Sneaker War

Nike currently enjoys a 47% market share of the domestic footwear industry, with sales of $3. 77 billion. Nike has been manufacturing throughout the Asian region for over twenty-five years, and there are over 500,000 people today directly engaged in the production of their products. They utilize an outsourcing strategy, using only subcontractors throughout the globe. Their majority of their output today is produced in factories in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, but they also have factories in Italy, the Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea. These factories are 100% owned by subcontractors, with the majority of their output consisting solely of Nike products. However, Nike does employ teams of four expatriates per each of the big three countries (China, Indonesia, Vietnam), that focus on both quality of product and quality of working conditions, visiting the factories weekly. They also developed their code of conduct in 1992 and have implemented it across the globe, as its goal is to set the standard for subcontractors to follow if they wish to do business with Nike. However, due to a manufacturing network of this magnitude, they have faced numerous violations involving factory conditions and human rights issues, which have been widely publicized. They have responded to these issues through the Andrew Young report, the Dartmouth Study, and Ernst & Young's continual monitoring, but are still approximately two years away from completely addressing these problems throughout the globe. Reebok Reebok, as the second leading manufacturer of footwear, has domestic revenues of $1. 28 billion and a market share of 16%. Similar to Nike, they also utilize a 100% outsourcing strategy and manufacture their products throughout Asia. They have created and implemented their own code of conduct for manufactures to follow, but have less infrastructure than Nike across the globe to enforce it. They are facing scrutiny in regards to wage, overtime, and air quality issues, and like Nike, are working to address these issues. However, their strength, the creation and distribution of a global brand, is allowed to foster under this manufacturing strategy, as hey focus on their core competencies, and out source their production. Adidas is currently enjoying the fastest growth of any brand domestically, with a market share of 6% and revenues of $500 million. They have been shielded from bad publicity by the two Goliath's of the industry, Nike and Reebok, and are reaping the rewards substantially. They have adjusted their manufacturing strategy, from a vertical operation in Germany in the 60's and 70's, to an outsourcing focus today throughout Asia. Unlike the big two, they do not have a code of conduct, and their factories are considered to be the worst in the industry. It is just a matter of time before they are exposed, with an underground swelling of negativity already occurring today. In order to avoid the negative effects and lost revenues that Nike and Reebok have received, they need to immediately begin to take a pro active stance in regards to the working conditions of their factories.

“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne Essay

Throughout the years, humans have rewritten what true love means. The contemporary meaning of true love is the feeling of lightheartedness that one experiences when around another human. True love in Shakespeare and Donne’s time period, was a deep spiritual and emotional connection towards two humans. The connection never fades and grows stronger with separation. Many people believe that one can fall in and out of love; however, many poets wrote about a love that will never disappear. The love that they depicted regarded the truest of all loves. As beauty and time fades, true love will remain forever strong. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 is an extremely well-known poem for its description of true love. The love that the persona describes does not admit impediments and is unchanging and perfect. According to him, love acts like a guiding star for lost ships, not shaken in storms. Love will guide two people throughout their lives and will not fall apart in the stormy times. Shakespeare is completely certain that what he describes is true love to the point where he says that if his statements can be proved false, then he should have never written a single word and that no man has ever been in love. The ideal, romantic love outlasts even death and admits no flaw. Throughout the three quatrains, Shakespeare breaks down love into the simplest forms; in quatrain one, he states that love is not changeable; in  quatrain two, love is a like a fixed mark that guides ships throughout storms; and in the third quatrain, he says that love is not Time’s fool, stating that he is certai n that what he describes is true love. â€Å"It proposes a love which exists in an unchanging present, impervious to time’s millioned accidents† (Hammond 211). The start of the sonnet provides a definition of a love, which eventually excludes all action, identity, and knowledge (211). Shakespeare’s beginning lines of this sonnet are reminiscent of marriage vows that a couple repeats to one another during the service (212). â€Å"Alteration and remover are primarily words to describe infidelity† (213). The Day of Judgment is the only time in which love may cease to exist (Vendler 490). The young man, by mentioning these impediments, has announced  the strengthening of his own attachment to the listener, reinforcing the marriage of true minds. One must wonder how a marriage can last if it is not made of true love. Perhaps the persona realizes that God requires that each partner love the other, through sickness and health, forsaking others until death do each part. Those requirements can only be held onto in a marriage of true love. In another verse, titled A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne, a second persona describes how true love acts and is evident in daily life. Many historians believe that Donne wrote the poem for his wife, Anne Donne, before his departure in 1611, for France. The valediction is the guise in which the speaker attempts to persuade his lover to remain assured of his love while he is gone (Cavanaugh para. 2). He tries to define and rejoice in a love that transcends the physical realm, proving that their love can survive the separation (Bennett 178). The  separation of the lovers is like the separation that is caused by death. The physical bond that he shares with his wife will dissolve quietly like the soul of dying man (Bennett 179). Donne expresses his need for no tears and crying, believing that they should not reveal their sacred love. He asserts that if they would display their affections of their grief, their love would be defiled and would be no better than that love of ordinary people (182). â€Å"When disturbances happen between their love, if he leaves, it will be like the far-off trembling in the heavens and will be innocent and have no major bearing on their relationship† (Bennett 181). The love Donne describes is one that transcends the physical nature of relationships. Ordinary lovers are caught up in the physical presence of the other person; however the perfect love he enjoys does not need the presence of the physical body to survive (183). As speaker and his partner are connected at the soul, they will never be separated, even though their physical bodies might be. In the sixth stanza, Donne describes his love as pure and precious as gold. Their love can be stretched and expanded without damage, just as pure gold is malleable (185). Donne’s most famous comparison occurs in the seventh  stanza, where he compares his love to â€Å"stiff twin compasses.† Joan Bennett describes the compass as the following: The twin compasses are described as two only in the sense that there are two legs joined permanently at the top. One leg, â€Å"the fixed foot† is planted firmly in the center. The other â€Å"travels†, describing a perfect circle, returning to its point of origin. The â€Å"fixed foot† of the center foot â€Å"leans and harkens† after the other that â€Å"far doth roam†. The speaker explains that the center foot, the person who stays at home, makes sure the absent lover comes back to for a complete circle because of its firmness (para. 18). With the circle having no beginning or end, Donne describes what a perfect love is. No man has detailed love in such an unique way that grips at the hearts and souls of the readers. One only hopes to find the love that Donne has expressed. Throughout the two poems, love is shown to be much more than a physical attraction between two people. The attraction between two people can create lust, but a deep connection between two people creates a love in its truest of forms. True love could be likened to a pole to hold on to when a moment in time becomes too difficult. The steadfastness and stability of love are shown vividly throughout these two poems. The male speakers try to prove that love can exist in many forms, yet the one that will last forever is a â€Å"mind connection† that forever binds two people to one another. â€Å"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning† shows how a love can survive by not being continually physical with one another. In the same way, Shakespeare’s Sonnet  116 describes the love between two people as more of a spiritual connection. Both speakers prove that love does not try to change the other person and will accept him as he is. Whether or not the authors were describing love in their lives, their two poems have made humans seek a deeper love with one another. Human nature begs for a connection that cannot be expressed in words. Love transcends time and space. The two poets described true love in almost the same way. The only difference was the direction that each took. Shakespeare compared true love mainly spiritually while Donne was  more metaphysical. Each person has different ideas regarding the qualities in love,  though most are described here in the poems. The connection described in the two poems is evident in marriages that last. Those couples that later spend over fifty blissful years together are those that married for a deep feeling of fulfillment than that of a physical need that was met. True love has become misunderstood in the past years. Shakespeare and Donne realized what it took to make a relationship work and what true love really is. True love stands the test of time and never changes. True love is what it was two hundred thousand years ago and will continue to be in years to come. Love is what makes humans live and co-exist. While Time changes people, love does not change. As an ever-fixed mark, love is always waiting for one to grab hold of and stand with in times of need. The two poems encapsulate what couples repeat in their marriage vows; love is here and will always be near by, and that one another should stand by their partner just as their love will always remain true. Works Cited Vendler, Helen. â€Å"Sonnet 116†. The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. London, England: The Belknap Press, 1998. Hammond, Gerald. The Reader and Shakespeare’s Young Man Sonnets. Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes and Noble Books, 1981. Cavanaugh, Cynthia A. â€Å"The Circle of Souls in John Donne’s A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning†. 18 Nov. 2002. . Bennett, Joan. â€Å"The Love Poetry of John Donne.† John Donne’s Poetry: Authoritative Texts Criticism. Ed. Arthur L. Clements. New York: New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1992. 178-194.

Bad Grades Essay

I am writing to offer an explanation for a change in academic performance that is noticeable on my high school transcript. From the start of my freshman year until the end of my junior year, it is evident through analysis of my transcript that I have been an above average student consistently throughout my high school career. However, starting at around August 2010, problems arose in my family of which I believe made it impossible for me to continue my 100% focus on school. Halfway into my senior year, my father was laid off from his job. Since he was the only source of income at that time, our family of five was forced to move from our comfortable lives at our four bedroom house into our grandmother’s two bedroom house. This was a drastic change for all of us, as we have never shared a house with anyone, especially one of this size. I no longer had a room in which I was able to do my schoolwork in silence. This drastic change, I believe, interrupted my focus on school because of the attention it required from me. During my first semester I was often required to miss school by my parents, reason being that I had to help out in the movement process and had to visit an ill uncle out of town. I take full responsibility of my underperformance during the first semester of my senior year and am not look to make excuses. My main goal in making this letter is just to offer insight on what it is I believe influenced my underperformance. I sincerely ask you to consider me as an applicant and to not let this recent semester define me as a student. I greatly appreciate your time in reading this letter.

