Thursday, October 31, 2019

Research Proposal on The Rape Shield Law Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On The Rape Shield Law - Research Proposal Example Despite the purported and perceived protection, which the enforced Rape Shield laws serves to give to the complainants, there may be some flaws in the laws itself, which may prejudice the interests of the defendant. The defendant may not be able to present his side of the story in front of the judge or to provide evidentiary support to prove his innocence in case where previous sexual conduct of the victim is not taken into consideration. Thus, false and unjust incarceration of the defendant may happen. The rape shield laws are deficient in some ways and specific amendments have to be brought into the rape shield laws to provide a fair and just decision to the defendant as well as the victim. Though the rape shield laws is an accepted statute, mainly for the purpose that it seeks to protect the victims of rape, yet, acceptance does not eradicate the contention that rape shield laws may have some inherent deficiencies that needs to be taken care of to make it a more acceptable and fai r form of legislation. The present research paper is devoted to explaining the deficiencies that are inherent in the rape shield laws, which may prejudice the legal rights of the defendant and at times even the victim. The basis of the contention is deficient and vague rape shield laws in different states, constitutional criticism of the rape shield law and failure of the laws to fulfill their purpose in exceptional cases where high profile is involved. 2. Vagueness of Rape Shield laws in Different States The rape shield laws in different States are different. There is no uniform set of laws like the Uniform Commercial Code, which may be applicable to all the states. This increases vagueness of the law itself. Each state has its own set of laws enacted with its own set of exceptions, sometimes distinct from that which is enacted in a particular state and sometimes completely different from other states. For instance, as per the Alabama statute any evidence relating to the past sexua l behavior of the complaining witness is admissible with an exception that evidence shall be admissible, when it is found that past sexual behavior directly involved the participation of the accused. On the other hand, though most states have in one way or another bared the admissibility of the past sexual conduct, however, the exceptions to such restriction is sometime less stringent and in some cases more stringent. In comparison to the exceptions to rape shield laws, which is in force in Alabama , the exceptions in Texas, Utah and Vermont are more stringent, as evidence is acceptable where probative value outweighs danger of unfair prejudice .1 This indicates while defendants in certain jurisdictions get better opportunities to prove their innocence while at other jurisdictions do not. 2. Constitutional criticism There are some inherent deficiencies in the rape shield laws despite its acceptance as an enacted law in all the states of US. The critics who seek to criticize the rape shield laws on the reasoning that it somehow violates the constitution propose that the rape shield laws are deficient in providing a fair trial to the defendant, it violates his right to cross-examine the victim or witnesses, it discriminates between sexes, it is an intrusion of the legislature into the judiciary and thus a violation of the doctrine of separation of powers and it is a vague form of law.2 In the forthcoming cases, the questions which arose to prove the constitutional violation of the rape shield laws were repeatedly nullified by the court. In a case, the question arose that whether not allowing the defendant to raise questions about the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Q8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Q8 - Essay Example ast that everyone has difficulty keeping up with them and developing conclusive interpretations about their effects on organizations (Weitz and Shenhav 2000). The balanced-scorecard measures would help to identify advances in technology, especially computer, information, and communications technology, have presented organizations and managers with dramatic new challenges and opportunities, and researchers have been pressing to develop the theoretical and research grounding needed to understand and manage these developments. The rapid advent of computer applications, the Internet, and other forms of information and communication technology have major implications for organizations and their management, but people have trouble saying exactly what effects they have and why. As for effects on public organizations, especially until recently, research has been scarce. The rational for the balanced-scorecard is to investigate and analyze new trends in information systems application and the ir impact on communication, effects on corporate design, structure and productivity. The framework helps to explain why even very similar technological initiatives can have very different outcomes, because of different organizational and institutional influences on their implementation. Fountain also describes how such influences raise formidable challenges for successful utilization in government, given the strong, often entrenched organizational and institutional influences. These components of the framework combine to influence the way technological initiatives play out (Castellano and Young, 2006). 2. The main criteria I will use to assess the information technology are desirability and efficiency test. The objectives of the analysis are to (1) identify the main applications of information technology in a given organization; (2) analyze their impact on a corporate organization, (3) identify the main trends and factors which influence implementation of information technology and (4)

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Psychiatry And In Cold Blood Essay English Literature Essay

Psychiatry And In Cold Blood Essay English Literature Essay On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family, Herbert Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Nancy Clutter, and Kenyon Clutter, were savagely murdered by two violent marauders with initially no apparent motive for the horrendous crime. Within the novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote reconstructs the events leading up to the murder and the investigation that eventually led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, on April 14, 1965. During the trial, both of the defendants were considered to be mentally ill, but were competent to stand trial and execution as they had been recognized with the capacity to discriminate between right and wrong, and were therefore considered mentally sane. Even though both defendants were mentally ill, the jury reached the rational verdict of execution since the mentally ill should not be pardon from such a punishment, therefore justifying it necessary for the defendants. Since 1976, the United States has been attempting to assess the criminal responsibility of murderers by dividing them into two categories, the mentally sane and the insane, and prosecuting them due process of law. In the article printed in, The American Journal of Psychiatry (July, 1960), written in collaboration by Karl Menninger, Irwin Rosen, and Martin Mayman, it explains, The sane murderer is thought of as acting upon rational motives that can be understood, though condemned, and the insane one as being driven by irrational senseless motives. During the trial of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the prosecution used the MNaghten test to determine the sanity of the defendants, as the test asks whether the defendant was unable to understand what he or she was doing at the time of the crime due to some defect of reason or disease of the mind or, if he or she was aware of what she was doing, that he or she failed to understand that what he or she was doing was wrong. The criminal psyc hiatrist, Dr. Jones, who evaluated the mental condition of the defendants, testified that Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were sane, even though he personally concluded both to be suffering from mental illnesses. In Ford versus Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986) and Panetti versus Quarterman, 127 S. Ct. 2842 (2007), the Supreme Court held and reaffirmed that it was unconstitutional to execute someone who was incompetent at the time of his execution under the eighth amendment. However, those who are mentally ill, but not insane, have no such exemption. Therefore, both Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were lawfully entitled to the death penalty as the jury reached the rational verdict. On June 6, 1931, Richard Eugene Hickock, was born in Kansas City, Kansas to his parents, Walter Hickock and Eunice Hickock. Richard was raised in Kansas City, as he attended Olathe High School, participating as a first team athlete and known to be a popular student with aspirations to attend college, but was slighted from his parents lack of wealth, which eventually led him to become a mechanic. After Richards unsuccessful marriage, fathering three children, and his extramarital affairs, he soon began participating in petty misdemeanor crimes, such as the creation and use of fraudulent checks which led to his conviction and sentence in Lansing correctional detention, where he devised the Clutter incident and met his partner in crime Perry Smith. On November 15, 1959, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith implemented their plans by robbing and murdering four members of the Clutter family at their home. During the prosecution of the defendants, the defense requested a psychiatric evaluation for Richard Hickock, who evaluated by the criminal physiatrist Dr. Jones, described the mental condition of Hickock, as he wrote, Richard Hickock is above average in intelligence, grasps new ideas easily and has a wide fund of information. He is alert to what is happening around him, and he shows no sign of mental confusion or disorientation. His thinking is well organized and logical and he seems to be in good contact with reality. Although I did not find the usual signs of organic brain damage memory loss, concrete concept formation, intellectual deterioration this cannot be completely ruled out. He had a serious head injury with concussion and several hours of unconsciousness in 1950 this was verified by me by checking hospital records. He says he has had blackout spells, periods of amnesia, and headaches ever since that time, and a major portion of his antisocial behavior has occurred since that time. He has never had the medical tests which would definitely prove or disprove the existence of residual brain damage. Definitive medical tests are indicated before a complete evaluation can be said to exist. Hickock does show signs of emotional abnormality. That he knew what he was doing and still went ahead with it is possibly the most clear-cut demonstration of this fact. He is a person who is impulsive in action, likely to do things without thought of consequences or future discomfort to himself or to others. He does not seem to be capable of learning from experience, and he shows an unusual pattern of intermittent periods of productive activity followed by patently irresponsible actions. He cannot tolerate feelings of frustration as a more normal person can, and he is poorly able to rid himself of those feelings except through antisocial activity. His self-esteem is very low, and he secretly feels inferior to others and sexually inadequate. These feelings seem to be overcompensated for by dreams of being rich and powerful, a tendency to brag about his exploits, spending sprees when he has money, and dissatisfaction with only the normal slow advancement he could expect from his job. He is uncomfortable in his relationships to other people, and has a pathological inability to form and hold enduring personal attachments. Although he professes usual moral standards he seems obviously uninfluenced by them in his actions. In summary, he shows fairly typical characteristics of what would psychiatrically be called a severe character disorder. It is important that steps be taken to rule out the possibility of organic brain damage, since, if present, it might have substantially influenced his behavior during the past several years and at the time of the crime (Capote, 294-295). The evaluation revealed several irregularities in Richard Hickocks mental state, as the doctor clarified was influenced by severe character disorder which would be closely related to severe depression, psychopathic and sociopathic tendency, and inadequate repression. Richards suffering from severe depression, which included; various aches and pains, negative and pessimistic thoughts, and insomnia, was a direct result of his constant feeling of disappointment to his parents, the experience of prison, complications during his marriage, and constant economic pressure. Richard demonstrated psychopathic and sociopathic characteristics which included; superficial charm, manipulations, antisocial behaviors such as lacking guilt, living a parasitic lifestyle, irresponsibility, impulsiveness, and pathological lying, as described, His poise, his explicitness, the assured presentation of verifiable detail impressed Nye though, of course, the boy was lying. Overall, the effects of mental illnes s on Richard Hickock during the Clutter murders undoubtedly granted him the character and ability needed to effortlessly execute the crime without fear and unfortunately leaving him without guilt. If the jury had not sentenced Richard Hickock to death, he would have continued to be a threat to society with the possibility of release to harm others. On October 27, 1928, Perry Edward Smith was born in Huntington, Nevada to his parents Florence Julia Buckskin and John Smith. During his early life, Perry was initially raised by his alcoholic mother, but was placed in a Catholic orphanage where he was allegedly abused physically and emotionally by nuns. Soon, he was placed in a Salvation Army orphanage, where again he was allegedly abused by a caretaker, and was then reunited with his father to live. As a child, Perry participated in a gang and became involved in petty crime, which resulted in detention in juvenile homes. Eventually, Perry enlisted as a United States Merchant Marine, and served in the Korean War in the army where he assaulted Korean civilians and soldiers. Perry Smith and Richard Hickock first met in the Kansas State Prison, at Lansing, Kansas, later resuming their acquaintance after Hickocks release, and carrying out the plan to pillage the Clutters, which resulted in the familys death. During the prosecution of th e defendants, the defense also requested a psychiatric evaluation for Perry Smith, who evaluated by the criminal physiatrist Dr. Jones, described the mental condition of Smith, as he wrote, Perry Smith shows definite signs of severe mental illness. His childhood, related to me and verified by portions of the prison records, was marked by brutality and lack of concern on the part of both parents. He seems to have grown up without direction, without love, and without ever having absorbed any fixed sense of moral values. He is oriented, hyper alert to things going on about him, and shows no sign of confusion. He is above average in intelligence, and has a good range of information considering his poor educational background. Two features in his personality make-up stand out as particularly pathological. The first is his paranoid orientation toward the world. He is suspicious and distrustful of others, tends to feel that others discriminate against him, and feels that others are unfair to him and do not understand him. He is overly sensitive to criticisms that others make of him, and cannot tolerate being made fun of. He is quick to sense slight or insult in things others s ay, and frequently may misinterpret well-meant communications. He feels he has great need of friendship and understanding, but he is reluctant to confide in others, and when he does, expects to be misunderstood or even betrayed. In evaluating the intentions and feelings of others, his ability to separate the real situation from his own mental projections is very poor. He not infrequently groups all people together as being hypocritical, hostile, and deserving of whatever he is able to do to them. Akin to this first trait is the second, an ever-present, poorly controlled rage easily triggered by any feeling of being tricked, slighted, or labeled inferior by others. For the most part, his rages in the, past have been directed at authority figures father, brother, Army sergeant, state parole officer and have led to violent assaultive behavior on several occasions. Both he and his acquaintances have been aware of these rages, which he says mount up in him, and of the poor control he has over them. When turned toward himself his anger has precipitated ideas of suicide. The inappropriate force of his anger and lack of ability to control or channel it reflect a primary weakness of personality structure. In addition to these traits, the subject shows mild early signs of a disorder of his thought processes. He has poor ability to organize his thinking, he seems unable to scan or summarize his thought, becoming involved and sometimes lost in detail, and some of his thinking reflects a magical quality, a disregard of reality. He has had few close emotional relationships with other people, and these have not been able to stand small crises. He has little feeling for others outside a very small circle of friends, and attaches little real value to human life. This emotional detachment and blandness in certain areas is other evidence of his mental abnormality. More extensive evaluation would be necessary to make an exact psychiatric diagnosis, but his present personality structure is very nearly that of a paranoid schizophrenic reaction (Capote, 296-298). The evaluation revealed several irregularities in Perry Smiths mental state, as the doctor explained was influenced by paranoid schizophrenia which would be closely related to bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress. Perry demonstrated indications of bipolar disorder as he experienced disruptive mood swings, manic states of depression as he sought grandeur, and the creation of delusional and unrealistic plans which may lead to rage if not completed. Perry seemed to suffer from post-traumatic stress which can trigger vivid emotions, in Perrys case pertaining to helpless, abuse and near death trauma, may result in irrational physical response due to an inability to cope. Although Perry Smiths participation in the Clutter incident was directly influenced by his mental illness, he still was able to slaughter four innocent people, which made him a danger to society and eligible for execution. Even though both defendants were both mentally ill, the jury reached the rational verdict of execution, as the mentally ill are not exempt from such a punishment, and was therefore necessary for both defendants. If the jurors had not decided to vote for the death penalty, and instead imposed a prison sentence, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the killers of four members of the Clutter family, Herbert Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Nancy Clutter, and Kenyon Clutter, would have continued to be a threat to society with the possibility of release to harm others. Work Cited: Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. New York: Random House, 1965. Print. Mental Illness and the Death Penalty. Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center, 18 2012. Web. 27 Nov 2012.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Overpopulation Causes Social Problems Essay -- Cause Effect Environmen

