Critical thinking-a challenge in your life-learning english Essay

Critical thinking-a challenge in your life-learning english - Essay Example I continued to deceit myself and others hypocritically that there is nothing wrong, and I am not an egocentric person. Another challenging trait is my laziness. I used to put off things until the workload is increased to an unmanageable level. Emotions had an overwhelming impact on my personality, and they often overrun the logic and reason.   In this flow of emotions, I used to indulge myself in an unfair allocation of time and resource to tasks and people. Last but not the least is the conformity which kept me away of innovative ideas to overcome certain negative traits. Under the circumstances, I have decided to structure my efforts to crush these undisciplined traits in a well-defined action plan. The action plan consists of eight traits that might be helpful in achieving my goal of English learning. The first important trait is to replace arrogance with humbleness. Humbleness is the key to learn things from others because people love to transfer knowledge to those who can give respect to others. Secondly, learning requires courage to know and change oneself while understanding others’ sentiments can help in controlling the egocentrism. Giving respect to others perspective is the best way to promote tolerance and dialogue, which can be helpful in learning skills and establishing friendly relations with others.   Similarly, I have planned to replace the hypocrisy with integrity. This requires removal of double standard in thinking and dealing with others and making sincere efforts to help them out in their hard times. People can lend you s ome help if you can reciprocate their care with sincerity. This attitude is very helpful to achieve learning objectives. However, success can only be achieved in any sphere of life through persistent and restless efforts. Hard work can fill the gaps of personal incapacities and shortcomings.

Virtual groups and how they effect group communication Research Paper

Virtual groups and how they effect group communication - Research Paper Example Instead they connect through communication technologies and computers, provide an unparalleled amount of flexibility (Powell, Piccoli & Ives, 2004) and are unified only by a shared function or rationale (Lurey & Raisinghani, 2000). This paper aims to review the literature and research that focuses on the characteristics of small virtual groups in an effort to determine how virtual group interaction affects performance and to make comparisons between performance of small virtual teams and more traditional co-located small teams. Small groups usually consist of three to fifteen members (Socha, 1997) with the ideal size being five to seven (Cragan & Wright, 1999) with every member having an influence on each other and are interdependent. In other words if something occurs to or influences one member it impacts on other group members; the behavior of one group member effects both the way other group members relate to each other (relational behavior) and how they finish the task or attain their goal (task behavior) (Bertcher, 1994). According to Myers & Anderson (2008) interdependence is a fundamental characteristic of a small group and at the end of the day will influence how the group achieves its goal or task which is the initial and most important reason the group is formed. Tasks can be additive, wherein the small group members work separately on one component of a task and when all components are completed they amalgamate their endeavors to produce one ultimate outcome, or they can be conjunctive, wherein the group works together to produce the final outcome (Steiner, 1972). In the case of additive tasks the small group is not interdependent until the end when they unite their work but with conjunctive tasks they are interdependent from start to finish. Apart from the task, interdependence and size, Myers & Anderson (2008) claimed that small groups contain three further features of communication which are ‘norms, identity and talk’ (p.9). He furth er claimed that the norms of small group behavior are the rules or regulations pertaining to members of the group, and can be social, procedural or task based, and if not upheld by a group member sanctions may be imposed on that member. Norms therefore shape small group behavior and govern the way in which group members undertake their task, interact and create their identity - the physical and psychological limits that differentiate small groups and group members. Communication is the most important feature of small groups in terms of defining their identity and consists of four different types of talk as posited by Cragan & Wright (1999) that include role talk, problem-solving talk, encounter talk and consciousness-raising talk. Myers & Anderson (2008) claimed that a small group that is able to balance all four talk types will be more effective and succeed in its task, whereas a small group that places too much emphasis on one type over another or does not employ any one type may alienate some members and not accomplish their task. To summarize the characteristics of small group communication there are three major qualities – size, interdependence and task, and three minor qualities – norms, talk and identity, that influence the way in which group members interact and communicate. Research shows that much has been suggested and purported in terms of virtual communication

