Learning to Cope

Davon Daniels Professor Moss English 1500 11/20/12 Draft 2 Learning to Cope Just about everybody has lost that one individual that they truly care about and they realize that everything can change suddenly. Passing is a surprising event that could once in a while have enduring mental and physical consequences for individuals. In the make light of the Aisle by Patricia Leigh Gaborik a little youngster Katie and her family are figuring out how to adapt to the passing of their cherished one.People handle the demise of a friend or family member in various manners, and Katie attempts to deal with the passing of her dad by clutching all the great recollections she had of him. Not exclusively is Katie profoundly influenced by their lost however the remainder of her family is figuring out how to adapt to their lost by taking on various jobs when he pasts. The dad is a representative character in this play since he is the stone of their family, since he is solid and trustworthy. Each characte r in the play encounters various clashes and changes in their relationship in the wake of losing the individual they all cherished the most.One strife experienced in the play is the connection among Katie and her mom when the demise of Katie’s father. Katie and her mom don’t have the best relationship and now and again it appears that Katie wishes that she would’ve been in the auto crash with her dad. This is a contention since it appears as though Katie may censure her mom for the demise of her dad for causing him to go out while she remained at home and dealt with Katie. This causes a great deal of strain among Katie and her mom since she additionally feels just as the demise of her dad would likewise be her fault.At the finish of the play Katie and her mom seem, by all accounts, to be nearer to one another and her mom even apologizes for the things she’s done previously and discusses Katie’s father. This is significant in light of the fact that following quite a while of not so much talking about him it shows that their mom is simply beginning to adapt to his demise. Her mom states in the play â€Å"I realize you generally figured I did everything wrong† (pg. 251). This shows despite the fact that she knows they didn’t have the best relationship in the past that she’s attempting to be there for her and just needs the best for her.Katie and her sibling Joe has a normal sibling and sister relationship they contend a great deal and yet they care for one another. On occasion Joe even calls his sister Katie a rascal yet at the same time offers to get things done for her. The demise of their dad changed their relationship on the grounds that Joe is by all accounts the individual that presently holds the family together. This gives off an impression of being Joe’s method of adapting to his father’s demise since he feels as though he must be solid for both Katie and his mom and assume the new job of the man of the house. Joe: â€Å"What d’ya think?!Mom! The music’s began! You need to get to your seat! Aw, mother. I advised you not to state that stuff. You said it, didn’t you? You’re crying! Please! Cheerful. Upbeat! It is safe to say that you are cheerful? Obviously, she’s upbeat. Everybody’s glad. It’s a glad day. Let’s go! Let’s go! This statement is an extraordinary case of how Joe keeps everything together as everybody starts to breakdown; he speaks to the new stone and quality of their family. Katie’s relationship with her dad is the most significant in light of the fact that out of everybody in their family she had the nearest relationship with him.A significant clash in the story is that Katie after these previous years despite everything can deal with her father’s demise. On her big day as she’s planning to stroll down the passageway she in dreams herself having a discussion with he r dad and thinking back pretty much all the great recollections they shared. Katie says â€Å"I don’t comprehend you’re expected to be the one I can check on† (pg. 247). This statement shows that despite the fact that Katie may not so much get over the passing of her dad however she is gradually arriving at where she is figuring out how to manage it.At the finish of the play the discussion among Katie and her mom causes her deal with the demise of her dad since that was first time that they have really had a discussion about him. Somebody who hasn’t lost somebody they truly care about may not know how it feels sincerely to conquer the passing of somebody they love however demise is difficult to get over and not every person gets over it rapidly. The general subject of these contentions is that everybody figures out how to adapt to the passing of somebody in their own particular manner and at their own time. For Katie the wedding gives her beginning a fres h start for her as well as for her family also.

im a mosaic, my mosaic free essay sample

Envision a saffron-hued robed Buddhist priest scoring to uproarious music being played by lean, wavy haired young men in a dull storm cellar in Brooklyn. This picture is one of the numerous that portrays the different boundaries throughout my life. My name is Nimesha and I’m a Sri Lankan-American who cherishes free examples and watches old SNL productions. The best thing my folks have accomplished for me directly in the wake of giving me life was bringing me up in New York City. This city has given me the opportunity to communicate my actual character while as yet letting my legacy course through my regular day to day existence. Somewhere down in the enclaves of the Lower East Side, I’m encompassed by raggedy high schooler fashionable people, who after chain smoking a cigarette for 15 minutes, influence and bounce and shake to music that can be depicted as a thousand Gameboys playing immediately. Goodness, how one can smell the high schooler anxiety noticeable all around. We will compose a custom exposition test on im a mosaic, my mosaic or on the other hand any comparative point explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page It’s during conditions such as this when I don't mull over my parent’s emphasis on me returning home early or reading for math class. The commotion keeps on playing and I’m in the group. Hopping. Shouting. Imploring. I am presently sitting leg over leg on a saffron hued pad on the highest floor of the Buddhist Vihara in Queens that I have been going to for as long as 17 years of my life. The priests are arranged against the divider and everybody is looking towards the humongous Buddha sculpture before the room. With my eyes shut, I start to recite. My religion draws out another side of me, a progressively solemn, careful being, who most likely would be increasingly lucid in different circumstances, if consistently as loose. Things that worry me incorporate math, young men and my stunning guardians. No truly, they are very dazzling! Despite the fact that we do get into our quarrels, I am beginning to comprehend what they are used to. I used to stigmatize their emphasis on my contemplating harder and remaining at home. Be that as it may, presently I’ve acknowledged the amount they relinquished for me to get superb training and a magnificent American life, all because of an ongoing migration legal dispute. My folks missed their mothers’ burial service only so there was no danger of returning the US so I could remain at HSMSE and I just got a 70 in my math class that term. They have not seen their kin in more than 30 years yet I here and there miss schoolwork and warm the soccer seat. This reality happened to me after my mother’s migration meet. From that point forward, my viewpoint of my life is unique. I’ve have had stunning encounters throughout my life that could never have occurred if my folks had not had any desire to remain in America to severely. I reserve the privilege to free discourse and the option to take an interest in my legislature. I have the chance to go from living in a two room, one story condo to living in the White House. I can even group surf one night, and offer blossoms in a Buddhist sanctuary the following! My New York is even extraordinary at this point. I don’t simply observe calfskin tights and Nike Dunks as a portrayal of my youthfulness. Rather than concentrating on the nightlife, I presently welcome that I am developed in a magnificent network of social dispersion. My New York has gotten a mosaic. As the truism goes, â€Å"my food merchant is Korean, my store man is Israeli, my clothing fellow is Chinese, my preferred coffee shop proprietor is Greek and my preferred falafel fellow is Egyptian.† This assorted variety is the thing that I’ve grown up with and gained from. I see the magnificence in this liberality and I grasp it. Truth be told I consider it to be a significant apparatu s to my greatest advantage for my future. In spite of the fact that I have not generally settled on the best options, as not making a decent attempt as I could in school, presently I am completely prepared to take advantage of the lucky breaks my folks have made conceivable to me. My energy for International Relations makes me need to locate the best school program and work my hardest at it. My ongoing acknowledgment is an immense inspiration to assist me with prevailing in a difficult scholarly condition. I need to have the option to include the resilience, care and good faith I have gained from my encounters to the networks I will participate later on, regardless of whether it is my school network or the universal network as a future compassionate or legislator. For the time being, I am carrying on with my life vivaciously with the information that I myself am a mosaic. I am a result of worldwide, present day, customary, scholarly and sympathetic impacts. I am anticipating bringing the best of the various parts of me to any place I go throughout everyday life.

MindMeister Goes Live at TEDxAmsterdam

MindMeister Goes Live at TEDxAmsterdam Since it’s creation in 1984, the TED events have been all about “Ideas Worth Spreading”. Realizing that they couldn’t be everywhere all the time, the TED group established the TEDx program, which allows private individuals to organize, design, and host events that are meant to provide attendees with a TED-like experience. Tomorrow, another TEDx event will be taking place in the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam. Similar to other TED events that take place around the world, the TEDxAmsterdam event has a full schedule in place with speakers ranging from the Minister of European Affairs to the President of Programming and Development at MTV. In all, 450 option and business leaders from all walks of life will be attending the event hosted at the Royal Tropical Institute. Since many a good idea have come out of previous TED events around the world, the TEDxAmsterdam organizers are going above and beyond to ensure that even those that could not attend the event in person will be able to share the experience. Live Mind Mapping at TEDxAmsterdam Courtesy of MindMeister Even though we’ll not be physically at the event, MindMeister has been selected to take part in the TED experience. Throughout the day, selected speakers will have their talks mind mapped in real time using our software service. The live mind mapping team includes Alexis van Dam from hypershifters.com, Ronald Vijfhuizen of WorldofMinds.com and Jerre Lubberts from aHaCoaching.nl. Our Dutch partners will be constructing mind maps of these talks live, and theyll not only be projected around the event for all participants to view, but also live streamed at http://www.mindmeister.com/TEDxAmsterdam2009 for the entire world to tune in. Should you not be able to tune into any of the live mind mapping events, we’ll be archiving the content on the above URL for future reference and viewing. Many thanks to the live mind mapping team in Amsterdam, and a sincere ‘enjoy!’ to all speakers and attendees at tomorrows event!

