations we realized the following data, Abbotts Laboratory a median of 34.75, Unilever realized a median of 38.11 and S&P 500 realized 1649.6. The range on the other hand is the difference between the largest and the smallest values in a group of data, the range of the firms were as follows, Abbotts Laboratory realized a range of 21.14, the Unilever realized a range of 16.57 and finally S&P 500 realized a range of 810.96. Median =where L is the lower limit of the interval containing the median, N the total number of scores, FW is the frequency or the number of scores within the interval containing the median, and I is the range of the interval. In finance and accounting, variance is a term used to measure the degree of risk in an investment. It is obtained by calculating the average of the squared deviations from the mean rate of return. The standard deviation is the representation of the risk associated with a given security (stocks, bonds) or the risk of a portfolio of securities and it is obtained by taking the square root of the variance. Table below shows the report on the mean, median, range, variance and Standard deviation based on the weekly returns of each of the three assets. Statistically these value returns helps investors understand he financial market

Algebraic expressions.Elementary and Intermediate Algebra Essay Example for Free

Algebraic expressions.Elementary and Intermediate Algebra Essay Algebraic expressions Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the introduction to Algebra, the first assignment for the first week will involve using real numbers in place of integers to simplify expressions. Everyone needs to take his/her time to grasp the rules and the steps which are followed in algebra as this will form a concrete base for the algebraic expression understanding. One needs to understand the mathematical fundamental elements so as not to incur problems in solving any algebraic problems. For instance, one needs to be clear with the properties of integers as these are the same properties which apply to the real numbers. The first step in dealing with equations is removing the parenthesis. If an equation requires you remove the parenthesis from the equation, distribution becomes a necessity. Like terms should be grouped together when multiplying the integers that are inside the parenthesis to perform any indicated operation (Dugopolski, M.(2012  ), 2, p.67).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The following is how I attempted to handle the assigned equations in the simplest form. In the left side of the page, I have put the mathematic equation, and in the right side there is my explanation of the steps I followed. 2a(a-5)+4(a-5) Equation =2a ²-10a+4a-20 remove the distributive properties from the parenthesis = 2a ² -6a-20 then we get the coefficient. =a ²- 3a 10 then we simplify the expression. In the next equation, 2.  2w-3+3(w-4)-5(w-6) the equation =2w-3+3w-12-5w+30   remove the distributive properties from the parenthesis =2w+3w-5w-3-12+30 then we get the coefficients and. =15 combine them In the third equation, 3. 0.05(0.3m+35n)-0.8(-0.09n-22m) the equation =0.015m+1.75n+0.072n+17.6m remove the distributive property from the parenthesis =0.015m+17.6m+1.75n+0.072n simplify by putting the like terms together and =17.615m+1.822n combine them References Dugopolski, M. (2012  ). Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Source document

