Differences Between My Best Friend and I

It’ is hard to believe that my best friend Kelly and I have a lots of differences. Even though, we love each other we are completely different In our personalities, work experience and how we take care of our family. We both have great personalities. Kelly and I have been friends since I was 5 years old. We went to the same school and stayed in the same class until we went to high school. For example, Kelly is very friendly and she has a great humor. She is very outgoing and love to talk with different people , even people she just Met .On the other hand, I am very shy and serious kind of person. I do not like to talk with other people. For these reason is hard for me to make new Friend . To illustrate that ,when we are invited to our neighbor birthday party , so we went to celebrate with his family and friends. The party was full of strangers and Kelly began to talk with those strangers. All I did was seat in the table alone and wait for someone to talk to me. Kelly came and start to introduce me to her new friends . I feel so proud of her , because if wasn’t for her , I never have the courage to introduce myself to them.Another example, is that Kelly and I have different kinds of works . She works as secretary and I work as house cleaner . She had this great job in Boston as secretary . It is near her house, she has a great salary and a month of vacation paid every year . Her job is so easy and she just have to answer the phone ,book appointments and be in the office the whole day. However, I work as house cleaner , it is very hard work by cleaning other people dirty houses. One of the problems is that I spend a lot of money on gas, cleaning products and vacuum repairs.My salary is not stable it depends in how many houses I clean every week. Paid vacation forget about it . Finally is our Family, that is the best and important gift that anyone can have . Kelly and I have a wonderful family, we both have kids and we have been married for 5 years. Kelly has two boys and one little girl, their names are Robert 10 years old, Nicholas 8 years old and Amanda 4 years old . I have three kids too ,instead, I have two girls keren 9 years old, Sarah 4 years old and a boy he is 12 years old. We both love Our family very much and we appreciate staying together with our family .Even though, Kelly prefer to stay home and be creative with her kids by doing crafts activities . I prefer to go outside and play with them . Last winter we went to Cocokeys Park and our kids got to play together and they had a terrific time . When the park was closing we decided to sleep at the hotel inside the park, again that was the best part for Kelly stay inside. Besides our differences , we both have a wonderful family and we always share with each other ways to raise and educate our kids. After all our differences we still best friends

Analysing Slyvia Plath’s “Mushroom” Poem Essay

The poem â€Å"Mushroom† discusses the persistent struggle as the central theme. The lines that depicts the struggle are â€Å"our hammers, our rams, earless and eyeless, perfectly voiceless† as personified by the mushrooms. Plath’s made use of allusions in the form of the last stanza â€Å"our foot’s in the door† The structure of the poem has 23 lines, with nursery rhyme quality along with many repetitions of phrasing and sounds to depict fertility. Plath used the style of poem for younger children. The persona of the poem is the author herself who had two failed suicidal attempts and re-evaluated by the persona in the poem either from a perspective of a rebellious present. The literary devices used in the poem are personification, metaphor and allusion. Plath personified mushrooms by giving them human characteristics, found in the lines of â€Å"earless and eyeless, perfectly voiceless†. The author also used metaphor of the mushrooms as tables, together with their meekness. The subject mushrooms, as a metaphor for people who are often underestimated people. The poem also showed the allusion of found in the last line â€Å"our foot’s in the door† based o the Beatitude â€Å"the meek shall inherit the earth. † It conveys the dilemma of the oppressed (or mushroom) wherein personification of the poor and voiceless are found as mushrooms. The overall meaning of the poem for contemporary reading audience is to know how to have a deep desire to gain power and control regardless of how oppressed, struggling these people are. Works Cited Plath, Sylvia, The Journals of Sylvia Plath, edited Karen V. Kukil, Faber and Faber, London, 2000.

THE RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THE RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT - Research Paper Example Geyston Bakery is a bakery that contributes to the community through profits (Liberty Mutual 2012). A popular item sold is the brownie which is used in the social enterprise help a social and profit mission (Liberty Mutual, 2010). One problem facing the bakery is the open hiring. The bakery uses an open hiring to hire individuals in the community. Any one that applies, no matter an individual’s past history, will receive an open position in the bakery. People are only turned away if the bakery is already fully staffed. Open hiring can impact the community in a positive way. All individuals in the community can get job experience, learn a marketable trade, and receive a paycheck that goes back into the community. Lower employment rates can result from this practice. The community can prosper as members of the community get back on their feet through a job. Another issue is the funded community development. Profits from the bakery are given to the Graceland Foundation (Liberty Mutual, 2010). In turn, the Graceland Foundation helps out community programs. A few of these programs are housing, healthcare, and childcare in the community. (Liberty Mutual, 2010). The programs that Graceland Foundation provides help the local community, not some far away community. The bakery gets support, but receives more business due to the programs supported. Childcare helps both parents be employable. Housing programs can provide shelter for families. Healthcare will allow for preventative measures that will save the community in medical bills for issues that can be corrected. Greyston Bakery is helping their community be a better place and setting an example for other businesses to help their communities. The actions of open hiring and supporting community programs are relevant in the way organizational and personal decisions are made in the bakery. These goals are the

Elements of Religious Traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Elements of Religious Traditions - Essay Example Several religions exist depending on how an individual is swayed by different religious principles. Despite existence of variations in religious traditions and rituals, certain common themes that guide humanity are, however, shared in various religions. This paper, in effect, discusses some elements of religious traditions. Relationship with Divine Divinity, according to Keene (2006), relates to a supernatural being; a God, god, or a goddess. In religious traditions, relationship with divine explores how human beings relate to these supernatural beings. Smith (1991) explains that human beings consider themselves inferior and unworthy to stand before these paranormal beings. Relationships humans establish with supernatural beings depend on religious teachings or life events an individual has experienced. Therefore, depending on how a person understands the concept of divinity, an individual can have a strong relation with a spiritual being than with a mortal man. According to Smith (1 991), human species consider relationship with a high power as an inevitable act. There are, therefore, systems of laws and guidelines that dictate how human beings should respond to various religious wants or responsibilities. In different religions, these set of laws and regulations are well documented in holy books. For instance, in Christianity, Christian principles are safely kept in the Bible. Judaism and Muslim, on the other hand, use Torah and Koran, respectively, as religious reference materials. Since there is no direct communication between humans and high powers, faith is a crucial element of relationship with divinity. Through faith, humans believe that some supernatural beings are watching them and assess their everyday life (Smith, 1991). Relationship with Sacred Place In religious traditions, the term â€Å"sacred† has different meanings and uses, depending on beliefs an individual has. Sacred, in some religions, is attached to God. For instance, in monotheism sacredness is used to refer to one God. In a different context, sacred is perceived as a mysterious power or an influential energy. In other words, in religious traditions, the concept of sacredness is not only attached to possession of special personal attributes, but also ownership of mysterious power. Sacred is also viewed as something tangible which exists in the natural world (Smith, 1991). In other words, natural world is considered sacred and is thus, regarded as a way through which supernatural beings prove their existence. Humans perceive nature as a holy part of the divine. Therefore, natural world is seen as something to be praised. Native religions, also known as animism, believe that the world and all its contents have special relationships with god. Animists believe that there is a slight difference between human and non-human and between natural and supernatural. Relationship with Each Other In all religions, there is an emphasis on God/god-human relationships and hu man-human relationships (Keene, 2006). Every religion acknowledges that a strong relationship with powerful beings is established when relationship among human beings is strong. As a step in ensuring that a healthy human-human relationship exists, reconciliation is an integral part of life. Peaceful coexistence of human beings is ensured by emulating the believed characters of supernatural being

Compare and contrast two different management styles and assess how Essay

Compare and contrast two different management styles and assess how they can affect employee motivation - Essay Example As identified by Prucell (1987), cited in Blyton and Tumbull (1992; 256), ‘management style is an extra dimension linked to wider business policy, and at the least, related to guiding principles which infuse management behaviour in dealing with employees.’ Management style is also decided by the organizational culture, local culture, customs, and social dynamics. Based on different traits and behavioural aspects possessed by the business owners, four distinct management styles have been identified by Dr. Rensis Likert: autocratic, paternalistic, democratic and laissez-faire management style (Calvert, Coles & Bailey, 1995). Autocratic management style is considered as one of the oldest styles, with business owners or managers keeping most of the authority to themselves. Their decision making does not involve their staff. These managers are habitual of giving orders and take charge of work and get it done with authority. They are extremely quick in decision making whenever required. Paternalistic management style, usually seen in organizations promoting the familial control and management, share many of the size and ownership characteristics of autocratic type, but they tend to have much more positive attitude towards their employees. Employee consultation is a high priority, and more preference is given to staff retention and reward systems (Gennard & Judge 2005). Democratic management style adopts the employee-participation aspect in most of the management decisions. Though employees are encouraged to actively participate in decision making, the final right to approval still rests with the business owner. This style is best suited in organizations or teams with highly skilled workers that require minimal supervision. The positive aspects of this management style are feelings of belonging, pride, and high commitment. This approach can spew out employees’ ideas,