Boyers Principle of Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Boyers Principle of Community - Essay Example From the knowledge gained at Indiana University more than 40 residence hall rooms certified as ‘green’ through new program. The program develop by the IU office of Sustainability in cooperation with Residential Programs and Services and Residence Halls Inc. and the objective is to connect the students to a maintainable and good community and different campus organizations as well as the participation of faculty on related projects. Additionally, the program at IU provides the students a structure framework to help in educating their school mates and connect with one another (IU News Room, n.p.). A college is an open community, where freedom of speech or expression is protected and civility powerfully affirmed. As part of the university’s Code of Academic Ethics, every individual has the right to criticize and seek remedy by good means, policies, and rules and regulations of the university. The improper acts are those acts that affect the academic freedom, freedom of speech and expression because the students should speak and listen to one another and the freedom of movement. Thus, Indiana University exercised the second principle of Boyer’s Principle of Community (Enrolment and Student Academic Information Bulletin, p. 3). The next principle is a just community; a place where the sacredness of the person is honored and where diversity is aggressively pursued. The Indiana University celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and also helps in the activities in the community. All IU’s events are free and open to the public; in respect, the King’s day is consider holiday and no classes in the university rather the students spend time from different community services such as providing eye exams, and eye glasses with the participation of the IU School of Optometry and many others (IU News Room, n.p.). The fourth Boyer’s Principle of Community is a disciplined community in which the university is a place where ind ividuals accept their responsibilities and obligations to the group and well-defined governance procedures guide behavior for the common good. According to the Enrolment and Student Academic Information Bulletin of Indiana University there is Code of Academic Ethics that each and everyone in the community should obey. The ethics include the rights and responsibilities of the students as well as the faculty and other members of the university. The IU put into effect the Code of Ethics to become a disciplined community and exercise all the rules and regulations stated in the Code of Academic Ethics (Enrolment and Student Academic Information Bulletin, p. 1-5). In addition, the other principle from Ernest Boyer is the principle of caring community; a place where the well-being of each member is sensitively supported and services to others is encouraged. For instance, extended hours for the student commuters, organizations and campus jobs are promoted and supported by the IU (Peska, n.p .). Student employment is encouraged like part time jobs on the campus can help develop and improve the student’s resume in the future. There are number of jobs offered in the university and in Bloomington that will

The Effects Of Social Networks On E-Commerce Dissertation

The Effects Of Social Networks On E-Commerce - Dissertation Example Over the past years, the internet was used by majority of people as a medium for interaction and making fun by engaging in activities such as online gaming. With numerous improvements made on the internet, there has been an ever rising increase in trust in social links among the users. For this reason, online marketplaces have been augmented by many online business people as a way of developing and building honest and trust in their transactions with their partners as well as maximizing customer satisfactions. The outcome is the growth in the size of sales over the internet leading to a shift in demand. Through social links, customers can chart through forums with their clients, exchange useful business information concerning a particular company or product. Therefore, customers have a better bargaining power. This paper gives a deep exploration into how social media instruments affects the frequent purchasing behaviors and business transaction activities, notwithstanding the implica tions on the demand for products in the online-fashion industry. Like the trends in fashions, the tools of social media are innovative yet unpredictable because they are getting utilized and improved each and every time. The fashion industry is getting transformed by facets that are more related as a result of movement of more professionals of fashion in the online media, for this case the social media. The accessibility into the industry by has been made easy by these tools thus involving the general public and the entire customers of the fashion industry updated on the current fashion trends. Specifically this study explains the effects of social media on the behaviors of demand and customer inflow into the market. 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the recent years, the way people communicate with each other and share information has been revolutionized by social media. Initially the social networks were being used in large numbers by the teenagers for making new friends as well as keeping in t ouch with old ones. However, the situation has changed with now the focus being directed to online commerce for the purpose of generating solid and reliable revenues1. The e-mail which was earlier seen as the only method of communication electronically has been out-fashioned by the social media which is currently leaving its mark in the e-commerce, and the online fashion industry is not an exception. The fashion industry traces its roots to the traditional and old business practices hence making it lag behind in adopting new technologies. Almost everything done in the industry is more dependent on human labor rather than machines, beginning with designs sketches of designs to the process of purchasing. In most situations, the customers were the determiners of what kind of stock was to be put in stock because of their different tastes and preferences. However, with the existence of fast-acting technologies, fashion brands no longer seat back and wait for their customers to meet their needs. Social media is a to-way form of media under which users develop personal identities through dialogue and self-presentation.2 This has led to the social media receiving immense attention from consumers who go shopping online, specifically the fashion industry consumers. The global platforms such Tweeter, LinkedIn and Facebook creates room for designers to blog and keep their profiles updated with the aim of molding their brands and personalities on real-time basis. The interaction between

Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Starbucks - Essay Example Furthermore, the report provides a discussion of the marketing mix and possible strategies that should be employed in order to ensure that the launch of a new organic product line by Starbucks in the UK is successful. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1.Introduction 3 2. Situation Analysis 4 2.1 PESTLE Analysis 5 The rise of health conscious consumers in the UK means that the organic food industry is no longer categorized as a niche market but has recently become a market that is targeted towards the masses. According to IBISWorld, sales volumes of organic products in the UK are expected to rise by 2.6% resulting in financial growth of ?2.02 billion (PRWEB 2013). Certainly, this trend reflects increased consumer awareness regarding food products and the benefits of organic produce on health. 6 2.2 SWOT Analysis 7 3.Market Summary 8 3.1Segmentation 8 3.2Targeting 9 3.3.Positioning 10 3.3 Competition 10 3.4 Market Growth Potential 11 4.1 Marketing Objective 12 4.2 Target Market 12 4.3 Product Offering 12 4.4 Marketing Program 13 4.4.1 Marketing Mix 13 4.4.2 Marketing Communication Mix 13 References 15 PRWEB (2013). UK Organic food industry is moving from niche to mainstream markets [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 The Asset (2013). Strong UK GDP growth through Q3 seen, SWIFT Index predicts [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 UKTI (2012). Finance, grants and incentives for businesses in the UK [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 1. Introduction Starbucks started its operations in 1971 with a sole location at Seattle’s Pike Place Market engaging in the buying and selling of ground coffee and whole bean (Starbucks 2012). The business started with Howard Schlutz’s vision of taking the European coffeehouse experience and translating it according to the requirements, demands, needs and wants of the American customer (Kotler 2010). According to Kotler (2010) the success of Starbucks which is reflected in the existence of 17,651 sto res (as of July 2012) across the globe (Starbucks 2012) has been its ability to integrate a rich experience and successful product to provide the Starbucks Experience. Starbucks made entrance in the European coffee market in 1998 as a consequence of its acquisition of 65 Seattle Coffee Company outlets located in the United Kingdom (Starbucks 2013a). Analysts note that Starbuck’s entrance into the UK market via this strategic business decision was aided by the similarities shared by the two companies it their culture, values and commitment towards the customers (Starbucks 2013). 2. Situation Analysis According to the financial results of Starbucks in the last 5 years, the company has experienced significant growth in its earnings per share which is a positive sign. Under this consideration financial analysts can make accurate evaluations regarding the financial state of the company and the performance of the sales department in particular. According to reports, the earnings pe r share of the organization have increased on a consistent basis from $0.87 in 2007