Zea Mays Mendelian Inheritance Pattern

Zea Mays Mendelian Inheritance Pattern Mendelian Genetics Rough Draft Hypothesis I (Theory of Segregation) At anaphase I of meiosis, gamete formation causes a separation of alleles in a diploid organism. When the chromosomes separate each individual will receive an equal chance of inheriting a dominant or recessive allele from the mother or father. Because an albino and green offspring were observed within the same generation, the parents must be heterozygous since two recessive alleles must be inherited by the offspring to express a recessive albino trait following Mendels 3:1 (green: albino) ratio. Hypothesis II (Theory of Independent Assortment) During metaphase I of meiosis, the allele pairs of different genes will independently segregate from each other during the formation of gametes. The inheritance of an allele is independent of other pairs of alleles due to random alignment of chromosomes. Because there were two heterozygous plants for both height and color and were crossed, their offspring will follow Mendels ratio of 9:3:3:1. Materials Methods Obtaining and Maintaining Corn To assess the inheritance patterns of Zea Mays (corn plants) that contain chlorophyll and no chlorophyll and whether the phenotypes height is normal or dwarf in green or albino plants, the study was conducted at Pacific Lutheran Universitys Carol Sheffels Quigg Greenhouse. The trays of corn plants were monitored under artificial lights, controlled temperature, and watered by a student worker for approximately two weeks. Determining Green vs. Albino Seven trays of monohybrid corn plants were observed, and the height and color were used to describe the plants phenotype. Determining Normal vs. Dwarf Green vs. Albino Five trays of dihybrid corn plants were observed to distinguish between green and albino from normal and dwarf. For the dihybrid cross, they were observed using the inheritance of two genes, color, and height. The normal green height plants are dominant presented themselves as tall, spread out, and leaves were narrower, whereas the albino normal height plants are recessive and were portrayed as thin, lack of chlorophyll, and were wrinkly. The green dwarf plants had chlorophyll and were shorter, whereas the albino dwarf plants displayed a wrinkled texture and brown leaves. If some of the corn plants displayed brown or died over the course, they were omitted from this experiment. Data Analysis Determining the phenotypic ratio of the dihybrid cross, of the normal green height as well as green-dwarf, albino-normal height, and albino-dwarf seedlings, their predicted frequencies were determined using a Punnet square to calculate the possible genotypes and albino offspring to be present. Once these were determined, they were computed to conclude the frequencies for the monohybrid and dihybrid cross through a Chi2 test to get the expected and observed values. Results Table 1: Compares heterozygous seedlings that display the predicted number of green (G) and albino (W) when observing the phenotypic traits of chlorophyll and non-chlorophyll plants by Mendels first law of Segregation, (N=424) Zea Mays. Phenotype Predicted # of offspring Observed # of offspring G (chlorophyll) 318 354 W (non-chlorophyll) 106 70 The observed values were close to the phenotype prediction in the monohybrid cross, 75% displayed a dominant trait, and 25% a recessive trait. The expected and observed, (X2= 12, df = 1, p > 0.05), were not statistically significant. Table 2: Compares the predicted and observed phenotypes of green normal and dwarf height and albino normal and dwarf height offspring phenotypes as predicted by Mendels Theory of Independent Assortment to the number of observed phenotypes. Phenotype Predicted # of offspring Observed # of offspring Green / Normal Green / Dwarf Albino / Normal 152 51 51 151 71 15 Albino / Dwarf 16 34 Observed traits of normal vs. dwarf green plants and albino plants, the phenotypic frequencies expected value did not follow Mendels ratio of 9:3:3:1. The observed values, (X2 = 53.5, df = 3, p Conclusions   Ã‚   Our study supports the Mendelian inheritance pattern of Zea Mays that both the parent strains on the monohybrid cross (Table 1) were heterozygous. The expected and observed, (X2= 12, df = 1, p > 0.05), were statistically significant with Mendels first law of segregation expressing green or albino following the phenotype ratio of 3:1. Whereas, the parent strains on the dihybrid cross (Table 2) the observed values for the albino normal and albino dwarf (X2 = 53.5, df = 3, p