Marketing Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Plan - Coursework Example The prospected customers are also interested in perfumes from reputable manufacturers. In addition, Jade has plans to survey opportunities for the ever-increasing online sales (Fisher et al. 2005). Over the next two years, Jade can impose itself as the strongest emerging competitor in the perfume retail industry through increased distribution, new products from manufactures, and win new customers to maintain its leading strength. Jade perfume is the new kid in the block. ‘A new kid with new rules’ is the number one Jade slogan. It is not just a brand shop but also the emerging strongest competitor in the retail perfume industry. Customers should think of Jade as, not just a brand but also as a luxurious, modern, fun, innovative, professional, trend-setting, innovative and friendly collection (Fisher et al. 2005). As a perfume and cologne collection shop, Jade Perfumes has an overwhelming marketing environment with opportunities as well as a variety of challenge both internally and externally. Jade has a number of strengths that will make it the strongest emerging competitor in the industry. First, the brand name in itself is eye-catching, simple and sweet. Jade as a name is always associated with cute ladies and a perfect name for a perfume and cologne shop. Second to the strengths is the target market. Jade perfumes target the youth (teenagers and young adults) and the elderly men and women alike. Pricing is the third strong factor that separates Jade from other shops in the industry (Fisher et al. 2005). The designed pricing system will accommodate middle income and wealthy individuals. Jade products range from the pocket friendly to the expensive perfume brands. The products are divided into sections with different pricing, and every person who gets into Jade perfumes will certainly come out happy. Fourth, Jade has a strong professional team that will serve the customers to their satisfaction with a dedication of achieving the

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic Dissertation

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic climate effectively - Dissertation Example co’s different sections 39 Figure 3: Reason of attraction of customers of Tesco 40 Figure 4: Responses regarding Tesco being the best in price, quality & service 41 Figure 5: Percentages of respondents choosing M&S different sections 42 Figure 6: Reason of attraction of M&S customers 43 Figure 7: Responses regarding M&S being best in price, quality & service 44 Abstract: It has been found that despite the fact that the UK population is only 1% of the population of the globe; the United Kingdom took fourth place in the world trade (Allen, 2010).  Mechanical engineering and transport, manufactured goods and chemicals are the main exports of Great Britain. Starting from the 70's, oil production not only has reduced imports of petroleum products, but also brought substantial gains in trade.  British Petroleum is the largest industrial corporation and the UK ranks second in Europe.  Britain provides 10% of world exports of services - banking, insurance, brokerage, advisory, a s well as in computer programming. Retail sales index characterizes the strength of consumer demand; its growth indicates an increase in the production of goods, strengthening the economy and currency. Published in the 13th day of the month has an impact on the market in the medium and long term.  This indicator is the most informative and does not include the number of cars sold, since this value is very volatile.  There is a seasonal dependence, as described by Craig Emerson (2008). Chapter 1: Introduction: 1.1 Background: The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world.... The economic cycle or business cycle faces different phases that include slump, recession, recover and boom. During the last decade, the world witnessed turmoil in global market in the form of financial crisis that resulted in adverse impacts on almost every country of the world. Companies face different market circumstances in different phases and they react accordingly, In order to retain their positions in the market, they have to adopt different strategies so that they are able to generate enough revenue. The global downturn during 2008-2009 is one of the worst recessions faced by the world economy. All the developed western countries like US, UK, France etc were badly hit by the global meltdown. Many companies of these developed nations were unable to cope up with the recession despite adopting different strategies and finally went bankrupt or were acquired by other companies. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Barnsley Building Society, Alliance & Leicester and Bear Stearns etc to name a few. Generally, a huge number of financial markets are still coping with the effects of financial crisis. Particularly, governments have played a significant role in supporting its financial markets to survive in midst of such financial crisis. In the British economy, retail sector enjoys noteworthy importance due to its contribution in GDP of the country.

The American Pageant by Kennedy Cohen-Bailey Essay

The American Pageant by Kennedy Cohen-Bailey - Essay Example Most of it was brought about by the need to expand the trade borders of the American people. America was linked in many ways to Cuba than just at the time of the war. Cuba was one of the major producers of sugar and major suppliers to the USA. The Wilson-Gorman tariff imposed on Cuba by America to protect the sugar growers in America invariably raised the price of sugar and the Cuban economy suffered as a result. The misrule by the Spanish of its colony in Cuba created a lot of unrest. The Cubans fought the 10year battle of independence from 1868 to 1878 and tried to drive the Spanish away by destruction of property including cane fields and blowing up of passenger trains. The situation peaked when Spain sent tyrant General Wyeley in 1895 to Cuba. Wesley took it upon himself to crush the rebellion and opened up re-concentration camps, imprisoned and isolated the Cuban revolutionaries from the Filipino revolutionaries in their war of independence. Many perished and â€Å"died like do gs† (Bailey, 629). from unsanitary conditions in the camps. The American people rose against this atrocities to the Cubans and wanted war but the then president Grover Cleveland was against it and even motioned to strike against congress if they were to declare war against Spain and send troops to Cuba. This resolve, however, did not last very long as there were many other factors at stake than America was unwilling to admit to at that time. US also had a stake in the war because it was not really comfortable with having a European colony that close to its own borders. The unrest in Cuba was straining US trade relations in the region and threatening US investments in Cuba. There was also fear that its access to Panama would affect future sea trade routes.  

Persuade speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Persuade speech - Essay Example Firstly, it should be discussed that the main reason that people traditionally opposed such a construct was due to the fact that there was a prevailing cultural norm surrounding premarital sex. Because of this, society of previous generations was not necessarily opposed to couples having the opportunity to get to know one another better prior to becoming married but more opposed to the implication that such an arrangement would necessarily lead to premarital sex between the two partners (Taiibi 1). However, it is the belief of this speech-giver that the practice is not only moral but extremely beneficial in helping the individuals in the relationship to determine the overall level of compatibility that they might share. Whereas the dating process is useful in coming to understand key elements of a person’s behavior, world view, attitude, and various other elements, each of these factors as well as many others can be much more plainly manifested when the couple chooses to live together prior to taking the step towards marriage (Jay 1). In this way, if there are any issues that have been covered up or successfully hidden from the other partner during the course of the dating process, it is highly likely that this will come into a much clearer focus once the couple begins living together. Additionally, living together gives both partners a very clear view of precisely what a marriage situation would be like with their partner. Moreover, rather than just a process within the dating game, the object of living together is meant to determine whether or not the relationship should proceed to a further step. Whereas emotions and hormones can oftentimes run wild and encourage young people to make lifelong mistakes by rushing into a marriage that they would ultimately become unhappy with, when the option of living together prior to marriage comes up, it

Characteristics of Good Test Questions Essay Example for Free

Characteristics of Good Test Questions Essay Here is the list of characteristics that you should follow when either writing or selecting interpretive exercise questions for use in Stage 2 of any curriculum planning. Examples of these characteristics and why they are important will be discussed in class. Interpretive exercise questions consist of a series of selective response items based on a common set of introductory material. The introductory material may be in the form of written materials, tables, charts, graphs, maps or pictures. These questions are the hardest to write, because you have to find novel introductory material related to your unit of instruction that works and is important. The reason for including this type of question in a unit test is that it gives students practice answering this type of question which is often used on standardized tests in science. Advantages: 1. Measure the ability to interpret the introductory material encountered in everyday situations. 2. Measure more complex learning outcomes than is possible with other forms of selected response items. 3. Minimizes the influence of a students’ lack of needed factual information on measurement of complex learning outcomes. 4. Greater structure than essay test. 5. A question type used in standardized tests. Students need to be familiar with this question type. Limitations: 1. Hard to construct: find materials that are new (novel) but relevant. Usually needs some editing. 2. Heavier demand on students’ reading skill. Keep reading level low, passage brief. In primary grades use more pictorial materials. 3. Cannot measure students’ overall approach to problem solving (doesn’t show work steps). 4. Only test problem-solving ability at the recognition level. Interpretive Exercise Guidelines: 1. Select introductory material that is in harmony with course outcomes. 2. Select introductory material that is appropriate to the curricular experience and reading level of the student. 3. Select introductory material that is new (novel) to the student. 4. Use introductory material that is brief, but meaningful. 5. Revise introductory material for clarity and conciseness for greater value. 6. Construct test items that require analysis and interpretation of the introductory material. 7. Make the number of test items roughly proportional to the length of the introductory material. 8. When constructing the test items use the guidelines given in the writing of selective response items.

