Consumerism: Want and New Pair Shoes Essay

In today’s society consumerism has taken a big role in everyone’s lives because people seem to buy materialistic objects that they don’t need, but buy for pleasure. People don’t see that this is becoming an issue in our society because they are to focused on wanting more for their satisfaction than they need. I seen all these advertisements on TV that show Nemours athletes wearing the new so called â€Å"gear,’ making every one want what they see such as shoes, Jordan’s, Nike, and Vans. I myself I like shoes, but not to the extent were I have boxes and boxes piled up in my closet like some people. For example, I have friends who buy $300 dollar shoes or camp the night at foot locker just to get the latest Jordan’s, I find this shocking to believe what people are willing to do just to get a new pair of shoes. Some of my friends have a collection of Jordan’s stacked up against their wall of a value roughly around 3 to 4,000 dollars shocking I know. I sit back and laugh at my friends for wasting so much money on so many pairs of shoes that’s they don’t need and only wear them like once. Advertisements’ takes a big role in shoes by making athletes wear certain footwear that magically makes them better at what they do weather it has to do with running faster or jumping higher, tricking young minds into thinking they can be the same if they go out and buy the product. â€Å"What image does the athlete project about the product† (Levine.302). These types of advertisements focus more on younger minds because they don’t know better and are willing to spend an outrages amount of money. Statistics show that every woman in the United States own at least 17 pairs of shoes or more. More and more people are consuming more than they need either to fit in with today’s society or want the latest shoe brand. Shoes have become a world-wide thing were people don’t know what’s enough or how much it too much. For instants’, Jordan’s are nice and comfortable but to pricey, were you have a pair of And 1 also a pair of basketball shoes were they cost about $50 dollars’. What people are doing is basically buying the brand not  the shoe. Horning states† We are institutionally trapped in the prison- house of design† (Horning.316). Some people feel guilty when they go out the so called â€Å"Mall† and feel the need to buy new shoes all the time. This is where consumerism comes in and plays a big role; society is blinded to see that their wants have gone up drastically and dramatically. â€Å"That’s what we like and that’s what we buy† (Horning.316). Anything people see they buy without thinking twice and knowing that they already have brand new pair shoes they have not worn because there to focused on buying and buying till they see they no longer have space in their closet to put new shoes in. In Conclusion, Today’s society has a big problem when it comes to consumerism because our younger generation doesn’t know when to stop or what’s too much. Many people should take into consideration that buying to many things doesn’t make you fit in or make you any better than the next person who only has 3 pairs of shoes, society should take a little bit of more responsibility and take into count that our wants are not as important as our needs. Work cited Horning, Robert. â€Å"The Design Imperative.†Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader 7th ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. Boston: Longman, 2011. 314-18. Print. Levine, Michael. â€Å"Branded World.† Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader 7th ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger. Boston: Longman, 2011. 302-05. Print.

Cities and urban life Essay

In any developing and developed countries, one of the indicators of development is the infrastructure and the growth of cities. Urban culture is the cultural behavior that is associated with the urbanites. Cities all over the world, from the time immemorial have behaviors and cultural elements that separate them from otherwise specific comparable rural areas. In the developed countries, the word urban is solemnly used as a euphemism to describe dot com culture or subsets of racial culture, and this forms a defined groups as a type of urban tribe. Therefore, names for cultural artifacts like urban loud music could be seen as a new term for certain class music. It can also refer to the greater availability of cultural resources such as art, theatre, events, etc as compared to suburban or rural areas. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Impacts of urban life In summary, the author ventures on the advantages and disadvantages of urban life as compared to rural life. Here, there arises a query as to why the rich or the affluent prefer living in major cities. Moreover, the poor are associated with the rural life. Some of the advantages of urban life include availability of basic human needs in varieties. There is cheap and ready means of transport in urban areas as opposed to rural areas. Availabilities of reputable health facilities. In rural areas, one has to travel miles away to access health facilities, market, higher institution of learning etc. Contrary to that, some of the weaknesses associated with urban life include congestion due to over population, concurrent crime activities, pollution to water, air and environment at large, due to wreck less dumping of refuses, polythene bags and tins. Slums are another menace associated with urban life. In every large city, there must be a slum nearby. Conclusion From other disciplines perspective, the author introduces a disciplinary analyses and contested accounts of tourism and urban culture from geographical, historical, sociological, anthropological and economical point of view. Finally, there are some developments in subject field analyses from urban and planning studies, Cultural and leisure studies, Gender and queer studies. Reference: Cities and urban life, retrieved on 22sd September 2007, available at www. amazon. com/ Nancy Kleniewski (2004), A Political Economy of Urban Life, retrieved on 22sd September 2007, Longman, U. K