One page analysis of news article provided Essay

One page analysis of news article provided - Essay Example While the Catholic Church claims that such incidents are reflective of society at large and not merely the Catholic Church, opponents argue that when Pope Benedict XVI was still functioning as a Cardinal he made frequent actions to impede the prosecution of the accused clergy members, including preventing the prosecution in the Wisconsin incidents, as well as transferring an accused sex offender in Munich to another church in 1980. While I was familiar with these scandals through the news media, the article brought my attention to the severity of the problem. The article states that, â€Å"One victim, Alessandro Vantini, told the AP last year that priests sodomized him so relentlessly he came to feel ‘as if I were dead.’† In addition, the high number of children the article indicates (200 and 67) is astonishing. The article does a solid job of presenting both sides of the controversy as the church indicates that a formal complaint was never issued and that they didn’t have a means to contact the molested children to interview them about the incidents. However, in totality it seems that there is some misconduct that has occurred and that it might be best if an outside entity was able to step in and investigate. I also seems imperative that the Papacy take immediate measures to prevent similar occurrences in the

Mobile phone technology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Mobile phone technology - Case Study Example (Language, Learning & Technology, 2002, 6) Furthermore, according to Kodama (2005, 22) 'technological innovation and changes in market structures are extremely swift in high-tech fields such as IT, multimedia, and biotechnology; the question of what sort of strategies or organization corporations should adopt in this rapidly changing environment is a major topic of research and practical study. In particular, for various large, leading-edge businesses like ICT (Information and Communication Technology), recent years have brought increasingly intense pressure to leverage the strategic community (SC) through partnership-based inter-organizational collaboration for the purpose of developing strategic enterprises, expanding the market shares of their products and services, and creating new businesses'. It should be noticed here that the new 3G technology is 'just the latest in a series of developments since the first generation of phones became available in the 1980s, but it is certainly one of the most hyped; With more bandwidth than earlier services, 3G can handle more information, faster, and is thus able to offer its users a richer experience through a plethora of new gadgets and features; Instead of just text-messaging and voice calls, 3G makes it possible to take and receive live video, to watch recorded video and live TV images, and to access the internet, all without wires' (Sheridan, 2003, 28). It is estimated that there are 'about 60 3G networks in 25 countries around the world. In Asia, Europe and the USA, telecommunication companies use WCDMA technology with the support of around 100 terminal designs to operate 3G mobile networks' [5] II. Vodafone - Company Overview Vodafone is the 'largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world, with equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks in a further 33 countries. At 30 June 2006, Vodafone had approximately 186.8 million proportionate customers worldwide'[1] Although the company has achieved a high performance the previous years, the amount of money spent in the research sector is really impressive showing that the continuous development and the customer satisfaction are among the priorities of the company. In recent years, one of the most significant developments of the firm has been the introduction and the application of the 3G technology which is based on the use of advanced electronic systems in order to offer very high speeds on the transfer of voice, text and image. III. 3G technology - Description and advantages IIIa. 3G technology and the mobile industry 3G (or 3-G) is 'short for third-generation technology. It is usually used in the context of cell phones; The services associated with 3G provide the ability to transfer both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging email, and instant messaging); The first country which introduced 3G on a large commercial scale was Japan. In 2005

The Influence of Peer Perception in Regard to Personal Development Essay - 1

The Influence of Peer Perception in Regard to Personal Development - Essay Example Peer perception plays a pivotal role in the decision-making of an individual, and at times, the decision made is simply a reaction to negative treatment by others. Telford claims that though it is possible for an individual to be well behaved and well-intended, consistent negative perceptions can change the person (p. 97). While society cannot be entirely blamed for one’s behavior, it contributes to a certain proportion. Similarly, the monster in Frankenstein was fueled by the negative perception towards it but it is not appropriate to conclude that it had no responsibility. Every monster a society creates must be dealt with it, lest it is a source of endless grief. Victor dedicated his time in creating a monster that later made his life unbearable. According to Charnick when a society unknowingly or otherwise holds and demonstrates negative perception towards a person or a group of people, there is a tendency by the victimized individuals to seek ways to avenge (17). In many cases, the relations between the two factions deteriorate to the extent of each side seeking the destruction of the other. A case in recent times is the negative treatment of people thought or known to be homosexual. While the Western countries have since accepted, many in the Asian and African countries have inhumane laws that threaten even to stone anyone proved to a homosexual. However, instead of this habit decreasing, Smith reported that in Uganda, for instance, men who practice homosexuality vowed to continue with their habits (p. 4). Victor created the monster but failed to own up; instead, he left and it ended up destroying everything and everyone he cared

The foreign policy and the domestic life of the United States from Essay

The foreign policy and the domestic life of the United States from 1945 to 1965 - Essay Example Before World War II the US went through the great depression and during the cold war most of the resources were used on defenses. The main initiator of the rivalry between the US and USSR was the Bolshevik Revolution lead by Lenin in 1917. This was the key event that made the United States and the USSR against one other for a massive seventy years. Basically it can be said that it was this revolution that fueled the Race for Power and becoming the super power of the world. This became a serious concern for the Americans as Mitchell Palmer, an attorney general, suffered a bomb explosion at his home and numerous other such incidents were intercepted. This brought terror within the nation. There were Russian workers present in the US and after such incidents riots rose against them. Palmer was late in deciding that this was revolutionary act and ordered for a massive operation of arrest and deportation of the workers. During these acts many were arrested and though later it was considered a human rights violation act and people went after Palmer. However this action by Palmer reduced the terror within the city. Coming forth it was recognized that since the revolution the American attitude became an anti-Soviet one. Further heat to this problem was that the US has always supported the capitalist regime whereas the Russians were against it as they were from the communist side. Thus a strong hostility arose between the two nations and the World War II was th e highlight of this hostility. And this hostility continued till the very end of the century. The Cold War People from the cold war era do have the memories of the key features involved within. It has been for almost five decade, i.e. starting from the late 1940s until the termination of the USSR. The Cold War pictured the main outlines of the international background. It was, at its foundation, an ideologically stimulating conflict between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union. As a fact Americans were okay with the point that this was nothing more than a preservation of the way of living. The viewpoint of a nuclear power gave both sides a venture in maintaining a constant poise of terror, a sense of balance both sanctified and symbolized in a series of arms control conformity. The better part is both parties avoided a direct military confrontation. The cold war is referred to as a war between the giants. It had an overall effect on the world with a steady threat to peace and rising terror. But the steadiness was struck at an outrageously high and costly level. In this race both nations equipped themselves far more than their need for self defenses as their main aim was to deteriorate the other foe. For that reason they made up above a thousand Nukes. How much it could be, to our amazement those weapons, with further usual weaponry, cost these superpowers a great deal which was around trillions of dollars. Through the economic point of view much of this money was wasted and could have easily been diverted to other social needs, however we can not be sure of this fact that could it be used elsewhere as at that time the hype was crushing the other super power. During the cold war regime the defense spending was very high. In 1955 President Eisenhower told that it was very difficult to manage the defense spen

Make a title Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Make a title - Essay Example Britain took measures to retain control over the colonies and to raise income to settle the debt. In 1763, King George III issued a Royal Proclamation which had a provision barring any colonial settlement beyond west of the Appalachian Mountains. In so doing, Britain hoped to avoid expensive Indian wars; and to keep western land speculation under her control (Kindig 1995). Immediate resistance led to its modification. In 1764, Parliament enacted the Sugar Act, in an effort to raise income in the colonies through a tax on molasses. The British parliament also passed the Stamp Act 1765, which obliged colonists to obtain a government-issued stamp for paper goods including all legal documents. There were massive protests to oppose these Acts, which often resulted into violence (Kindig 1995). It seems the British fruits of victory sowed the seeds for future problems with her American colonies. Attempts to increase taxes to service debts for the expensive war; and to limit western expansion by colonists were met with great resistance and resentment from the colonists. These disagreements would eventually encourage colonial rebellion and consequently the full-scale independence war. "French and Indian War/Seven Years War, 1754–63 - 1750–1775 - Milestones - Office of the Historian." State Department - Office of the Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2014. . "The Expansion of the West - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. Version 4. N.p., 9 Dec. 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.