The Coca Cola Company Marketing Essay

The Coca Cola Company Marketing Essay 1.1 An overview of the company: The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) is the worlds largest manufacturer, licensor and distributor of non alcoholic beverages with over 500 brands worldwide. TCCC is a global behemoth and its presence spans over 200 countries with its head office based in Atlanta, USA. (thecoca-colacompany.com) The product portfolio covers over 3000 different beverages ranging from its flagship brand Coca-Cola, water, fruit juices, sport drinks to coffee including all types of non-alcoholic beverages (thecoca-colacompany.com). TCCC owns four out of the five biggest soft drink brands in the world namely Coca-cola, Diet coke, Sprite and Fanta.(Data Monitor,2009)According to the brand ranking by Interbrand, the company‘s brand value was worth USD $ 68,734 million in 2009. 1.2 TCCC in UK: Coca Cola entered UK in 1900 with its flagship brand, Coca-cola in late august when Charles Candler (owner of Coca-Cola then) brought a jug of syrup with him on a visit to London. TCCC has since then evolved into an international heavyweight backed by national partners. The companys presence in UK is represented by a management strategy that it calls the ‘Coca Cola System which is a combination of two separate companies-Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB) and the Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE). They serve different roles in the production-sales process of Coca-Cola and the other brands that fall under it. CCGB is a wholly owned subsidiary of TCCC responsible for marketing and development whereas CCE, an independent public company manufactures and distributes its products. CCEs product portfolio in 2007 included 20 brands and 100 products such as Coca-cola, Diet coke, Minute Maid, Powerade and so on. (Coca-cola.co.uk) 1.3 Diet Coke Diet Coke was introduced in USA for the very first time in 1982. Following its success, the brand then came to UK a year later. It was positioned as a lighter, sugar-free variant of Coca-Cola with a new advertising theme â€Å"just for the taste of it†. (dietcoke.com) Diet coke is now a international product available in over 173 countries and has a large loyal customer base who love the product. The success story continues till today. Diet Coke has various extensions in its product offerings such as Caffeine-free Diet Coke, Diet coke Lemon, Diet Coke Cherry etc. Diet coke celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007 with the product accounting for a 40% share of the global diet sparkling beverage segment. (dietcoke.com) 2.0 Perception: 2.1 Semiotics in Advertising: When a consumer looks at an advert, he/she derives a certain meaning from it. To this purpose, marketers use a set of symbols or maybe even one that develops into a meaningful statement that the consumer relates to the product. And to achieve this meaning, the symbols have to precise, direct and should evoke a mental response to the imagery within. To understand how effectively symbols can be used is vital in marketing. For this, marketers turn to a field of study called semiotics which focuses on the co-relation between signs and symbols and their role in shaping a meaningful understanding by an observer. From a semiotic perspective, every marketing message has three components; An object; the product A symbol; the image/ statement that serves as an extension to the product. The interpretant; the message or the meaning derived from the advert. This relationship is described as the semiotic triangle. In relation to marketing activities, the advertising strategy incorporates semiotic symbolism by creating a relationship between the product and the desired attribute of the product. This strategy is usually long term as the message is constant and repetition helps to reinforce the meaning to the consumers. 2.2. Diet Coke Campaign-â€Å"Hello you†. Diet coke has changed its marketing focus to appeal to its female audience (FT, 2009). To this effect, the marketing team at CCE has been adapting its advertising approach and overall appeal to suit its target market appropriately. The latest campaign rolled out for Diet Coke is a multi-million push titled â€Å"hello you† featuring award winning Welsh singer Duffy, as a independent, confident woman who takes control of her life. As part of the campaign, outdoor publicity in the form of posters with the tagline Im no superwoman has also been advertised extensively (Image 2). The campaign on the whole â€Å"aims to represent confident young women taking a stand against the pressure of modern life†. (The Guardian 2009) The ads feature Duffy, 24 year old Welsh singing sensation who became a household name after clinching three Grammy awards including ‘Best British Female Solo Artist this year. The main advertisement is a 60-second TV advert. Duffy is seen taking a break during a live concert where the crowd asks her for an encore. But she gets onto to a bike cycles around for a bit whilst breaking into a cover of the hit song by Sammy Davis Juniors â€Å"I Gotta Be Me†. And yes, she takes a sip of diet coke before returning back to the stage to perform. This campaign marks a significant shift in Diet cokes marketing which in recent years saw the revival of the classic ‘Hunk advert in 2007. According to a company press release on the campaign, Catherin Sleight, Coca-Cola GBs marketing director, stated that the campaign aimed to show strong independent women taking control and saying no the pressures of modern day life.(coca-cola.co.uk) 2.3 Semiotic symbolism in the â€Å"hello you† TV advert: The semiotic symbolism is quite direct and tries to appeal to the ‘independent women that Diet coke wants to focus its marketing on. The campaign as a whole gives light to liberating women from pressures of modern- day life as explained by the marketing director for Coca-Cola GB ; Catherin Sleight. (18) The symbolism behind this advert can be represented with the semiotic triangle as given; Object/product Sign/Meaning: Message: 2.3.1. The Object/Product- Diet coke The product in itself is a global icon as it is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It has been rated as the number one drink in the diet non-alcoholic beverage sector with a market share 0f 40% globally. The brand visibility is high globally being available in 173 countries as of 2007.The can and logo thus combines to produce brand recognition by any consumer viewing this advert. 2.3.2 Sign The message speaks for itself and is not rather complicated. There are two elements in the ‘sign leading to the creation of a meaning that the target consumer can relate to. The first element is the celebrity who endorses the product. Duffy has become a household name in Britain as well as internationally having won quite a few awards including three prestigious ‘Brit awards and a Grammy award (iamduffy.com). Cathryn Sleight, marketing director of Coca-Cola GB has reflected on the endorsement by saying that â€Å"Duffy as a young woman, who is in charge of her own destiny, perfectly embodies the independent attitude were championing† (coca-cola.co.uk). This could resonate well with their target market as she signifies independence and opportunism that women enjoy in todays world. The second element is the audio track used in the advert and its lyrics. It is a cover sung by Duffy of the old classic hit I gotta be me made famous by Sammy Davis Junior. It has a simple but moving depth to it that reflects well on a listener. It strongly reflects the new diet Coke campaign which celebrates womens right to express their individuality and take control. 2.3.3 The message: The advertisement gives out a strong message that tells the target consumer that Diet coke can you set free if you are an independent, ambitious young woman like Duffy. The advert along with the lyrics and the celebrity completes this meaning forming a symbolic message to the target female segment. 2.4 Evaluation: This television advert has a nice feminine touch to its portrayal and along with the lyrics drive the meaning home for consumers. Duffys voice is quite endearing and catchy adding to the recall value of this advert. Diet coke has used the study of semiotics to represent a deep meaning that most women can relate to. The product has successfully moved away from the ‘naughty girl staring at hunk to a more personal independent woman image. Diet cokes advertisement can further help the brand to establish a personal relationship with its consumers. 3. Reference Groups 3.1 Reference Groups A reference group is†an an actual or imaginary individual or group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individuals evaluations, aspirations or behaviour†. (Lessig Park1978) In terms of marketing, reference groups are relevant as they can provide important social cues that give insight into particular behavioral trends and associations with buying behavior. These cues extend to form an influence that is termed as ‘social power. Types of social power include information power, referent power, referent power, legitimate power, expert power, reward power and coercive power. Diet coke marketing utilizes the concept of social power in its new campaign using the referent power model. Referent power is the social power of a reference group that motivates a consumer to aspire to emulate the same behavioural patterns portrayed by the individual or group. This also leads to influencing the consumers purchase decisions. (Solomon 2008) 3.2 The Diet Coke Rebellion Diet coke has partnered with Company, a leading womens publication as part of its ‘Hello you campaign to motivate young women to join a rebellion against the pressures they face in a modern world. Company has a readership of 574,000 within the target segment. (NRS 2009) This partnership widens Diet cokes marketing to reach its target audience more effectively. The first issue of the ‘Rebel issue as it is called premiered in May and was designed exclusively keeping the target segments interests in mind. To maintain the campaigns visibility, two more issues were released in July and October. The magazine focused on topics of particular interest to women such as celebrity gossip, beauty tips, fashion etc with the rebel touch. This campaign was also supported by extensive online marketing through the cokezone website as well as getlippy.com. The campaign was designed as a follow-up to the Duffy advert encouraging independent women to break free of all the pressures they faced and to rebel against prejudices present in the modern day world in a positive manner. 3.3 The referent effect on Diet coke target market. Particular reference groups tend to have identifiable characteristics and unique forms of symbolic purchasing behavior, market segmentation in terms of such group characteristics as degree of exclusivity and formality is a useful means of pinpointing appropriate segment (Leigh et al 1992).Therefore the referent power of Diet Cokes target segment is further simplified as common behavioural characteristics are present in their target- female consumers. The cover story was the new face of Diet coke, Duffy the singing sensation and her rebellious ways helping women to identify with her as person more than a celebrity. Furthermore, the magazine established a common ground for the Diet cokes target segment to relate to their rebellious side. Diet coke thus engaged directly with its target audience reflecting its link with their lives with this tie-up. This encourages their consumers to relate to and emulate characteristics of the referent group- the modern women who wants to break free and be themselves. 3.4 Evaluation: In terms of referent power, the tie-up with Company magazine was an ideal choice. High readership of the magazine within Diet Cokes target segment would add to the success of this campaign. Diet cokes efforts to communicate it with its core target consumers will work provided that the PR activities support the marketing. Diet Coke has added value to its image with this partnership appealing to the hedonic side of young women. The cover story with Duffy is an excellent source of referent power especially with her star status as an award winning singer. 4. Motivation Involvement 4.1 Involvement Involvement is the degree of influence that a brand has over a consumer and how it motivates them to form a strong bond with the brand. It can be either cognitive or physical and the factors that affect it differ from one consumer to the other. The degree of involvement i.e. high or low, will determine the motivational drive of a consumer to connect with a brand and its marketing activities. It can be broadly classified into three classifications; Product Involvement, Message- Response Involvement, Purchase Situation Involvement. (Solomon 2008) Message- Response Involvement† refers to the consumers interest in processing marketing communications.† (Solomon: p168) It is also known as advertising involvement. Marketers try to involve consumers to participate in the exchange of marketing information and publicity through various media outlets utilizing this model of involvement. To this effect, they experiment with ways to increase consumer involvement by testing various approaches such as contests, reward schemes and so on. To appeal to the growing number of mobile phone users, marketers use mobile phones as a tool to get them to participate in the advertisement. This method of marketing is known as interactive mobile marketing. The content and method of advertising ranges from the simple text message format to a graphic website interface that consumers can access through internet on their mobile devices. Diet coke has utilized the message-response type of involvement through the use of interactive mobile marketing in its ‘Silver Room campaign. 4.2 Diet coke campaign- Silver Room The ‘Silver Room is an interactive mobile marketing campaign that was designed exclusively for Diet Cokes target segment of female consumers in the age group 16-24. Consumers logging onto the mobile website had access to content such as celebrity news, gossip, fashion, music, films, interactive games and more on their mobile phones. This campaign sought to involve the younger, tech-savvy female generation to connect with a brand whilst offering them content of value to them. The ‘diet Coke Silver Room is fronted by Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi, who is young and fits in well with the target audience.The campaigns content tries to appeal to young females who sought hedonic value in brands. It featured content and promotions born out of several key partnerships such as celebrity news from Heat magazine, fashion tips from Get Lippy, music with singer Gabriella Cilmi, film updates with Fox and Paramount, as well as environmental content from Green Thing. The highlight of its content was the Music Mobcast , a 2 minute voice call that covered music news and information in Gabriella Cilmis voice. The content is updated every three weeks. To access the ‘Mobcast consumers were asked to log onto the site, enter their number and receive a ‘Mobcast call. 4.3 Enhancing the level of Involvement : As Solomon (2008) suggests, marketers must enhance a consumers involvement in the marketing activity by using certain techniques such as appealing to hedonic needs, providing interesting stimuli, including celebrity endorsements or by building a personal relationship with the consumer. 4.4 Evaluation: The silver room campaign by Diet Coke has satisfied all the criteria with respect to enhancing the level of involvement of its target market. It appealed to the hedonic side of its young female consumers by its varied and value-added content. They also partnered with well known brands. The campaign prominently featured Gabriella Cilmi, a well-known female Australian singer who added value being a celebrity that young woman could relate to. This also adds to the image that Diet coke has built around music. Diet coke has also created a forum for their consumers to interact with each other and share their opinion as well as personal experiences thereby building a relationship with the consumers indirectly. The success of this campaign is yet to be seen as it was launched recently. Recommendations: Diet coke is one of the worlds top five best sellers in the non-alcoholic sparkling beverage sector. However, a news story published in the Financial Times has reported that the UK sales of Diet coke have fallen sharply despite their big budget advertising spend to reposition its offering to a female market(2009). It is recommended that Diet Coke must tackle a few issues that could be the problem behind this. A quick look at the figures comparing the number of unique visitors to cokezone- the UK website and dietcoke.com-its American counterpart has painted a dismal picture. It has been found that site traffic in to the cokezone website was considerably lesser than its American counterpart (refer appendix 2). It is recommended that an online portal designed for women in UK should be started to engage Diet cokes core consumer target. This would help them to relate better to the brands marketing activities. It would gradually enhance the involvement of the target market with the product. It is also recommended that brand should connect more personally with the consumer with the help of direct sales promotions, events for women. Diet coke in the US provides consumers with value added functions like cook shows, celebrity events on a regular basis on its website. It is recommended that a similar innovative campaign should be run in UK particularly appealing to the women here. An extension of the Silver room would be in the best interests of the brand. It has been noted in my research that silverroom.co.uk and dietcoke.co.uk still remains unofficial and unused. It is recommended that Diet Coke in UK must go beyond regular advertising and create another phenomenon like the ‘hunk advertisement. Conclusion: Coca-Cola is a global behemoth and the largest beverage company in the world (Interbrand 2009). This report has been directed towards analyzing and evaluating the aspects of consumer behaviour in relation to marketing. The report has scrutinized data with regard to Diet Coke, its main competitors such as Diet Pepsi, marketing activities and its response. Diet Coke spends extensively on its marketing and has created many a loyal fan amongst its consumer base worldwide. The new marketing strategy is sound but requires higher brand involvement from its chosen target consumers. Females consumers today are not entirely stereotypical, evolve continuously and not all women are lured by the idea of a rebellion. Diet Coke has to work on reworking its current marketing activities and attempt to connect to consumers more personally.