Retrenchment Strategies Type Essay

A retrenchment grand strategy is followed when an organization aims at a contraction of its activities through substantial reduction or the elimination of the scope of one or more of its businesses in terms of their respective customer groups, customer functions, or alternative technologies either singly or jointly in order to improve its overall performance. E.g: A corporate hospital decides to focus only on special treatment and realize higher revenues by reducing its commitment to general case which is less profitable. The growth of industries and markets are threatened by various external and internal developments (External developments – government policies, demand saturation, emergence of substitute products, or changing customer needs. Internal Developments – poor management, wrong strategies, poor quality of functional management and so on.) In these situations the industries and markets and consequently the companies face the danger of decline and will go for adopting retrenchment strategies. E.g: fountain pens, manual type writers, tele printers, steam engines, jute and jute products, slide rules, calculators and wooden toys are some products that have either disappeared or face decline. There are three types of retrenchment strategies – Turnaround Strategies, Divestment Strategies and Liquidation strategies. 1. Turnaround Strategies Turn around strategies derives their name from the action involved that is reversing a negative trend. There are certain conditions or indicators which point out that a turnaround is needed for an organization to survive. They are: Persistent Negative cash flows Negative Profits Declining market share Deterioration in Physical facilities Over manning, high turnover of employees, and low morale Uncompetitive products or services Mis management An organization which faces one or more of these issues is referred to as a ‘sick’ company. There are three ways in which turnarounds can be managed The existing chief executive and management team handles the entire turnaround strategy with the advisory support of a external consultant. In another case the existing team withdraws temporarily and an executive consultant or turnaround specialist is employed to do the job. The last method involves the replacement of the existing team specially the chief executive, or merging the sick organization with a healthy one. Before a turn around can be formulated for an Indian company, it has to be first declared as a sick company. The declaration is done on the basis of the Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA), 1985, which provides for a quasi judicial body called the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) which acts as the corporate doctor whenever companies fall sick. 2. Divestment Strategies A divestment strategy involves the sale or liquidation of a portion of business, or a major division. Profit centre or SBU. Divestment is usually a part of rehabilitation or restructuring plan and is adopted when a turnaround has been attempted but has proved to be unsuccessful. Harvesting strategies a variant of the divestment strategies, involve a process of gradually letting a company business wither away in a carefully controlled manner Reasons for Divestment The business that has been acquired proves to be a mismatch and cannot be integrated within the company. Similarly a project that proves to be in viable in the long term is divested Persistent negative cash flows from a particular business create financial problems for the whole company, creating a need for the divestment of that business. Severity of competition and the inability of a firm to cope with it may cause it to divest. Technological up gradation is required if the business is to survive but where it is not possible for the firm to invest in it. A preferable option would be to divest Divestment may be done because by selling off a part of a business the company may be in a position to survive A better alternative may be available for investment, causing a firm to divest a part of its unprofitable business. Divestment by one firm may be a part of merger plan executed with another firm, where mutual exchange of unprofitable divisions may take place. Lastly a firm may divest in order to attract the provisions of the MRTP Act or owing to oversize and the resultant inability to manage a large business. E.g: TATA group is a highly diversified entity with a range of businesses under its fold. They identified their non – core businesses for divestment. TOMCO was divested and sold to Hindustan Levers as soaps and a detergent was not considered a core business for the Tatas. Similarly, the pharmaceuticals companies of the Tatas- Merind and Tata pharma – were divested to Wockhardt. The cosmetics company Lakme was divested and sold to Hindustan Levers, as besides being a non core business, it was found to be a non- competitive and would have required substantial investment to be sustained. 3. Liquidation Strategies A retrenchment strategy which is considered the most extreme and unattractive is the liquidation strategy, which involves closing down a firm and selling its assets. It is considered as the last resort because it leads to serious consequences such as loss of employment for workers and other employees, termination of opportunities where a firm could pursue any future activities and the stigma of failure The psychological implications The prospects of liquidation create a bad impact on the company’s reputation. For many executives who are closely associated firms, liquidation may be a traumatic experience. Legal aspects of liquidation: Under the Companies Act 1956, liquidation is termed as winding up. The Act defines winding up of a company as the process whereby its life is ended and its property administered for the benefit of its creditors and members. The Act provides for a liquidator who takes control of the company, collect its assets, pay it debts, and finally distributes any surplus among the members according to their rights.