Ethics - Should Heinz steal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics - Should Heinz steal - Essay Example f the utilitarian theory of ethics, it is important to first look at the main moral principle that guide decision making in the utilitarian theory of ethics. According to the utilitarian theory of ethics, the guiding principle in making moral judgements and moral decisions is to always choose the action that maximizes the happiness for the majority of people who will be affected by the moral decision; in other words, the utilitarian theory of ethics hold that in making moral decisions, we should always choose the action that will result in the highest good for the majority of people (Singer, 14). This means that, in judging the morality of Heinz’s action in light of the utilitarian theory of ethics, we should ask ourselves whether or not Heinz’s action will result in the highest good for the majority of people. A critical analysis of Heinz’s action in this case study shows that Heinz’s action will inevitably result in the highest good for the majority of people. This is because the healing of Heinz’s wife will make Heinz’s family members and friends happier, than would the $2000 that the druggist would earn from the drug that Heinz store from him, make the druggist family members and friends happy. Given that there was no other available drug that could heal Heinz’s wife from the lethal cancer, and also, given the fact that Heinz had exhausted all the available means to raise the $2000 required for the radium drug, Heinz’s action of breaking into the druggist’s store and stealing the drug so as to save his wife is morally justifiable on the utilitarian ground. Heinz’s action of stealing the drug from the druggist is also morally justifiable under the Kantian Deontology. According to Kantian categorical imperative, which is the Kantian moral principle guiding moral decisions, in making moral decisions, we should always choose the moral action that we should at the same time wish to be made into a universal law (Kant, 18). In other words,

The Contemporary Implications of Downsizing and Globalisation for the Essay

The Contemporary Implications of Downsizing and Globalisation for the Global Company and Workforce - Essay Example But downsizing might be unsuccessful if applied without consideration of globalisation. Integrating a global culture into the organisational foundation is the task confronting all companies wanting to survive in the contemporary global economy (Marmolejo 2012). A number of firms with extensive experience in the global economy, such as Gillette, have gained knowledge of making global culture an element of the company’s standard operations (Hassard et al. 2009). This essay discusses the reasons companies employ downsizing and integrate globalisation into their operations, and the implications of these strategies for work and daily life in economically developed countries. Downsizing and Globalisation in Organisations Even for the highly developed organisations on the international arena, the growth of major economic organisations creates concerns, like how to successfully bring together downsizing and globalisation. Can a downsized company, for instance, cope with technologies i nclined towards globalisation? For every company, the development of the markets continuously renews concerns for global integration. In a thriving economic state, the movement towards globalisation necessitates a focused and sustained willpower. ... one of the fundamental premises of globalisation, the capacity to downsize globally or, more specifically, the justification of downsizing by a global perspective. Developments with regard to global integration and competition, industrial streamlining, and trade agreements have permanently transformed business activities for the almost all managers. A particular implication for managers is the currently widespread adoption of organisational downsizing. Downsizing has been especially widespread among electronic or technology firms nowadays (De Meuse 2004). Nevertheless, downsizing affects every venture that aims for competitive advantage through cutting of costs. There are two main situations where downsizing could be essential. The first takes place in organisations that are burdened with unproductive assets or constantly failing units. They must figure out whether to sell them to those who can transform these assets into something productive (Gandolfi 2006). The second situation tak es place when jobs depend on obsolete technology, such as newspaper companies. Nevertheless, wholesale ‘slash-and-burn’ strategies, like blanket employee downsizing, rarely result in lasting advantages in profits, efficiency, etc (Gandolfi 2006). Downsizing-- which started in the latter part of 1980s as a desperate, never-to-be-repeated strategy to significantly reduce costs to aid companies in competing globally or in surviving major failures in their operations-- has currently become a mainstay in the global economic arena. There exists a strong interconnection between the three major motivators for downsizing, namely, customer demands, latest technology, and global competition, as well as customer-oriented policies and information-based marketing (Blackburn 1999). Particular

Activism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Activism - Essay Example The purpose of art activism is to be heard collectively. Its major focus lies on the issue at hand and not on the artist as an individual (Cohen-Cruz, 2002). Art activism moves people through what they see. It stirs up something inside the viewer to do something. It was a medium that has been used by many to change the course of history. Art activism can be expressed in many ways. The examples are many; the Harlem Renaissance in 1919-1929, it was an early depiction of an African-American activist art. There was Angelina Grimke’s play â€Å"Rachel†, the stage was used to be heard clearly that everyone is equal, regardless of color and race. In 1917 Lenin used the colorful festivals to advance his agenda in Russia. These are just few examples of the power of Activist art (Cohen-Cruz, 2002). Artistic skills can be used to attract the attention of the public; it is an aid for the public so it can look deeply on social and political issues. Concert for example can be used to promote peace on war stricken and famine stricken country like Africa. People respond to the message of the music, it touches the hearts of its hearers. Art has the capacity to move the audience to reevaluate the accepted views. It can direct by consent and not by force as someone puts it (Cohen-Cruz, 2002). Having declared everything, I want to move on to the proposal. To use arts in order to get people’s attention; and to make them see or understand, and to persuade them to get involved. I asked people about what they think or feel on specific subjects. Majority of people I asked are having difficulty on expressing their thoughts regarding certain issues. I find it even difficult extracting from them what they think about what makes them proud or what makes them happy and what will make them hate themselves. They even find it difficult to complete sentences like â€Å"I am satisfied when I (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), I hate myself when I (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦), and I think self confidence is (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.). When I

Innovation in Hospitality Essay Example for Free

Innovation in Hospitality Essay Innovation is seen as difficult in many countries around the world, innovation strategies are not inclusive to all countries but vary in each country. To minimise the situation within these countries many firms in particular small business see innovation as a high financial commitment that may also be very risky to the business operations. The reason for this tendency is due to the limited hospitality innovation studies needed as a foundation to support managements perception of the theory. The availability of studies has the ability to encourage innovation that may not be detrimental to finances depending on the level of innovation selected. However innovation brings many other barriers and challenges that hinder the successful implementation of innovation: unqualified employees, knowledge, lack of understanding of the relationship between product and the market, high staff culture turnover, strategy-related factors etc. On the other hand hospitality firms used the following three approaches to innovation to successfully undertake innovation: innovation process strategy, continuous improvement theory and strategy as practice perspective. These innovation approaches are used a survival tool to combat against competition and it brings about benefits to the business: improved quality and brand image, knowledge sharing, customer satisfaction, increase in profits. Is innovation difficult within the hospitality industry.? First of all it may be useful to know what is the definition of innovation. Most definitions of innovation vary across the industry. Bessant and Francis (1999) defined innovation as an organisations wide process of sustained and focused incremental innovation where as Cooper (2002) defined innovation as the innovation process strategy for driving new food concepts from the initial stage right through to the final stage.