How Overpopulation Causes Social Problems Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how overpopulation causes social problems. To do so you must take many things into consideration, such as different views of racial problems and conflicting definitions of a social problem. Social problems can be defined in many different ways. They effect everyone and some of us encounter problems everyday as a result of our race, religion, gender, or low income. Others experience problems from technological change or declining neighborhoods, others are affected directly by crime and violence in their own neighborhood, and sometimes definitions of social problems are changed by society because of changes around you. Finally in order to achieve the purpose of this which is to examine and discuss different issues and situations that cause social problems such as poverty. Overpopulation and social problems go hand and hand in today’s society and there are many reasons and factors as to why these problems exist. Factors that lead to overpopulation that causes social problems are the increase in the number of single mothers in poor neighborhoods opposed to the decline in birth rates in the more efficient parts of the country, how the death rate is at a steady decline because of medical advances in rich and poor countries, the effects immigrants have on an environment and the population growth that occurs, the influence parents leave on children, and what is being done to help prevent the spread of AIDS because this is a deadly disease which is lowering our population but causing many social problems. Elements of a Social Problem There are also elements that make up a social problem. One of these elements is that â€Å"they cause physical or mental damage to individuals or society† (Carter p16) which means that sometimes people may permanently suffer before any action is taken to solve the problem because everybody thought it was not that big of a deal until sometimes permanent or short term damage has occurred. Another element is †they offend the values or standards of some powerful segment of society† (Carter p16) which means no matter what you do someone will always take offense against your actions because everyone has different views and values and what is important to some may not be to others. Another element is that â€Å"they persist for an ... ... is always a good future ahead and sometimes it is not always the parents blame. I also asked her opinion of the topic of my paper and if she thinks overpopulation is the main reason for social problems. She said that social problems are caused by many factors not just one and from her experience that in inner city areas where the population is higher there seem to be more problems that exist compared to an urban neighborhood where the population is lower. Conclusion In Conclusion social problems will always exist because social problems change as time changes. We often tend to overlook what we call necessities others call luxuries. Therefore in the future I hope social problems will become non-existent but that is pretty much impossible. I also feel that poverty is a huge problem we face as a world and that even though it is impossible to solve this problem, we must look at it as an ongoing problem and do our best to help solve this problem. In final I feel that overpopulation with a couple other factors such as diseases, young pregnancies, and the one that I think has the most importance is the environment you grow up in helps shape you into the person you grow up to be.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Behavioral study of obedience