Approaches to error correction in language teaching, and how it has Literature review

Approaches to error correction in language teaching, and how it has evolved - Literature review Example Language is correlated to culture, and understanding a people’s language is a prerequisite to understanding their culture. A second language is very vital to the lives of many people because it affects their careers, identities and future lives. It is therefore, an important task when one engages in helping people to acquire a second language (Cook, 2008, p. 1). In fact, it would be very difficult for tourists to enjoy their tour in a foreign country, for instance, if they were unable to express themselves in the language that is commonly spoken in that language or if the tour guides in the foreign country did not have sufficient spoken and written knowledge on the tourists’ language. However, language teaching, especially second language teaching, is associated with errors among learners. This means that language teaching incorporates error correction. Various approaches to error correction in language teaching have been proposed by various scholars and researchers. Initially, attention was focused on the language that the learner produced and the technique of error analysis focused on the differences between the learner’s speech and that of the native speaker. Language teachers or instructors were interested to know how the learner’s language was like (Cook, 2008, p. 6). Naturally, it is very difficult for a foreigner to attain the same language proficiency as that of a native speaker. Therefore, this approach could not be effective in evaluating achievement of a language learner because it is not guaranteed that such learner can attain absolute proficiency in spoken or written language. It has been noted that second language learners do not achieve proficiency in language which can measure up with native-speaking individuals in terms of speaking and writing. One of the reasons why this phenomenon is varied is becau se of instructional issues (House, 2011, p. 61). During the 1950s and 1960s, the

Organizational Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational Business - Assignment Example You should take sometimes before you start changing the employees status quo, these period when you are acclimatizing to your new leadership position is vital in the sense that it gives you an opportunity to know why certain activities are taking place. Once this is established, you will know the approach to take so that tour actions do not generate friction with the employees (Yukl 156). The other guideline is the identification of the informal officials amongst the employees, these officials wields enough powers to influence the decision of the other employees. With regard to that, a good leader should earmark such people and develop friendship with them so that your actions do not internally antagonized. As a leader, it is also essential to have the basic history about your employees on the successes they had accomplished sometimes back and using them as examples for achievement of future goals. When this is done the employees do have the feeling that they are recognized and this motivates them. A leader should also endeavor to interview employees, when employees as this can enable them to get hidden information on what to do to increase efficiency at the work place. Lastly, a good leader needs to set goals to the employees, now that all the employees are understood and you have adapted to the system, it becomes easier to win the trust of the employees. Setting of the goals should also be done in consultation with the employees so that it does not appear as they are on the receiving end (Yukl 167). Regarding the guidelines stipulated above, there is one that can be of great help to the company to which this project is aimed at; identification of the informal officials and developing a cordial relationship with them. The reason as to why I deem it necessary is the fact that in the company there are many informal organizations amongst the employees each with their leader. It is then possible that they believe these leaders and identifying and compromising them will be of great value to the company (Yukl 176). In an organization, conflicts are experienced frequently simply because there are many personalities involved coupled with the dynamic nature of human beings. Some conflicts are structural while others are personal. 1. The structural ones include poor communication where information flow is not clear and failure to execute plans arises due to this 2. Poor organization- this can also lead to conflict due to overlapping of duties causing absconding of duties by some employees. 3. Conflicting goals and objectives will definitely cause conflicts at work place as there is no one to blame for any inconsistency. The personal factors include; 1. Poor skills, this will lead to shifting of blames as no one will be willing to take liability 2. Stresses, employees with personal hangovers are troublesome and will always ignite conflicts at work place. 3. Ego, some employees have the tendency of not consulting on issues as they suppose that will be little them, in such cases they always error and this brew tension in the work place 2 b). In one occasion at the work place, we were assigned duties in groups of fives to ensure that a list of supplies is made ready for debit. In the due course, one of us brought a duly completed list as expected by the departmental head. On realizing this, we absconded doing the same on the premise that one of us has just done the duty, little