Trends and Changes in the Legal Industry

Trends and Changes in the Legal Industry A Report issued for Samantha at PLS to discuss the trends and potential changes in the legal industry alongside financial analysis of the firm and another competitor. Future investment opportunities are also discussed as well as overall advantages and disadvantages. The Legal Sector and Brexit Britain opting to leave the European Union shook the country last year. The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has left legal professionals around the world nervously awaiting its impact on the commercial world. During the two year negotiation period law firms will be awaiting news of a hard or soft Brexit and further establishing how each potential outcome could implicate their clients. 1.1 A hard or soft Brexit? A hard Brexit wold involve Britain giving up full access to the single market and losing all rights to free movement within the EU. However, trading would be regulated by the World Trade Organisation suggesting that there would be no confusion politically about the withdrawal from the EU.[1] On the other hand, a soft Brexit would entail staying closely involved with the EU and keeping access to the single market. This would follow Scandinavian models whereby there is no membership of the EU but still access to the single market via the European Economic Area. 1.2 How Financial Services could be affected Within the commercial world, financial services would be one of the sectors most affected by a hard Brexit because businesses would lose their passport rights to operate in the EU. London is currently ranked as leading in financial services, meaning that Britain has a large trading surplus in the EU[2]. 7.7% of the UKs GDP is from outputting financial services with over 1.1 million employed in the industry and two thirds of them working outside London[3]. Therefore, losing access to the single market would affect many businesses and consequently clients of large commercial firms. The UK financial service sector has been considering loopholes if a hard Brexit is initiated. As banks are mostly affected by losing EU passport rights, alternative options are being considered if the UK did leave the single market with no deal negotiated (essentially a worst-case scenario situation).[4] Insurance and Asset management are less affected because they tend to be part of a global industry, for example, Lloyds of London[5]. However, many banks including HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Morgan Stanley are standing by to move thousands of employees to countries within Europe ahead of negotiations taking place.[6] A report issued by Shearman and Stirling suggested that there are various ways of trading with the EU without needing a passport[7]. Some of the main loopholes being discussed are: Reverse solicitation Delegation of fund management/outsourcing of services Conduit entities Back to back trading[8] Back to back trading is the most prevalent of the four listed. Banks would sell its services from a local entity to EU clientele but would then transfer to the UK immediately after[9]. A drawback is that this is a short term solution, but can give law firms more time to find a long term alternative. EU regulators are also likely to frown upon loopholes when they will be relied upon by firms to carry on trading under a hard Brexit. [10]Essentially it is difficult for large commercial law firms to plan exactly how they are going to deal with the loss of passport rights. However, it would be beneficial if the UK attempts to convince the EU-27 that keeping financial markets open across the Channel is a matter of mutual interest because fragmenting Londons Ecosystem would lead to higher costs for everyone involved.[11] 1.3 The Technology sector Brexit will likely cause little affect to the technology and innovation sector on the premise that the UK stays in the European Economic Area. However, if negotiations mean that the UK fully detaches from the EU, then changes to this sector, as with many others, will be more wide-ranging[12]. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that there are successful countries operating outside of the EU. Norway is a prime example and has a strong presence in the technology and innovation sector without benefitting from EEA tax incentives, research, development, investment and funding.[13] More specifically intellectual property rights are mostly unaffected because they are not regulated by the EU. However, data protection is a hot topic of discussion. It remains to be seen if businesses within the UK will still be allowed to collect sale activity data via subsidiaries in the EU and whether the UK adopts the General Data Protection Regulation. [14]Technology has the same potential threats as financial services and the two year negotiation period will conclude the next chapter for the legal industry. However, it must be remembered that regardless of the outcome, advice and expertise of commercial lawyers will still be needed. Financial Analysis of PLS and FFS PLS 2016 PLS 2015 FFS 2016 FFS 2015 Profitability Return on capital employed 50.35 % 1:0.50 48.77% 1:0.48 91.08% 1:0.91 81.07% 1:0.81 Return on sales 27.99% 1:0.27 27.10% 1:0.27 31.05% 1:0.31 32.26% 1:0.32 Asset utilisation ratio 1:1.80 1:1.80 1:2.93 1:2.51 Liquidity and solvency Current ratio 1:2.63 1:2.90 1:2.14 1:2.40 Liquid ratio 1:2.63 1:2.90 1:2.14 1:2.40 Efficiency Creditor days 191.82 days 160.28 days 174.12 days 164.38 days Debtor days 233.08 days 209.64 days 198.05 days 188.01 days Stock days 0 0 0 0 Investment Gearing 52.80% 1:0.52 44.37% 1:0.44 79.90% 1:0.79 66.28% 1:0.66 Return on equity 48.66% 1:0.48 47.24% 1:0.47 87.20% 1:0.87 78.26% 1:0.78 Interest cover 0 0 0 0 Profitability Law firms are increasingly using profit to measure their firms success rather than revenue. This is because profit is a more accurate version of how the firm, large or small, is doing financially. Law firms are ranked by revenue so it is understandable to focus on this, but often profit points/important data can be overlooked. A law firm is a business and must always aim to improve profitability. [15] 2.1.1 Return on capital employed (ROCE) ROCE is a ratio that measures how successfully a company is turning its capital invested into profit. A higher percentage indicates a more effective use of capital and therefore an increase in shareholder value. When comparing revenue, FFS has a much higher yearly figure than PLS but its revenue has dropped significantly in just one year (70m). In 2016, FFS turned 91.08% of its capital into profit, which is a large improvement from the previous year which measured at 81.07%. The large percentage of profit stemming from capital investment may be due to a higher amount of reserves being re-entered back into the business. FFS seem to be using their share capital in a more financially beneficial way than PLS by retaining their reserves rather than distributing them all to members. This may be because recent investments in new offices needed funding. Eventually, FFS will be striving for a larger shareholder value. PLS has not seen a significant increase in ROCE (less than 2%). This suggests that substantial investment is not occurring. Instead they are using local firms in China, and not reinvesting profit for the financial year available for division amongst members. It may lessen their revenue for a while but investing in new offices like FFS could eventually improve their profitability and shareholder value. 2.1.2Return on sales (ROS) The ROS is a measure of how much profit is being formed per pound of sales. FFS suffered a decrease in their ROS by 1.21% which may be because of their loss in operating profit. Comparatively, PLS improved their percentage by 0.9% from 2015-2016. Where FFS have seen a significant increase in staff costs, PLS have only seen a minor one. Where FFS have suffered a large decrease in turnover, PLS have seen a minor one. PLS may have also focused more attention on the 6 profit points and lessened expenses to improve their overall profitability. PLS is unlikely to be underperforming as it is converting a similar amount of company revenue into profit as FFS, even though FFS has a much higher turnover. 2.1.3Asset utilisation ratio (AUR) The AUR for PLS has not increased from 2015-2016. This would be because they have not invested in the firm to gain more asset appreciation. Generally, the higher the AUR, the better the company is performing because it would be generating more revenue per pound of assets. FFS have invested in new offices meaning the general equity has decreased significantly since 2015. The equity at PLS has barely changed suggesting a higher inefficiency to deploy assets in order to generate a higher revenue. 2.2 Liquidity and Solvency 2.2.1 Current ratio The current ratio portrays the health of the business. A ratio above 1 but no higher than 3 suggests efficiency in utilising assets. Both firms are within this bracket but in 2015 PLS came close to 3 suggesting that they are not investing assets back into the firm as efficiently as they could. This however reduced significantly the next year. 2.3 Efficiency 2.3.1 Debtors days Debtors days is the measurement in days that a firm will take to collect cash from debts. Both firms have rising debtors days but it would take PLS longer to receive debts owed as the days have grown by 25 compared to FFS with only 10. It is well known that billing clients can be a long process and usually the cause for lengthy debtors day results from firms. However, clients could also be asking for longer or different credit terms causing the rise for both firms. PLS could take into account purchasing new software to speed up the billing process, generally improving timekeeping and tracking firm financials more acutely to improve their figures. 2.4 Investment Return on equity (ROE) The ROE depicts a firms profitability regarding how much profit is made from money shareholders have invested. ROCE and ROE come hand in hand because ROE analyses how much profit is being made from shareholder investment where ROCE assesses how much shareholder investment has gone into the company. FFS have a much higher ROE, which has increased by 10% in the year 2015-2016. PLS have barely seen an increase in growth suggesting that they are not investing their equity efficiently enough. Although FFS have suffered a massive reduction in revenue and remuneration to members, their investment from equity seems to be paying off. In 2016 87.20% of shareholder money transferred to profits whereas PLS only saw 48.66 %. Potentially investing globally with equity money could benefit the overall profitability of PLS. 3. Strategy and the legal industry All Industries change how they conduct business when assessing potential and current trends in their environment. This is often done by using analytical tools which further evidence changes to strategic positioning. 3.1 PESTEL PESTEL is a tool used to identify different trends of the legal macro environment. Politically speaking, Brexit is the most current threat to the legal environment. As a result of a hard Brexit the economy may suffer because large corporations are likely to move outside of the UK. [16]This means that the economy will not only suffer from loss of business but lack of investment. Brexit has already caused many firms to hold off further investment, which may be why PLS are considering opening a new office outside of the EU. The tightening of the government purse will also have an effect on firms, particularly in the energy sector where less contracts have become available.