Victorian Furniture of the Middle Class :: Victorian Era

Victorian Furniture of the Middle Class According to the Middle Class Victorians, less was definitely not more. In fact, in the case of the Victorians, the more ostentatious and packed a house was, the higher the status of that family. A house in the Victorian Era would most likely be cluttered until nothing else could fit. Not only was there clutter, but the rooms were "quite dark with busily patterned wallpaper (Victorian Home Life Changes)" and lots of gold garnishments. Fashions of Furniture and Their Influences Beginning in the 1830's, the first influences of Victorian furniture were from the English architect, Augustus Pugin. These were of the "Neo-gothic Design (Sometimes More is More)" characterized by dark woods, pointed arches, trefoils and other Gothic cathedral carvings. By incorporating previous influences from cathedrals, furniture represented morality in the Victorians lives (Sometimes More is More). A trefoil looks like a three-leaf clover and is found in wooden furniture. By the 1850's, a new inspiration came from the "Rococo Revival." This was a more "romantic form (Sometimes More is More). " It was characterized by "swirling lines, natural motifs like fruit and flowers, and dark woods like mahogany, rosewood and black walnut (Sometimes More is More)." The design came from France and included the use of not so dark wood and looked more natural. The Rococo Revival ended around 1870. Meanwhile, during that time period, around 1860 until 1880, the Renaissance Revival took place. Instead of having expensive, richly made furniture, the Victorians merely began placing expensive additions to inexpensive, poorly made furniture. During the 1850s, mass production of carpeting took place as well as patterned wallpaper (Sometimes More is More.) This allowed the Victorians to decorate their houses with even more colors and clutter. Who Decorated the House and What Were Some Typical Pieces of Furniture Overstuffed divans and couches were a staple in most middle class houses (Furniture).

I Think Im Pretty Sure I Remember What You Did Last Summer :: English Literature Essays

I Think I'm Pretty Sure I Remember What You Did Last Summer After we ran over that old lady in Diego’s car, well things haven’t been the same. I still have nightmares of her chasing me with that handbag. I told them to go to the police but Diego didn’t want to be put up for manslaughter. I can’t get the image out of my mind. I knew we shouldn’t have dumped her body in the Port River. If Luke weren’t so pissed that night he wouldn’t have distracted Diego. Ben’s not the same anymore, he keeps on having these mental fits. I feel sorry for his parents, I mean the old lady even killed Michael for gods sake! Alastair’s been acting really weird too. Every time he sees an old lady he goes absolutely crazy. Anyway a good thing happened the other day, it was a far cry from all those murders that old bitch committed, she should be dead I mean I shot her in the head five times before pushing her in front of that semi-trailer. Anyway, the good thing is a radio station rang up and said that I’d won a trip to Kangaroo Island and that I could take five mates along. So let me see†¦I took Alastair, Ben, Diego, Luke and Jason. We all went in Diego’s car. Alastair sat up front, Ben, Luke and I were in the back and we tied Jason to the roof racks with the entire luggage and Adam wanted to come so he ran behind us. We deliberately took the long way. When we arrived it was fantastic, I reckon it was a five star shack. Adam died of a heart attack when we got there so we burnt his body and pissed on his ashes, you know†¦to make sure he didn’t come back to life and kill us all. Anyway we met the bloke who owned the shack, his name was Bill Oldladison and he was a pretty nice guy. He let us borrow his fishing gear and all. That night Luke decided to raise the alcohol level in his blood so he reached into his bag of booze and sucked on a bottle of Jim Beam. Alastair got hungry and asked Diego to go to the local pizza bar and get two party size pizza’s but Diego didn’t want to go because he was waiting for some soccer show about Boca Juniors to start on SBS so he gave the keys to Luke.

The Causes of Aggression :: The Frustration-Aggression Model

Aggression is difficult to define, it is a complex phenomenon, and depending upon the context the term can be made to carry either positive or negative connotations, it can be attacking behavior that may be both self-protective and self-assertive or to the infliction of injury toward oneself or toward others, to the total destruction of others. Is aggression biologically determined or the product of learning and environmental influences? This essay, will consider instinctive theory, the frustration - aggression hypothesis, and social learning theory. It should then be possible to draw a conclusion to see if any or all of the theories discussed are the cause of aggression. Brain disorders, hormonal and chemical imbalances, environmental factors, such as heat, noise, air pollution and overcrowding, although contribute to the causes of aggression will not be discussed during the course of this essay. No universally adopted definition of aggression exists, for the purpose of this discussion; the definition of Gross will be used. Gross defines aggression as: - "The intentional infliction of some form of harm on others" (Gross page 444) Freud proposed that aggression is an instinctive biological urge. According to Freud this instinct, is made up of the libido (pleasure) and "Thanatos" (the death wish) (pain). This basic instinct is present in the Id from birth, at first the aggression is relatively uncontrolled, but with t he development of the Ego and superego it becomes channeled into socially acceptable behavior If these impulses are not released periodically in safe ways, they soon reach dangerous levels capable of producing acts of violence. Sometimes it is released in the form of physical or verbal abuse against another, (where the anger is displaced onto another). Sometimes the aggressive impulse is turned inward and produces self - punishment action, even suicide. The best that can be hoped for, according to Freud, is that aggressive impulses will be "channeled into socially acceptable forms." such as football, sport etc. (Bernstein et al page 715). However, this theory does not explain why some people are aggressive and others are not, and if aggression is dissipated into sport, why is there football violence and violence at other sporting events? Lorenz, like Freud believed that aggressive energy builds up in the individual, and eventually has to be discharged in some way. Lorenz's states that aggression is the "fighting instinct" in man, and that man is naturally aggressive. This instinct developed during the course of evolution because it yielded many benefits, for example, fighting serves to disperse populations over a wide area, ensuring maximum use of resources.