Corporate Strategic Review on TESCO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate Strategic Review on TESCO - Essay Example In 1964, Tesco's innovativeness was put to a challenge when the British government imposed the Resale Price Maintenance System, a law that mandates all retailers to charge a set price for their products. However, Tesco found a way through it and introduced trading stamps so that it could bring lower prices to its customers. Customers collected these stamps as they purchased groceries and other items. By 1960, Tesco was in control of 212 store chains in north England, and 144 more in 1964 and 1965. By 1970, Tesco was a household name, known for its grocery products at very competitive prices. It was at this time when Tesco decided to broaden its customer base and make its stores more attractive to a wider range of customers. Tesco decided to concentrate on developing bigger superstores at the outskirts of the town, on selling a broader range of goods, and on providing quality shopping environment and customer service. Tesco likewise ventured into selling petrol at very competitive rates in 1974, opening its first filling station at its major sites. These changes earned more customers and greater profits for Tesco, and in 1979, its annual turnover reached 1 billion for the first time. Tesco has built its 100th superstore by 1985, and in 1987, it announced a 500 million plan to build 29 more stores. By 1991, the success of its petrol filling stations earned for the company Britain's biggest independent petrol retailer. In the 1990s, the company built on its success by developing new store concepts and new customer-focused initiatives. Tesco broke new ground in food retailing by introducing, in 1995, the first customer loyalty card, which offered benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its customers' needs. Other customer services followed, including grocery home shopping, Tesco Direct for catalogue shoppers and the Tesco Babyclub for new parents, as well as the launch of Tesco Personal Finance a joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Tesco continued its winning streak in the new millennium. In January 2003 Tesco completed the acquisition of 870 T&S Stores in the UK; 450 of these stores will be converted to Tesco Express in the next three to four years. Moreover, Tesco opened in Taiwan in 2000 and, in May 2002 its first store in Malaysia in a joint venture with Sime Darby Sdn Bhd. In July 2002, Tesco acquired the "HIT" chain of hypermarkets in Poland. This acquisition added 13 hypermarkets to the Polish business, giving it a market leading position. By the end of 2002/03 Tesco had 45 percent of its space overseas, market leadership in 6 of its 10 countries, and was profitable in 8 out of 10 markets. Porter on Tesco Using Porter's Generic Strategies, this approach of Tesco shall be evaluated and assessed. It will also be subjected to the five industry forces such as: Entry Barrier, Buyer Power, Supplier Power, Threats of Substitute and Rivalry. Tesco can be categorized in Porter's Generic Strategies as belonging to the Broad Industry- as it targets an economy of scale whose product line is extensive (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Moreover, the standard

Paper on THE KORAN and how it deals with 3 issues listed below Research

On THE KORAN and how it deals with 3 issues listed below - Research Paper Example According to the Muslims the words of The Koran are indisputable and can never be changed by a human being. Various researches, conducted across the world, showed that the words of The Koran are the same as they were at the time of revelation i-e fourteen hundred years ago. The Koran covers many themes but we are going to discuss three chief subjects discussed in The Koran. They are Suicide, Holy War (Jihad) and the use of Alcohol. By going through the various verses of The Koran, we find it lucid and apparent that the suicide is austerely banned in The Koran and there are no exceptions to it. The philosophy of The Koran Says that life is a beautiful thing and it is the gift of Almighty Allah to the human being. It furthers describes that only Allah has the right to take his gift back. No human being is allowed to do so. And if he does, he will face the Wrath of Allah. Not only this that particular human being will never be allowed to enter the paradise. As the Last Prophet Muhammad Says Though it is clear that suicide is strictly forbidden in Islam, but sacrificing life in the Holy war (Jihad) is allowed in Islam. In fact according to The Koran one who fights for the prosperity and the advancement of the religion and sacrifices his life, he will not only be given direct entrance to the paradise but he will also be blessed by the Almighty Allah. â€Å"And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah; but if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression.† [Al-Qur’an 2:192-193] It should also be noted that Allah has allowed this Holy war only against the forces of terror and corruption not against the normal and innocent human being. It does not matter to which religion they belong. There are various type of Jihad described in Islam. Jihad varies from pen to