[17] Social aspects include the changes in loyalty of clients because it is much easier to shop around and choose different firms. It is in the interest of fee earners to keep their clients satisfied so they dont lose them to other firms. There has been a significant boom in software and technology recently. Clients of law firms who previously would have sought legal advice now have access to the internet and free online legal tools. However, on a more positive note firms have typically improved timing and efficiency because of billing and database software made specifically for law firms. [18]Most firms have also reduced the amount of paper being used because this is more attractive to environmentally conscious clients. The Legal Services Act [19]has meant that accountancy firms such as Deloitte and PWC have extended their own in house legal departments. Consequently, large commercial firms have lost clients and further gained competitors. Brexit may also cause loss of employment rights, lessen mergers and acquisitions and could cause various laws to be changed. 3.2 Porters Five Forces Porters five forces is a tool to assess how competitive forces shape strategy and ultimately profitability. This methodology was initially applied to the legal industry, but seemed to defy the competitive pressures outlined in Porters article, whereby it still experienced a rapid rise in profitability.[20] However, recent changes in the legal industry has led to re-evaluation regarding the use of the five forces tool, to gain an insight into the competitive market of law. The bargaining power of suppliers usually refers to the firms employees, as they do not have suppliers in the typical sense. There has been a growing amount of legal talent throughout the past three years [21]which means that firms have been able to reduce fee agreements. For example, instead of hiring more solicitors a firm may choose to hire experienced paralegals which would cost significantly less. Although this is positive, it does mean that recruiting fees are higher and may cause retention rates of staff to be lower. The power of buyers is the most commanding part of the five forces in terms of competitive strategy. Firms have seen less customer loyalty and less dependency from buying local for legal services.[22] Legal research charges have also been removed from overall billing which is costing firms millions in added cost.[23] The threat of new entrants relates mostly to smaller firms using technology to give legal services on the same level as larger firms.[24] This is because technology now allows this, and smaller firms charge significantly less. As PLS is an international firm it may at some point wish to enter a foreign market but some are saturated and are therefore hard to enter and be successful. The threat of substitute products and services has changed because of the Legal Services Act [25] This means that many companies who would have otherwise used law firms, are now investing in their own in house legal departments. Deloitte, an accountancy firm have done this and have subsequently saved in legal fees[26]. This all adds to the most important aspect of the five forces rivalry amongst existing competitors. However, with trends in the market changing rapidly, further threats in relation to other competitive measures are equally as important and making the market more complex. As in house becomes more popular (6 billion dollars in the US market in 2 years) [27]and client loyalty lessens, firms need to acknowledge that new service models create separation from rivals and provide the uncontested market space necessary to limit the impact of Porters Five Forces on their operational strategy[28] Organic growth vs Mergers Potential Merger with a local firm It is seen that mergers and acquisitions (MAs) are one of the principal ways in which organisations can achieve rapid growth.[29] They benefit from economies of scale and therefore lower overheads which means cutting costs significantly. Commercial benefits include instant access to client databases and loss in competition with the firm chosen to merge. As PLS are also looking to set up in culture completely different to that of the UK, it would be potentially very beneficial to have access to experienced legal professionals already based in Shanghai who understand the market and clients. The burst of activity in the last quarter helped make 2016 the second-best year for dealmakers since the financial crisis.[30] Therefore, more firms are seen to be merging in order to eliminate vulnerability and to make themselves truly global rather than just international. Norton Rose recently merged with Texas Fulbright and Ashurst with Australias Blake Dawson. Meanwhile, SJ Berwin became the first ever UK firm to join arms with an Asia-Pacific firm, King Wood Mallesons, in 2013.[31] As PLS are friendly with local firms who they pay for their services, there may be an option for a potential merger with them. It would also mean that PLS do not have to pay to set up their new office in Shanghai which would save a significant amount of money. There are risks involved with potential mergers. When two companies decide upon this option they may lose aspects of their brand which could cause an array of disadvantages including loss of clientele. It will also likely mean that they have less control over the business and its future. Given the importance of interaction with their foreign customers, PLS should opt for a high degree of control over their foreign market entry mode [32]and a merger does not necessarily give this. 4.2 Setting up a new office in Shanghai Organic growth is known to be expanding the business from the inside rather than the outside (MA). The economic benefit for PLS of investing in a subsidiary office would be that they do not have to pay local firms for their service. They can build their own client database, promote their own brand and have full control of the office. Businesses that grow organically can control their rate of growth and normally face less cultural and integration challenges than those that choose an inorganic strategy.[33] However, they may face cultural challenges with clients. The risks of organic growth lie in expansion that outpaces the ability to effectively manage, stretches resources too thin, strains capital, or diverts focus from the business core mission[34]. It would cost PLS a substantial sum of money to invest in the office and is the most expensive of the foreign market entry options. Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Cash flows ( £000) (1000) 1,500 1750 2,200 2,650 2,900 Present Value (1000) 1,071.42 892.86 801.75 689.82 539.21 Net Present value:  £2,995,000.06 The investment will add  £2,995,000.06 of value to PLS and therefore the office in Shanghai is worth potentially investing in. However, there are some risks involved with the NPV calculation. It does not consider unforeseen expenditure and is often based on estimates. It therefore does not fully account for potential risk in investments costs, discount rate and projected returns. Essentially, each investment holds significant risk because both a potential merger and buying a subsidiary office are very drastic forms of expansion. Other options such as purchasing a stake in an associate office or forming a best friend alliance may fit the needs of PLS more substantially. [35]Further, they may then decide upon organic growth or a merger once they have definitive evidence that the high risk will benefit the overall firm. Bibliography Legislation General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 Legal Services Act 2007 Secondary Sources Articles Downey, J, (2008) Mergers and acquisitions, Topic Gateway Series No. 54 Blomstermo, A, Sharma, D, (2006) Choice of foreign market entry mode in service firms, International Marketing Review, Vol. 23 Issue 2 Internet Articles Kuntz B, EYVoice: Organic vs. Inorganic: Which way to grow? Forbes (14 January 2014) accessed 20 February 2017 Fontella-Khan J and Massoudi A, MA boom set to continue in 2017 Financial times (29 December 2016) accessed 20 February 2017 Cooke A, Trends affecting the legal profession (Chambers student, 20 July 2016) accessed 19 February 2017 Sims A, What is the difference between hard and soft Brexit? Everything you need to know (The Independent UK Politics, 3rd October 2016) accessed 10 February 2017 M Arnold, Banks study loopholes to enable UK branches to sell to EU clients, (Financial times, 02 February 2017) accessed 14 February 2017 Katz T and others, Brexit: What impact might leaving the EU have on the UKs financial services industry? | insights | DLA piper global law firm (DLA Piper insights, 27 June 2016) accessed 14 February 2017 Reynolds B and others, Brexit and Equivalence: Review of the Financial Services Framework Across All Sectors (Shearman and Sterling LLP, 10 August 2016) accessed 16 February 2017 Rao K, PwC report reviews state of global financial market liquidity (PWC News releases, 12 August 2015) accessed 14 February 2017 Patrick F, Porters Five forces applied to the legal industry (Thompson Reuters Elite, 9 January 2014) accessed 10 February 2017 Smith L, Porters Five forces are actually relevant to law firms (Bloomer Law Big Law Business, 19 March 2015) accessed 10 February 2017 Rebeiro M, Impact of Brexit on technology and innovation (Norton Rose Fulbright, 21 December 2016) accessed 10 February 2017 Saunders P, Black J, and McNicholls K, http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/developing-legal-talent-2016.pdf (Deloitte, February 2016) accessed 14 February 2017 Strong F, Porters Five forces for the legal industry (LexisNexis Business of Law Blog, 7 May 2014) accessed 16 February 2017 Samuelson, S.S. and Fahey, L. (1991). Strategic planning for law firms: the application of management theory. 52 U. Pitt. L. Rev 435 Booth S, How to ensure UK and European financial services continue to thrive after Brexit (Open Europe, 17 October 2016) accessed 16 February 2017 Millard R, Beyond the box: How to realign your firms business model (Solicitors Journal, 27 June 2012) accessed 16 February 2017 The 6 Profit Points of Every Law Firm: Taking control of data to help increase your firms profitability, (LexisNexis Law Firm Practice Management WHITE PAPER SERIES, January 2013) accessed 16 February 2017 Declaration I declare that: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · The work in this assessment was carried out in accordance with the Regulations of The University of Law. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · The work is original except where indicated by acknowledgement or special reference in the text, and no part of this assessment has been presented by me or anyone else to any University or body for examination either in the United Kingdom or overseas. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · I have not conducted research involving human participants for the purposes of this work Date: 23rd February 2017 Word Count:2996 [1] Sims A, What is the difference between hard and soft Brexit? Everything you need to know (The Independent UK Politics, 3rd October 2016) [4] M Arnold, Banks study loopholes to enable UK branches to sell to EU clients, (Financial times, 02 February 2017) accessed 14 February 2017 [5] Booth S, How to ensure UK and European financial services continue to thrive after Brexit (Open Europe, 17 October 2016)