Executive Summary of Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Lear

Executive Summary of Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Learning SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Executive Summary This Project Management Plan is the result of the time and energy spent by the members of SQUEAL (Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Learning), who have embarked upon the task of learning about management in an information environment. The path we have chosen is outlined in this document. SQUEAL is devoted to learning how to â€Å"work effectively within a larger organization and to assume managerial responsibilities,† and each of SQUEAL’s members works to achieve this goal through internal, external and personal factors. The Project Management Plan is a guide which SQUEAL has created for itself in order to accomplish our common goals in a timely and thorough manner. The Plan includes an Introduction, Goals and Objectives, a list of Deliverables, the Resources which Squeal has at its disposal, Constraints, Strategy and Actions, our Budget, Controls, a description of our Documentation process, the Review and Appendices. - 1 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Table of Contents Executive Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.1 Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..3 Team Characteristics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Ground Rules†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...5 Goals and Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...6 Deliverables†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...10 Resources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 Constraints†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.14 Strategy and Actions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..17 Budget†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦20 Controls†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..21 Documentation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...22 Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...23 Appendix A- Gantt Chart†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦A Appendix B- Budget Time Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦B Appendix C- Time Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.C - 2 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Introduction Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Learning (SQUEAL) is a dynamic team comprised of members Brooke Ballantyne, Andrea Freeman, Reece Steinberg and group leader, Carolyn (Cen) Campbell. SQUEAL was formed in January, 2005 in response to a Project Management assignment from Dr. Ken Haycock, ... ... Ending/Evaluation March 8th - April 6th $3,217 * The predicted budget was found by taking total estimated personnel hours multiplied by 20 and then adding all of the additional estimated costs from the Team’s Budget divided by 4. - 26 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives APPENDIX C- TIME SHEET - 27 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Date Time Expended Details of Activity Total Hours in Phase 1 (Initiation / Concept): (aim for group: 24 individual: 6) timeline: January 10th - January 24th Total Hours in Phase 2 (Planning / Development): (aim for group: 48 individual:12) timeline: January 25th - February 21st Total Hours in Phase 3 (Implementation / Execution): (aim for group: 48 individual:12) timeline: February 12th - March 7th Total Hours in Phase 4 (Ending / Evaluation): (aim for group: 24 individual: 6) timeline: March 8th - April 6th - 28 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives On Monday, January 24 2005, we, the members of SQUEAL, submit this Project Management Plan to Dr. Ken Haycock. All team members have contributed to the plan and agree to follow it to the best of our abilities.

a scribes tale :: Free Essay Writer

A Scribes Tale Sometimes I wonder how I get myself into these situations. The last time I was almost sure my lifeless body would be lying on a burning pedestal, with the few friends I have staring on in sadness. I can stop wondering though – I asked to be here. It’s quiet right now, only the sound of the wolves in the distance and the chuckling laughter coming from the group as they drink themselves into numbness by the fire before they turn in for the night. I hope they plan to end soon – we are to wake early so that we may gain entry to the Keep by dawn.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They are an odd sort of adventurers. Their self appointed leader, Pheneis, is a legend in his own time. He is also the only reason I agreed to accompany this party as their scribe. He is an amazing, yet arrogant, fighter. I have heard many songs written by bards in his honor. I feel that I will be safer on this adventure than in the past, mainly because he agreed to help protect me (which he only agreed to if I give him due credit in my writings). There are five other members in this party. Each of them brings their own special flair. One is named Leon, a short, stocky little dwarf. Very handy with a battleaxe, but calling him rude would be an understatement. The second member is Galidar, a remarkable archer. He is a half-elf (his father was a human that fell in love with a beautiful elf from High Elm), and nobody seems to like him much, but they seem to respect his ability a great deal. Thirdly we have Maewyn; beautiful in her own rights, but I would never make her mad if I wanted to remain in this life. She is a talented mage with a short temper. Before leaving the town of Dandale I saw her turn an elf the deepest shade of purple simply because he made fun of her for doing tricks to entertain some of the town children. He felt this was a waste of her talents. Since dark elves are not allowed within the city, she felt the reactions that he received after her little color trick was plenty of entertainment for the children for about an hour until she finally dispelled her magic upon him. Now, none of these three are much heard of, but the forth is another story.

Pedagogical Grammar Essay -- Education, Language Instructors

Introduction Pedagogical grammar is a rather new concept that has been applied by a number of language instructors to impart new language knowledge to students (Nordquist 2011, p. 1). The teaching methodology has its own structures in the sense that it is divided into two aspects: the first talks about the grammatical composition of language while the second talks about the articulation of language rules (of the new language). In comprehensively analyzing how the teaching methodology works, it is important to understand that when grammatical arrangement of words is to be done, the most appropriate arrangement of the words should be considered before the exercise. This approach is observed in the above sequence because pedagogical grammar has a definite, coherent and heuristic set of rules (Chalker 1994). These features should enable students to easily learn the second language through the development of an axiomatic system between L1 and L2 languages (Allwright 2009). Pedagogical grammar is however very unique in its purposes (especially regarding grammatical composition) because f...