Community Health Department Investigation

The Health Department received a letter notifying them of a possible health problem in regards to students at Truman and Jackson Middle Schools. It is my duties as a member of the investigative team to find out if there was an increase of absences and for what classes. In looking at the charts it would appear that the absences occurred for the band classes at Truman and Jackson Middle Schools on May 20th. The chart shows an absent rate of 33% for Truman and 25% for Jackson (â€Å"Independent School District 12 Intranet†). According to the letter from the principal at Truman Middle School she is concerned that a flu outbreak could be the cause of the student’s absences but there is also information from the Health Department inspections that shows restaurants with violations such as: sanitation, food storage, and food preparation. My first hypothesis would be that the students from Truman and Jackson were absent from school on the 20th because they ate at one of the restaurants and caught food poisoning. Several of the students had similar symptoms such as: diarrhea, fever, and vomiting which kept them from attending school. My second hypothesis would be that the students from the two schools came in contact with another which could have lead them to transmitting the flu to one another. This would be supported by the fact that on the calendar of events the students attended the Battle of the Bands on May 19th, which was a day before the absences started taking place. There are six testable questions that could help with the investigation: how close are Truman and Jackson schools, did other band students from Kennedy and Roosevelt report the same symptoms, was there direct contact between the students at Truman and Jackson, were the band students from Kennedy and Roosevelt in contact with the students from Truman and Jackson, was the reported illnesses from students who played the same instrument, and how close are Kennedy and Roosevelt to Truman and Jackson. The following statement: â€Å"The Brentwood Indians basketball team lost the state championship because there is bad stuff in the stars happening with Mars in Aquarius†, is not a suitable hypothesis. In order for â€Å"bad stuff† to be tested we would need to know what exactly it is that they are referring to as â€Å"bad stuff†.