Are Identities Do Not Exist A Vacuum - 1321 Words

Identities do not exist in a vacuum. They are thrust upon us, formed and reinforced through all manners of social pressures but, in particular, through consumption itself, as well as how we consume. This is particularly true for the binary way in which gender is defined – ouridentities as â€Å"male,† â€Å"female,† or otherwise. Our possessions, things, come to have personal significance and meaning to us and how we exist in this world. More than that, we come to view people the same way we view a product – one more thing to be consumed and added to our collection. This system does affect all genders, but in many ways does seem stacked against femininity or gender non-conformity. Moreover, the commodification of women and women’s bodies has been normalized to such an extent so as to be made out to be feminist in its own ways – one needs to look no further than the porn industry or sex work, or the rhetoric which suggests to women that all th ey need to do to subvert patriarchy is to put on some makeup, go out, get drunk, and sleep with whomever they want. This brand of liberal â€Å"choice† feminism seems to free women from the bonds of the expected and from society, and yet it simply is a form of control that comes from within, rather than from some governing body. Empowerment is important in its own ways, but it is served to the public as a soporific, something to distract from the systematic discrimination and objectification of women, and prevent any sort of criticism on the matter. ItShow MoreRelatedThe Murder And Serial Killers960 Words   |  4 Pagesif you sleep next to this person, don’t do it. Hire a hitman -- that’s why they exist. Killing a stranger. Get to know your stranger VERY well. Make sure you gather STRONG knowledge of the stranger’s family and closest friends. Additionally, knowing the ins outs of the stranger’s daily routine can help you avoid potential dangers when murder time is approaching. If your stranger is out of state or overseas, hire a hitman. The evidence will be slim. A vacuum can be your life saver. If the murder shouldRead MoreThe Colonialism Effect Of Africa1002 Words   |  5 Pagesentangled in a world that does not understand it? How do you piece a story that is lost in literal transit? Yet displacement will always remain as a struggle for African Diaspora. Individuals that share the same interest in discovering their roots before colonialism raped them of their identity. According Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist, Hall acknowledges identity, â€Å"It belongs to the future as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists, transcending place, time, history and culture.†Read MoreWhat New Factors Contribute For Prolonging Conflict Dynamics?1127 Words   |  5 Pagesand religious affiliation are the two highest ranked identity makers for a vast majority of Nigerians than other indices such as state, national, ECOWAS and African identity†. His research revealed that â€Å"northerners are more inclined towards religious identification, and southerners are likely to rank ethnicity first, ethnicity was discovered to be the second highest ranked identity country-wide after religion, with state and national identity coming third and fourth, respectively† (Ellsworth, 1999)Read MoreVenipuncture: Blood and Vein1565 Words   |  7 Pagesproper protocol to identify the patient make positive identification of the patient by check ing hospital armband for patient’s name and hospital number. Make sure the name and number correspond with the request label. When possible the patient’s identity should be verified by asking the patient to identify him or herself. Any discrepancies must be clarified before the puncture is performed. If the patient is not wearing an armband, tell the nurse you are not permitted to draw the sample until theRead MoreThe Plot Of The Classical Detective1314 Words   |  6 PagesKim utilizes tone and a nonlinear narrative structure to parallel Suzy’s confused mental state in The Interpreter. Because Suzy struggles to understand where she fits between both her American and Korean cultures, she must search to find her own identity and simultaneously search for the answers to her parent’s unsolved murder. Kim thus allows for her detective novel to have another dimension: in addition to investigating the crime, Suzy must investigate who she is as a human being. SuzyRead MoreWhat Triggers Could Cause The Outbreak / Further Escalation Of Conflict?1329 Words   |  6 Pagesand religious affiliation are the two highest ranked identity makers for a vast majority of Nigerians than other indices such as state, national, ECOWAS and African identity†. Ellsworth research revealed that â€Å"northerners are more inclined towards religious identification, and southerners are likely to rank ethnicity first, ethnicity was discovered to be the second highest ranked identity country-wide after religion, with state and national identity coming third and fourth, respectively† (EllsworthRead MoreThe Ethics Of Identity And Choice1559 Words   |  7 Pagesconcerning how identity and choice interact. However, Kwame A. Appiah puts forth an account of identity in his book The Ethics of Identity (2010) that sheds light on how one’s choices may be effected by the identities they chose. The following will describe Appiah’s view o f identity and how it influences choice, and conclude by providing commentary concerning how effective Appiah’s account of identity is and how it can be improved. Appiah (2010, p. 22-24) uses the term collective identities to defineRead MoreThe Social Responsibility Of Business932 Words   |  4 PagesA corporation does do business within a vacuum; rather exist as part of larger collective framework of society, stakeholders and a global business community. I believe that corporations which are profitable, and promote moral and ethical standards are the benchmark of success; additionally, corporations bear a great social responsibility to the society it exists within, an simply working within â€Å"the basic rules of society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom† is not enoughRead MoreWho Is Really For Africa?914 Words   |  4 Pagesthat sook after African countries gained freedom there were power struggles orchestrated from withing or by external forces.what we see now in Syria,Iraq and Afghanistan is as a result of this madness.when America and England Iraq they left a power vacuum that soon after they lef t the country warring factions started attcking each other in hope to gain the polo all victory. In third world countries even in the so called civilized country s political power is a means to and end.if it wasn t no oneRead MoreOrganizational Culture: Analysis of the Views of Schein and Kouzes and Mico783 Words   |  3 Pagesartifacts and rituals all contributing to what we define as corporate values (Schein, 1992). Further, Schein sees corporate culture as essentially consisting of three communities: executives, engineers, and operators. Essentially, these three groups do not really understand each other very well, resulting in misalignment, miscommunication, and a lack of efficiency that can hurt any organization. In fact, Schein believes that organizations will not learn, and will ultimately fail, unless they realize

Essay about Respect Over Passion in My Antonia by Willa...

Respect Over Passion in My Antonia Throughout the book My Antonia by Willa Cather, there is a twisting and turning of Sexual and Gender issues. There also tends to be a tension surrounding the different classes between the Black Hawk towns people, and what are called, the hired girls or the people from the country. These distinctive qualities in this novel start being shown in the very beginning or the story where Jims best-friend speaks about the life of Jim and the path with whom he chose to travel. We watch the love of Jim grow farther and farther distant due to the inevitable tensions of classes, sexuality, and gender. In the beginning of the story when Antonia and Jim are still becoming acquainted†¦show more content†¦Jim says after seeing Antonia for the first time in eight months, She had come to us as a child, and now she was a tall, strong girl...She wore the boots her father had so thoughtfully taken off before her shot himself, and his old fur cap.(pg.79) This is what Jim said she looked like. He really accentuates that Antonia was wearing her fathers clothes, masculine of course. Jim says, She kept her sleeves rolled up all day, and her arms a throat were burned as brown as a sailors. Her neck came up strongly out of her shoulders, like the bole of a tree out of the turf. One sees that draught horse neck among the peasant women in all the old countries.(pg.79) The reader begins to see the changes in Antonia as well when she speaks. She starts to talk of things that only men in those days were known to do. For example she says to Jim, Jim, you ask Jake how much he plough ed to-day. I dont want that Jake get more done in one day than me. I want we have very much corn this fall.(pg.79) Jim says that, Tony could talk of nothing but the prices of things, or how much she could lift and endure. She was too proud of her strength.(pg.81) We see the changing of places between Antonia and Jim once again. We see Jim going to school and Antonia staying and doing farm work. This scene represents aShow MoreRelatedNaturalism and Regionalism Defining through American Literature1470 Words   |  6 Pagescharacteristics of a specific region. Bret Harte and Willa Cather are regionalist authors who use the setting to put emphasis in their stories. Furthermore, Mark Twain is a naturalist writer. Twain attempts to use lower class citizens to get across a bigger point. Harte also uses minorities. However, he focuses on how the region changes these poorer citizens. Lastly, Willa Cather and Mark Twain both have their characters in pursuit of something. Cather h as her characters pursue intangible objects whileRead MoreWilla Cather s My Antonia1932 Words   |  8 Pages In her novel My Antonia, Willa Cather, while writing in a sexist time, calls attention to the power of the female in life and society through Antonia, Lena Lingard, Tiny Soderball and Frances Harling and accentuates and celebrates the significance of the matriarchal world by use of Jim Burden as the narrator. Jim holds an enlightened consciousness of the female because, after spending most of his life with these women, he sees how they started with nothing ended with a successful life. In a time

Want and Marginal Places Free Essays

The Value of Marginal Places In the essay â€Å"In Praise of Margins† by Ian Frazier, Frazier mentions that the world is a place where adults tend to get caught up in. They do not realize that what they need is that place to breath. He says that marginal places and activities, when he was a kid, were a waste of time, but once he was older and saw his child have their marginal â€Å"moment† playing, in the steam instead of fishing, he realizes the importance as an adult. We will write a custom essay sample on Want and Marginal Places or any similar topic only for you Order Now He mentions that we all have a place as a child that we would like to go back and let go of all our responsibilities. Frazier uses the word margin, this word that Frazier uses, has a negative and positive tone and he explains the time spent in the woods. Frazier states that the definition of margin is a blank space around a body of type or border of a piece of ground. It’s adjective meaning has a negative tone to it; minimal for requirements, almost insufficient. As Frazier uses marginal to describe what he did in the woods as a child, he grew up to realize how important these â€Å"marginal† places had so much value. As a young boy Frazier, mentions â€Å"the woods† as places where he and his friends would play at all day. Exploring and possibly be lost in the hours of fun they would have ad most importantly, no worries. Exploring things as they go playing along the trees, maybe even being some sort of character or action hero from his time. As Frazier got a little bit older he one day realized that his time spent in the woods was becoming childish and foolish. He eventually stopped going to this place, that as a child was almost like a sanctuary or a place of acceptance to be him-self freely. When Frazier was in the seventh grade he came to asked himself â€Å"What are you doing? † or maybe â€Å"why we are here? † He notices that some of his friends started to not dress appropriately to climb trees and play because of the penny loafers the wore. I am sure this was for the girls they were trying to impress as they get older. As they had other things happening in life that bounded them from going in to the woods, and somehow forgot about it they really never decided to go back and play. But from my understanding, in high school they went back to the woods one day, where they had this sense of ‘’there is nothing here for us anymore† or â€Å"why did we waste our time here as kids†. I am sure high school, girls and school dances had the memories of â€Å"the woods† faded deep in their memory. They realized that they are all grown up and have no need to be there. Frazier must have thought of all the childish senseless things they did being in the woods for hours, just wasting time that they did not know of or care for because they were children. I mean they didn’t have responsibilities as children they didn’t have to work and take of others. I guess that was the good thing about marginal places. For Frazier, when we took his children to go fishing, they sort of did not want to go fishing and instead played in a ditch. Frazier did not have a heart to tell them to stop; instead he realized that this was a marginal place his children will one day grow up turned this ditch in into a marginal place. Just like when Frazier was a child and did not know this was a marginal place he sees that with his kids, and realizes the value of having a marginal getaway. In my opinion, I agree with Frazier’s ideas that â€Å"marginal† activities and places are valuable. Marginal places are also a way of making oneself a better person. It’s a place to think and relax from the worlds’ needs and wants. Of all the places in the world everybody has their own marginal area. Mine so happens to be at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana. As a child my parents would pack up the car and head over across the lake every Saturday if the weather permitted. This place had a pool, walking trail, barbeque pits and most importantly a beach, not a five star beach but to a 6 year old it was. I would walk along the shore where the water would meet the trees and I would pretend it was undiscovered land. I still go back to this day, monthly and it’s still the same feeling I get, a breath of fresh air. This is what Frazier wants people to know about having marginal places and doing activities, they are not bad places, everyone needs a break from the a world that moves at fast pace. In Conclusion Frazier wants people to know that having a bit of time to youself is okay. Everyone has an escape, whether if it is an old place as a kid, a cartoon you use to watch or even the music you use to listen to. Marginal does not have to be in a negative use. In some cases like Frazier it was a good thing, sort of almost like a re-evaluation of life and I am sure he doesn’t regret playing in the woods as a child at all. Ian Frazier looks to the woods as a safe and happy place. I am sure he wants us to remember the marginal place we had as children also. How to cite Want and Marginal Places, Essay examples