This article represents a detailed account of the research carried out by Stanley Miligram at Yale University. The study was set to investigate the negative / destructive side of obedience. It involved more than 40 grown-up American volunteers representing diverse professions that ranged from laborers to great scholars. They were briefed on the research main objectives and selected to either play the role of experimenter, subject (teacher) or victim (learner).The experiment carried out in Yale’s laboratory required a naive subject to administer electric â€Å"shock† gradually as a form of punishment to a victim each time the victim answered wrongly to a question. The shock generator was graded in intervals of 15 volts with thirty such grades. Each time the victim answered wrongly the subject was under instructions from the experimenter to press a button that connected to the graduated shock generator system that increased the voltage by a margin of 15 volts. The purpose of the study as explained by Milgram was to investigate how human beings respond to authority (power).Though naturally it is difficult for immorally upright person to administer electric shock to another innocent person, it was interesting when milligram’s subjects went on to administer fatal shocks to the victims. This confirms that human beings are powerless and are likely to succumb to authority by obeying its orders even if they are against the fundamental moral standards. Answers to reflection question about the study. The Milgram experiment consisted of three key players i. e. the experimenter, the subject, and the victim.Out of these three players it is the subject who plays the core part of the experiment. The subjects’ behavior is what Milgram was looking for in his bid to study the behavior of human obedience. For instance, if a subject chooses to obey the experimenters’ orders and go on with administering the electric shock then he or she is being ob edient but if not he or she is defying orders.According to (psychology 101, chapter 8, section 3) on obedience and power Milgram’s subjects behaved obediently because of the force of following the legitimate power i. e. they are under authority from the experimenter to administer electric shocks to their victims. Therefore when compared to Nazi’s extermination of Jews in death camps and gas chambers during the holocaust, their behavior is certainly not different.They both knew that it is against the basic human morals to apply electric shock, or murder people by gassing but they play obedient to authority. Ethically any act that brings suffering/ uncomfortability to a human being is considered inhuman; however, this was not the case with Milgram’s experiment.It would have been unethical if the subjects were in the first place forced to take part in the experiment, secondly the subjects were initially briefed on the authenticity of the electric shock –the shocks could not cause permanent tissue damage. Again, though the experiment was painful its discomfort was momentary compared with its worthy scientific gains. The subjects although paid to participate in the experiment, they were assured that the money was just for their coming to the laboratory and not what they did afterwards.This research though carried out before establishment of Ethics Review Committees it drew numerous questions regarding its effects to the basic ethics and morals of human beings. But going by the previous brutal actions committed to people out of blind adherence to orders, a controlled study was needed to investigate the reasons as to why German police cops contrary to their conscience murdered millions of Jews under the command of Hitler. The research was purely based on willing volunteer basis; the participants were briefed on the effects of the electric shock to the victims.It is therefore inclined to the advancement of worthwhile knowledge about learnin g and memory. It was conducted by reputable personnel (Yale University). The selection of participants was done fairly, and lastly the study was concluded by â€Å"debriefing† the participants in order to iron out any feelings of hatred on the part of the subjects and their victims. On the other hand the study had its dark side, the fact that subjects were ordered to administer electric shock to their victims which to them was morally degrading is one of the reasons many Ethics Review Committees would give out in trying to bar such an experiment.Again, the screams and groans made by victims due to extreme tension are another reason these committees would give out. The research was most successful because the participants were deceived into believing that the selection of who plays subject or victim was fairly done. This was one of Milgram’s trump cards of making sure that the naive participants play the part of the subject in order to increase the credibility of the fi ndings. Further the shock generator was not a real one; it was designed to cheat the public that indeed the victims were being shocked.However the experiment can be conducted in a more â€Å"real† way in order to eradicate any element of doubt. This research could have been made real by using real teachers and real learners; a teacher is required to first give out strict instructions to the learners on the real consequences of answering wrongly to the given quiz. Real punishment (real electric shock or any other ethically acceptable punishment) may be administered to any wrong answer given, by doing that the learners will therefore try to obey (answer correctly or else get punished).The act of â€Å"debriefing† after the experiment was necessary to eradicate any ill feelings towards the subjects. They were made to believe that no real shock was administered to the victims. However this was an exercise in futility because the subjects were free to discontinue with the s hock administering, if they felt it was against their morals but the majority continued with the exercise. Therefore making them believe they had not administered real shocks was adding more psychological stress because they had already broken their morals and hence it was meaningless to convince them into believing.According to (Sojourners magazine, by MacNutt, Francis 2004) also based on Milgram’s experiment, many ordinary people are afraid of being disapproved and therefore carry out acts which are incompatible with the basic moral standards. Therefore the chances of any subject defying experimenter’s orders are slim and therefore if I were one of the experimenters I would not hesitate but would have carried on with the electric shocking business. A more solid explanation to this is the case a confident businessman who almost succumbed to tension went ahead and executed all the experimenter’s orders.Psychology generally deals with people’s behavior; so me extreme behaviors were exhibited by morally upright people e. g. the perpetration of mass slaughter of Jews during the holocaust, the Hoffling hospital case whereby nurses ejected lethal doses of a â€Å"fictional† drug to their patients (Hofling C. K et al, 1966). Such behaviors needed to be studied in order to arrive at a generalization, therefore Milgram’s study was fundamental to social psychology, a study that investigates how people influence the beliefs, feelings, and behaviors of others.The study findings gave a basis to many generalizations that makes up the core pillars of psychology. Again, the findings of this study are of great relevance to today’s human beings actions; other studies continue to be done with great reference to this study. For instance, obedience and power – a sub section of greater social psychology branch of psychology, draws its relevance from Milgram’s findings (psychology 101, chapter 8, section 3).This carefull y executed study send a very loaded message to numerous questions asked by people of sound reasoning on morals on why German corps unquestioningly obeyed Hitler’s orders by gassing millions of Jews, whether Germans are different from other people, why catholic bishops stressed obedience to Caesar and Christ among other questions. The answer to these questions was that human being are bound to behave obediently to orders given by people whom they identify with, and whom they perceive to hold a legitimate position higher than them.Conclusions Milgram’s research on obedience to power is a milestone to the general study of psychology; however the study was purely based on a volunteer and wiling basis. This serves to discredit the study’s credibility, because the experimenters, subjects and victims are under no imminent consequence should they choose to defy the orders. For instance 14 subjects defied orders after their victims literally refused to respond to questio ns.However, the major objective of the research was adequately achieved, although those participants who failed to play obedience negatively affected the full achievement of those objectives. Further deceiving the participants was not a strong point towards the overall credibility of the study; Milgram could have provided a more â€Å"real’ study with a morally acceptable punishment e. g. the case of Hoffling hospital (Hofling C. K et al, 1966).ReferencesPsychology 101, Obedience and power, available at: http://allpsych. com/psychology101/obedience_power. html, accessed on October 17, 2008Sojourners magazine, by MacNutt, Francis 2004, available at; http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa4010/is_200410/ai_n9441346, accessed on October 17, 2008.Behavior Study of obedience, by Milgram, Stanley, available at; http://www. wadsworth. com/psychology_d/templates/student_resources/0155060678_rathus/ps/ps01. html, accessed on October 17, 2008.Hofling CK et al. (1966) â€Å"An Exper imental study of Nurse-Physician Relationships†. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 141:171-180.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Comparative Analysis of the Movie Essay

The movies have good story lines and scripts. Since both the movies were music and dance based, the music of the movies has been very good. Fish Tank Nowhere Boy Year of Release 2009 2010 Genre and Theme Drama Drama Storyline brief/ Narrative Based on the life of the girl who likes to go for the street dancing. Based on the life of the boy who was living with aunt and wanted to be a guitarist. Characters Leading character of the movie is the 21st century girl but she lives alone and just practices her street dance. Leading character of the movie is the boy of 21st century too but wanted to learn playing guitar and want to forget everything of his past. Locations (Shown and Shot) Mardyke Estate in Havering Liverpool and at Ealing Studios in West London Costume: Dressing Designer Culture represented Usually in the denim and T-shirt, boxers, track suits, hip-hop or street dance costumes. Jane Petrie Present culture Sophisticated dressing as per the role requirement of a guitarist and usually in proper uniform like school uniform or formal school uniform. Juliar Day Present culture. Settings of the movie This was the art movie and based on dance. The girl lived with mother and sister. This movie was also the art movie but based on instrument playing. Single family of Aunt and John was the main setting. Attitude of leading characters towards the world In this movie, Mia lives isolated from the world and she only do practice of her street dancing in her house. John live with his aunt and enjoy the social culture like going out on trips, parties etc with friends. Mode of enjoyment of the leading characters Mia only likes to dance so she enjoys that. Johnson likes to play guitar and he only like to do that. Similarity The movie was based on an art form, teenager or youth oriented. The characters wanted to learn particular dance form. She saw a street dancer which become source of inspiration This movie was also based on art teenager or youth oriented. The character wanted to learn particular music. He attended a show which became his source of inspiration for learning and playing Guitar. Difference The movie is female oriented, where the comparatively new dance form of Street dancing has been focused. In this movie, the leading character wanted to learn guitar and enjoyed playing Guitar the most and was excellent with that. His passion for Guitar has made him practice as much as he could perform much beyond his age like professionals. Conclusion In both the movies, the main aspect was to show the life of the teenage girl and a boy that how the society deals with. In Fish Tank, Mia was the girl who got admired by the street dancers who were performing and in Nowhere Boy also, John got admired from the guitarist who can be able to play much better than the band. And in both the movies, director had shown clearly that the future is influenced by the past. So Mia got tensed in the movie Fish Tank as she heard that Connor had left them and in Nowhere Boy, John was also got irritated due to his past. These movies was generally built for the young generation people as they already have pressure of studies and their hobbies and what they want to be in their life. Society also provide pressure to them which result in making pressure in the mind of the child and due to this many children left studying and they got distracted from their hobbies too. Reference British Film Industry available at http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/in_depth/entertainment/2003/british_film_industry/default. stm Curran and Porter, 1993 British Cinema History, London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson 9-23 Murphy, R. ed. , 2009 The British Cinema Book, London: BFI, 1-64, 65-142 Fish Tank official website http://www. michaelfassbender. org/episodesfte. html http://www. hollywoodreporter. com/hr/film-reviews/fish-tank-film-review-1003973214. story Image Fish Tank from http://www. movieroar. com/images/fish-tankpster1. jpg Nowhere Boy Movie Review http://www. futuremovies. co. uk/review. asp? ID=1110 No Where Boy movie details available at http://www. nowhereboy. co. uk/ http://www. hollywoodreporter. com/hr/film-reviews/nowhere-boy-film-review-1004031851. story.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Elizabeth Parris, Accuser in the Salem Witch Trials