Pschological assessment Essay

Section A Write an essay on the process you would follow in developing a psychological assessment measure. Discuss the steps that you would take in this process, including how you would choose items for your test, how you would evaluate the reliability and validity of your test, and the issue of establishing norms. Discuss the theory comprehensively and illustrate your understanding with an example or examples. Introduction The process of developing a psychological test is a complex and lengthy one. ( Foxcroft & Roodt, 2001) but aspects related to the planning of a psychological test are not always sufficiently emphasised and sometimes not mentioned at all ( Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 1997). When the test is to be used in a multicultural context, attention needs to be paid to the cultural relevance (and potential bias) of the test right from the planning and design phase instead of only being sensitive to cultural aspects from the item writing phase onwards. Also given that we do not have a long history of developing culturally appropriate tests applicable to diverse groups in South Africa, test developers need to grapple with basic issues such as what methods of test administration might be appropriate or inappropriate for certain cultural groups and what language to develop the test in, for example. More time needs to be spent in the planning phase exploring and critically considering test design issues. Planning phase The first and most important step in developing psychological measures is the planning phase. Planning involves writing out the skeleton of what one aims to achieve. Careful though needs to go into deciding on the aim of the measure, defining the content of the measure and key elements of the test plan. a test plan consists of the following aspects: (a) specifying the purpose and rationale for the test as well as the intended target population, (b) defining the construct (content domain) and creating a set of test specifications to guide item writing, (c) choosing the test format, (d) choosing the item format, and (e) specifying the administration and scoring methods (Robertson, 1990). Specifying the aim of the measure The first step is to state the aim of the measure, the construct I will use and how the outcome will be used. If I am conducting this study in South Africa I will also need to mention that the measure will be used in a multicultural society. I would need to elaborate on what I mean by multicultural by highlighting the context. I would state the age of the test takers and their educational status. The information concluded above is important because it may have an impact on the test specifications and design. I would need to state whether the test would be paper-based or computer-based. When that decision is made I would need to consider whether the test-takers are familiar with such tests. The test takers may underperform on the evaluation because they are not proficient in the instrument of measure. This may impact the validity of the study to be conducted. I would also need to ascertain whether the test will be administered individually or in a group setting. Because psychological constructs are brewed in western societies, the emphasis is on individualism. When working in a multicultural society, however, it is important to consider the norms of the society I would be working in. In some cultures, for example, the group identity is valued over the individual identity. This could have an effect on the content of the measure. Defining the content of the measure Here I need to figure out what I want to measure and why. This will show me what to focus on during the other steps. A working definition of the construct is needed. This includes identifying exactly what I aim to get out of this research study. To do this I need to embark on a comprehensive literature review. I will see how my topic has been investigated in the past and spot the gaps. I can now make the decision on whether I am conducting a new study or adapting an existing study into the South African context. Later I will need to make the same decision on the instrument I will use for data gathering. Since I would be working in South Africa, I need to decide on whether separate norms should be developed for test takers from advantaged and disadvantaged schooling backgrounds and/or for urban and rural areas. I would assemble a team of content, language and cultural experts to scrutinise the content being developed. Nell (1994) states that  language is a critical moderator variable of test performance. If the test taker is not proficient in that language, it is difficult to ascertain whether poor performance is due to language or communication difficulty or that the test-taker has a low level of the construct being measured. I would produce the test in a bilingual format and specify the source language. Work would need to be done to ensure that the construct is meaningful for each group. Developing the test plan (specifications) Once the construct to be assessed has been defined and operationalised, a decision needs to be reached regarding what approach will be employed to guide the development of the test content and specifications. Decisions will be made regarding the format to be used (open-ended items, forced-choice items etc.), how they will be scored (objective or subjective tests), and whether time limits will be imposed. The language and cultural experts are once again needed during this step. Sometimes psychological constructs, conceptualised in western society, do not have a known equivalent in African discourse. For such constructs the translated version would need