God And Doubts Essay Example For Students

God And Doubts Essay Mommy, Ive killed God. You wanted a scar; there it is, plain as day(no two-level, deep meanings attached). My scar isnt external, nor, do Isuppose, is it internal. Heck, I dont know what it is but all my life I knowits been my scar, my burden. I have a problem with Christianity. But I dontshow disrespect to those who choose to follow it (unless they try to imposetheir beliefs on me), and I dont force my thoughts on anyone (you are choosingto read this). You want sex, intoxication, violence, incest and death? Read theBible! Though, on second thought, maybe you should stick to Lost Souls byPoppy Z. Brite, its much better. I killed God when I was still little; no onemade me. Or maybe they did! Maybe the couple hours a week of religious educationfor ten years did, maybe it was the bible passages they told a room full ofsix-year-olds, because no matter how pretty the stories they told us were, Ialways knew they were just easy answers. Gods love is boundless, God forgivesall, and it doesnt matter if you dont love Jesus, because Jesus loves you. Isnt that nice? But wait a minute, then sin comes into it. If you sin, eventhough Gods love is infinite and he will forgive all, sorry sucker, youregoing to hell. Unbelievable? Here, let me explain. You may think Now thatsokay, God forgives me; Im going to heaven. Yeah right! Youre blocking thehitch thats always associated with something thats too good to be true; theBible says that all men are sinners. So whats a girl to do? It seems youregoing to be going to hell anyway. And who is going to end up in heaven if theserules kick in? Id much rather live in hell with my friends, thank you verymuch. It sounds like youd get some pretty weird little guys in heaven. I thinkIll leave them to it. On the flip side, we dont need to worry about going tohell; were all going to heaven! Yeah! Because of Jesus, who by the way was bothGod and Gods only son (and this guy invented mankind? He mustve been prettystoned the day Jesus appeared on the scene). Anyway, guess what? Jesus died forour sins! So n ow we can sin as much as we like and it doesnt matter. Now wasntthat just kind of him? And then you realize that since youre supposed to followeverything in the bible, you have to live both sides at the same time,complicated, huh? Im not even sure I want to go to heaven, because if the bibleis true then God just doesnt seem like a very nice guy. I doubt hed like metoo much. I read the Book of Job and the big man in the sky doesnt exactly comeoff looking too good in this one. It all starts one fine day when the Devil(lovely chap) starts pestering God to prove how faithful one of his followersis. God caves to Devils mind tricks and picks out a random guy who has alwaysbeen a well-behaved Christian. And so, God kills his family, ruins his crops,and plagues him with all sorts of diseases. How nice of God whose, mind you,love is boundless and infinite and you should follow his example. I dont knowabout you but Id rather not. Incase you hadnt noticed Im not your idealcandidate for entry i nto the kingdom heaven. Lets see: Ive had a drink,probably will have sex, taken drugs, swear occasionally, I dont love my enemies(or even my neighbors, for that matter), hate is one of my most frequently usedemotions, and I dont believe in God (now thats a major one!). But thats notthe worst of it because I happen to believe that love transcends gender. Goddoesnt like this, if youre gay, youre not going to heaven. So children repeatafter me; God is a homophobe. Ive not even scratched the surface yet, butsurely you can already see why Ive killed God. Maybe youve begun to understanda modicum of the torment I feel. The blasted torment that I have to carry as ascar on myself for the rest of my life.

Chivalry Essays - Warrior Code, Chivalry, Virtue,

Chivalry Chivalry is usually known as a moral system or an honor code. It originated in the 12th century when kings ruled the country, as a code to make peace. Now there is no king or queen monarchy, now there's that wonderful thing that we call the Government. If you were to ask me if chivalry existed today I'd have to say that there are some examples, but there sure aren't as many as there used to be. Back in the time when King Arthur ruled a lot of the people were loyal to their king and their country. Now our wonderful crime, racism, and hate conquer all systems. Some ways that you might be able to say that chivalry still is around is perhaps clubs, such as, basketball teams or baseball teams. The teams as well as the fans have great loyalty to their team. The fans will wait outside for days to get tickets for the big game. People pay to see fights on Pay-Per-View. And if you ever go to a Hawks game I'll guarantee you that their fans will "tell off" anyone that is saying anything bad about their beloved team! Another way that you could find chivalry today would be all the Unions. Chicago Unions have plenty of hard working men and women in all sorts of trades. They are very loyal and proud (most of them!) of their work that they have done. Then you get the people that just want their paycheck. Those are the types that really don't show much loyalty or contribute much to their job. Some ways that you could say that there is not really chivalry in today's society is the slowly disintegrating church. Not nearly as many people are becoming involved in the church now as in earlier centuries. If you look at the data there is a big decrease in Ministers, Priests, Nuns, and Deacons. I know this because my Dad is becoming ordained to be a Deacon in about a year. After he is done doing all of the steps, he will become a deacon in the Catholic Church. I think that some people don't care, but also I think that they just have too many things to do, and are too busy for the church. In my overall view of chivalry I would say that it depends how you define chivalry to say if it exists anymore. There are a lot of pros and a lot of cons, but it all depends on the person's beliefs. I think that chivalry exists today, but it's mostly up to the reader to define it as right or wrong. There is no right or wrong answer, it's your opinion. Chivalry Essays - Warrior Code, Chivalry, Virtue, Chivalry Chivalry is usually known as a moral system or an honor code. It originated in the 12th century when kings ruled the country, as a code to make peace. Now there is no king or queen monarchy, now there's that wonderful thing that we call the Government. If you were to ask me if chivalry existed today I'd have to say that there are some examples, but there sure aren't as many as there used to be. Back in the time when King Arthur ruled a lot of the people were loyal to their king and their country. Now our wonderful crime, racism, and hate conquer all systems. Some ways that you might be able to say that chivalry still is around is perhaps clubs, such as, basketball teams or baseball teams. The teams as well as the fans have great loyalty to their team. The fans will wait outside for days to get tickets for the big game. People pay to see fights on Pay-Per-View. And if you ever go to a Hawks game I'll guarantee you that their fans will "tell off" anyone that is saying anything bad about their beloved team! Another way that you could find chivalry today would be all the Unions. Chicago Unions have plenty of hard working men and women in all sorts of trades. They are very loyal and proud (most of them!) of their work that they have done. Then you get the people that just want their paycheck. Those are the types that really don't show much loyalty or contribute much to their job. Some ways that you could say that there is not really chivalry in today's society is the slowly disintegrating church. Not nearly as many people are becoming involved in the church now as in earlier centuries. If you look at the data there is a big decrease in Ministers, Priests, Nuns, and Deacons. I know this because my Dad is becoming ordained to be a Deacon in about a year. After he is done doing all of the steps, he will become a deacon in the Catholic Church. I think that some people don't care, but also I think that they just have too many things to do, and are too busy for the church. In my overall view of chivalry I would say that it depends how you define chivalry to say if it exists anymore. There are a lot of pros and a lot of cons, but it all depends on the person's beliefs. I think that chivalry exists today, but it's mostly up to the reader to define it as right or wrong. There is no right or wrong answer, it's your opinion.