Workplace Violence in the Workplace Sector: A Literature Review

Workplace violence is an emerging phenomenon that should be investigated. The nature of such violence and how it is affecting the workplace. The nature of workplace violence, the different methods being used to do it and how it affects the workers and their relationship with each other should be looked into. Historical Context of Workplace Violence V. Bowie provides an overview of workplace violence by looking at the history of corporations and companies in the past thirty years. The material he produced gives the researcher important insights on the development of trends, controversies and issues that occur during the past thirty years. These trends were connected with social as well as technological developments in the society. In addition to this, he also uses research data and findings on various disciplines to provide an explanatory background for these emerging trends. Bowie’s work provides an important historical context of workplace arrangements and the instances that give rise to workplace violence. Furthermore, Bowie provided a typology of workplace violence which is composed of (1) intrusive, (2) consumer, (3) relationship, and (4) organizational. His typology can be the basis of further research in the field and will give interesting insights . Probably the most important contribution of Bowie to the study under consideration is his identification of key issues in workplace violence and how it affects the whole organization and the individuals who experience such violence. Of the trends that he identified, an important component that should be investigated at this time is cyber-violence. Given the widespread use of e-mail, blogging, instant messaging and other internet platforms, workplace violence is also being perpetuated and workers are being degraded, harassed, manipulated and humiliated. Another important aspect of workplace violence that could expand on Bowie’s work is by studying the way that older employees are being treated. Given the large number of young professionals waiting to work, these older employees are being harassed so they would resign and give way to younger workers . Bowie’s work helps situate this research study being undertaken in regards to the developments in the emerging trends and issues in workplace violence. With the framework of this study, some recommendations shall be made on how to deal with these emerging trends and issues. The work of Johnson and Indvik further provides an important historical backdrop on the emergence of workplace violence as a field of study and interest in corporate culture and human relations within organizations. The nineties is of particular interest to Johnson and Indvik. They noted the rise in both intensity and number of incidences of workplace violence. The two researchers analyzed the causes of this violence, the perceived costs of workplace violence and its impact on the organization as a whole. Among the causes that they noted, emotional problems are the first on their list. These emotional problems may stem from deep-seated issues in their personalities and developmental stage or it may be related to issues of change in their lifestyles. Abuse, is most often experienced first in the family and this is then transferred to other persons in the workplace or in the family. Another important cause of violence is the perceived difficulties in the economy, the laying off of workers and the inability of workers to deal with such changes in their lives. Johnson and Indvik’s approach to dealing with their study is that they conducted first a study on the possible causes of violence in an individual worker. From that, they also describe the workplace situation and how it contributes to the development of a workplace conducive for violence. After going through this, the authors also studied the role of management and human resources officers of the organization in the emergence of workplace violence. One of the important concepts the authors put forward is that there must have been negligent hiring because persons that are emotionally and mentally disturbed. Another area of negligence would be on the supervision of employees. If there is effective supervision and regular consultation with the managers and the employees, workplace violence would be mitigated. The authors also outlined several prevention strategies by dealing with all the areas of the causes of violence that they identified. The historical context in the article of Johnson and Indvik as well as their analysis of individual workers, the workplace and the role of management in workplace violence make it a very valuable resource in understanding the aggressors, the nature and characteristics of workplace violence, and planning strategies that could significantly reduce the incidence and occurrence of workplace violence. Is there a Need for Violence? Is there a need for violence? John Keane seems to answer yes to this important question. History is replete with violence. There are wars, killing fields, concentration camps, assassinations and other forms of violence. It seems that violence is hard-wired into the consciousness of every human being. Keane therefore embarks on a journey to reflect on the meanings of such violence and their ethical and political significance. Although his work is not totally related to workplace violence, Keane’s ideas and reflections on the paradoxes of violence can have important implications on the workplace. He has a very interesting insight that might apply on the reaction of people who are always perceived as victims of workplace violence. Most of the time, keeping quiet and resignation is the usual reaction to violence in the workplace. Keane says that this kind of passive reaction to violence should be reconsidered. Naive pacifism for Keane is an anachronism and will only create a condition a cycle of violence. When no one resists senseless violence, then it will become part of the culture. It will also drive away the people who are continuously subjected to violence. He calls for a rethinking on the approach of today’s society to violence. While it may be true that peace and lack of conflict is highly desirable, those who inflict violence should be apprehended. That can only be done if the victims of violence who want to preserve civility will become courageous enough to stand up for their own rights and stand up against the perpetrators of violence. Although not directly related to workplace violence, Keane’s reflections have much to do in stopping violence in the workplace and helping victims speak out for themselves and even take active means to counter violence. By doing so, the organization will empower its employees so that they can stop workplace violence if they see it anywhere in the organization. Workplace violence may be looked at as an act between two people. There are instances, however, that more people may be involved. Workplace violence is essentially an interpersonal incident. The root cause of such violence needs to be identified in order for the proper intervention strategies to be devised. Cavell and Malcolm identified anger and aggression in the workplace as the leading causes of violence in the workplace. Through the collection of articles that they collected, they explore the sources of anger in the workplace and, more importantly, in the personal lives of those who go to work at their offices. In a rather interesting twist in their argument, they said that anger and aggression are but normal in the lives of people. What matters is how to manage these emotions. With good management, these emotions could also be put to good use. If left unchecked, however, they can wreak havoc at the workplace, leaving people hurting and in danger. The authors looked at psychological explanations of anger and aggression and how different people express these emotions. More than that, however, they also explored the different means of controlling anger effectively such as asking the help of anger management professionals and counselors. In the book that they authored, they also developed a helpful model in treating anger and aggression. As the contemporary workplace becomes more complex and difficult, so shall the safety and security concerns be foremost at the minds of managers and the people who enforce laws related to security. With this in mind, the volume contributed by Cavell & Malcolm is a big help for professionals who are seeking to neutralize the negative effects of anger and aggression in the workplace and work towards the channeling of these emotions to creativity that in the long run will contribute to the growth of the organization. The book also offered solid guidelines on how to help employees who are suffering from bouts of anger, aggression and even depression so that they can make the best out of their situation and contribute to the improvement of organizational practices and development. Types of Workplace Violence. Physical violence is no the only criteria in determining workplace violence. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) came up with four different types of workplace violence, which could also be helpful to this study in coming up with such typology of workplace violence. The first one is criminal intent which may be rooted in unresolved conflicts and deep-seated frustrations and emotional and mental disturbance. Additionally, criminal intent may be inflicted by people outside the workplace who do have criminal intent such as robbery, homicide or murder and rape among others Secondly, workplace violence may also emanate from customer-client relationships and vice versa. There are overbearing customers who heap abuses on the workers on duty. These customers are usually very impatient and they are passing on some violent remarks and actions onto the workers of the organization. The third type is violence that takes place within the organization through the relationships of the workers. This type of violence is inflicted by one employee to another employee. Such type of workplace violence may occur because of professional rivalry, underperformance or lackluster service, and even due to circumstances fostered by the workplace itself. The last type of workplace violence comes from personal relationships. This type of violence comes from dysfunctional relationships in and out of the office. Most of the time, however, relationship problems such as domestic problems, and frustrations problems come from outside of the organization. The NIOSH publication also identified several research needs for workplace violence. These research areas are very important to this study so that the researcher would know what gaps in the workplace violence research will it fill in and which of these research needs it fulfills. (1) The first research need is the establishment of a national agenda and strategy for workplace violence. This would help more researchers and practitioners learn about the theories and the progresses made in understanding the issue. (2) There should also be an evaluation research. This would also facilitate a better understanding on the part of organizations the intervention needs in regards to workplace violence. 3) The definitions of workplace violence should be consistent. This would enable organizations and practitioners to gather consensus on what workplace violence truly means and what its effects are. (4) Help ensure reporting at all levels. One of the more important challenges of workplace violence is reporting. When people start talking, then its occurrence would come to the fore and it would be dealt with more easily. (5) Lastly, economics research should also be conducted to determine the actual costs of workplace violence and the benefits of investing on this area of the organization. These items in the research agenda helps the researcher in looking at workplace violence comprehensively. Indeed, there are a number of research points that should be undertaken by organizations and by individual researchers to deal with the problems of workplace violence. Although this set of research points and agenda are arbitrary at best and may be subject to change in the coming months and years, researchers will have known what important areas of research still lack studies. When researchers put their resources together in studying these areas, workplace violence could then be best understood and prevented. A Look into the Lethal Employee’s Mind One possible way of understanding workplace violence and preventing it is looking into the mindset of violent employees and the kind of motivations and attitudes that they have. Kelleher sought to map and create a profile of the mind of the employee with the propensity for perpetuating violence. Through the case studies that he provides in his book, he will be able to give a full picture of the motivations and the tendencies of the employee who commits violence. The author takes a look at the crimes and violence committed at the workplace. He then traces back the event that happened, the experiences of the lethal employee that led to violence or homicide. The different profiles featured in the book are very useful in identifying the mindset and the propensity for violence of employees. The characteristics described by Kelleher could be used as a benchmark for looking at possible violent offenders. By bringing in behavioral science models and research findings, he creates a profile of the possible violent employee. This then helps organizations in planning and creating strategies for dealing with and preventing workplace violence. Kelleher succeeds in helping researchers, managers and practitioners in looking at the profile of the potentially lethal employee. One of the gaps in research, however, is the recent findings in research about workplace violence. Such gap will be filled by this study by looking at recent research studies and findings of practitioners in the field. Kelleher’s framework fits into a systemic view of workplace violence. The profile of the potentially lethal employee could be related to the difficulties, issues and frustrations experienced by the employee in the workplace. Such profile will also be looked into alongside the profile of potential victims and the organizational culture. With these elements of the system, a better understanding of workplace violence could be arrived at. Trends, Issues and Strategies in Workplace Violence Kelleher’s book was essential in understanding the lethal employee’s mindset and profile. The gaps in the recent trends and issues are supplied by Bowie, Fisher and Cooper . The collection they authored presents a number of relevant statistics concerning workplace violence in the United States. Since their book was released only in 2005, they offer some of the most recent statistics and findings. More than that, the authors also looked at data from different companies and organizations all over the United States to present an overview of what is going on in most organizations. They present an important picture of what is going on. They explored individual factors that contribute to workplace violence such as domestic problems, a recurring cause in most of the workplace violence literature consulted in this study. They also identified reasons and ways in which organizations can take care of workers who are in risky situations. The psychological stress and workplace frustrations should be supplemented by support groups composed of the management and fellow workers. Such a caring environment can help reform a violence-prone organization and defuse the emotions and frustrations of workers. A rather surprising topic that Bowie, Fisher and Cooper addressed is the relation of terrorism to workplace violence. As the threat of terrorism looms in the United States, organizations should always be on the lookout for means of responding effectively to terrorist attacks and violence. The collection is one of the first books to offer an in-depth analysis of cyber-harassment, how workers and managers alike use email, instant messengers and other cyber-technologies to harass and perpetuate violence in the workplace. The bullies in the workplace are looking for ways to continue displaying their bravado and their arrogance and the internet has also become their tool for this purpose. After noting the trends and issues in workplace violence statistics and research, the authors provided a synthesis and a prospectus of what will happen in the next few years and how organizations can best counter workplace violence. There are a number of technological tools available at the disposal of managers and workers. Yet, the importance of training and creating an organizational culture that does not tolerate is still one of the most important activities that organizations should undertake. A researcher and observer who has an understanding of workplace violence in the past thirty years or so will be delighted with this as they get a glimpse of recent developments in this area of research and how the next few years might yield new trends, issues and strategies in dealing with violence in the workplace. Declining Violent Crime in the Workplace The work of Duhart through