Elizabeth Parris, Accuser in the Salem Witch Trials Elizabeth Parris (November 28, 1682–March 21, 1760) was one of the major accusers in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. A young girl at the time, Betty Parris appeared to be afflicted by demons and claimed to have visions of the devil; she accused several local women of witchcraft. Bettys accusation lit the fuse that eventually ended with accusations against 185 people, formal charges made against 156, and the execution by hanging of 19 residents of Salem Village in Massachusetts. Fast Facts: Elizabeth Parris Known For: One of the early accusers in the 1692 Salem witch trialsAlso Known As: Betty ParrisBorn: November 28, 1682 in Boston, MassachusettsParents: Samuel Parris, Elizabeth ParrisDied: March 21, 1760  in Concord, MassachusettsSpouse: Benjamin BaronChildren: Thomas, Elizabeth, Catherine, Susanna Early Life Elizabeth Parris, 9 years old at the beginning of 1692, was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Parris and his wife Elizabeth Eldridge Parris, who was often ill. The younger Elizabeth was often called Betty to distinguish her from her mother. She was born when the family lived in Boston. Her older brother Thomas was born in 1681 and her younger sister Susannah was born in 1687. Also part of the household was 12-year-old Abigail Williams, who was described as a kinswoman and was sometimes called a niece of Rev. Parris, probably a household servant, and two slaves Rev. Parris had brought with him from Barbados- Tituba and John Indian, described as Indians. An African boy slave had died a few years before. Elizabeth Parris Before the Salem Witch Trials Rev. Parris was the minister of Salem Village church, arriving in 1688, and had been embroiled in considerable controversy, coming to a head in late 1691 when a group organized to refuse to pay him a significant part of his salary. He began to preach that Satan was conspiring in Salem Village to destroy the church. Elizabeth Parris and the Salem Witch Trials In mid-January of 1692, both Betty Parris and Abigail Williams began to behave strangely. Their bodies contorted into strange positions, they reacted as if they were being physically hurt, and they made strange noises. Anns parents were leading members of the Salem Village church, supporters of Rev. Parris in the ongoing church conflict. Rev. Parris tried prayer and traditional remedies; when those didnt end the fits, he called in a doctor (probably a neighbor, Dr. William Griggs) on or about February 24 and a neighboring towns minister, Rev. John Hale, to get their opinions on the cause of the fits. The men agreed that the girls were victims of witches. Mary Sibley, a neighbor and member of Rev. Parris flock, advised John Indian the following day- perhaps with the help of his wife, another Caribbean slave of the Parris family- to make a witchs cake to discover the names of the witches. Instead of relieving the girls, however, their torments increased. Friends and neighbors of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, including Ann Putnam Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard, began having similar fits, described as afflictions in contemporary records. Pressured to name their tormenters, Betty and Abigail named the Parris family slave Tituba on February 26. Several neighbors and ministers, likely including Rev. John Hale of Beverley and Rev. Nicholas Noyes of Salem, were asked to observe the girls behavior. They questioned Tituba. The next day, Ann Putnam Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard experienced torments and blamed Sarah Good, a local homeless mother and beggar, and Sarah Osborne, who was involved with conflicts around inheriting property and who also had married an indentured servant (a local scandal). None of the three accused witches were likely to have many local defenders. On February 29, based on accusations of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, arrest warrants were issued in Salem for the first three accused witches- Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne- based on the complaints of Thomas Putnam, Ann Putnam Jr.s father, and several others before local magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. They were to be taken for questioning the next day to Nathaniel Ingersolls tavern. The next day, Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good were examined by local magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin. Ezekiel Cheever was appointed to take notes on the proceedings. Hannah Ingersoll, whose husbands tavern was the site of the examination, found that the three had no witch marks on them. Sarah Goods husband William later testified that there was a mole on his wifes back. Tituba confessed and named the other two as witches, adding rich details to her stories of possession, spectral travel, and meeting with the devil. Sarah Osborne protested her own innocence; Sarah Good said Tituba and Osborne were witches but that she was herself innocent. Sarah Good was sent to nearby Ipswich, Massachusetts to be confined with her youngest child, born the year before, with a local constable who was also a relative. She escaped briefly and returned voluntarily; this absence seemed especially suspicious when Elizabeth Hubbard reported that Sarah Goods specter had visited her and tormented her that evening. Sarah Good was held at the Ipswich jail on March 2, and Sarah Osborn and Tituba were questioned further. Tituba added more details to her confession, and Sarah Osborne maintained her innocence. Questioning continued for another day. At this point, Mary Warren, a servant in the home of Elizabeth Proctor and John Proctor, began having fits as well. The accusations soon widened: Ann Putnam Jr. accused Martha Corey and Abigail Williams accused Rebecca Nurse. Corey and Nurse were known as respectable church members. On March 25, Elizabeth had a vision of being visited by the great Black Man (the devil) who wanted her to be ruled by him. Her family was worried about her continuing afflictions and the dangers of diabolical molestation (in the later words of Rev. John Hale). Betty Parris was sent to live with the family of Stephen Sewall, a relative of Rev. Parris, and her afflictions ceased. So did her involvement in the witchcraft accusations and trials. Elizabeth Parris After the Trials Bettys mother Elizabeth died  on July 14, 1696. In 1710, Betty Parris married Benjamin Baron, a yeoman, trader, and shoemaker, and lived quietly in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The couple had five children, and she lived to the age of 77. Legacy Arthur Millers play The Crucible is a political allegory based on the Salem Witch Trials. The play won a Tony award and is still one of the most often-read and produced plays of the century. One of the main characters is based loosely on the historical Betty Parris; in Arthur Millers play, Bettys mother is dead and she has no brothers or sisters. Sources Brooks, Rebecca. â€Å"Betty Parris: First Afflicted Girl of the Salem Witch Trials.†Ã‚  History of Massachusetts.Gragg, Larry.  A Quest for Security: The Life of Samuel Parris 1653-1720. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1990.Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons.

Monday, October 21, 2019

These Part Time Jobs Can Earn You $75k a Year

These Part Time Jobs Can Earn You $75k a Year You want a high-paying gig, but without being tied down by a set schedule or a single job. Trouble is, you always thought part-time jobs paid little. Well, you thought wrong. The gig economy is out there, waiting for you. And the best news is: you don’t have to wait to have a college degree to get started raking in the dough. Here are several high-paying part-time jobs that could help you generate a fabulous annual salary when combined. 1. Social Media AssistantPut your Facebook skills to work helping companies manage their online profiles and marketing. You can get paid up to $30 an hour to work part time rocking a company’s social media presence.2. Online ResearchMake up to $37 per hour answering questions for business professionals and helping them solve customer service issues or other complicated matters. If you’re good with research and have a head for business, this is a great opportunity for you.3. Content EditingHave impeccable grammar? Get paid up to $4 0 an hour editing web content or printed materials for companies. If you’re good with turning deadlines around and have great spelling, you’re golden.4. Software EngineerIf you have killer experience in software, you don’t have to work full-time to be a software engineer. Get paid up to $73 an hour to work part time, as you prefer.5. Jazz TeacherSo you studied jazz, but you’re not sure you want to try and hack it as a professional musician. Teach instead! You can get paid anywhere from $50-80 per hour teaching jazz music to children and adults.6. TranslatorIf you’re fast and fluent in another language, you can work in print or in person translating for hospitals, courtrooms, law firms, manufacturing firms, you name it. And you can make from $20-50 per hour.7. Private TutorKids are more and more obsessed with test scores- or maybe their parents are? Either way, help a kid (or an adult!) learn whatever subject you’re most expert in. Depending on where you live, you can earn anywhere from  $40-$80 per hour and pull in a high  annual wage!8. Yoga InstructorSo you’ll have to shell out for the initial teacher training, but then you can make about $35k per year teaching yoga- and staying fit in the process.9. Adjunct TeachingIf you do have a degree and are inclined to teach, you might want to try adjuncting at universities- even community colleges or online schools. The pay varies wildly depending on what you teach and how good you are, but you won’t make less than $31k per year and you could make as much as six figures.10. Uber/LyftDrive for a ride share company. The amount you make will vary depending on the demand where you live and how many hours you’re willing to drive. But you can really hustle and rake it in. Plus, you only drive when you want to.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Best ACT Prep Books 2019