to explain the construct in a way that is closest to the English meaning. This will require more time for the African language test taker. The test specification should eliminate the possibility of construct bias. The format therefore needs to be standardised for a variety of cultural groups or it should at least include items that will be considered easy, moderate and difficult by all groups. Although these steps follow after each other, I will need to go backwards and forwards to ensure content and construct validity. Item writing The second step is item writing. Once the test specifications have been finalised, the team of experts writes or develops the items. The trend in South Africa has been to simply adapt an already made test to accommodate South African test takers. This is not necessarily the easier option. Firstly, concepts are not always understood in the same way in different societies. For example, the term depression is sometimes taken to mean with  very sad in some societies. It is therefore important to ensure construct validity even for an English test given to English mother tongue speakers of a different society to that of the tests’ origin. If the assessment measure will be administered to children, face validity will be ensured through the use of big writing, use of colour and drawings. The length of the items should also be considered. With every step of items writing reliability is ensured. Reviewing the items An item bank is then developed and items reviewed in terms of whether they meet the content specification and whether they are well written. Items which do not meet the specifications are removed from the bank before it can be used to generate criteria-referenced tests. The team of experts should focus on both content validity and indicate whether the items are from stereotyping and potential bias. The experts will then return the item list with recommendations. They will need to be re-written or revised. Assembling and pre-testing the experimental version of the measure Items need to be arranged in a logical way. Since we are dealing with a multicultural society, we need to ensure that the items are balanced and on appropriate pages. The length of the items in each category needs to be finalised. For long problems based items, time adjustments need to be made. A decision would have been made with regards to whether the test is paper-based or computer-based. The appropriate apparatus needs to be made available. The  Pre-testing the experimental version of the measure The test items have to be administered to a large group of examinees. This sample should be representative of the population for which the eventual test is intended. This will be the norm group. Items analysis phase During this phase items are checked for relevance. Again we see if each item is reliable and valid to the study. The characteristics of the items can be evaluated using the classical test theory or the item response theory. At the item level, the CTT model is relatively simple. CTT does not invoke a complex theoretical model to relate an examinee’s ability to success on a particular item. Instead, CTT collectively considers a pool of examinees and empirically examines their success rate on an item (assuming it is dichotomously scored). This success rate of a particular pool of examinees on an item, well known as the p value of the item, is used as the index for the item difficulty (actually, it is an inverse indicator of item difficulty, with higher value indicating an easier item). The ability of an item to discriminate between higher ability examinees and lower ability examinees is known as item discrimination, which is often expressed statistically as the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient between the scores on the item (e.g., 0 and 1 on an item scored right-wrong) and the scores on the total test. When an item is dichotomously scored, this estimate is often computed as a point-biserial correlation coefficient. IRT, on the other hand, is more theory grounded and models the probabilistic distribution of examinees’ success at the item level. As its name indicates, IRT primarily focuses on the item-level information in contrast to the CTT’s primary focus on test-level information. The IRT framework encompasses a group of models, and the applicability of each model in a particular situation depends on the nature of the test items and the viability of different theoretical assumptions about the test items. Revising and standardizing the final version of the measure Once the qualitative and quantitative information has been gathered, the test is administered to the large sample for standardization. All the items that were found to be unclear are simplified. Vocabulary and grammar is corrected. Split-half reliability is assessed. The translated version is checked through back translation (into the source language). The items are finalised for the test. The final database is used to check on reliability  and validity. The administration and scoring instruction may need to be modified. Then the final version is administered. Technical evaluation and establishing norms The items can be analysed using the item response theory. The characteristics of each item may be represented graphically be means of a graph which relates an individuals’ ability score with their probability of passing the items. Items with large variances are selected. The scores obtained by the norm group in the final test form are referred to as the norms of the test. To compare an individual’s score with the norms, their raw score will be converted to the same kind of derived score as that in which the test norms are reported (e.g. percentile ranks, McCall’s T scores etc). Publishing and ongoing refinements A test manual is compiled before a measure published. The manual should make information on the psychometric properties of the test easily understandable. It will be updated from time to time as more information becomes available. Section B List the steps that should be followed in the adaption of an assessment measure for cross-cultural application and briefly explain what each step means. 