the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report supplements the historical context provided by Bowie. Duhart’s work deals with the statistics on violent crime on the workplace in the past decade, particularly from 1993 to 1999. According to her study the number of violent crimes committed against people on work duty declined by 44% during the period covered by the study. Nonetheless, workplace violence still accounted for 18% of the total violent crimes committed during this period. This is still a rather large number of incidences. Such crimes include sexual harassment and even rape, robbery and simple and grave assault. At first glance, the work of Duhart may seem to refute the claims of Johnson and Indvik but a closer look would reveal that Duhart’s statistics concern only the violent crimes directed towards workers and employees while that of Johnson and Indvik recognize workplace violence as encompassing all forms of verbal and physical abuse directed to workers and employees alike. The statistics of Duhart provide important demographic information about the victims of workplace violence. Women, as much as men, are the subject of such violence. Among the variables she explored are the type of crime and gender, the occupations where such violence occur, the role of race on violence, and the kind of workplace where the violence occurred. In addition to providing a profile of the victims, the report also takes a look into the characteristics of the offenders, their motivation for committing violence, and in worst cases, homicide. The profiles of the victims and the offenders are of particular interest for this study. Although such profile may be incomplete, it serves as a guide in understanding the situations of victims, offenders and other factors in the workplace that contribute to violence. A contemporary study on the topic of workplace violence may build upon these description and statistics to further analyze the trends and issues that are emerging in this phenomenon. Neuman and Baron agree that the number of violent crimes directed against workers and employees have declined in the past few years. In fact, the occurrence of extremely violent acts of aggression is a rare event in the workplace. This means that physical aggression is not really the criteria for workplace violence as echoed by other writers and researchers in this field. Although extreme violent aggression is rare in the workplace, other forms of violence and abuse are present in the workplace. In this case, such violence has very important impact on the organization and the individuals working within it. Neuman and Baron presented a study on the frequency of violence in the workplace and the impact of this violence on the culture of the organization. More importantly, for this study, the authors presented a framework of analysis in understanding workplace violence. Their framework is built on contemporary theories of violence and the motivation for aggression of individuals. By doing so, they are able to update existing theories and understanding on human aggression. This makes their work relevant to the organizational culture of the twenty-first century. Through the framework that they developed, they explain different reasons and context where violence may arise in the workplace. They were concerned primarily with the motivations of individuals in committing violence, that is why they did not focus much in looking at the workplace that may give rise to violence. Nonetheless, they still looked at the impact of the workplace on the individuals and how that can affect their performance and propensity for aggression. Based on this understanding, Neuman and Baron also provided various principles and strategies in dealing with workplace violence. Perhaps the only limitation in their analysis is the way that they focused too much on the individual and did not look at the workplace as a system that can also give rise to incidences of violence. Aggression at Work and in Schools Braverman, Galasso and Marsh edited together a collection of articles dealing with the issue of violence in the workplace and in the schools. The articles in their collection probes deeply in the phenomenon of workplace violence, the nuances of its definition, the instances when and where it happens and takes a look at recent research, methodologies, frameworks and studies that are related to the topic at hand. Braverman uses the Systems Model in analyzing violence in the workplace and in the schools. This is an important idea as the systems model is a multi-disciplinary approach and looks at the relationships of different elements in the system. By developing this model, Braverman is helping researchers and human resources practitioners in understanding violence and analyzing the corporate or school system. In doing so, they can readily identify some of the factors that contribute to workplace violence. This systems-based model in looking at workplace violence can be used by this study in understanding different factors affecting such kind of violence. The individual articles in the collection also help identify the personality of victims and of aggressors. The workplace full of emotional abuse is also described as well as the different attitudes and behaviors that point to aggressive behavior. These elements of the system are then tied up together neatly into the systems-based model. Clearly, the systems-based model has very important explanatory utility, which this research project could use. Such an approach helps in the development of a framework of study that is not fragmentary and isolated. Rather, it helps look at the issue from a holistic perspective and looks at the whole organization and how it can breed violence in the workplace. Indeed, if the organization is filled always with stress, frustration and increasing pressure, then it might become a breeding ground for workplace violence. This idea of an organization that can become a breeding ground for violence is further explored by Denenberg and Braverman. By focusing on the workplace, they looked at different factors and elements that could lead people to become stressed out and commit violence. The authors point out that unresolved conflicts and frustrations due to employees who fail all contribute to stress and the potential for violence. If this is the case, then there would be a dysfunctional workplace. This concept of dysfunctional workplace is important in taking a deeper probe into the organizational culture and relationships of people within the organization. Although there may be dysfunctional employees, it is best to focus on the dysfunctional workplace that cannot deal with difficult employees. To illustrate their point, the authors used qualitative strategies by providing 14 case studies and stories of workplace violence that actually occurred. Interestingly, these 14 stories are rich source of qualitative data for the analysis of workplace violence. Through these stories, the authors identified several factors that contribute to violence in the workplace such as racial tensions, changes in the corporate culture, being laid off the worker’s pool, and other personal stress such as domestic problems. Braverman and Denenberg then analyzed these sources of violence and outlined several strategies on how to best deal with such violence. They cited the need to make changes to the organizational culture, the importance of correct and timely information dissemination and the creation of a violence prevention plan. The government regulations and guidelines can also be found in the volume, making it a comprehensive guide to understanding and preventing workplace violence. This study could benefit from the book of Braverman and Denenberg by looking at the dysfunctional workplace instead of just looking at individual workers who commit violence. Their analysis can complement the analysis of victims and offenders and will give a comprehensive view of the occurrence of workplace violence. When this comprehensive view is taken, the trouble spots and areas of concern will slowly emerge and prevention becomes more easily done. The Seriousness of Workplace Violence Workplace violence is really an important concern in organizations and companies all over the world. Yet, a proper understanding of what it is all about should be arrived at. In this regard, Vandenbos and Bulatao explore the definitions of workplace violence as well as its scope. They explored several definitions of workplace violence from those who claim that only physical assault may be considered as violence to those who are more comprehensive in their view. By taking a look at the violence directed against workers, they were drawn to look at the definition of a workplace and what characterizes it. The focus of Vandenbos and Bulatao, however, is workplace homicide. The occurrence of this extreme form of workplace violence is indeed alarming and should be addressed immediately. Even though that is the case, the work of Bulatao and Vandenbos provide an important insight into the nature and definition of violence and a description of the workplace. The definitions of workplace violence that they provided help keep the debates in the research topic alive. Each definition has its own strengths and weaknesses. As they proceeded to synthesize the definitions, an understanding of the workplace becomes clearer. It is the venue where people with different backgrounds, emotional makeup and stress levels interact together. There are certain factors and elements that contribute to the eruption of conflicts and violence. They resonated the idea of Braverman and Denenberg that the workplace could become dysfunctional and will create a situation favorable for violence. The rest of the collection that the Bulatao and Vandenbos edited also deals with various details of workplace violence. The various risk factors and attitude problems in the workplace are explored in the articles found in the collection. They also enumerated several high-risk occupations that tend to create a situation of violence. These occupations such as nursing, the police, social workers in depressed areas and slums, in federal agencies, construction industries and even in jail, are good places to start looking for further research and developments in workplace violence. The stories found in these occupations are also good sources of first-hand examples of workplace violence. These stories could then serve to bolster arguments and plans concerning the prevention of workplace violence, which should be the aim of any well-meaning organization. The nature of workplace violence is further explored by Raymond B. Flannery Jr. in Workplace Violence . His book is an introductory course on workplace violence. He discusses the nature of workplace violence and the different sources where it might originate. He starts with a description of the victim and the ordeal that he or she goes through. Violence is always an uncomfortable affair for the victim and responding to it is difficult. He then provides a description of the workplace and cites factors that contribute to the development of violence in the workplace. A description of aggressors then follows and how the inflict violence on their co-workers. Such descriptions follow the description of other authors dealing with workplace violence. Most of the time, stress, personality disorders, and the level of frustration are some of the causes of violence and aggression. The work of Flannery is neatly divided into two parts. The first one deals with the workplace, the victim, the aggressors and the different conditions that affect violence in the workplace. The second one deals with strategies and mechanisms towards the prevention of violence in the workplace. This book is an important introductory work on the importance of dealing with workplace violence. As a reference book for this study, however, it would be best used in conjunction with other introductory work on the subject so that the researcher would get a deeper understanding of workplace violence and its occurrence. Violence in the Workplace: Telling and Reporting Violence in the workplace is a sensitive matter. That is why a lot of people choose not to confess and tell anyone about their experiences at work. This poses a serious threat in the organization because violence continues with or without reporting. If no action is done to correct this matter, then eventually such workplace violence will become a part of the corporate culture and the overall situation of the organization will worsen. On the part of employees who experience violence, the tendency for them is to resign, especially if the perpetrator of violence belongs to the management. Bryant and Cox conducted a study in Australia concerning the occurrence of violence. They found out that in times of organizational change, some violence may be committed to the employees. Such violence may come from fellow workers or from the management. The researchers found a link between violence and resignation and say that resignation is usually seen as a way to get away from the discomfort and difficulties brought about by the violence. The researchers used a qualitative approach in dealing with their subject matter and sought to understand the thought processes and the decisions that employees who experience violence go through. Resignation is clearly a choice for most of them yet they are forced into it because of the experience of violence in the workplace. If violence became a means of forcing an employee to resign, then there is something totally wrong with the culture of the organization. The stories that Bryant and Cox portrayed in their study are a rich source of anecdotal evidence concerning violence in the workplace and how employees and workers deal with the difficulties it brings. An important component of their study is the recommendation that organizational change should make provisions with the management of conflict and of violence in the workplace. Management of Workplace Violence After understanding the nature of workplace violence, the factors affecting it and the conditions in the workplace and the society that contribute to its proliferation, it would be necessary for supervisors and members of the senior management to work towards the effective management and prevention of violence in the workplace. Without such knowledge and awareness, the workplace might just degenerate into the playground of workplace bullies and aggressors. Managers, by training, are concerned with productivity, efficiency and effectiveness at work. Most of them are not truly trained to be counselors. Most of the time, they do not know how to deal with aggression and causes of trauma in the workplace. This makes workplace violence more difficult. Although workplace violence is not the only cause of trauma in the workplace, managers and supervisors should be equipped with the basic knowledge and skills in handling traumatic stress in the workplace. After all, the most valuable resource of the organization is its people. If their well-being is compromised, then the production and service process will be compromised, too. The United States Office of Personnel Management came up with a Manager’s Handbook on handling trauma in the workplace. The handbook makes use of recent researchers in the field and the proven best practices on dealing with traumatic stress in the workplace. The guide is very practical. It provides a brief introduction of traumatic situations whether they are caused by natural disasters, accidents, crime or aggression in the workplace. Although counseling is not really part of the job description of a manager, listening to hurting officemate is very important because such hurts and frustrations may affect the morale of the workplace and the overall productivity of the organization. In addition to this, the guidebook also addresses suicidal concerns and those employees who are victims of workplace assault. The tips offered in the document are very practical and can be easily implemented by managers across different industries. Although the guide book does not dwell too much on workplace violence, what it provides is the human side of dealing with trauma in the workplace. Dealing with workplace aggression is difficult enough. With the support of the manager and colleagues, at least, individuals can more easily deal with their trauma. Management is indeed becoming a big part in ensuring that the workplace is safe and free from violence. This is why Chenier argued that the workplace is becoming a battleground for violence in the society. This is the reason why the author believes that employers should implement effective means of protecting their employees against violence on the job. Such strategy for preventing and protecting from violence includes the establishment of clear guidelines and policies, a crisis management team and the Employee Assistance Programs where people can report any incident without fear. It would also be necessary to modify hiring practices to ensure the emotional and mental health of prospective employees. Chenier also argues for the identification of possible sources of violence in the workplace such as firings, downsizing of the