Problems facing the Bronx clinic Essay Example

Problems facing the Bronx clinic Essay Example Problems facing the Bronx clinic Paper Problems facing the Bronx clinic Paper There are various problems facing the clinic that ranges from the institution itself in terms of the policies and the management as well as the workers. Others are the patients who place the clinic at a confused state. Further more the government and other clinic stakeholders (Richard Perez F1). The patients are ignorant of the clinic policies especially the Medicaid care. Some of them do not understand the Medicaid system like Ms. Shuler who is experiencing great problems in health care more so in enrollment of the Medicaid. Other do not even bother to sign in for the Medicaid like Ms. Watson. Some patients never goes back for appointment. In addition to all these, they even sell their drugs Some of t5he patients are very ignorant such that they wait until they are seriously sick to go the clinics (Richard Perez F1). Again, the institution as well as the The whole of New York pays the workers low salaries thus are inclined to seek for jobs in health care institutions. As a matter of fact, New York is raked as the lowest state that pays doctors good salaries for treating patients on Medicaid. There is the embezzlement of funds thus making the running of institution challenging to meeting its cost. Some of the programs implemented by the clinic cost too much of the taxpayers money and further, they are victims of fraud and abuse thus wasting a lot of money. The management of the clinic is corrupt as well as its workers as seen in the fired worker who was demanding $75from a HIV patient. Enrollment on Medicaid is rather tedious and cumbersome to the poor patients who may be having little no no education to fill in the six paged document and further to pay four cosequtive stubs and other conditions. These are just but a few of the problems the clinic faces (Richard Perez F1). 2 The stake holders of the clinic The Bronx clinic has got several number of stakeholders. Some of them are the patients, doctors, the government, clinic workers and the insurance companies among many others (Richard Perez F1). The patients include;Crystal T. Schuler who was a single pregnant mother who who went for months without care, Ronald Shinnery the asthmatic with breathing difficulties, Ms Johnson who had been insured for two months without her knowledge (Richard Perez F1). The doctors as part of the stakeholders included Dr. Tomasz Howard who examined the fifth grade girl who was suffering from chronic problem,Anita Wilenkin,is the Morris Heghts chief operating officer, Susan Bilinghurst who is the clinic physician assistant., the clinics H.I.V programs administrator is called Ralph Belloise. The government is also a stakeholder in the clinic with Dennis P. Whalen being the executive deputy commissioner of the health state department and the deputy state commissioner of health is Kathryn Kuhmerker..Hugo Garcia is an employee of the clinic while at the same time,Mr. Garcia is a co-worker (Richard Perez F1). 3 Relationship in ideas between clinical performance and quality management and leadership. Performance of an institution whether private or public go hand in hand with proper quality management as well as good leadership. The same case applies to the clinical performance. For the clinic to perform at its best, there is the need to come up with better management strategies in addition to conducting   good leadership skills to enhance transparency. In assessing the Bronx clinic,the institution has hardly performed to the expectation of the society and even to its own expectation. Many of the patients hardly receive proper care at the right time. A good example is the fifth grader girl who was treated for her irregular heart beats after one and half years (Richard Perez F1). The clinic is performing below the expectation due to its poor policies. Some of the systems like Medicaid which is cumbersome to enroll especially by poor and uneducated patients. Further more they are expensive to both the taxpayer and the institution and are subjected to fraud. The leadership both within the clinic and the state also contributes significantly to the under achievement of the clinic. Due to lack of proper managerial skills in the clinic, they workers like doctors decline working in the institution. When Dr. Ortiz left the clinic, for another job almost the whole institution came to a stand still. The institution rather than calling its patients it writes letters which is a process that takes a lot of time. The workers of the clinic are corrupt and this is portrayed by the worker who was asking for money from a H.I.V patient. The state is failing the clinic when it is reluctant to update and consequently inform the insurance officials on time. It contribute to poor performance by the clinic when it fails to pay the doctors good salaries (Richard Perez F1).

McDonalds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

McDonalds - Essay Example People started being more dynamic, always on the road, changing customer taste and complex menus affected McDonalds’ ability to consistently deliver quality, service and value. Customers had to wait longer for special orders and they could notice changes in the standard originally set by McDonald. In response to these challenges, McDonald designed and implemented its new just-in-time kitchen system named ‘Made-for-You’. This kitchen is technically an overhaul of its previous kitchen designed to improve food quality, allows more menu items to be easily introduced and provide superior customer service. ‘Made-for-you’ mean whatever the customers have ordered is made just for them after they have ordered it. Nothing is prepared before the customer arrives. However, some components are prepared in advance. Its new system is based on five major criteria to succeed. First is service, which would take ninety seconds or less from ordering to delivery. Quality, which is second, is achieved by meeting high customer standards and food safety requirements. Third is food preparation, which should be easier to do right than wrong. Fourth are people. There should be increased job satisfaction, and finally profitability by reducing cost yet increasing customer satisfaction. New technology and extensive market research helped McDonalds developed a kitchen system that encompasses all of these operational and customer requirements. The company spent number of years exploring cooking technology, and holding technology where a component should be prepared in advance and kept in warming environment where it holds its temperature and moisture. McDonald’s ‘made-for-you’ kitchen system enables faster service to the customer. For example, when a customer places an order for a hamburger, it will show up on a screen and that would signal the crew to take a ban, put it through a special toaster up to 150 degree in eleven seconds. At that point, in time, the product is put on a rap various items added and finally meat is added from a special meat holding cabinet, and the product is rapped and presented to the customer. McDonald’s heated cabinet, called universal cabinet, was specifically designed for the made-for-you system. It enables them to handle all meat products for all of its sandwiches at temperatures that will be very much as if they have just come off the grills. In its new system, it also had a rapid speed toaster, which toast bans in only eleven seconds compared to twenty four seconds in the previous system. When an order is made, it is relayed to the kitchen and appears on the kitchen video monitor that is visible to the whole crew. Prior to the order, its computer system monitors customers’ traffic all the time in attempt to determine the flow orders. Computer can then detect times when business would increase and the types of food items ordered during these times. The computer then genera tes orders for the best selling items creating a buffer of items that are ordered in quick times this helps employees get a head during a rush. The computer also monitors employees output. Personal Opinion Changes in customers tastes and behaviors did bring challenges that initiated research carried out by McDonalds. These challenges might have brought negative impact to the business for sometime but in the end, it was an opportunity to conquer the world with new technologies. Several years of service gave it an edge over its competitors and through that it was

Big Lipped Parents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Big Lipped Parents - Essay Example Placing plates on a girl’s lips causes physical injury. It leads to the sagging of the lips, hence damaging her physical appearance. This practice, therefore, should be perceived as a form of child abuse because it causes physical injury. Moreover, sagging of the lips causes emotional harm. When admitted to school, the girl may undergo a lot of emotional stress because her peers may segregate her. According to Kathleen, a practice that causes emotional harm to a child is usually considered a form of child abuse (62). Finally, logically speaking, planting plates on a girl’s lips does not make her attractive. Despite it being culturally accepted, it causes more harm than good to the child. Fontes asserts that the harm that culture causes, physical and emotional, makes it a form of child abuse (16). As their neighbor, I would talk to their daughter to talk to her parents. I would tell her to inform them of the emotional suffering that they would inflict on her. She should also emphasize the possibility that emotional suffering might affect her grades. As a result, she should tell them that she would prefer to stay at home rather than being demeaned at school. This might help change their stance if they care for their daughter (Fontes