1. Reasons for adapting measures  Cross-cultural assessment has become a sensitive issue due to specific concerns regarding the use of standardized tests across cultures. By adapting an instrument, the researcher is able to compare the already-existing data with newly acquired data, thus allowing for cross-cultural studies both on the national and international level. Adaptations also can conserve time and expenses (Hambleton, 1993). Test adaptation can lead to increased fairness in assessment by allowing individuals to be assessed in the language of their choice (Hambleton & Kanjee, 1995). 2. Important considerations when adapting measures The test can be compromised if there are problems between the test takers and the administrator. The administrator should therefore familiar with the culture of the test-taker. They cannot take it for granted that the test taker will be exposed to the format of the test. This could lead to the score representing a lack of skill with regards to the format of the test instead of measuring the construct being assessed. Some languages, like isiZulu, require more time to be spent reading therefore would require more time to complete. 3. Designs for adapting measures Before selecting an assessment instrument for use in counseling or research, counselors and researchers are trained to verify that the test is appropriate for use with their population. This includes investigation of validity, reliability, and appropriate norm groups to which the population is to be compared. Validity and reliability take on additional dimensions in cross-cultural testing as does the question of the appropriate norm group. The instrument must be validly adapted, the test items must have conceptual and linguistic equivalence, and the test and the test items must be bias free (Fouad, 1993; Geisinger, 1994). Two basic methods for test adaptation have been identified: forward translation and back-translation. In forward translation, the original test in the source language is translated into the target language and then bilinguals are asked to compare the original version with the adapted version (Hambleton, 1993; 1994). In back-translation, the test is translated into the target language and then it is re-translated back to the source language. This process can be repeated several times. Once the process is complete, the final back-translated version is compared to the original version (Hambleton, 1994). Each of these adaptation processes has their strengths and limitations. 4. Bias analysis and differential item functioning Another issue that must be considered in cross-cultural assessment is test bias. The test user must ascertain that the test and the test items do not systematically discriminate against one cultural group or another. Test bias  may occur when the contents of the test are more familiar to one group than to another or when the tests have differential predictive validity across groups (Fouad, 1994). Culture plays a significant role in cross-cultural assessment. Whenever tests developed in one culture are used with another culture there is the potential for misinterpretation and stagnation unless cultural issues are considered. Issues of test adaptation, test equivalence and test bias must be considered in order to fully utilize the benefit of cross-cultural assessment. 5. Steps for maximizing success in test adaption Hembleton (2004) summarised nine key steps that should be addressed when adapting or translating assessment instruments. 6. Challenges related to test adaption in south Africa A disadvantage of adaptation includes the risk of imposing conclusions based on concepts that exist in one culture but may not exist in the other. There are no guarantees that the concept in the source culture exists in the target culture (Lonner & Berry, 1986). Another disadvantage of adapting existing tests for use in another culture is that if certain constructs measured in the original version are not found in the target population, or if the construct is manifested in a different manner, the resulting scores can prove to be misleading (Hambleton, 1994). Despite the difficulties associated with using adapted instruments, this practice is important because it allows for greater generalizability and allows for investigation of differences among a growing diverse population. Once the test has been adapted, test equivalence must be determined. Reference Foxcroft, C.D. & Roodt, G. (2009). An introduction to psychological assessment in South Africa. Johannesburg: Oxford University Press Hambleton, R. K. (2001). The next generation of the ITC Test Translation and Adaptation Guidelines. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 17, 164-172. Hambleton, R. K. (2004). Issues, designs, and technical guidelines for adapting tests into multiple languages and cultures. In R. K. Hambleton, P. F. Merenda, & C. D. Spielberger (Eds.), Adapting educational and psychological tests for cross-cultural assessment (pp. 3-38). Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Van Ede, D.M. (1996). How to adapt a measuring instrument for use with various cultural groups: a practical step-by-step introduction. South African Journal of Higher Education, 10, 153-160.