Best ACT Prep Books 2019 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are numerous â€Å"Best ACT Books† lists out there. But we think most of them aren’t very good or thorough, so I’ve tried to write a much better guide here. You’ll learn which books are absolutely critical for your ACT prep, which focus on improving individual sections, and which you'll need if you're aiming for a top score. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to use these top-notch ACT prep books for effective studying. This guide is pretty detailed, so here are some quick links you can use to jump around to different topics. That said, I recommend reading the whole article if you can! What's Better About This Guide to the Best ACT Books? Who Is This ACT Prep Books Guide For? Critical ACT Prep Books Best ACT Books by Subject Best Additional Books for Top ACT Scorers Best All-in-One Book for Less Motivated Low Scorers Other Free Resources for ACT Prep Is Using ACT Prep Books the Best Option for You? What’s Better About This Guide to the Best ACT Books? Because your ACT score is important for getting into collegeand you’ll probably spend a good amount of time studying, it’s important you get the right advice. Follow the wrong advice, and it might be too late to improve your score before you need to apply to college. You'll need to vet the advice you get (including ours) before deciding on your ACT prep plan. As you read each article in your research, ask yourself:why should I trust this person online giving me advice? To be transparent, here’s why we believe our ACT prep books guide is better than others online: I explain in detail why good books are good and what each book's flaws are.You probably haven’t heard of some of the books we recommend because they're either newer or less well known. By contrast, most other ACT book guides just list a few books without much rationale about what makes them worth buying. I believe it’s important to target your weaknesses and where you need to prep.I’ll point out books that are best for training specific sections, and books that are better depending on whether you’re scoring high or low. Other guides tend to assume all students are the same. I don’t get paid for promoting these books over others. I’ve studied dozens of books for ACT prep, and these are the books I'd be using if I myself were prepping. Other sites, such as about.com and reviews.com, are often paid to adjust their rankings and get kickbacks from publishers. I like to think that I know what I’m talking about.I scored a perfect 36 on the ACT and have worked personally with thousands of students prepping for the ACT. I’ve worked with students of all levels, from those scoring below 12 to those aiming for 34+. Other writers don't always have the expertise needed to differentiate between ACT prep books and thus recommend books as an afterthought (and you can probably tell). One important disclaimer: I’m co-founder ofPrepScholar, an online ACT prep program. I believe we’ve built the best prep program available. Itdiagnoses your strengths and weaknessesand gives you a structured all-in-one program, combining the best aspects of the books below, so you know exactly what you need to study at every point in your prep. However, I want to stress that you don’t need a program to excel at the ACT. In fact, writing this guide might lose us some customers if you decide you don’t need a program at all. But if you'd rather not have to manage 10 books and would prefer an integrated, complete program with the greatest chance of raising your ACT score,check out our comprehensive ACT program. No matter what you ultimately decide, if you’re serious about ACT prep like I think you are, keep on reading. Who Is This ACT Prep Books Guide For? First, this guide is for students who are serious about ACT prep.You must be motivated to get a high score, and you need to be willing to put in hard work. Getting through these books will take dozens of hours, simply because the ACT covers so much material. If you plan to study just five hours or so,your choice of book won't make much difference. You should focus your time mainly on taking an ACT practice test and reviewing your answers. With such a short amount of prep time, your score won’t go up much- and you shouldn’t expect a miracle. Buying high-quality ACT prep books is the first and easiest step of ACT prep. You'll need to put in serious work to actually get the score improvements you want. We'll explain below the best ways to use ACT prep books. Secondly, this guide is for students who want to improve their scores by more than 2 points. To make consistent improvements at this level, you need more than just tricks. You need to understand the contentbeing tested- the underlying math concepts and grammar rules- rather than just ineffective "tricks" that make you feel like you've learned something when you actually haven't. Now, if you’re looking to improve by only 1 point, you might be able to do that simply by retaking the test, especially if you’ve taken the ACT only once. Overall, as long as you’re serious about score improvement and want quality ACT books to study with, this is the guide for you. The Best ACT Prep Books of 2019 We’re going to divide the best ACT books into a few categories: Critical Books: These are absolute must-have books for your ACT prep, no matter your skill level or weaknesses. Subject-Specific Books: These are the best books to use for the ACT sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science. Books for Top Scorers:These books are challenging and guaranteed to push you over the top. Books for Low Scorers and Low Motivation: If you want to study for only a handful of hours and improve your ACT score by just a little bit, these are the best books to use. That said, we don't recommend putting such little time into your prep! Critical ACT Prep Books These must-have books are what I believe everyone should have, regardless of your current score or what you need to improve. This category is extremely hard for books to qualify for. In fact, there are only two ACT books out of the dozens I’ve tested that I think are worth buying. TheOfficial ACT Prep Guide 2019-2020 We’ve written at length about theimportance of official ACT practice questions. The ACT is weird and tests concepts in ways you’ve never seen in school before. This means that you need to train with realistic questions so you can learn the patterns of the ACT. Official ACT practice tests released by ACT, Inc., are the gold standard for ACT practice questions. Each test contains real questions given to students at previous test administrations. The quality of official questions is far better than those written by unofficial sources such as Kaplan and The Princeton Review. This particular prep book, informally called the "Red Book," is by far the best source of ACT practice tests. Pros It has the best set of ACT practice tests you can get anywhere, period. The book's five full-length practice tests offer a sufficient amount of practice for most students. Since each test takes at least four hours to complete and review, that's already 20 hours of material! Includes 400 additional practice questions. Answers for each question are available in the book. Cons You can get the same number of official practice tests for free online (although these don’t have answer explanations). Answer explanations in the book are not particularly helpful for self-learning. Most explanations say something like this: â€Å"A is wrong because A is wrong. B is correct for these reasons.† They don't show you how to solve the question from step one, which is what most students need; you need to understand yourself well to be able to learn from your mistakes. Five tests isn't enough for ambitious students. You'll need to supplement your prep with other free practice tests or the official online ACT program, which is good only for the extra test it offers. It doesn’t provide other instructional material. If you’re bad at algebra, you can’t rely on this book alone. You're really only buying it for the tests, and ACT, Inc., knows this. Taking practice tests without learning strategy isn’t going to improve your score, and the book doesn’t provide guidance on how to do this effectively. Most of thisbook is identical to the 2018-19 edition (except for the extra practice test), so if you already ownthat book, it's probably not worth buying this newest version. ACT Prep Black Book, Second Edition This is the only other critical book I recommend for ACT prep. Just using theBlack Bookalone, you’ll likely need supplemental help as I explain below. But what it does have is so good that I believe every student using ACT prep books in their studies should read it. What you’ll get from the Black Book is a way to think about the ACT.But what does this mean? Here are a couple of examples of what you'll learn: The ACT is designed to be a predictable, standardized test. It needs to test basic concepts so that it can be administered nationwide to all students, but it also needs to be difficult, so it distorts the questions in weird ways. Every answer must be unambiguously correct, or else students would complain that their incorrect answers are correct. This means that your strategy should be to rule out all incorrect answer choices, which is especially important on ACT Reading. Some of the concepts in this book were things I understood intuitively back when I took the ACT, but the author here articulates them in a crystal clear way. It’s influenced the way that I think about teaching our students at PrepScholar. Of all books on the market, this book aligns most closely with my personal philosophy on the ACT and how to succeed on it. Pros It offers a very lucid take on the ACT. The ideas in it will change your view on the ACT and hopefully motivate you to work harder, knowing that any student can excel on the test. It contains practical strategies that are more helpful than those in most other ACT books; you don't simply learn to rely on tricks. The book doesn’t assume that all students are the same. It offers a few alternatives for strategies, and then suggests that you try them out to see which one works best for you. It offers a solid set of answer explanations for the hardest questions in the Official Guide (see previous book). The author breaks down the best way to approach each question in a straightforward way. Cons This book requires a ton of self-discipline and insight to use effectively. Because you’re learning from your mistakes and no one is there to guide you, you need to be self-driven to experiment with different strategies and find out which one works best for you. For some students, following a set of straight guidelines could be less confusing. Question explanations are based on the old third edition of the Red Book. If you don't have that book, large parts of this book will be either difficult to use. Most question explanations cover the hardest questions in the Red Book. These serve as good examples for how to think generally about ACT questions, but if you’re scoring at the 8-26 score level on a section, these questions can be pretty confusing. The fundamental content is lacking. If you’re weak in algebra, for example, this book alone will not help you master the subject area. I believe more in recognizing your weaknesses and, throughfocused prep and specific practice questions, mastering that skill. This book is more about teaching an approach to prepping for the ACT. Its English and Science sections are not as strong as its Reading and Math sections are. This is largely due to the nature of the English section, in which it’s less about understanding how the test works and more about mastering grammar rules. Best ACT Books by Subject Beyond the critical books above, you’ll most likely need supplemental help on specific sections. This section discusses the best books for ACT English, Math, Reading, and Science. These books all follow my prep philosophy: Divide ACT content into skills, and get focused training on those skills. Use realistic, high-quality questions to prep effectively for the ACT. Cover only what you need to know- not advanced material that's not on the ACT. Best ACT English Prep Book The best way to excel at ACT English is to understand the grammar rules and how they appear on the ACT. You also need to do a lot of focused practice questions to make sure you learn the patterns of the ACT. That’show we designed our online ACT prep program to teach you grammar. My recommendation for best ACT English book is The Complete Guide to ACT Englishby Erica L. Meltzer. The book is fantastic at distilling grammar into exactly what you need to know for the ACT; you won’t have to learn any arcane grammar concepts that won't appear on the test. As for the rules thatare tested, Meltzer presents them all clearly and covers the essential foundations for those who want to brush up on basic grammar knowledge. Pros This book articulates grammar rules clearly and accurately. It covers only what you need to know for the ACT and cuts out extraneous material. Practice questions use a realistic ACT-passage format. They're also all grouped by topic so you can get repeated practice with the same skill. Cons It's a bit pricey for a book that covers just one ACT section (around $30). Testing a single grammar skill in this format can be misleading practice for the real test. For example, if you know the section is focusing on subject/verb agreement, you might be biased toward recognizing that error on a practice quiz but not on the actual test. Best ACT Math Prep Book My philosophy on ACT Math is thatthe best way to significantly improve your math score is to learn the underlying math content. Learning some simple strategies like plugging in answer choices can get you a little progress, but you’ll quickly run into a ceiling if you have gaps in your underlying math skills. Ultimately, you need to learn algebra, geometry, and number theory to be able to do well on the ACT. Your best bet, therefore, is to find a book that can bothteach you math content in an organized wayand give you practice problems to test individual skills. For these reasons, I recommend theUltimate Guide to the Math ACTby Richard F. Corn. This is a well-written ACT prep book that forces you to buckle down on your weakest math areas. Pros Its lessons teaching math concepts are clear and helpful. They stay focused on math you need to know for the ACT and don't dive into any irrelevant topics. The book divides math into more manageable sub-topics. For example, algebra is divided into solving equations, FOILing, word problems, etc. This division into smaller skills lets you concentrate on and attack specific points in your prep. It contains higher-level strategies on how to prep effectively. Cons Answer explanations are lacking. They show you why an answer is correct but don't teach you how to recognize the problem and solve it. Though high quality, questions could be more creative. The ACT has a host of questions that are unique and unusual, and having this variety is important to mastering the test. The book doesn't distinguish by difficulty level. On the ACT, the hardest questions are much more challenging than the easiest questions. If you're scoring in the average score range, you don't actually need to know how to solve the hardest 20% of questions. Trying to understand these can be a waste of time when you should instead build your fundamental skills. If you’re struggling with ACT math concepts at a basic level (say, scoring 16 or below), I recommend that you supplement your work withKhan Academy, a free online program that offers an engaging way to train your most basic math skills. Note that it's not customized for the ACT specifically, so this program alone won't be enough for your ACT prep. Best ACT Reading Prep Book In my experience with thousands of students, ACT Reading is the most difficult section to improve. It uses logical reasoning skills that aren’t as easy to master as math concepts and grammar rules are. It’s very important to figure out what types of Reading questions will be asked and how you can approach these questions in a systematic way. My recommendation for best ACT Reading book is once again by Erica L. Meltzer: The Complete Guide to ACT Reading.This book dissects the ACT Reading section by both question type and skill. Meltzer does a great job teaching the core of what the question is asking and how to work with the passage to arrive at the correct answer. Of all writers, Meltzer aligns most closely with my philosophy of drilling questions skill by skill to recognize patterns. Pros It offers a great breakdown of the Reading section on a skill-by-skill level.You'll get some of the most helpful strategies for every Reading question type. The book has lots of realistic, high-quality passages and questions.Meltzer uses passages extremely similar to those you’ll see on the ACT. It contains useful strategies on skimming and how to approach Reading passages. Cons For a book that covers just one section, it's a bit pricey ($30). The writing style is dry and clinical, like an academic textbook. I personally prefer this- cut out the fluff- but it can be quite dense for the average student. Its lack of creative page layouts and tendency to use a lot of text on large pages can get tiresome. BestACT Science Prep Book Despite the fact that many students find the Science section to be the most challenging part of the ACT, until recently there were no books specifically dedicated to helping you on ACT Science. At PrepScholar, we know all the tricks for making ACT Science easier, so we decided to compile them into a book. Because it's the only book on the market specifically dedicated to ACT Science, we made sure to make The PrepScholar Guide to ACT Science exceptional.This bookcovers every topic, skill, and question type you'll see on ACT Science, which means that nothingon this section will come as a surprise on test day. Most importantly,this bookalsoincludes all of our best ACT Sciencetest-taking tricks.Many students get tripped up ontheScience section because it's so different from the science tests they've taken in school. However, this book shows you how to identify all the tricks inACTScience and learn how toavoid getting fooled by them. Pros The book contains a complete breakdown of every type of passage and question type you'll see on ACT Science. It includes a list of every science fact you could be tested on, so you're only studying the science you need to know. It also containsmultiple strategies for tackling Science passages so you can choose the method that works best for you. It has lots of expert test-taking tips and strategies. Cons There's no final quiz or exam section at the end of the book. To fully practice everything you've learned from this book,we recommend takingfull-length Science sections. Best Additional Books for Top ACT Scorers Looking at the list above, you can see that you already have your work cut out for you. With nine full-length practice tests and five books at your disposal, you'll be studying for well over 80 hours. If you go through all of your practice using the guidelines we recommend, you’ll likely make huge improvements. If you still want additional practice, though, I recommend Barron’s ACT books- especially if you’re aiming for a near-perfect score. I remember using these books during myown prep in high school, and while Barron's questions are inferior to those in official ACT practice tests, they’re a solid backup source to use if you've finished everything else above. Pros These books offer a lot of content.With Barron's you get thousands of practice questions and detailed lessons with several examples. They're extremely thorough, covering every nook and cranny you need to know. You can be confident that very little is tested outside of what’s contained in these books. Cons Topics can sometimes be too difficult than what you need to know for the ACT. Some questionsget unrealistically hard in a way you’d never see on the actual test. If you’re not an ACT expert, you won’t be able to detect when this happens and might end up wasting time studying content that doesn't ultimately matter. The books often lack clear direction on what’s important and what's not. For example, a grammar rule that appears once every test gets the same number of pages as a grammar rule that appears eight times every test. Again, this is the flip sideof being thorough. As a result, these aren't the books to use if you have limited study time. Not all of their strategies are good.For instance, I have mixed feelings about the reading advice in Barron's ACT 36 (pictured above). Best All-in-One Book for Less Motivated Low Scorers My recommendations have so far been for the ambitious student who really wants to improve his or her score. But I know some students just want to put in five hours, get some exposure to the test, and then take the ACT and forget about it. I personally believe that for most students, improving your ACT score is thebest way to improve your chances of college admission. If you feel like you don't want to put in much effort to studying for the ACT, I strongly suggest reexamining your approach. That said, if you’re stuck in the mindset of simply getting the ACT over with, the book I recommend isKaplan’s ACT Prep 2019. It’s an all-in-one book that covers all four sections and contains practice questions and tests. It doesn’t excel at any of what it’s doing, but it covers the most important bases. It also tends to have more reasonable content than other all-in-one books, such as the ACT book by The Princeton Review. I'll be honest: I don’t love this book. I don’t even really like it. To be frank, I don’t recommend it if you seriously want to improve your ACT score and are willing to put in study time. But if you just want a single source that can do an OK job and is easily digestible, this is the best book out there. Pros It covers all four ACT sections and has a total of three full-length practice tests (two of which are online). At about $17, this book is pretty affordable in terms of the breadth it covers. It offers some helpful, basic strategies that can get you a few easy points if you get stuck answering questions. Cons Practice questions tend to be unrealistic. They often don’t phrase questions the way the ACT would, and they don’t test concepts the right way, either. Questions also don’t trick you in the same ways the real test does. The strategies are not very helpful once you move beyond a 24-score level on a section. Other Free Resources for ACT Prep More important than buying ACT prep books is knowing how to use them effectively. The more books you have, the more important it is to understand how to build a unified study system. We've written thorough guides to walk you through your ACT study plan: 5 Strategies That Will Get You 4+ Points on the ACT How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer When Should You Take the ACT? Best Test Dates Is Using ACT Prep Books the Best Option for You? There are a lot of ACT prep methods available to you, and book studying is only one of them. Just to explore all of our options, let's quickly examine whether studying with ACT books is right for you. People who choose to study with books do so for different reasons. Some do it for cost reasons. As I noted above, the best ACT books can get expensive. If you buy all of the top books, you'll be spending around $200. This is already close to the cost of ouronline ACT prep program, which goes beyond books by guiding your studies step by step and motivating you to put in the time. Others study with books because they're self-motivatedand like teaching themselves. If this isn't you, books can be a disappointing way to spend your time- and you probably won't improve, either. By far one of the most important ways to improve your ACT score is to study your mistakes and learn from them. If you can't do this reliably, you'll need extra help to get started. We've written a free guide tocompare other methods of ACT prep. Click the image below to download this guide so you can compare the different methods and see which one is best for you. What's Next? Understanding your ACT target score is critical.Get started by reading ourstep-by-step guide to figuring out what ACT score you need to aim for. Check out our industry-leading online ACT program. We've designed it to cover all of the advantages of ACT books and tutors- and more- at an affordable price. Featuring in-depth strategy lessons and thousands of practice questions, our program uses content from the leading books. We even include the Official ACT Prep Guide above as part of your program. Beyond that,our programacts like your personal tutor. It guides you step by step through what you should be working on at every moment to best improve your score. It customizes to your strengths and weaknesses, and then gives you focused practice so you learn the patterns on the ACT. Furthermore, it motivates you to study so that you put in enough time. There's a 4-point guarantee, too- meaning that if you don't improve your score by 4 points or more, you get all of your money back!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Business decision making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business decision making - Essay Example If this isn’t used effectively, then the opposite response will be given and won’t provide the right impression while leaving a bad image that is within the economy. Planning and Delivery of London Olympics 2012 The process used for planning and delivery of the London Olympics for 2012 began with the concept of supply chain opportunities through the concept of Compete For. This allowed potential suppliers to work within the London Olympics 2012 while finding the most qualified for the atmosphere that was a part of the business. By offering contract opportunities, there was not only the ability to select those that fit with the atmosphere, but also to balance out the competition among businesses interested in being a part of the games. This allowed equal opportunity among suppliers and vendors and ensured that those who were working could balance the supply chain needed (Compete For, 2011). The concept of Compete For was furthered by the paper, electrical goods, furnitur e, nails, steel, radio systems, cleaning contracts and other vendor opportunities. The goods are divided by the vendors that are needed and the pending contracts that haven’t been fulfilled. There are also options for small to large restrictions and the ability for different nationalities to be a part of the supply and demand as a part of the London Olympics. ... The approach which has been taken with this is one that is not only providing the main committee with the ability to create a response, but also allows the businesses to advertise for more vendors. Those who are invited to working in the London Olympics 2012 also have the capacity of moving into the games. This is combined with the ability to advertise for other vendors by connecting to the area where vendors are needed. This allows other vendors to come in and provide more opportunities to those who are working into an online presence. The other vendors then have the ability to spread the word of working for the London Olympics 2012 while providing more that are looking into the same opportunities. This allows the committee to find a combination of vendors while offering various options that are a part of the business. The options that are available allow the marketing to work with the London Olympics while having advertising from other businesses that show they are selected as a pa rt of the committee. They can then add in PR, opportunities for their business and show that they are offering high end services. The second process is with a celebration that was given to introduce the London Olympics 2012. The UK wide celebration was an annual event that was held to show the choosing of being a part of the chosen city. Creating this as a kick off event was then able to create a different association with being a part of the Olympics. By doing this there is the ability to create a specific alternative to working within the Olympics while showing that the businesses could submit their plans and work within the committee. This provided a specific way to create an approach to advertising the business while getting response from PR, businesses and