The Washington And Post Washington Consensus

The Washington And Post Washington Consensus Abstract The present term paper is an attempt to explore and put forth the theoretical exposition of the two major development paradigms the market-oriented and the state-cum-market centric development models, plausibly portrayed in terms of what is often phrased as the Washington Consensus and the Post-Washington Consensus. These discourses must not be only analysed keeping in mind the benefits and costs of the implementing the policy prescriptions advocated by these two sets of development paradigms in different economies over the years, but at the same time its long-term effects on the individual economies, be at the centre or periphery, and the repercussion effects of any alteration in economic variables in one country on the other as a consequence of openness of economies, while pursuing the universal policies, granted for the fact that today we believe the world no less than a global village where the governance concept has modified radically over the last a few decades at the behest o f the key Bretton Woods institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The development discourse must also account for the individual capability and capacity of countries to absorb the economic policies in the development agenda of individual countries in question, as put forth by these institutions. Naturally enough, the failure of the sound theoretical programs would invite criticisms, at least because it has worked unevenly in almost every country trying to employ these policies and unfortunately there are no dearth of evidences from all corners of the globe to prove that the universal policy design uniformly for all countries, in order to bring about meaningful economic development globally has actually failed or at least been partly successful. The overall idea is to make an insight into the Washington Consensus and the Post-Washington Consensus and evaluating to what extent any scrutiny for these policies could be hence put forward. Introduction The economic development discourse of nations had been under constant influence of the economic ideology prevailing in particular nations at any point in time. The economic history of nations itself suggests that how we have witnessed the changing development paradigms have evolved after the Second World War in 1944-45, primarily seen as the deliberate developmental assistance to the war-affected nations. The focus used to be mainly the need to correct market failure through command and control mechanism through various state-oriented developmental strategies and economic programmes like the import substitution industrialisation policy for the promotion of indigenous industries for better comparative advantage in production and exchange, financial repression etc. But the decade of 70s precisely late 70s, apparently proved the defects and malfunctioning of the centrally planned economies. The two major oil shocks, first in 1973 and the next in 1979 put the greatest challenge before th e policy makers and development economists, which completely destabilised the global economy along with many other politico-economic developments around the world. This would be clear in the following excerpts. The 1980s were a hell of a decade. They began with the reverberations of the second OPEC oil shock. They ended with the fall of the Berlin wall. In between, we had the Reagan-Thatcher-Kohl economic policy era in North America and Europe, the Volcker interest rate shock, the Latin American debt crisis, collapse in Africa, the start of rapid growth in China and in India, and on and on. Oh, and by the way, in 1989 John Williamson coined the term Washington Consensus (Williamson, 1990:3) It became a questionable affair to challenge the efficacy of how far government policies can actually benefit or harm the economic environment. This tendency of statist model inevitably led to emergence of an alternative theory of development fundamentally rests on the assumptions of the neo-classical model of a free-market enterprise economy. The Washington Consensus per se is primarily affiliated to this school of economic thought, which states for the minimal role of the state in carrying out economic activity. That is governments should limit their interferences in the economy, only to maintain macroeconomic stability and to secure law and order and provision of public goods. In other words, the Washington Consensus is the market-centered strategy designed to counter the ill-effects of excessive state intervention in the economy, under the aegis of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which claimed to provide a universal mechanism for the efficient allocation of economic resources and promoter of economic growth world wide. However, the validity of Washington Consensus was under strict scrutiny for not fulfilling its much hyped economic policies and soon criticised for its failure. At this preliminary level, it is important to introduce the other parallel but pole opposite of Washington Consensus, that is, the emergence of the Post-Washington Consensus in mid-1990s, which advocates for a mixed-blend of interventionist and market strategy for better economic development of nations, granted a few conditions of the Washington Consensus like the trade liberalization to be continued along with deliberate state intervention in the economic affairs. The Pros and Cons of the Washington Consensus The Washington Consensus, sometimes synonymously used as the set of neo-liberal economic policies or a universal policy package was originally designed by the key Bretton Woods institutions like World Bank and IMF, to restore economic growth and to correct the balance of payments crises or the debt crises and hyper-inflation kind of situation facing the Latin American countries, such as Argentina and Mexico. The term Washington Consensus was coined and formulated by John Williamson in 1989 at the Peterson Institute of International Economics in the US. According to Nobel Laureate in Economics in the year 2001, Joseph E. Stiglitz, The Washington Consensus policies, however, were based on a simple model of market economy, the competitive equilibrium model, in which Adam Smiths invisible hand works, and works perfectly. Because in this model, there is no need for the government that is, free, unfettered, liberal markets work perfectly the Washington Consensus policies are sometimes referred to as neo-liberal based on market fundamentalism, a resuscitation of the laissez-faire policies that were popular in some circles in the nineteenth century (Stiglitz, 2002: 74). This neo-liberal orthodoxy prevailed over the entire global economy from the beginning of the late 1970s to the mid of 1990s irrespective of the nature and extent of economic growth parameters in different countries. The set of policy prescription was purely of market-oriented model of economic growth. This policy package eventually effectuated in what is better known as the Structural Adjustment Policy (SAP) of the World Bank and the IMF to help countries get rid of debt-crises aftermath of the oil shock of 1979 from the sharp decrease in the primary commodities prices and increasing interest rates, the World Bank and the IMF put forward conditionalities in order to receive credits or financial assistance from these institutions basically to the governments of the developing countries. Therefore, stable macroeconomic policies, outward orientation, and free-market capitalism became the central instruments of the Washington Consensus. In other words, the three big ideas underlying these reforms as Williamson asserts are: The macroeconomic discipline, a market economy, and openness to the world. The first three reforms are, so far as I am aware, widely accepted among economists (Williamson, 2000: 251). Williamson also provided a more specific list of ten policy areas or tenets of that could be used to characterize the consensus as listed below: (1) fiscal discipline, (2) redirection of public expenditure toward the areas of education, health, and infrastructure, (3) tax reform, (4) interest-rate liberalization, (5) competitive exchange rates, (6) trade liberalization, (7) liberalization of inflows of foreign direct investment, (8) privatization, (9) deregulation, and (10) secure property rights (Williamson 1990). We can say that all these reforms fundamentally rest on the premises of the neo-classical paradigm that supports the laizzez-faire doctrine as panacea for all economic problems in a capitalist economy. Therefore, the whole concern was through following these policy package, the markets could be freely allowed to take its own course in order to set the prices right, which comes from the essence of free trade as a major component of the Washington Consensus. The widespread and often excessive state intervention was being seen as the making the economy weak and therefore it was contended that imperfect markets are better than imperfect states. Giving the logical corollary to prove this point, Lal (1983: 63-64) at different occasions asserted that The cost of government failures arising from the rent-seeking and price distortions associated with excessive protectionism would always outweigh market failures associated mostly with imperfect competition an under-provision of public goods. The Washington Consensus was thus increasingly based on the understanding that imperfect markets are always superior to imperfect states. Some scholars like Colclough and Manor (2000: 263) summarised the resurgence of the neo-liberal thinking in development discourse in following words. The emerging neoliberal orthodoxy advocated a new development model based on the primacy of individualism, market liberalism, outward-orientation, and state contraction. The organising principle of neo-liberal political economy was the notion of a minimal state, whose primary functions were to secure law and order, ensure macroeconomic stability and provide the necessary physical infrastructure. Further, according to Colclough and Manor (2000: 263) Trade liberalisation and state contraction were necessary tools to curb the excessive powers enjoyed by politicians and bureaucrats, a process which was regarded as crucial for rapid and equitable economic growth. Originally the policy reforms as envisaged in the Washington Consensus was designed and intended to cover all the Latin American countries, later it was applied to almost all countries and was intentionally penetrated into the economic policy agenda of Third World Countries. Regarding the supremacy of the Washington Consensus on all the earlier prevalent economic thoughts, different opinions came into the picture. Say for instance, much before the arrival of such an economic ideological discourse, economists like J. M. Keynes (1936), who is considered to be a pioneer of the welfare state, believed that a policy of fiscal discipline would neither avoid the current account crisis, nor it can lead to a fully employed economy where all the factors of production and economic resources are optimally employed. So J. M. Keynes basically challenged the classical axioms for the smooth functioning of the economy. Since the classical axioms are not very close to the real world phenomena of perfe ctly competitive markets, the essence of the Washington Consensus way of looking at the economy could be better described in the words of Keynes in the following lines: It happens not to be those of the economic society in which we actually live; with the result that its teaching is misleading and disastrous if we attempt to apply it to the facts of experience (Keynes, 1936:30). Infact, it is felt that the last of the ten policy reforms, that is, securing property rights for efficient production in the economy however, cannot be refuted easily. If the state is capable to ensure that the production ownership should go in the hands of those who value it more, who has also the capability to augment resources, further there is no harm in transferring property rights to develop right entrepreneurship in the economy. What is important here is to note that the Washington Consensus was treated like a shock therapy for the countries suffering from debt-crises of any sporadic shock like the one oil shock of 1979, because it was assumed that trade liberalisation and privatisation will take care of the economic disturbances affecting the normal working of the economic system. However, the experiences of the last 20 years or so have shown that the reforms envisioned through the Washington Consensus have actually led to disaster in many countries. This understanding of the neo-liberal orthodoxy could be better explained in the following lines of John Williamson. I wrote a background paper in which I listed 10 policy reforms that I argued almost everyone in Washington thought were needed in Latin America as of that date. I labeled this reform agenda the Washington Consensus, never dreaming that I was coining a term that would become a war cry in ideological debates for more than a decade. Indeed, I thought the ideas I was laying out were consensual, which is why I gave them the label I did (Williamson, 1990). The evidences we have clearly indicate