Emergency Relief Activities in Pakistan Flood Affected Areas Essay

Emergency Relief Activities in Pakistan Flood Affected Areas - Essay Example The essay "Emergency Relief Activities in Flood Affected Areas of Pakistan" talks about the massive floods in the rainy season of August – September in Pakistan. Considering their appeal, we have planned to send a team of volunteers along with necessary supplies to Pakistan to assist in disaster relief activities there. The team will have doctors and paramedics with them and will carry medicine and relief goods. The team will carry more than 500 make – shift tents and houses to establish a small camp for 10,000 flood victims. Each tent will also have a water filtration plant designed by UNDP experts specifically for the flood-hit areas of Pakistan. A basic health unit will be established there which will provide treatment to more than 300 patients per day. A school for the elementary education of children will also be established with the help of local volunteers. The relief mission will provide the encampment of 10,000 people with food supplies bought from local market throughout the winter season. The mission will end its work in the flood-hit areas of February 2011 and will hand over the charge of the encampment to the Pakistan Security Forces which is already operating in the region for the relief work. The project is aimed at providing emergency relief to the homeless flood – affected people so that they can survive through the approaching winter season. The impact of this disaster is very widespread and covers a huge area around the largest river Indus, in Pakistan.... ants in the areas where fresh water supply has been cut off The impact of this disaster is very wide spread and covers a huge area around the largest river, the river Indus, in Pakistan. Hence a small area is selected for our relief activities. The city of Muzaffargarh and its adjoining areas in the southern part of the state of Punjab is one of the worst hit areas with more than 25 villages and towns being destroyed by flood waters. More than two million individuals are rendered homeless due to this devastation. Hence, we have decided to focus on this area. As mentioned earlier, Pakistan Security Forces are already operating in the region for the flood relief activities. They have assured security and logistics support to all the local and foreign volunteer teams involved there in relief activities. Relief camps have already been established by Security Forces. We have planned to join one of these camps and provide our services there. Coordination with the Red Cross society is under way for the volunteers for the team. The volunteers’ team will include the following persons/resources, Two doctors and three lady doctors Male and female paramedical staff, five each Helping staff both male and female, three each Small scale medical equipment Tents and food supplies for the volunteers team Cash for purchasing food from local market Packing material for the food supplies Portable tents and housing Medicine Small water filtration plants The deliverables for this disaster relief mission will be as follows, Establishment of a basic health unit Establishment of temporary shelter for 10000 individuals (500 camps approx.) Distribution of rations for the same individuals for a period of four months (winter season). Installation of 500 water filtration units in the same temporary

Sex education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sex education - Essay Example of learning about sex, how it makes males and females different from each other, yet attracts them to each other and involves deep feelings, desires, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy.19 Puberty is the stage in a child’s life when physical and emotional changes are sudden and unsettling, and to an unprepared child, this can be very unnerving.18 For adolescents who have just entered into the age of puberty, proper and age-suitable sex education can reassure them that what they are experiencing is normal, and most importantly, can prevent them from becoming victims of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, which are among the most prominent problems faced by the younger generation today..11 In my opinion, there is no such thing as â€Å"too much† sex education. It is an on-going process.2 I think sex education should be part of a school’s curriculum and should ideally inform about 4 topics: sexual development, reproduction, contraception, &