Friday, October 18, 2019

Identifying a Researchable Problem Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Identifying a Researchable Problem - Assignment Example The safety of nurses from places of work inflicted injuries and diseases are crucial to not only the nurses, but also to the patients, they take care of. The existence of healthy and amply rested caregivers is important in providing cautious monitoring, compassionate patient care, and spirited advocacy. Various workplace stressors that have been identified that can result in illnesses and injuries are present in nursing working environments. Some of these stressors include characteristics of the organization, changes taking place in both the external and internal environment of the health care industry and factors related to immediate work context. Research on better ways to improve the health and safety of nurses at the workplace is bound to reduce the accidents, injuries and illnesses that most health care givers are exposed to while handling their patients. If nurses maintain good health care and safety for themselves, there is a likelihood that the workers turnover in the industry is likely to reduce hence holding an economic benefit for the healthcare organizations. (Fabre, 2009) In addition, if people in the health care industry finally realize how big of a threat nurses safety poses, then they are likely to put more effort on training nurses on the best practices to ensure their safety. The information collected on the problem will also help in educating people in the profession on the possible risks and health challenges they face. The dangers of nursing work can damage health both intensely and in the long term. The quality of care rendered by nurses is determined by unique nurse attributes such as information and expertise, as well as social factors such as exhaustion. In addition, the environment in which nurses operate in, which does not only include the number of staff, but also the requirements of all the patients a