that Washington Consensus as a universal policy package became a soft target of severe criticisms in recent years primarily from the countries at the periphery. The consistent episodes of criticisms labeled against the Washington Consensus pave the way for the future insights in the economic development discourse. Whats wrong with the Washington Consensus A wide range of criticisms had been put forward as a result of the practical problems faced by the countries pursuing the reforms as recommended by the Washington Consensus since the year of its introduction. One of the criticisms which is generally labelled against the Washington Consensus is regarding the fundamental assumptions of the neo-classical model of free market ideology. In this connection, Stiglitz (2002:73-74) maintains that: Behind the free market ideology there is a model, often attributed to Adam Smith, which argues that market forces the profit motive drives the economy to efficient outcomes as if by an invisible hand. It turns out that these conditions are highly restrictive. Ironically occurring precisely during the period of relentless pursuit of the Washington Consensus have shown that whenever information is imperfect and markets incomplete, which is to say always, and especially in developing countries, then the invisible hand works most imperfectly. Significantly, there are desirable government interventions which, in principle, can improve upon the efficiency of the market. So in this way the basic premises on which the Washington Consensus rests itself became questionable in the academia. Furthermore, Stiglitz (2002: 74) went on to criticise the theoretical validity of the neo-classical model in his following words: Even if Adam Smiths invisible hand theory were relevant for advanced industrialised countries, the required conditions are not satisfied in developing countries. The market system requires clearly established property rights and the courts to enforce them; but these often these are absent in developing countries. The market system requires competition and perfect information. But competition is limited and information is far from perfect and well-functioning competitive markets cannot be established overnight. The theory says that an efficient market economy requires that all of the assumption be satisfied. In some cases, reforms in one area, without accompanying reforms in others may actually make matters worse. This is issue of sequencing. Ideology ignores this matters; it says simply move as quickly to a market economy as you can. But economic theory and history show how disastrous it can be to ignore sequencing. Apart from the theoretical loopholes in overall framework of the Washington Consensus, many other empirical evidences can be put forth for its failures. These are listed below: The fundamental claim of the Washington Consensus that full-scale liberalisation, at all costs, is associated with superior economic performance was doubtful. For instance, it has been maintained that the highly successful story of the Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs) in East Asia such as Japan and Taiwan better known as the East Asian miracle, gave a reason for the resurgence of the neo-liberal policies. These NICs, no doubt, performed appreciably not only in making rapid and high economic growth but also progressed in terms of key social indicators paved a strong supporting pillar for the neo-liberal paradigm constituting the Washington Consensus. Many believed that these NICs are very close to the norms of the free-market economy. However, this story is partly true. What is significant at this point is to know that the institutions pertaining to industrialization and export growth were performing robustly well and these were the factors which were at the heart of success of t hese countries. Onis (1998: 197-216) has tried to give the valid argument in following words: Strong growth and diversification of industrial output and exports could not be accounted for simply for the logic of the free market: interventionist strategies and an active industrial policy, dictated by considerations relating to longer-term competitiveness and dynamic comparative advantage, constituted the central elements contributing their success. If we see the world economic growth rate, it had infact strikingly lowered, and become more unstable during the neo-liberal era. Not only this, the degree of inequality in the global economy appeared to have increased during this period of neo-liberal economic restricting (UNCTAD 1997). Even the gap between the developed and the developing countries had widened and there had been increased divergence within the Third World. For example, as compare to the hyper-growth in Asian NICs, the Latin American countries in 1980s and sub-Saharan Africa lagged far behind over the same period of time (Rock, 1993: 1787-1801). Moreover, excluding China, there is an increase of poor people and the poverty rate had declined from 28.5 percent to 25 percent (Fischer, 2003:8). According to Stiglitz (2002:76), There is a more fundamental criticism of the IMF/Washington Consensus approach: It does not take acknowledge that development requires a transformation of society. Even it completely ignored the fairness concept. A few more instances could be put forward to support the argument that the collapse of Washington Consensus was inevitable such as the success of Argentina in the first few years of accepting the policies and later how its economy collapsed. The case of Turkey is another example where the Washington Consensus policies totally failed. Exposure of many middle income countries to the vagaries of financial globalization actually proved costly for them because opening of their capital accounts before taking into account the macroeconomic stability fell in the trap of the World Bank and the IMF. These high volatile capital flows and frequent financial crises, because of unregulated financial markets led to repercussion effect of one country could be easily felt in another, which we have thoroughly witnessed in the Asian Crisis of 1997 and the Russian Crisis of 1998, which had myriad socio-economic-politico impacts on different economies. Last but not the least in the series of criticisms that had been labelled against the popular programmes of the Washington Consensus is of course a paradoxical situation when the Washington Consensus talks about minimising the bureaucratic inefficiency, rent-seeking, and other forms corruption and pervasive state failure, it had come to our observation that it had actually happened the other way round these all social and economic evils had actually aggravated during the neo-liberal regime. Keeping these issues in mind, during the mid-1990s there emerged a new and thought provoking policy focus of the key Bretton Woods institutions away from the hard-core neo-liberalism to a new synthesis of states and markets as emerging Post- Washington Consensus. The Post-Washington Consensus: Is it inevitable? The Post-Washington Consensus goes further in detailing the nature of the failures of the Washington consensus (Stiglitz, 1998:17). Joseph E. Stiglitz who is supposed to provide the intellectual backbone to the emerging Post-Washington Consensus maintains that there was lack of understanding between the policies put forth by Washington Consensus and the contextual framework of developing countries. In the following words, Stiglitz tries to state his position: There was a failure in understanding economic structures within developing countries, in focusing on too narrow a set of objectives, and on too limited a set of instruments. For instance, markets by themselves do not produce efficient outcomes when technology is changing or when there is learning about markets; such dynamic processes are at the heart of development; and there are important externalities in such dynamic processes, giving rise to an important role for government. The successful East Asian countries recognized this role; the Washington consensus policies did not (Stiglitz, 1998:17-18). Stiglitz and Greenwald (2003) further believe that the Post-Washington Consensus recognizes that There is a role for a market; the question is to what extent the neoliberals recognize that there is a role for the state, beyond the minimal role of enforcing contracts and property rights. There is no theoretical underpinning to believe that in early stages of development, markets by themselves will lead to efficient outcomes. Moreover, the Asian crisis of 1997 proved to be an important turning point for the rethinking about the Washington Consensus for the reason that for the first time in its history, the IMF was confronted with serious criticisms from all over. It was criticised not only for failing to predict the crisis but also to make the situation worse aftermath the crisis. To describe it more clearly in words of Stanley Fischer, The Asian Crisis was also important in terms in producing a serious rift between the two Bretton Woods institutions again for the first time for many decades. Following the rethinking process that has occurred, the IMF now tends to pay far more attention to regulatory reforms, notably in the context of the banking and financial system, and recognises far more than on the past the importance of strong institutions and good governance (Fischer, 2002:385). Stiglitz (2002:155) further added that the IMF until the Asian Crisis used to be crititicised by the countries at the periphery or the Third World countries, but now the criticisms were also put forward by the countries at the centre or the developed countries. He maintains that: With the onset of the Asian Crisis, the IMF especially became the object of serious criticism from the centre within the key Bretton Woods institutions themselves (Stiglitz, 2002:155-156). One of the key ingredients of the Post-Washington Consensus is the recognition that states have a great role to play in the economic development process. However, the Post-Washington Consensus favours the market liberalisation, the twin concepts of states and markets are considered as of complementing rather than substituting in nature. Greater role for the state institutions has been prescribed for better and efficient working of the economy. There is a clear indication about the regulation of financial markets in order to avoid any uncertainty arising out global flows of capital between countries. And the most important, it is thought that certain areas like human development, equality and to alleviate poverty, states can replace the market failures in accomplishing these issues. The question remains how to improve the state efficiency or to avoid state failure. In this regard, Stiglitz (2001:17) highlights that: The effectiveness of states can be improved by using market-like mechanisms. An interesting symmetry is established by noting that states are important for the effective functioning of markets but also that markets or market-like mechanisms are important for the effective functioning of states. Conclusion While analyzing the whole set of ideas and instruments put forward by each of these different line of thinking about the development discourse it is certain that the policies advocated by them may work in some countries and may not in others. What is important is the debate over the sufficiency conditions put forth for the pervasive development of countries primarily the Third World countries. So far nothing appreciable has been achieved since the introduction of either Washington or the Post-Washington Consensus in developing countries. What is apparent here is the fact that all policies whether its neo-liberal or structuralist in from and nature has not benefitted much from the development assistance programmes initiated by the World Bank and the IMF Post-Second World War period. While the role of the state cannot be undermined in economic progress of any country, it is also important to scrutinise its position and capability in the global scenario marked by excessive dominance of the global governance agenda before it. The irresistible wave of globalisation to a large extent undermines the possible intervention in formulating policies at least at the domestic levels for the countries. The concern in the developing countries is how to bring growth with equity. The balanced approach of the Post-Washington Consensus between states and markets along with reforming the governing institutions is far more impressible strategy than that of believing the automatic working of the economy exposed to liberalisation of markets and openness of economy. At least the gains and losses can be mutually appropriated between these two institutions of markets and states. Relying heavily on the free trade and the consequent trickle-down effect to happen automatically has become a far fetched dream for majority of the countries in the larger paradigm of global governance with varied socio, economic and political implications. What is sure is the trade-off between states and markets would to a large extent provide a new outlook for the development discourse for individual countries presuming institutions of governance are at their best of their capacity, capability and efficiency fronts.