Marketisation of Education Analysis

Marketisation of Education Analysis Marketization of education refers to privatization of the education industry in the process of providing educative services. Economic advantage is the main driving force for the emergence of this style of education. An instance involves the period 1998, where the government published a report comparing the GCSE and Standard Assessment Tests of Schools giving parents a choice between different competing schools (Bates, 2011; Friedman, 2003). This meant that Schools performing well attracted high number of parents, resulting to increased revenues from fees. In analyzing this aspect of education, my key concern is if this process meets the objective of providing the best educative services, and an equal opportunity for students. To answer this question, we need to identify and analyze the concerns of this aspect of the education system, and inclusion is economic revolution. Economic revolution came as a result of industrial revolution in Europe, and it brought changes in the systems of governance making economic gains an issue in evolution of education. Friedman (2003) in his analysis of Marketization of education agrees with this notion. He argues that the evolution of this style of education is as a result of the liberalization of the structures of government including economic structures (Friedman, 2003). Liberalism is an aspect of governance which Karl Marx, many centuries ago predicted will limit the interference of government in the provision of education services. The concepts of economics as a motivator to marketization of education are highly criticized by Lauder (2006). In Lauderà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s analysis, he argues that economic factors have replaced the learning aspects of education to more material oriented learning processes, whereby schools concentrate on how they can achieve customer satisfaction as opposed to impartation of knowledge and skills (Lauder, 2006). This happened because of decentralization of the structures of government, and less regulation of the education system due to liberalization of the economy where organizations are allowed to offer services without regulation from the government (Dewey, 1998). Lauder further argues that marketization of education arose due to the emergence of the class system. Parents from rich backgrounds saw the need of taking their children to special schools, because they offered quality education than state schools (Lauder et al, 1999). This aspect caused rift between the rich and the poor in the educative process in terms of acquisition of knowledge. Bates et al (2011) and Kishan (2008) observe that parents with low income struggle to take their children to state schools, and this accelerates the process of social segregation. In socialist states, education is controlled by the government and it develops school curriculums which are strictly followed. This is as opposed to the liberalized states such as America and Britain. The European Research institute of education conducted a research on marketization of education in Europe. They found that the state had lost its ability to regulate the education system in Europe (Kishan, 2008). This proves that governance and politics are the main motivators of this approach to education, and not economics. Another aspect of marketization of education is the changing needs of the society that the education system needed to address. This issue is vague in its description, because education is age old, and issues affecting the society are the same. Lauder (2006) agrees with this notion and notes that the education system concerns itself with impartation of skills necessary for an individual to survive in the world. This was the objectives of the education system in the former centuries, the needs of the society is always the same, but how to solve such needs differ. The main needs of the society are survival in a fierce competitive environment, and an education system that offers mechanisms and skills to survive in such an environment is welcome. Government schools also offer such skills and those who argue that this style of education emerged due to changes in the needs of the populace are misguided. The schooling system has evolved to an extent that business organizations make a commercial presence in schools, and this is evidenced by the commercial advertisements on teaching materials. On this notion, educative services are seen as a business opportunity. To Friedman, marketization of education arose due to the need of allowing free flow of education. Friedman notes that the combination of marketization, liberalization and privatization in the education sector ensures that the development prosperity and cooperation is achieved in the world, because information is shared freely. Without marketization of education, Friedman argues that government institutions can interfere with the process of free flow of information (Friedman, 2003; Bates, 2011). Lauder (2006), argues against this system of education and maintains that marketization of education is a replacement of instructive thoughts to economic thoughts. He argues that instead of preparing students for social and personal development, the education system concerns itself with aspects of client satisfaction, cost effectiveness and competitiveness. Bridgehouse (2011) asserts that marketization of education has resulted into the neglect of children with special needs for schools and focuses on how to minimize costs (p.32). This is because schools aim at profit making and see the need of hiring specialized staff as costly. In conclusion, Marketization of education is the emerging trend of education system in the world but it does not provide equity in the provision of educative services. The poor are disadvantaged and due to lack of economic might, their children do not have an access to high cost schools which have superior teaching resources as compared to state schools where majority of economically disadvantaged parents take their children. This inequality in the education system develops the class system brought about by industrial revolution. Schools do not concentrate in imparting skills to their students instead; they are concerned with profit making and client satisfaction at the expense of offering knowledge. Government should regulate the education system and ensure quality education is offered at all levels of the education system by state and private schools. Bibliography: Bates, J,.Lewis, Sue and Pickard, Andy.(2011). Education Policy, Practice and Professional.Continuum: Continuum International Publishers. Friedman, M. I. (2003). Educators handbook on effective testing. Columbia, SC: InstituteforEvidence-Based Decision-Making in Education. Bridgehouse, H. ( 2007). On Education.United States of America: Routledge Publishers. Kishan, N. R. (2008). Privatization of education. New Delhi: A.P.H Pub. Corp.. Lauder, H. (2006).Education, globalization, and social change. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress. Lauder, H and Hughes, D ., eds ( 1999). Trading in Futures, Why Markets in Education Donà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t Work.Buckingham: Open University Press. Ozmon, H., Craver, S. M. (1986).Philosophical foundations of education (3rd ed.). Columbus: Merrill Pub. Co.. SAMPLE PAPER 2 Experiential Learning Name: Course Code: Professor: Date of Submission: Many learning institutions have introduced the concept of learning through experience, referred to as experiential learning. This process of learning can either be dramatic or open and it was advocated by scholars such as Aristotle and Kolb. To Aristotle, learning to do things through experience is better than learning through teaching (Curren, 2000). While, Kolb defines experiential learning as a process that involves real life experience in acquisition of knowledge and skills, its elements are experience, observation, reflection and experimentation (Ozmon and Craver, 1986). In Experiential learning, the question is, does it require the guidance of a practioner for learning to take place? Practioners are always necessary in any process of learning, and experiential learning is not an exception. To acquire new knowledge from experience, an individual has to have problem solving skills which enable him/ her to make decisions. This skill is essential to enable a student to apply skills gained through the experience undergone while learning (Maxwell, 2011). Experience as an issue in experiential learning is not the main factor that a student can acquire knowledge from. To Aristotle, passing through experience, acquiring skills and inability to implement the skills gained is not the objective of education. By learning, a student has to acquire the ability to apply skills gained in real life situations and challenges (Curren, 2000). The applicative part of skill acquisition is the problem and for a student to implement a skill, he/she needs guidance and this normally comes from the practitioners. The idea of learning through experience has a long historical perspective and it is John Dewey who proposed it. Dewey (1998) states that experience is an integral part of learning; and practitioners play an important role in this process, to ensure students are able to apply knowledge gained from an experience in different perspectives of their lives. This notion of Dewey, clearly agrees with my views of experimentation as an aspect of experiential learning. It is necessary for practitioners to introduce the curriculum when students are taken to the outdoor learning with supervision from educators; this would allow students to learn from a series of real life adventures. Dewey (1998) in his analysis of experiential learning observes that reflection must occur in this process. Students must engage actively in the learning, and reflect on the experience to grasp the new ideas instilled. Its only after effective reflection that skills are acquired. Reflection as an issue of experiential learning is not beneficial without supervision. There are many aspects of reflective tendencies during the process of experiential learning. However, it has some drawback (Palmer and Cooper, 2003); student will not think deeper into the meaning of the experience passed as he/she might take it as play attained. It might involve lack of concentration from the student. According to Kolb, learning is a multidimensional process (Palmer and Cooper, 2003) and it involves four stages that are to experience, observe, reflect and experiment. Kolb advocates for supervision of a learner during the process of reflection. After a period of time, learning will have taken place as students had gained an educative experience with useful guides given from the practitioners. The reason is that constantly, the student will reflect on the experience he/she has just gained and consider the advice given from the practitioners (Maxwell et al, 2011).This process of experiential learning requires a practitioner at all stage to facilitate studentà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s learning. Therefore practitioners play an important role and their input should not be neglected. Experiential learning was formally recognized as a field of education in 1970s and a great achievement for advocators of experiential learning was made in 1977 when the association of experiential education was established (Palmer and Cooper, 2003). It is in the 20th Century that educating through experience has been appreciated as a vital foundation of the learning process and it was precipitated by the work of John Dewey in 1998.The ideas of experiential learning are relevant to the concepts of adult learning. David Kolb (Palmer and Cooper, 2003) argue that experiential learning is a four stage process and he identifies Dewey as the main pioneer of this learning system. Kolb (Palmer and Cooper, 2003) discusses experience and reflection as issues in experiential learning. He gives an analysis of the steps of experiential learning which are experience; observation, reflection and experimentation. To Kolb, experience and reflection are necessary for learning to take place but with guidance of a practitioner while to Dewey, the guidance of a practioner is not necessary (Dewey, 1998).However, Rousseau Palmer et al, 2003) state experiential learning is an important aspect of education and notes that education comes from nature, men and environmental surroundings thus everything plays an important role in the impartation of knowledge. Rousseau argues a child obtains passivity by being taught and resent from punishment and therefore the best way for a child to learn is through experience which allows him to see the consequences of his actions. To Rousseau, experience coupled with tutorship is the best form of education since passivity in learning will be removed and therefore leaning becomes a process of mutual understanding and consent (Ozmon and Craver, 1986). Experiential learning has been adopted in the curriculum in many schools across the country. The new curriculum emphasizes the importance of children learning through experience and thereby developing skills from out of class activities. It is used to denote various models and due to the differences of value and thoughts, educators develop curriculums and programs that fit their understanding of experiential learning. To gain knowledge and skills in the process of experiential leaning, guidance given from practitioners to student is necessary. Practitioners must be trained in all aspects of education in order to be skillful in applying knowledge acquired through experiences in their practice.

Siddhartha Essay: The Symbols of the Smile and the River in Siddhartha

The Symbols of the Smile and the River in Siddhartha      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An important symbol in Siddhartha is the smile. Each of the three characters in the story who attain a final state of complete serenity is characterized by a beautiful smile which reflects their peaceful, harmonious state. In each case this smile is a completely natural phenomenon; it cannot be created at will by people who have not attained the prerequisite state of harmony with life.    The first character who is described as possessing this smile is Gotama, the Buddha. When Siddhartha first sees him, he recognizes him immediately, largely on account of this mysterious smile. Gotama is imperturbable and he retains his smile - and his equanimity - even when Siddhartha engages in debate with him. As Gotama turns to leave, it is his smile which most deeply impresses Siddhartha, for in it the peace and saintliness of the Buddha is epitomized. The narrator comments that Siddhartha was to remember this smile for the rest of his life.    Vesudeva also possesses the mystical smile of peace and harmony. A man of very few words, the ferryman often allows his smile to speak for him, and it is a more effective agent of expression than any words could possibly have been. Like the Buddha, Vasudeva is satisfied that he is at peace with the world, and with existence.    Siddhartha does not possess this radiant smile at first. He sees it in Gotama and Vasudeva and recognizes its significance, but is too engrossed in physical things to be able to smile serenely himself. First, with the Samanas, he concentrates on mastering his bodily needs. Then, through Kamala and Kamaswami, he learns to enjoy sensual pleasures and soon masters this aspect of life. Finally his ... ...e lingering sorrow and pain he feels because of his son's departure. One day when Siddhartha sets out to search for his son, the river speaks to him - but not in its usual soothing tone. This time the river laughs at him. Siddhartha looks into the water and sees his own reflection, which reminds him, however, of his father. He is reminded of the pain he caused his own father years earlier when he departed, never to return, and gradually perceives that the river is pointing out to him the repetitious nature of events. Nothing is new, everything is an integral part of a unified whole, including such things as the inevitable separation of fathers and sons. The various voices of the river, the laughter and the sorrow, seem to merge, and finally Siddhartha hears only the sum: the word "Om."    Works Cited Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. Dover Publications, 1998.

Ice Hockey Essay -- Hockey Sports Research Papers

Ice Hockey This report is going to be on the game Ice hockey. A game of hockey is divided into three twenty minute time periods that are called periods. Between each period there is a fifth teen minute intermission. In hockey there are several ways a game may end if there is a tie at the end of regulation. The pros use one twenty sudden death period in which the first to score is the winner. In the amateurs they use a shoot out in which five players from each team are selected and allowed to go one on one with the opposing goalie and which ever team scores the most goals after all five members for both teams have taken their shot they are the winners. If there is a tie after this it keeps repeating until a winner is crowned.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A team is allowed only six players on the ice at a time. These players consist of a goalie, right and left defensemen, right and left wingers, and a center. Defensemen stay back towards the blue line so none of the opposing team can get behind them. The wingmen stay towards their respective sides of the net. The center does just that jams the front of the net to either screen (block the view of) the goalie or deflects the shot into the net. The goalie, mostly stays in his crease to protect the goal however if he wants he may leave his crease (the light blue area by the net in the photo).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Because of the speed of the game it is the only sport in which substitutions are allowed to be made while the game is in progress. The pace of...