Arimount Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arimount Marketing Plan - Assignment Example Therefore, it would be the role of the manager to look gather information on the quality of goods the company produces, sales of the product being sold may also speak a lot as demand is high the supply would also be high increasing the sale of his product. A researcher in a company would be to come up with better ideas, which would boost the sales to increase the sale or products or better ways to market their products to be appealing to the customer (Kotler, 2010) It is a company’s role to ensure that the company has reached the potential customers in the shortest time possible and use a convenient way possible. The company should ensure that through advertising their product the customer is enthusiastic to see the products that re being sold by the company. The customer should consider why he should choose the product over another. It is the role of the company to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the production. The company’s role is to ensure that the packaging of the product is appealing to the customers who is willing to purchase the product or a customer who are testing the product for the first time. The item should be widely acceptable to the area or region of sale in that it has what the consumer requires. After the customer has used the product, e.g. the standards should remain if they are of high standards and should be improved if they are of low standards. The product should have a unique character that other consumer products do not have so that the product would be preferred to the other products this will retain the customers loyalty (Kotler, 2010). The company should be able to market the products of consumption everywhere in the shortest time possible. The company can market its products in any segment that it believe that it is more profitable to the company. The segments should be

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Community studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Community studies - Essay Example Hence, the need for housing effectively creates an urban sprawl since the urban areas start spreading out and overrunning the underdeveloped areas and the rural communities. There is a realization that the pattern characterized by the urban sprawl is not sustainable for the future needs of the nation. In effect, the current patterns in development are moving towards ensuring that the consequences of urban sprawl do not affect the populace. One such current pattern of development is urban growth boundaries. In this case, the urban growth boundary is an official line separating the urban areas from its surrounding open greenbelt lands (â€Å"Urban Sprawl†, personal communication, n.d.). These lands include the parks, farms, and the watersheds. In effect, such a boundary is beneficial to the natural environment and maintains the flora and fauna without interfering with it. In addition, protection of farmlands ensures that the residents generally benefit by sustaining production. Another current development pattern meant to reduce the effects of the urban sprawl is new urbanism. This concept’s core principals are enhancing walkability, de-emphasizing the car, and creating some sort of a mix of services within a neighborhood (â€Å"New Urbanism†, personal communication, n.d.). In this case, bringing services to a walking distance within a residential area ensures that every individual resident benefits from the independence of movement. In addition, a reduction in the number and length of automobile trips minimizes traffic congestion, road maintenance expenses, and most importantly less pollution. Thus, the residents will benefit from the clean environment while there is channeling of public funds, saved from road maintenance, to other important areas of development. In addition, creating a mix of buildings enhances and facilitates evolution of the

Unit 7 Discussion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Unit 7 Discussion - Research Paper Example nking alcohol: â€Å"youth under age 21, college-age young adults, senior citizens, women, and ethnic and racial minorities† (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, n.d., p. 1). From the evaluation of the performance of the NIAAA and other agencies tasked with preventing and addressing alcoholism, it could be deduced the program that aims to prevent and treat alcoholism seems to be ineffective. From the statistics reported by the NIAAA, it was revealed that as much as 17 million Americans have been diagnosed with AUD (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, n.d.). The figure represents 5% of the total population of the United States which is 313.9 million, as revealed from the U.S. Census Bureau. Concurrently, treatment fidelity means â€Å"the strategies that monitor and enhance the accuracy and consistency of an intervention to ensure it is implemented as planned and that each component is delivered in a comparable manner to all study participants over time† (Smith, Daunic, & Taylor, 2013). It could effectively determine the effectiveness of a human services program since the monitoring would entail focusing on the population at risk over a considerable length of time. Actually, the weaknesses in the program should be identified and appropriate interventions should be improved to appropriately and ultimately prevent identified deviances or maladjusted behavior. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (n.d.). Alcohol Use Disorders. Retrieved from niaaa.nih.gov: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-use-disorders National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (n.d.). Special Populations & Co-occurring Disorders. Retrieved from niaaa.nih.gov: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders Smith, S., Daunic, A., & Taylor, G. (2013). Treatment Fidelity in Applied Educational Research: Expanding the Adoption and Application of Measures to Ensure

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Beatlemania Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Beatlemania - Essay Example The ‘60’s era was instigated by events in the U.S. but affected the entire industrialised world. No other decade or era in the past century witnessed the massive social or cultural upheaval that occurred during this tumultuous time. No other period of time in the history of societies have so many cultural changes occurred in such a short time. Following the ‘60’s, the idea of what was ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ in society was greatly altered in a relatively short period of time and like no other time in at least 100 years. Because of the art and popular music of the 1960’s, people today have a higher level of tolerance for alternative forms of lifestyles and artworks. The most influential musical artists of this or any generation were without question the Beatles. The Beatles, considered by many to be popular music’s most historically important band, continues to evoke intrigue and fascination from a social point of view while their music, even today, appeals to people of all ages more than 30 years after their last album was released. The Beatles were the embodiment of the 1960’s.

Unit 7 Discussion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Unit 7 Discussion - Research Paper Example nking alcohol: â€Å"youth under age 21, college-age young adults, senior citizens, women, and ethnic and racial minorities† (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, n.d., p. 1). From the evaluation of the performance of the NIAAA and other agencies tasked with preventing and addressing alcoholism, it could be deduced the program that aims to prevent and treat alcoholism seems to be ineffective. From the statistics reported by the NIAAA, it was revealed that as much as 17 million Americans have been diagnosed with AUD (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, n.d.). The figure represents 5% of the total population of the United States which is 313.9 million, as revealed from the U.S. Census Bureau. Concurrently, treatment fidelity means â€Å"the strategies that monitor and enhance the accuracy and consistency of an intervention to ensure it is implemented as planned and that each component is delivered in a comparable manner to all study participants over time† (Smith, Daunic, & Taylor, 2013). It could effectively determine the effectiveness of a human services program since the monitoring would entail focusing on the population at risk over a considerable length of time. Actually, the weaknesses in the program should be identified and appropriate interventions should be improved to appropriately and ultimately prevent identified deviances or maladjusted behavior. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (n.d.). Alcohol Use Disorders. Retrieved from niaaa.nih.gov: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-use-disorders National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (n.d.). Special Populations & Co-occurring Disorders. Retrieved from niaaa.nih.gov: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders Smith, S., Daunic, A., & Taylor, G. (2013). Treatment Fidelity in Applied Educational Research: Expanding the Adoption and Application of Measures to Ensure

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Difference Between Leadership and Management Essay Example for Free