company, stress, longer hours of work and even domestic violence. He also enumerated occupations with high incidence of violence. This is why managers and workers alike should be involved together in preventing the occurrence of violence in the workplace. Even if managers have the major responsibility in ensuring safety and prevention of violence, employees should be involved so as to more effectively recognize sources of violence at their level. Chenier’s approach however seems to resemble the more reactive response in the spectrum because he argues for heightened security in the workplace, better background checking and assessment of prospective applicants. This is an important move to ensure that offenders are kept at bay. Yet, a more important strategy would be the cultivation of a corporate culture that does not tolerate workplace violence. When the employees have an excellent grasp of the importance of maintaining safety in the workplace, then the need for intense security might not arise. Resonating the idea of Chenier, Rew and Ferns, tested the government-sponsored NHS Zero Tolerance Zone Campaign, which mandates employers to provide safety measures to employees so that risks related to work can be mitigated. Health care practitioners tend to be affected by workplace violence yet they are not alone. As such, both employers and workers and even customers have roles to play in promoting safety and preventing violence in the workplace. Although the measures to prevent violence are important, Rew and Ferns highlighted the importance of training employees on how to deal with workplace violence. Such training should include conflict management and how to deal with stress. They also pointed out the importance of self-esteem and confidence in dealing with conflict and violence. The two researchers say that long before a conflict escalates into a potential violent confrontation, there should be intervention from management so that the conflict could be properly resolved. Without such conflict-resolution strategy, the safety of the workplace will be compromised and violence may become common occurrence. The Center for Mental Health Services prepared a report on the prevention of workplace violation, putting emphasis on several ways of prevention and the role of the government in prevention. The report identified several areas of concern where prevention efforts should be centered. The first one is the workplace culture and the overall way that they conduct operations and relate with each other. Another area is training and how the organization develops consciousness about safety and workplace violence prevention. Established rules and performance reviews are also important areas in preventing workplace violence. With established rules, people would know where they stand and how they should perform within the organization. In addition to rules, clear policy on layoff and terminating employees would also help defuse negative emotions and frustrations. Prohibiting drugs and alcohol for the employees is of course part of the safety measures of any organization. When there are indications that an employee is a potential dangerous worker, then the help of mental health specialists and counselors should be involved. Since racial and ethnic issues also tend to be a source of violence and conflict, then diversity is another important matter in ensuring safety and cultivating a culture of safety. In all cases, there should always be security measures because of uncertainty in the workplace. The government is also deeply involved in ensuring workplace safety and private organizations should engage their assistance in their efforts to curb workplace violence. The government helps organizations with opportunities and resources in creating policies and training in violence. Furthermore, government agencies are always working on studies and descriptions on what constitute a safe and secure workplace. The government can also release legislations and other policies governing the security of the workplace. As such, organizations should comply with these requirements. With effective government intervention, organizations can help their employees and the overall situation of their workplace in order for workplace violence to be prevented. More than just prevention, there should also be a move to establish a culture of tolerance and communication within the organization. Workplace violence could not be dealt with only by an effective strategy created by the management in consultation with the workers who are the first ones to feel the brunt of workplace violence. With the assistance of the government, they will be able to effectively combat workplace violence. Prevention is Still Better than Cure Averting violence in the workplace is definitely better than waiting for it to happen. Prevention is still the best solution in dealing with workplace violence. Managing the occurrence of violence is complicated and might lead to a number of inconveniences for both management and the workers. Prevention therefore is still the best policy. With this mind, Braverman authored a book on Preventing Workplace Violence that would provide guidance to employers and practitioners in the field. His guidebook is similar to the one released by the United States Office of Personnel Management but it has a more in-depth analysis of workplace violence and what the different elements of this violence are. Although prevention is the main concern of Braverman, he still provides a basic understanding of what workplace violence is, what its causes are, and how to spot possible violent employees. He also asks managers and practitioners to be cautious in labeling people because it might turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. The strength of Braverman’s book is that he relies less on theory and more on practical experiences and case studies of violence in the workplace. In doing so, he succeeds in presenting the seriousness of the matter and that managers should move towards preventing it to save time, resources and emotional trauma in the workplace. Braverman also dealt with the dilemma of most managers who have to confront workplace violence. Most of them feel afraid and unable to deal with the situation. That is why he offers good, solid advice to them on how to deal with it. The situations he cited such as a person with domestic violence who comes to work, as well as frustrated persons with lots of emotional baggage. As he asks manager to prevent workplace violence, he also highlights the legal duties of managers to their employees in ensuring safety and security. Surprisingly, Braverman did not subscribe to the importance of the profile of a potentially violent worker. He argues that such profiling might just degenerate to witch hunts within the organization, which would be counter-productive and would only destroy the organizational culture further. Although there are instances that management and the workers do not agree with each other especially in benefits and workplace practices, workplace violence transcends these issues and collaboration and participation between management and workers are essential to dealing with it. What the management and the workers need to understand is that they are all affected by workplace violence and they could not afford to be antagonistic to each other when the safety and security of everyone is at stake. He concludes his book by outlining seven practical steps in preventing workplace violence. These steps are rooted on partnership between management and workers, on a good understanding of workplace violence and its implications on the organization, on a sense of community in the workplace; on the systems in place within the organization; and a sensitivity on the welfare of people—both the victim, the perpetrator and everyone else in the workplace. His book is very useful in constructing a comprehensive plan and strategy in dealing with workplace violence. Another author who dealt with the prevention of workplace violence is Marianne Minor . She dwelt briefly with a basic understanding of what workplace violence is but she did not present a sweeping overview. Such sweeping overview of what workplace violence is may be provided by the other books on this literature review. Of great significance are the practical tips that she offers for the management of organizations. She outlined several elements of violence prevention in the workplace. It is important for the management to assemble a team task to handle and manage crisis situations in the workplace. Moreover, the management should have a steady stream of professional advisors. This helps the advisors and the management team to create a crisis management plan, anticipate different situations where violence may arise. A violence protection policy is also essential so as to protect the workers and the organization. The management should also keep a ready reference of the applicable laws and rules that can help the organization in preventing violence. She also wrote about the importance of ensuring that the employment and hiring practices of the organization encourage the selection of the best candidates on the job. In preventing violence in the workplace, she gave pointers on recognizing the early signs of violence so that they can be solved. In these cases, counseling and coaching may be provided. But if such intervention practices do not work, then disciplinary action may be implemented, provided that this is within the policy of the organization on workplace violence. Minor’s set of strategies in preventing and dealing with workplace violence is solid and very practical. She does not dwell so much on theory but on practice. This can then help organizations and management to establish concrete strategies. The only danger, however, is that management may see this as a one-size-fits-all policy, which may become more detrimental to the organization. Nonetheless, the strategies are a good starting point for any organization intent on protecting the safety and the security of their workplace. The organization should look, however, for the right fit of policies and strategies in coping with workplace violence. A Summary of the Major Points of the Literature Review Workplace violence is indeed a growing problem in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Through the literature reviewed in this study, the various elements of workplace violence were investigated, the importance of profiling the perpetrators was undertaken, and the workplace as a system where violence may arise were looked into. The following elements were identified as the main participants in understanding and preventing workplace violence. Management Needless to say, the management is the first on the list to truly understand the nature of workplace violence, what are the different matters that make it complicated. Who are the workers with the potential to inflict violence on the workplace? What kinds of plans should be in place to prevent violence? Ironically, managers can also serve as the source of violence against workers. Management therefore should be strong enough and flexible enough to deal with workplace violence whenever it occurs. Management takes the lead in creating an organizational culture that does not tolerate workplace violence. If violence emanates from the management, then for sure, a culture of fear, anxiety and less productivity would be the order of the day. If the management works with the government, the employees, and other stakeholders, it can create a comprehensive plan and strategy in dealing with workplace violence. Although some researchers report a decline of violent crimes in the workplace, most of the time, the workers have to deal with subtle expressions of harassment and violence. This is an area of concern that management should not neglect. After all, a safe and happy workforce will help the organization achieve its goals. The Violent Worker There are a number of causes for a worker to lash out and unleash violence in the workplace. It could be because of mental and emotional disturbance, frustrations with their personal and professional lives, as well as specific events in the office that could â€Å"tip them over the edge† and give way to their violent impulses. Some authors have attempted to provide a profile of the potentially violent worker. However, there are also those who believe that this obsession with profile is an exercise in futility and would be inimical to the interests of the organizations. It might even precipitate a paranoia-filled workplace if the external characteristics of a person fit the mold of the profile. The management and the workers, too can help the potentially violent colleague by establishing support groups and coaching sessions in the workplace. Although this may not be part of the overall strategy and business model of the organization, yet the overall well-being of the workers would eventually contribute to productivity and efficiency. Through these human resources practices, the organization can also develop an organizational culture of excellence and zero tolerance of workplace violence. In the long run, such policy will not only help prevent workplace violence but it can also enhance the organization as a whole. The Workers and the Victims The victims of workplace violence can be any worker or employee. The perpetrator may be from the management, a customer or client, or a co-worker. It is therefore in their best interests if they knew what workplace violence is and how they are affected by this menace. Most of the time, the response of victims is to keep quiet and allow the violence to be unreported. This is a cause of concern for everyone in the organization because this is inimical to the organizational culture and productivity. There should be training and resources available to the workers so that they can readily deal with instances of violence in the workplace. Management is particularly The Workplace One important lesson that the literature review yielded is the way that the workplace can also contribute to the emergence of violence. The concept of organizational culture has been put forward as an explanatory variable of what makes workers become violent and inflict it on others in the organization. The workplace is a melting pot of personalities, ideas and different authority levels. When violence becomes a regular fare in the workplace, then it becomes a way of life in the workplace and the workers will be in fear and anxiety over the events in the workplace. Government The government has a number of resources that could help organizations deal with workplace violence. There are online resources and guides on dealing with trauma in the workplace. In addition to this, the government is also actively pursuing partnerships with the private sector in order to stop workplace violence. This way, organizations and companies can seek the help of government agencies and officials in preventing workplace violence. In extreme cases of violence, the government will also intervene with its resources so as to mediate and mitigate the damages of the violence. A Systems-Based approach to Workplace Violence Although it would be good to look individually at these elements of workplace violence, a better approach would be to analyze it as a system. In such a system, all of the elements interact with each other, helps each other, or give rise to the occurrence of violence. The workplace as the melting pot of workers and managers and even government has strong analytical potentials and will help researchers understand better the phenomenon of workplace violence. A worker without a natural potential for violence may become violent due to stress in his personal life confounded by the rude treatment of a manager. Transitions due to economic conditions may also create stress and frustrations that may become the source of violence. The workplace as a system may also help a researcher look at workplace violence more comprehensively. While some authors favor profiling the victims, the potentially violent worker, and the workplace individually, taking them together and analyzing how they work together and how violence arises would be a better goal for theories and research undertakings in the field. Such a holistic perspective would yield better information and practical guidance on how to deal with the issue of workplace violence. With the advent of information technology and the emergence of internet and new communication tools, these channels of communication may also become significant in the study of workplace violence. With the changes in technology and in the modes of working, so shall the analysis of workplace violence change. As part of the emerging trends and issues in dealing with workplace violence, the interaction between the workplace, the workers, other social forces and violence would yield more interesting insights. In dealing with workplace violence, prevention is still better than cure. This is why organizations should work towards a business model and human resources strategy that could prevent workplace violence and keep the marketplace a busy venue for work yet safe, secure and even satisfying for everyone involved.