Philosophies of Learning Theory

INTRODUCTION What is theory? A theory is a way of thinking and a model of how things work, how principles are related, and what causes things to work together. Learning theories address key questions, for example, how does learning happen? How does motivation occur? What influences students’ development? A theory is not just an idea. It’s an idea that is a coherent explanation of a set of relationships that has been tested with lots of research. If the idea survives rigorous testing, that theory is said to have empirical grounding. A theory is developed from practical experience as well as research.Any given theory is usually about one aspect of the learning process. Learning theories  are  conceptual frameworks  that describe how information is absorbed, processed, and retained during  learning. Learning brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one's knowledge, skills, valu es, and world views. There are three main categories of learning theory:  behaviorism,  cognitivism, and  constructivism. Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning.Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. And constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts. Philosophies of teaching and learning, numerous philosophers have studied what the meaning of to teach and learn, and have come up with various explanations of the process of becoming educated. Their begin to refine their own beliefs and understandings of what it means to know through examining numerous theories of knowledge and making sense of the processes of teaching and learning in their own minds.An few philosophies and examples of individuals who exemplify the concepts are worth exploring: Existentialism (Maxine Greene, Jean-Paul Sartre, Soren Kierkegaard, Simone de Beauvoir), Critical T heory (Karl Marx, Henry Geroux, Michael Apple, Paulo Friere), Behaviorism (B. F. Skinner), Cognitivism / Developmentalism (Maria Montessori, A. S. Neill, John Dewey, Knowles, Waldorf Schools, Reggio Emilia Schools), Social Constructivism (John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Waldorf Schools). 1. 0 LEARNING THEORIESIn  psychology  and education,  learning  theories are attempts to describe how people and animals learn, thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning. There are three main categories (philosophical frameworks) under which learning  theories fall: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. 1. 1 Behaviorism Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning and discounts the internal processing that might be associated with the activity. Learning is the acquisition of new  behavior  through conditioning. There are two types of possible conditioning: ) Classical conditionin g, where the  behavior  becomes a reflex response to stimulus as in the case of Pavlov's Dogs. 2) Operant conditioning where there is reinforcement of the  behavior  by a reward or a punishment. The theory of operant conditioning was developed by B. F. Skinner and is known as Radical Behaviorism. The word ‘operant’ refers to the way in which behavior ‘operates on the environment’. Briefly, a behavior may result either in reinforcement, which increases the likelihood of the behavior recurring, or punishment, which decreases the likelihood of the behavior recurring.It is important to note that, a punisher is not considered to be punishment if it does not result in the reduction of the behavior, and so the terms punishment and reinforcement are determined as a result of the actions. Within this framework, behaviorists are particularly interested in measurable changes in behavior. 1. 2. Cognitivism Since the Cognitive Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, learning theory has undergone a great deal of change. Much of the empirical framework of Behaviorism was retained even though a new paradigm was begun. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning.Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning. So for example how the natural physiological processes of encoding information into short term memory and long term memory become important to educators. Once memory theories like the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model and Baddeley's Working memory model were established as a theoretical framework in Cognitive  Psychology, new cognitive frameworks of learning began to emerge during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Today researchers are concentrating on topics like Cognitive load and Information Processing Theory.These theories of learning are very useful as they guide the Instructional design. 1. 3. Constructivism Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds n ew ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge. In other words, â€Å"learning involves constructing one's own knowledge from one's own experiences. † Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context. 1. 4. Informal and Post-Modern TheoriesInformal theories of education deal with more practical breakdown of the learning process. One of these deals with whether learning should take place as a building of concepts toward an overall idea, or the understanding of the overall idea with the details filled in later. Modern thinkers favor the latter, though without any basis in real world research. Critics believe that trying to teach an overall idea without details (facts) is like trying to build a masonry structure without bricks. Other concerns are the origins of the drive for learning.To this end, many have split off from the mains tream holding that learning is a primarily self taught thing, and that the ideal learning situation is one that is self taught. According to this dogma, learning at its basic level is all self taught, and class rooms should be eliminated since they do not fit the perfect model of self learning. However, real world results indicate that isolated students fail. Social support seems crucial for sustained learning. Informal learning theory also concerns itself with book vs real-world experience learning. Many consider most schools severely lacking in the second.Newly emerging hybrid instructional models combining traditional classroom and computer enhanced instruction promise the best of both worlds. 2. 0 PHILOSOPHY ON LEARNING THEORIES. People have been trying to understand learning for over 2000 years. Learning theorists have carried out a debate on how people learn that began at least as far back as the Greek philosophers, Socrates (469 –399 B. C. ), Plato (427 – 347 B. C. ), and Aristotle(384 – 322 B. C). The debates that have occurred through the ages reoccur today in a variety of viewpoints about the purposes of education and about how to encourage learning.To a substantial extent, the most effective strategies for learning depend on what kind of learning is desired and toward what ends. Plato and one of his students, Aristotle, were early entrants into the debate about how people learn. They asked, â€Å"Is truth and knowledge to be found within us (rationalism) or is it to be found outside of ourselves by using our senses (empiricism)? † Plato, as a rationalist, developed the belief that knowledge and truth can be discovered by self-reflection. Aristotle, the empiricist, used his senses to look for truth and knowledge in the world outside of him.From his empirical base Aristotle developed a scientific method of gathering data to study the world around him. Socrates developed the dialectic method of discovering truth through conv ersations with fellow citizens (Monroe, 1925). Inquiry methods owe much of their genesis to the thinking of Aristotle and others who followed this line of thinking. Strategies that call for discourse and reflection as tools for developing thinking owe much to Socrates and Plato. The Romans differed from the Greeks in their concept of education.The meaning of life did not intrigue them as much as developing a citizenry that could contribute to society in a practical way, for building roads and aqueducts. The Romans emphasized education as the vocational training rather than as the training of the mind for the discovery of truth. Modern vocational education and apprenticeship methods are reminiscent of the Roman approach to education. As we will see, however, strategies to encourage cognitive apprenticeships combine the modeling inherent in learning by guided doing with the discourse, reflection, and inquiry that the Greeks suggested to train the mind.When the Roman Catholic Church be came a strong force in European daily life (500 A. D. to 1500 A. D. ), learning took place through the church, through monasteries, and through their school system, which included the universities (12th century) the Church built throughout Europe. Knowledge was transmitted from the priest to the people (Monroe, 1925). Much learning was the memorization and recitation of scripture by rote and the learning of trades by apprenticeship. The primary conception of the purpose of education was transmission-based.Many classrooms today continue a transmission-based conception of learning as the passing on of information from the teacher to the student, with little interest in transforming it or using it for novel purposes. The Renaissance (15th to the 17th centuries) revived the Greek concept of liberal education, which stressed education as an exploration of the arts and humanities. Renaissance philosophers fought for freedom of thought, and thus Humanism, a study of human values that are n ot religion-based, was born.By the sixteenth century the control of the Catholic Church was being challenged on a number of fronts, from Copernicus (1473 – 1543) who suggested that the sun rather than the earth was the center of the Solar System, to Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) who sought to secularize education (Monroe,1925). The notions of individual inquiry and discovery as bases for learning were reinforced in the Renaissance. In a sense the recurring ideological debates over education for â€Å"basic† skills – the reproduction of facts and rudimentary skills – vs. ducation for thinking – the effort to understand ideas and use knowledge for broader purposes – replay the medieval vs. Renaissance conceptions of the purposes of education. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) revived the Platonic concept of innate knowledge. Descartes believed that ideas existed within human beings prior to experience and that God was an example of an i nnate idea. He recognized that the body could be appreciated and studied as a zoological machine, while the mind was separate and free from the body.He was one of the first to define precisely the ability of the environment and the mind to influence and initiate behavior. He also described how the body could produce unintended behaviors. Descartes’ first description of reflex action was influential in psychology for over 300 years (Hergenhahn, 1976). While these findings supported the work of behavioral psychologists seeking to understand the genesis of behaviors, his focus on the mind also supported the work of later cognitive scientists who sought to understand the thinking process itself.John Locke (1632 – 1704) revived Aristotle’s empiricism with the concept that the child’s mind is a blank tablet (tabula rasa) that gets s haped and formed by his/her own experiences. He believed the mind becomes what it experiences from the outside world. â€Å"Let u s suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas: How comes it to be furnished? †¦ Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? †¦ from experience† (Locke, quoted in Hilgard and Bower 1975).The mind gathers data through the senses and creates simple ideas from experience; these simple ideas combine to develop complex ideas. Locke believed that education should structure experiences for students and that one essential learning was the kind of discipline that could be developed through the study of mathematics (Hergenhahn, 1976). The idea that different disciplines provide qualitatively different mental experiences and means of training the mind undergirds the basis of the discipline-based liberal arts education.Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) was one of the first philosophers to suggest that education should be shaped to the child. He celebrated the concept of childhood and felt that children should be allowed to develop naturally. â€Å"The only habit which the child should be allowed to form is to contract no habit whatever. † (Rousseau, quoted in Hilgard and Bower, 1975) In Rousseau’s novel, Emile (Rousseau, 2000), the hero learns about life through his experiences in life. Complex ideas are built from simple ideas that are gathered from the world around him (Hilgard and Bower, 1975).The child-centered philosophies of Dewey, Montessori, Piaget and others follow in part from similar views. Kant (1724 – 1804) refined and modernized Plato’s rationalist theory with his suggestion that â€Å"a priori† knowledge was knowledge that was present before experience. For Kant, awareness of knowledge may begin with experience but knowledge existed prior to experience. Kant espoused that these ideas must be innate, and their purpose is to create an organizing structure for the data that is received by the senses.Kant was also one of the first to recognize t he cognitive processes of the mind, the idea that the mind was a part of the thinking process and capable of contributing to the thoughts that it developed. This learning theory opened the door to Piaget and others who would further develop the ideas of cognition (Monroe, 1925). Edward Thorndike (1874 – 1949) is considered by many to be the first modern education psychologist who sought to bring a scientific approach to the study of learning. Thorndike believed that learning was incremental and that people learned through a trial and error approach.His behaviorist theories of learning did not consider that learning took place as a result of mental constructs. Instead, he described how mental connections are formed through positive responses to particular stimuli. For Thorndike, learning was based on an association between sense impressions and an impulse to action. Thorndike favored students’ active learning and sought to structure the environment to ensure certain sti muli that would ‘produce’ learning. The father of modern behaviorism, B. F. Skinner (1904 – 1990), further developed Thorndike’s Stimulus-Response learning theory.Skinner was responsible for developing programmed learning which was based on his stimulus response research on rats and pigeons in experiments that provided positive reinforcement for â€Å"correct† responses. He considered learning to be the production of desired behaviors, and denied any influence of mental processes. Programmed learning gave proper reinforcement to the student, emphasized reward over punishment, moved the student by small steps through discrete skills and allowed the student to move at their own speed. â€Å"There are certain questions which have to be answered in turning to the study of any new organism.What behavior is to be set up? What reinforcers are at hand? What responses are available in embarking upon a program of progressive approximation that will lead to t he final form of the behavior? How can reinforcements be most effectively scheduled to maintain the behavior in strength? These questions are all relevant in considering the problem of the child in the lower grades. † Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was the first to state that learning is a developmental cognitive process, that students create knowledge rather than receive knowledge from the teacher.He recognized that students construct knowledge based on their experiences, and that how they do so is related to their biological, physical, and mental stage of development. Piaget spent years observing very young children and mapping out four stages of growth: sensorimotor (birth to about 2 years), preoperational (roughly ages 2 –7), concrete operations (encompassing about ages 7- 14) and formal operations (beginning around ages 11 – 15 and extending into adulthood.His work acknowledged the utility of some behaviorally-guided rote learningwhile also arguing that ot her activities that support students’ exploration are essential: The Russian scientist Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) extended Piaget’s developmental theory of cognitive abilities of the individual to include the notion of social-cultural cognition – that is, the idea that all learning occurs in a cultural context and involves social interactions. He emphasized the role that culture and language play in developing students’ thinking and the ways in which teachers and peers assist learners in developing new ideas and skills.Vygotsky proposed the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) which suggested that students learn subjects best just beyond their range of existing experience with assistance from the teacher or another peer to bridge the distance from what they know or can do independently and what they can know or do with assistance (Schunk, 1996). John Dewey (1859 – 1952) agreed in part with Rousseau that education should not be separ ate from life itself, that education should be child-centered, guided by a welltrained teacher who is grounded in pedagogical and subject knowledge.Like Locke, he believed that structured experience matters and disciplinary modes of inquiry could allow the development of the mind, thus creating a dialectic between the child and the curriculum that the teacher must manage. The teacher’s goal is to understand both the demands of the discipline and the needs of the child and then to provide learning experiences to enable the student to uncover the curriculum. Dewey believed that the ability of a person to learn was dependent on many things, one of which was the environment. . 0 Future trends There are many changes occurring in the twenty-first century which will influence the nature of learning and learning styles being adopted. Perhaps the most significant change is that universities are now increasingly competing with a range of non-traditional education providers. This will f orce higher education into a pro-active stance in understanding how students learn best, and how teaching impacts on learning. Additional contemporary changes include globalisation, modularisation, mobility of earners, distance education/elearning/flexible learning, lifelong learning, mass education, and work-based learning. ‘The de-institutionalisation of education, in the form of open and independent learning systems, is creating a need for learners to develop appropriate skills’ (Knowles, 1975, p. 14). The impact here on learners is the gradual move away from the more traditional forms of teaching and learning, where information was transmitted to the student through physical interaction between teacher and student, to more self-directed, student-centred approaches.Problem-based learning is an example of one approach to learning where the learner needs to take responsibility for his or her own learning, with the teacher now increasingly assuming the role of facilitat or of student learning. The impact of technology and the internet will continue to increase, having economic and social implications for society. For instance people can now work from home if they have immediate access to a computer. This may facilitate the increase of distance-learning courses as students no longer have to attend a physical campus to gain qualifications.Increasing modularisation enables many students to learn at their own pace, in their own time. CONCLUSION The Philosophy of education has been shaped over centuries with certain philosophers and their thoughts directly affecting it. A good example is Plato and his  educational philosophy  that was christened Republic. He argues that the society would be holistic if children at a tender age would be raised with a system of education that natures their intellectual capabilities with facts, physical discipline, music, art and skills.The same principles can be applied to an individual institution. This can be define d as a collective approach informed by educational philosophy  to aid in teaching in a way that the objective of imparting knowledge is achieved within a reasonable time. This philosophy of education is subject to review and modification, total over haul or improvements depending on whether the constant evaluation shows whether the goals set have been achieved or not. The drastic advances in technology have also affected the educational philosophy.The world is moving towards the web 2. 0, where technological interaction between learners and teachers is emphasized. Another factor that informs education philosophy is the fact that the world is changing its educational strategies. At one point in history, education was a transit of knowledge from the tutor to student. With nationals encouraging innovations and research in various fields, students are encouraged to discover, be inquisitive and get to learn through active experiments and research.This is a way that has revolutionized t he way education policy makers and other stakeholders define philosophy of education. The relevancy of a given  philosophy of education  therefore, is determined by the educational needs of a given society. REFERENCES 1- Level3, Issue 2, June 2004, Dublin Institute of Technology, Learning Theories and Higher Education; Frank Ashworth, Gabriel Brennan, Kathy Egan, Ron Hamilton, Olalla Saenz; 2- Critique of Various Philosophies and Theories of Education; Ted Slater, Philosophy of Education / Dr.William Cox / Regent University. 3- 2007, Pearson Education, Inc. H. Douglas Brown. -5th Edition; Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 4- Kurzweil, R. (1996) The Age of intelligent machines â€Å"Chronology†. Retrieved September 18, 2012 from http://www. kurzweiltech. com/mchron. htm. 5- 2001, Stanford University, Developed by Linda-Darling Hammond, Kim Austin, Suzanne Orcutt, and Jim Rosso; How People Learn: Introduction To Learning Theories.