Infant and Child Development Essay

This assignment will critically review Howlett, Kirk and Pine’s (2011) study, which aims to investigate whether attendance of gesturing classes affects parental stress. Howlett et al. , (2011) attempt to examine claims, advertised by commercial products, that believe attending gesturing classes can improve child-parent communications, thus reducing parental stress. Participants gave demographic information and completed a Parenting Stress Index (PSI) questionnaire. ANCOVA was used to look at whether attending gesturing classes affected parental stress, mothers attending a gesture group and mothers attending a non gesture group were compared; with ‘sibling status’ and ‘birth order’ controlled. Researchers found that mothers who attended infant gesture classes had higher stress scores than mothers who had attended non-gesturing classes. From these findings the following claims are made: that mothers in the gesture group had higher pre-existing stress than in the non gesture group, * that mothers attended gesturing classes in an attempt to alleviate their pre-existing stress, * that gesturing classes may cause mothers to view their child negatively. This critique will firstly provide an overall evaluation of the article with reference to strengths and weaknesses found. Flaws will also be highlighted with suggestion to how these could be rectified. Points of detail in the evaluation will then be expanded and conclusions di scussed. Overall evaluation First and foremost, the overall presentation of the article appears to lack in structure and organisation; this results in a lack of flow and clarity. In the introduction, the research question and key definitions of interest (i. e. ‘gesture, ‘non gesture’ and ‘stress’) are not discussed at the beginning. Characteristics of non gesturing mothers are instead firstly mentioned in the discussion section. The outline of categories in the background demographic questionnaire should have been made aware to readers in the methodology. Furthermore, in the results, findings from the study should have been stated in the opening paragraph. A fundamental flaw consistent throughout the article regards its lack of sufficient detail in ensuring strength of argument. In the introduction and discussion more research is needed in relation to how and why parental stresses occur to support findings. Furthermore unjustified claims are used to sustain argument which questions the validity of the research. The lack of detail regarding the direction of study also instigates ambiguity. More information is also needed about the procedure of the study so as to allow for replication. Further details as to how these flaws can be rectified are discussed later. Fundamental flaws are apparent regarding the non-random sample used and the lack of baseline stress measures. As no baseline pre-test has been conducted authors’ claims, as stated previously, can only be based on speculation. More information is provided on these flaws in the latter section. Strengths highlighted in the article include the demographic information provided. This information is useful as it allows for generalisation of results by ensuring groups are appropriately matched and offers useful information for future research in the region. (Keith, 2010). Furthermore the PSI questionnaire used, is well validated (Colver, 2006); using a creditable measuring instrument like this increases the reliability of the study. Moreover, the correct statistical test has been used, ANCOVA, and results are also provided with appropriate information. Abstract and Introduction The abstract fails to provide a rationale for the study; as this is unclear, readers may misjudge the subject matter. There is also no description of the stimuli used; the meaning of ‘gesturing’ is unexplained. Authors should elaborate upon what they mean by ‘gesturing’ so as to avoid misinterpretation. However, principal findings and design measures used in the study are stated. The introduction appears to lack in structure and organisation. No initial description of research question with reference to what it attempts to demonstrate is present; this is firstly mentioned in the third paragraph. Furthermore, authors first provide a definition of ‘gesturing’ in midpoint of this section. Considering this topic is the phenomenon of the study it would have been more appropriate to be stated at the beginning, rather than after the discussion of the benefits of gesturing; this may prevent misinterpretation. Although an explanation of ‘non-gesturing’ is provided in the discussion section, it would also be helpful for readers if it were included in the introduction; this enables differentiation between the two conditions. Similarly, a definition of the authors’ interpretation of ‘stress’ could have been stated at the start in ensuring readers’ clarity of terms. There is also no statement of hypothesis. nd authors do not provide a rationale or historical backdrop, therefore it lacks in significance and does not substantially contribute to the literature. Moreover, research discussed appears to be framed as a general review of literature and set out in list form with a lack of evaluation. For example, research has been described in relation to a study that has found no relationship between gesturing and linguistic benefits in infants (Kirk, Howlett, Pine and Fletcher), however it has not been evaluated or linked to the aims of the study. Furthermore, there are limited findings provided relating to the negative aspects of gesturing. Considering the paper is directed towards whether these classes affect parental stress, more research should be discussed in relation to the disapproval of gesturing classes, to support findings in the article. In addition, the article has included different research examples to support their view that parental stress can inhibit parent-child relationships, however there is no development in argument of how or why these stresses occur. To rectify, in ensuring clarity, more detail should be provided whereby these examples should be put in context with direct reference to the research question. Moreover, unjustified claims have been used in an attempt to sustain argument; for example, Howlett et al. , (2011) highlight ‘‘advertising claims that baby sign will reduce parental frustration and stress have little empirical foundation’. As this statement is not explained, it may seem misleading and as an ineffective use of argument. There is also no valid reference provided. In improving the structure and validity of their argument, authors should use evidence from influential papers to provide further detail in supporting their claims. The direction of study also appears ambiguous as authors switch between terms when stating the aim of the research. It is unclear whether authors are focusing on gesturing affecting stress or gesturing reducing stress. Howlett et al. , (2011) firstly state, ‘there are valid reasons to suggest that gesturing with an infant could reduce parental stress, this paper evaluates that claim’, (p. 438) they continue by stating, ‘this research investigates whether gesturing with an infant affects parenting stress’ (p438). One clear statement of what is being intended to measure needs to be used throughout the article so as to avoid confusion. The final paragraph includes a vague definition of variables whereby readers are left to determine their own assumptions. For example, it is stated that the frequency and duration of gesture use was used to measure the relationship between gesture use and stress, however it is unclear at this stage whether authors are implying ‘gesturing’ in terms of when mothers’ attended gesturing classes or their general use of gesturing; in and out of classes. The PSI is outlined, however researchers have not explained its benefits or why it have been use; this may leave readers questioning its credibility. Furthermore, it is important for researchers to include a statement of predictions, however this is not present. Methodology The authors recruited 178 participants (mothers) from the south-east of England; the sample size represents regional bias as mothers’ solely attending gesturing classes in this region is not representative of the whole country. Age range of infants used in the study is firstly mention in this section. It is stated infants ranged between 3 and 36months; however research discussed in the introduction only refers to the importance of gesturing from 9 months. Therefore authors have not justified the relevance of focusing on infants younger than 9 months; in certifying readers understanding, this could have been mentioned in the introduction. Authors have stated the measuring instruments used in the study. A strength regards the sufficient detail provided about the PSI booklet; examples of typical features such as the subscales of both the child and parent domains have been described. However no further details are provided about the background demographics questionnaire; categories are presented in the results section, however, it would be helpful for readers if details were included in this section. The potential confounding effects of using self-report questionnaires should also be noted. Social desirability bias may be apparent whereby participants may respond in a favourable light; mothers may not want to admit they are experiencing difficulties and respond untruthfully. Furthermore, as questionnaires are standardised, ambiguous questions cannot be explained; this may lead participants to misinterpret questions. Motivation for parents to complete questionnaires may also be scarce, resulting in superficial responses. In helping overcome these difficulties, authors could have stated whether participants were informed about why the information was collected and how the results will be beneficial; if participants knew the importance of their responses and were informed that negative responses were equally as helpful as positive, it may have made them want to answer more honestly. A fundamental flaw in methodology regards the fact that authors have not measured parental stress levels before conducting study. As there is no baseline stress measures prior to class attendance, there is no way of knowing if gesturing classes caused an increase in stress or what would have happened regardless of the implementation of the program; to rectify, researchers should use a pre-test methodology. Furthermore, another weakness in the methodology regards the fact that no ethic considerations are discussed. For example, authors could have included whether participant confidentiality was taken into account and whether de-briefing was offered subsequent to the study to respondents who may have expressed signs of upset. Description of procedures appears to lack in detail whereby there is no sequential pattern to how the research was carried out. There is also no precision in relation to what is investigated, to whom, and under what conditions. For example, Howlett et al. , (2011) state ‘contact was made with the infant groups’ (p. 39); more information should be provided such as how and when participants were contacted. Furthermore, no information is provided on how many classes parents had attended before the study or when the questionnaires took place; more sufficient detail is needed so as to allow replication and in ensuring consistency. There are also issues surrounding the amount of time participants were given to complete the PSI; it is stated the questionnaire takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, however, the procedure of collection differed between participants. Some gave completed questionnaires to a group leader, others were returned by post; the same conditions should be applied to all participants in ensuring standardisation. In addition, authors have not provided details of data collection or analysis undergone in the study; to avoid ambiguity it is important to include where the scores used in the analyses have derived from. An apparent fundamental flaw in the procedure relates to the fact that participants were not randomly allocated to the two groups in the study; randomisation is important as it eliminates sources of bias and ensures unpredictability. To rectify, random selection of mothers from a population could participate in the study. Results The beginning paragraph of the results is too vague; the hypothesis is not stated and no information on what statistical tests were used is provided. Furthermore, what the study found has not been not stated; it is firstly mentioned half way through this section. However, a strength in the article regards the demographic information provided for the two groups of mothers. Hours a week mothers’ work, maternal education, family income and siblings were included. It also highlights the similarities and equivalence between the two groups, making the interpretation of results valid. Another strength to this study regards the fact that researchers have applied the correct statistical tests. Two analyses of ANCOVA were conducted to measure the differences between the gesturing and non gesturing groups’ PSI scores. ANCOVA is appropriate to use as it allows to compare one variable (PSI stress scores) in two or more groups (gesture group and non gesture group) ith consideration for variability of other variables; covariates (‘sibling status’ was used as a covariate in the first ANCOVA and ‘birth order’; in the second). Controlling ‘sibling status’ and ‘birth order’ stops these conditions being confounding variables and ensures validity. As ‘sibling status’ and ‘birth control’ covariates have been controlled, it may have been more beneficial for readers if authors ma de aware of these strategies used prior to the results section as there is no discussion relating to siblings until this point. Results found from ANCOVA also confirm to readers exactly what the researchers were intending to measure; after confusion from the introduction, uncertainties are clarified and findings explain that the focus is upon whether attending gesturing classes affects parental stress. Results are also provided with adequate information whereby the obtained F value, df and level of significance have been stated. Furthermore researchers are correct in using a Pearson’s r correlation in confirming results which is used to see if there is a correlation between at two continuous variables. By doing so, it was found that there was no relationship between how long or often gesture groups mothers had been gesturing with their infant, and the mothers’ total stress scores. Therefore mothers stress levels were unrelated to frequency and duration. Furthermore, in this section descriptive statistics have been provided in two separate tables. In ‘Table One’, which shows the ‘mean (S. D) stress scores for each item on the PSI by group’, data does not seem to be explained in full. The scale used is unclear and readers have not been informed on the system used whereby there is confusion as to what the numbers mean. Tables 2 which shows the ‘summary of two ANCOVA results’, is more coherent as a brief description is displayed underneath describing the covariates. Discussion In this section, yet again, the aim of the research remains unclear; it is stated ‘the aim of the study was to investigate the impact of gesturing with an infant upon parental stress’ (p442), authors need to be more specific in their interpretation of ‘gesturing’, whether they are referring to attendance of gesturing classes or general use of gesturing is uncertain. Possible explanations for findings have been discussed, such as the view that there may have been a difference between gesturing and non gesturing mothers due to gesturing mothers feeling more stressed prior to the study. Authors continue by suggesting these mothers chose to attend gesturing classes because of these feelings of stress in hope that they would help. However, authors’ claims can only be seen as speculation as no baseline measurement was used. It should be noted that researchers have evaluated their findings and acknowledged that as baseline measures are not present, no assumptions can be made as to why mothers who attended gesturing classes had increased stress levels compared to non gesturing mothers or whether they were more stressed before attending the classes. Due to the lack of solid findings, like in the introduction, groundless claims have been used in an effort to uphold argument in explaining mothers’ cause of stress. For example, it is stated ‘mothers have high aspirations for their child and the parenting industry may, albeit unwittingly, foster maternal insecurities’(p443); no justification has been provided for this claim. Moreover, additional research is needed to support the authors’ concluding claims that attending gesturing classes may be detrimental and effect mothers’ perception of their infant in a negative light. Only Hyson’s (1991) study relating to mothers who induced academically focused activities on preschool children has been used as evidence to back up this claim, this does not justify the authors’ inflated claims. To conclude, even though this article has used creditable measuring instruments and appropriate statistical tests, Howlett et al’s claims can only be seen as speculation as no pre-test baseline is used. No findings can be validated without measuring the stress levels of mothers prior to class attendance, whether increase in stress has occurred due to attending gesturing classes in unknown. For future recommendations, authors could use a baseline measures to test mothers’ stress scores prior to the study.