Difference Between Leadership and Management Essay What is leadership? What is management? Leadership and management are two words that are considered synonymous but describe two distinct concepts. Both are needed in a successful organization. Leadership and management together will build and maintain a successful organization. Interest in leadership in the American culture increased in the early twentieth century and continues to development in context. Behavioral theories evolved to today’s transformational leadership and visionary leadership. All the theories are attempting to identify leadership traits and behaviors. Leadership Term Paper: Excerpt If the role of situations is vital in matters of self-control, how much more significant must it be in connection with social control and leadership. If character varies from situation to situation, then it is fair to assume that leadership likewise varies. Consistency of behavior is doubtless a leadership trait, but behavior may vary according to situations, even on the part of any person. A person may be generally consistent in some situations and inconsistent in others. It is apparently necessary, therefore, to study situations in relation to personality reactions in order to account for ability, or for failure, to lead. Leadership Term Papers: Excerpt Situational leadership often explains leadership unevenness. A person may use leadership technique in a situation for which it is not intended with the result that it does not work well, or it fails. Every after dinner speaker has told more than one joke which he thought appropriate but which fell flat, because there were situational factors that the speaker did not suspect. Whenever a situation contains factors that a leader does not take into consideration, his leadership is endangered. A wise leader knows his situations, or else his leadership displays much unevenness. Leadership Research Paper: Excerpt The situational nature of leadership explains why a leader sometimes seems to contradict himself and to act like a hypocrite even though he loathes hypocrisy. It often happens, as any leader in an administrative position can testify, that a person may act sincerely and honestly in each of two different situations and find that he has contradicted himself, simply because the two situations are contradictory in certain particulars. Loyalty in one situation may contradict loyalty in another. A leader who desires to please is especially subject to this dilemma. Leadership vs. Management There are several distinctions between thoughts of management and leadership; some of the key points are discussed below. I believe that effective management ceases to reach its potential without respected leadership. Although leadership and management are necessary ingredients to creating actualized organizations. 1.Management implements the structures and tasks to create a holistic team of productive employees, while leadership sets the vision and creates an atmosphere where the teams commit to the mission and are encouraged to reach their potential. Management is more of a hands-on approach to ensure leaderships vision and strategy is in congruence with the companies operations. One of the goals of management is to ensure the organization effectively deploys of resources. One of the major goals of leadership is to assist customers and employees to understand the values and mission of the organization while having the responsibility of ensuring those constituencies are committed to the organizations value offering. I feel that leadership responsibility is to identify what the change initiatives need to be in conjunction with employees, customers and suppliers while managements responsibility is to ensure effective implementation of those initiatives. According to Senge; profound change initiatives invariability lead people to a heightened sense of meaning and aspiration. Leadership has the responsibility to ensure the opportunity for meaning and aspiration occur within the organization, great leaders strive to continually inspire such. Management has the opportunity to see to it that meaning and aspiration is actually being achieved while leadership creates the atmosphere for it to thrive. 1.Management challenges the vision of the company, which was created by leadership as to ensure the desired results are being achieved, while leadership identifies continual opportunities for a greater vision. According to Nonaka (quoted from Dance of Change), â€Å"A company is not a machine but a living organism. Much like an individual, it can have a collective sense of identity and shared purpose†¦ a shared understanding of what the company stands for†. Leadership must create opportunities for that shared vision and collective sense of identity to emerge. Leadership can inspire this to happen through management developing initiatives within cross-department relationship building and teamwork building. Management has the responsibility to ensure this takes place while leadership sets the strategy and places the goals high on the corporate agenda. Leadership sets the priorities, while management gets the priorities done. Among many other tasks, Leadership has the responsibility to: 1.Develop an overall strategic vision for the organization or team 2.In conjunction with the organization, drive the desired results 3.Enable an atmosphere which encourages cross-functional teamwork 4.Be in-touch with the organization at all levels 5.Asks the high-level questions and ensures the answers are understood by all in the organization 6.Encourages the organization to explore alternatives and better ways of doing business 7.Assists the organization to see the big picture In contrast among other tasks, management has the following responsibilities: 1.Management includes the actual coordination of processes and work-flows 2.Includes the process of evaluating resources, assessment and measurement of various pieces throughout the organizations 3.Management includes ensuring that all feedback, comments, and innovative change initiative ideas are brought to the forefront of the decision making process 4.Seeks to make the planning process a more successful endeavor 5.Helps to implement the answers to the big questions into best practices for the organization The Role of Leadership in Strategy The role of leadership in strategy includes many facets some that are tangible and some that are not. For example the role of leadership in strategy is to determine what the big picture is and to ensure the organization has a plan for discovering those answers to the big questions. I believe the role of leadership in developing strategy is to create many areas of possibility for the organization and to create an atmosphere where employees feel committed to creating those possibilities. The example provided by Senge about what was happening in South Africa in the early 1990s is a great one. Leadership of South Africa was trying to develop a set of alternative stories about what might happen in South Africa. They came together and developed several stories and tried to examine what the country will look like in the future. Leadership in fact, was trying to shape and define the story and to have this story be as positive as possible for the country. I believe the same high-level story development is the main responsibility of leadership in strategy for an organization at all levels. The role is for the leadership to define how they want the company to interact in the world and to develop a story that is much bigger than the organization. This story must be believed by all participants in the organization and must be walked the talk by leadership. For example the role of leadership in defining one of the key tenants for Whole Foods is â€Å"We Sell the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available†. The role of leadership in developing this strategy is key to the companies fundamental belief system, and many of the employees and customers are committed to this strategy. The role of leadership is to create the vision and ensure it is in real congruence with the organizational realty. How is leadership critical to realizing strategy? I believe without leadership, strategy cannot be truly realized for a sustainable period. For example if there lacks a person or people who rise above and create the vision and see to it, that it is a manifestation throughout the organization, the strategy will be lost at sea. The waves of business cycles and changing resources will ensure the strategy is tossed and turned and will not go on a path toward true-fulfillment of the highest levels of success. Leadership sets the stage for strategy by asking the core questions, shaping the vision, and allowing for an atmosphere, which encourages the awareness and commitment to the strategy. Leadership is critical: 1.It creates a vessel for continuous improvement and adaptation of strategy 1.Ensures the proper questions are asked and answered 2.Creates an atmosphere for growth and change 3.Demonstrates effective behavior 4.Tries to get the highest potential out of resources 5.Creates the strategic vision 6.Brings together key aspects of the strategy The world we live in is changing at an alarming rate as a result of all the new discoveries that have been made over the years. These new discoveries have been aided by the availability of better learning facilities and equipment. These were not available in the early days. As scientists continue to discover and invent new equipment, the world is adapting them and incorporating them in the societies. As a result, the world we are living in is heavily dependent on inventions and machines to carry out tasks. Moreover, as a result of the advanced technology, people are getting more intelligent hence they are able carry out more researches of their own as well as make their own new inventions. In the medical world this has eased management as well as other treatment methods such as surgery.

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Media And Entertainment Information Technology Essay

The Media And Entertainment Information Technology Essay The Media and Entertainment industry is that sector of business which provides consumers the service and products which keep them updates as well as busy. This sector includes print media, television, radio, film entertainment, video games and casinos. Today this industry can is heavily dependent on the technology. Thus, media and entertainment industry and technology grow hand in hand. The evolution of this industry has brought into practise new business practises and technologies. Enterprise Resource Planning Enterprise Resource planning is a computer based system to integrate business management practises and latest technology. The system integrates various processes of an organisation and helps to achieve the goal of the organisation. Thus, ERP includes the following components; Business Management Practises, Information Technology and Business objectives. In other words, ERP is software that helps in collecting and distributing scattered information across the various departments of an organisation. Thus, at the heart of ERP is centralized data server to acquire information from and supply information to other servers in each department. ERP software architecture includes the various enterprise functions. It includes Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management, Finance/Accounts and Manufacturing. Formerly, ERP were used in large scale industries. But today ERP is used in all kinds of organisation irrespective of field and scale of operation. Advantages It establishes a perfect integration of all the functional areas. The system streamlines various business processes and workflows. There is smooth flow of information across various departments of the organisation. There is an increase in efficiency, performance and productive levels by the use of ERP. It helps in taking decisions, thus enhances forecasting. Improve customer service and satisfaction. The Ideal ERP System An ERP is considered to be ideal if it integrates all the below mentioned processes of the organisation: Manufacturing: Engineering, material planning, production processes, resource planning, workflow management, quality control etc. Financials: Accounts, fixed assets, ledger, cash management and billing. Human Resource: Recruitment, training, labour rules, attendance, payroll, compensations Supply Chain Management: -Inventory management, sales order administration, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, supply transportation and distribution. Customer Relationship Management: Service, commissions, sales and marketing, customer contact and sales support. Data Warehouse: Information storehouse that can be accessed by organisation, suppliers, customers and employees. ERP Vendors Case Study Company: Melco Crown Entertainment ERP Software: Microsoft ® Dynamicsà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ AX 2009 ERP Solution Company Overview: Melco Crown Entertainment is owner and developer of casino resort in Macau. The company got listed in NASDAQ in 2006 raising in excess of US$1.14 billion in the process. The company aims to provide the best entertainment experience in Macau. It has 40 different business entities. The company has various properties like City of Dreams, which fulfils the companys goal. The company is one of the largest employers in Macau with more than 10,000 employees. Business Challenge: The company had no prior experience in using a ERP system for all its 40 business entities. Each department functioned on its own. As Melco got listed on NASDAQ it faced strict requirements to meet in the global market. Further, Melco had to meet the requirements of Macau gambling regulations. Thus, Melco Crown Entertainment Needed an ERP which could comply to all this rules. The companys HR and Finance faced challenges due to the heterogeneous nature of business. The time consumed was more and increase in the number of employees made it difficult and costly to support. Further, the nature of business made the company realise the need of better data visibility and management. Thus, the company needed a centralised knowledge management and timely access to business data. Also, the company wanted to improve its productivity and security. The company had a very short time meet all these challenges and implement a ERP solution due to its other on-going projects. Solution: The company studied and analysed three different ERP products. But it was Microsoft Dynamics AX that suited the most for Melco Crown Entertainment. In the words of Mr. Roger Seshadri, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Melco Crown Entertainment, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 ERP Solution has all the ingredients of a world-class enterprise product. We wanted an ERP system with excellent usability and good bang for our buck. Dynamics was the clear choice. Microsoft Dynamic AX Microsoft Dynamic AX is the most easy to use enterprise resource planning solution for small and large scale organisation. It provides the user with software tools which are compatible with tools used every day like MS office. This ERP software makes people in organisation work more efficiently, manage data and gives a competitive edge in global market. For companies in the media and entertainment business, the advancement in technology and era of digital media has brought immense complexity to the industry. Organisations that continue with outdated business management solution may fail to survive in this market. Thus, Microsoft Dynamic AX is one business solution that has helped this industry in the following manner: It manages resources more efficiently. It helps in keeping track of production crew, talent, and other tangible resources more efficiently It reduces cost of operation by reducing the manpower. Various business intelligence tools help produce project report, graphs easily. The software integrates data from all the various aspects of media industry. Thus, giving the company better data visibility and provides information when required. Media industry is constantly in touch with its customers though it products and service. Microsoft Dynamic fosters betters relationship between the organisation and its customers by maintaining proper track of their order and customer satisfaction. Impact on Melco Crown Entertainment: The implementation of Microsoft Dynamic ERP solution overcame all challenges faced by the organisation. This software was a great success for Melco Crown. Today, success of Melco Crown can also be attributed to this business solution. Thus, benefits provided by the software are: Increase in productivity: This ERP significantly increased the employee productivity at Melco Crown Entertainment. Dynamics AX integrated all the application of various business entities, reducing the complexity. The conventional interface of Dynamic AX avoided the complexity of change management and training. Improvement in business processes and compliance: It has provided business process re-engineering and standardisation across all the entities. Most of the process are automated, making less labour work. Dynamic AX has provided a robust financial system with process and system controls, security, workflows and audit trial. The payroll for 10,000 employees is executed faster. The system also manages Macau and Hong Kong labour laws and tax requirements. Centralized Information management: Real time access to information has made Melco Crown Entertainment a tough competitor in the entertainment industry. With integrated and timely information availability has improved the decision making pocess, which helps in planning future goals. Lower IT costs: The company has been able to fulfil the demanding and critical business requirements with less hardware. Thus, IT team can focus on more business value jobs.