Enculturation

Enculturation is the process where the culture that is currently established teaches an individual the accepted norms and values of the culture or society in which the individual lives. The individual can become an accepted member and fulfill the needed functions and roles of the group. Most importantly the individual knows and establishes a context of boundaries and accepted behavior that dictates what is acceptable and not acceptable within the framework of that society. It teaches the individual their role within society as well as what is accepted behavior within that society and lifestyle† Enculturation can be conscious or unconscious, therefore can support both the Marxist and the hegemonic arguments. There are three ways a person learns a culture. Direct teaching of a culture is done, this is what happens when you don't pay attention, mostly by the parents , when a person is told to do something because it is right and to not do something because it is bad. For example, when children ask for something, they are constantly asked â€Å"What do you say? † and the child is expected to remember to say â€Å"please. The second conscious way a person learns a culture is to watch others around them and to emulate their behavior. An example would be using different slang with different cliques in school. Enculturation also happens unconsciously, through events and behaviors that prevail in their culture. All three kinds of culturation happen simultaneously and all the time. Enculturation helps mold a person into an acceptable member of society. Culture influences everything that a person does, whether they are aware of it or not. Enculturation is a lifelong process that helps unify people. Even as a culture changes, core beliefs, values, worldviews, and child-rearing practices stay the same. How many times has a parent said â€Å"If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you? † when their child wanted to fit in with the crowd? Both are playing roles in the enculturation. The child wants to be included in the subculture of their peers, and the parent wants to instill individualism in the child, through direct teaching. Not only does one become encultured, but also makes someone else encultured. Enculturation is sometimes referred to as acculturation, a word which recently has been used to more distinctively refer only to exchanges of cultural features with foreigncultures. Note that this is a recent development, as acculturation in some literatures has the same meaning as enculturation. Rilloraza, Lorna M. Tm09205 Enculturation is the process by which a person learns the requirements of the culture by which he or she is surrounded, and acquires values and behaviors that are appropriate or necessary in that culture. As part of this process, the influences which limit, direct, or shape the individual (whether deliberately or not) include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful, enculturation results in competence in the language, values and rituals of the culture. The process of enculturation is related to socialization. In some academic fields, socialization refers to the deliberate shaping of the individual, in others; the word may be used to cover both deliberate and informal enculturation. Enculturation can be conscious or unconscious; therefore can support both the Marxist and the hegemonic arguments. There are three ways a person learns a culture. Direct teaching of a culture is done, this is what happens when you don't pay attention, mostly by the parents , when a person is told to do something because it is right and to not do something because it is bad. For example, when children ask for something, they are constantly asked â€Å"What do you say? † and the child is expected to remember to say â€Å"please. † The second conscious way a person learns a culture is to watch others around them and to emulate their behavior. An example would be using different slang with different cliques in school. Enculturation also happens unconsciously, through events and behaviors that prevail in their culture. All three kinds of culturation happen simultaneously and all the time. Enculturation helps mold a person into an acceptable member of society. Culture influences everything that a person does, whether they are aware of it or not. Enculturation is a lifelong process that helps unify people. Even as a culture changes, core beliefs, values, worldviews, and child-rearing practices stay the same. How many times has a parent said â€Å"If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you? when their child wanted to fit in with the crowd? Both are playing roles in the enculturation. The child wants to be included in the subculture of their peers, and the parent wants to instill individualism in the child, through direct teaching. Not only does one become encultured, but also makes someone else encultured. Enculturation is sometimes referred to as acculturation, a word which recently has been used to more distinctively refer only to exchanges of cultural features with foreign cultures. Note that this is a recent development, as acculturation in some literatures has the same meaning as enculturation.