Starbucks Delivering Customer Service

Lifetime Value For Unsatisfied, Satisfied And Highly Satisfied Customers The story of Starbucks transformation from a small independent coffee shop tucked away in a corner of Seattle’s Pike Place Market to a cultural phenomenon spanning the globe is legendary. A number of factors have been attributed to the success – one being a keen understanding of its patrons. There are multiple methods used to obtain customer information and the value derived therein. Customer lifetime value is one. Customers are assets, and their values grow and decline.Segmenting customers based on their lifetime value is a powerful way to target them because marketing mix activities can then aim at enhancing customer value. (Ho, 2006) Roughly translated, customer lifetime value is the projected profits that a customer will generate during their lifetime. We used the case data to segment Starbucks customers into three distinct categories of unsatisfied, satisfied and highly satisfied. Fortunately, the case provided some useful data to make our initial assumptions about the stream of expected revenues from each category.Exhibit 9 UnsatisfiedSatisfiedHighly Satisfied Number of Starbucks Visits/Month3. 904. 307. 20 Average Ticket Size/Visit$3. 88$4. 06$4. 42 Average Customer Life (Years)1. 104. 408. 30 The data allowed us to calculate the annual expected revenues by taking 12, the number of months in a year, times the product of each component given in Exhibit 9 for each category of customer. UnsatisfiedSatisfiedHighly Satisfied Expected Lifetime Future Revenue$ 199. 74$ 921. 78$ 3,169. 67To derive the CLV it is necessary to determine the profits. This requires taking costs against the expected future revenues. The expected costs are typically any amount incurred from attracting, selling and servicing customers. The best representative cost of servicing the customer from the given data was the gross margin from Starbucks financial statements. After all, this number reflects the true costs incurred in servicing each customer, while leaving out extraneous expenses such as depreciation and other corporate overhead that have little relation.FY 1998 FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 Average Net Revenue1,308,700,0001,686,800,0002,177,600,0002,649,000,0003,288,900,0002,222,200,000 Gross Profit730,200,000939,200,0001,215,700,0001,536,200,0001,938,900,0001,272,040,000 Operating Profit109,200,000156,700,000212,300,000281,100,000310,000,000213,860,000 Net Income68,400,000101,700,00094,500,000181,200,000215,100,000132,180,000 Gross Profit Margin55. 80%55. 68%55. 83%57. 99%58. 95%56. 85% Operating Profit Margin8. 34%9. 29%9. 75%10. 61%9. 43%9. 48% Net Profit Margin5. 23%6. 03%4. 34%6. 84%6. 54%5. 0% The average of the five years of financial statement data was used for the margin to take against revenue. The figures below represent the CLV for each category using a discount rate of 12% to give the present value. A discount rate between 10% – 20% is typically used in these applications. Starbucks is a mature company at this stage of development and the cost of capital is likely to be toward the lower end of the spectrum. Unsatisfied Satisfied Highly Satisfied Expected Lifetime Future Revenue $ 199. 74 $ 921. 78 $ 3,169. 7 Gross Margin56. 85%56. 85%56. 85% Discount Rate 12% CLV Undiscounted $ 113. 55 $ 524. 03 $ 1,801. 94 CLV Discounted$105. 88 $405. 59 $1,137. 64 Finally, we calculated the annual CLV for each category to provide information for our upcoming problem facing Starbucks about investing in increasing staffing levels. The annual amounts were derived by annualizing the products of visits/month and average ticket size/visit. Unsatisfied Satisfied Highly Satisfied Number of Starbucks Visits/Month 3. 90 4. 0 7. 20 Average Ticket Size/Visit$3. 88 $4. 06 $4. 42 Customer Annual Value $ 103. 23 $ 119. 10 $ 217. 10 Traditional Customer Annual Value (textbook version)$209$241$440 For comparison, our group also decided to calculate the textbo ok version of CLV by taking the average retention rate of 75% derived from Exhibit 8 and inputting it into the formula used in the text. We used the same discount rate, 12%, and took that rate times the product of the number of Starbucks visits/month and average ticket size annualized.CLV = m * r/(1 + I – r) Exhibit 8 % of Starbucks’ customers who first started visiting Starbucks . . . In the past year27% 1–2 years ago 20% 2–5 years ago 30% 5 or more years ago 23% Average25% $40 Million Investment In Improving Its Customer Service Using the data provided from Exhibit 3 in the case in regards to sales data broken down for each company operated store in North America we derived the figures in the table below. DailyWeeklyMonthlyYearly Average Store Sales$2,194$15,400$66,733$800,800 Average ticket/visit$3. 85$3. 85$3. 85$3. 5 Average Customer Count5703,99017,338208,050 One assumption made was the investment in improving customer service would be restricted to North American stores (4,574) from our calculations regarding the forecasted cost of $40 million. As mentioned in the case, â€Å"the company had plans to open 525 company-operated and 225 licensed North American stores in 2003. † (MOON, 2006) Consequently, these were the figures used to determine the forecasted North American store growth in 2003 and the same growth projections were made for subsequent years.Additionally, using the customer count derived from the calculations in the previous table we projected the change in customer count by using the same retention rate of 75% calculated from Exhibit 8 to determine the amount of retained customers. This is also supported by the fact the Starbucks’ cannibalizes its existing store revenue by opening new stores in geographically clustered markets. But this is offset by the total incremental sales associated with new store concentration. That figure was then used to provide the new customers by taking (1 – 75% = 25%) the percentage times the retained customer count.Thereby, our total projected customers equaled the sum of the two and those amounts were continually projected forward. YearCustomers Retained/storeNew Customers/storeTotal Customers/storeNumber of Stores 2002208,0504,574 2003156,03839,009195,0475,324 2004146,28536,571182,8566,197 2005137,14234,286171,4287,213 2006128,57132,143160,7148,396 2007120,53530,134150,6699,772 2008113,00228,250141,25211,375 One final assumption, the growth rate in stores was halted in 2008 to reflect the effect of the recession.All of these amounts allowed the $40 million investment in customer service to be broken out per store over our projected period spanning years 2002 – 2008. Year2002200320042005200620072008 Customer retained/store156,038146,285137,142128,571120,535113,002 New customer/store39,00936,57134,28632,14330,13428,250 Total customer count /store208,050195,047182,856171,428160,714150,669141,252 Number of Stores4,5745,3246,1977,2138,3 969,77211,375 Improvement/Acquistion Cost per store$8,745$7,513$6,455$5,545$4,764$4,093$3,517As shown, the growth in stores allows for a considerable reduction in the per store cost over the projected period. The initial acquisition cost was made by simply dividing the initial $40 million cost by the number of stores in 2002. From the information provided on Page 11 Fig A – Customer Visit Frequency, we calculated the customer base for each satisfaction level. Added to this information was the data derived from the prior table to break out the forecasted revenue stream less the acquisition cost to arrive at the profits made from improving customer service. 002200320042005200620072008 Number of Customers208,050195,047182,856171,428160,714150,669141,252 Customers – Unsatisfied87,38181,92076,80072,00067,50063,28159,326 Customers – Satisfied76,97972,16767,65763,42859,46455,74852,263 Customers – Highly Satisfied43,69140,96038,40036,00033,75031,64129,663 Total R evenue per store$800,800$840,840$882,882$927,026$973,377$1,022,046$1,073,149 Acquistion/Improvement Cost for store-$7,513-$6,455-$5,545-$4,764-$4,093-$3,517 Total Revenue – AC$833,327$876,427$921,481$968,613$1,017,953$1,069,632To increase the profitability based on the CLV data, the maximum bang for the buck is gained by increasing the customer level from satisfied to highly satisfied. Making this switch, Starbucks not only will see an increase in average ticket size from $4. 06 to $4. 42, but the frequency is also increased from 4. 3 to 7. 2 visits per month. All gains yield an additional $98 in incremental gross profit per every customer moved up in satisfaction. Additionally, customer life increases from 4. 4 years to 8. 3 years.As shown in the table below, it makes more sense to pursue after switching satisfied customers to highly satisfied customers as the NPV is far greater than the alternative. Using the NPV from the table and improvement cost for each store we can cal culate the minimum number of customers that we need to switch in 2003 per store. The minimum number of customers to be switched in 2003 = Improvement cost / NPV of satisfied to highly satisfied. = $7,513/$497 = 16 customers/store = 16 * 5,324 stores = 85,184 total customersCustomer LTV/yearChange in revenue by moving up in customer satisfaction levelAvg Customer LifeNet Present Value Unsatisfied$103 Satisfied$119$164. 4 yrs$51. 86 Highly satisfied$217$988. 3 yrs$497. 31 As Starbucks expands and builds more stores, improvement cost per store that is needed is reduced. This, in turn, has a direct effect in reducing the number of customers it needs to switch up one level. Qualitative assessment of Starbucks’ challenges Expectancy-Value ModelKey Attributes (Exhibit 10)Customer Ranking (Exhibit 10)Weights (Exhibit 11)Customer ranking (Exhibit 11)Combined ProbabilityRanking of Importance Treated as a Valuable Customer0. 75free cups after certain number of visits0. 190. 14251 Friend ly Staff0. 73Friendlier, more attentive staff0. 190. 13872 Appropriate Prices0. 65Reduce Prices0. 110. 07153 Fast service0. 65Faster, more efficient service0. 10. 0654 Knowledgeable Staff0. 39More knowledgable staff0. 040. 01565 Selection of merchandise0. 5Better Quality/Variety of Products0. 090. 00456 There is a direct relationship between customer satisfaction and number of visits and revenue which eventually leads to higher profits, Starbucks’ should raise the customer satisfaction levels of its current customer base by making them visit stores more frequently. By using key customer attributes from Exhibit 10 and the consumer weights which was given in Exhibit 11, we can use the expectancy value model to see what are the perceived values to the customer.We can then rank the attributes that consumers would value the most. The expectancy value model shows that faster service is not the highest in perceived value to consumers. There are others that rank higher. Specifically, Starbucks should focus on treating the customer as a valued consumer by rewarding the consumer with free cups of certain coffees after so many purchases. This would surely build more loyalty to the their brand, especially among both the newer and older customers.Starbucks can achieve this by doing one or more of the following: †¢Prices and Promotions – Since Starbucks’ typical customer profile is evolving, the company should look in to running promotions such as discounted prices or a free drink after so many number of visits which could generate additional revenue and possibly increase the average ticket size and customer life for both unsatisfied and satisfied customer level as well as build loyalty among newer and older customers. Improve value to customers with friendly staff – Knowledgeable staff who offer attentive service by greeting and knowing regular customers as well a remembering their drinks would help to improve the value proposition for Star bucks’. This will also try to bridge the gap between Starbucks’ and various other independent specialty coffee shops. †¢Cleanliness – Starbucks’s should ensure that the store is clean at all times (i. e. , restrooms, countertops, trash cans, seating areas, etc. as store cleanliness was ranked as key attributes in creating customer satisfaction (Exhibit 10) †¢Convenience – next on the list is convenience. Starbucks’ could continue to offer customized drinks and further promote sales of its SVC cards to help customers pay for their concoction at their convenience. †¢Improve the customer snapshot measuring techniques to strike a balance in measuring customer satisfaction level. †¢Improve the quality and variety of the coffee Explore additional opportunities to earn peripheral revenues in selling pastries, sandwiches, lunch menus or even liquor. †¢Study in making store atmosphere more conducive to ethnically concentrated geographical locations. WORKS CITED Ho, T. -H. (2006). Incorporating Satisfaction into Customer Value Analysis: Optimal Investment in Lifetime Value. Marketing Science , 260-277. MOON, Y. (2006). Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service. Harvard Business Review .