Bhagvad Gita

You have 7 response papers due throughout the semester. Please see the syllabus for due dates. The prompt/question will be posted one week before the response is due. You may drop 2 responses for any reason. ; Each response is worth 20 points. You will be graded on how well you answer the question or respond to the prompt. This means you should provide evidence from the lecture or readings/films to support what you are saying.While this is not a formal paper, you must use good grammar, complete sentences, and proper citation methods if you choose to quote, for example, the textbook. ; Responses should be -?200-250 words. Please avoid making them much longer. You will lose points if your response is significantly shorter than the word requirement. ; Please type your response and use standard 12 point font and standard margins. ; Papers should be posted on Encounters on the due date no later than 11 PM.Late response papers will not be accepted without proper documentation of illness or emergency. ; The prompt/question for each response will be posted on Encounters by the Tuesday before (-?one week) It's due. ; Remember: These papers are intended to engage with the material and think about the abstract concepts that we will be covering in this course. In addition, these papers give you the opportunity to compare aspects of the tradition and think critically about what we learn.For Response #7-Please respond to the following question/prompt. Answer the following In the context of the Baghdad Gala. Why doesn't Aragua want to fight in the war? What reasons does he give? How does Krishna respond? What are the two Identities of the human being? Which one Is more Important and why? What is the goal of life according to the Krishna? How does one achieve It? Clearly explain and make sure to answer all parts of the question. Provide at three direct examples from the Baghdad Gait In your answer.

Guns, Germs, And Steel Essay

In the book Guns, Germs, and Steel the Fates of Human Societies, Jared Diamond discusses the superior developments and advancements of mankind that shaped history through time. Throughout the book Diamond states how disease and germs have shaped history up to today. â€Å"Because diseases have been the biggest killers of people, they have also been decisive shapers of history.† For instance, Diamond relates to a story once told to him by a friend about a man that contracted a very odd disease. As the story progressed you eventually found out how the man got the illness by having sexual intercourse with a sheep. This illustrates human diseases of animal origins (pp.195, 196. 197, 206-210). Diamond also discusses how the Europeans were able to defeat the Native Americans because they brought diseases to them that they were not yet immune to. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond discusses the evolution of disease that is contracted from animals. Diseases that have had a major impact throughout history such as smallpox, malaria, tuberculosis, plague, flu, and measles have been adapted by humans from animals (p. 196). One example of how a germ can spread is by patiently waiting to be transmitted through the victim. For instance we often contract salmonella by eating raw or unprepared food like eggs and meat; and the worm that causes anisakiasis by eating raw fish. Germs don’t just wait to be transmitted by waiting to be eaten by the victim but by hitchhiking on the animals’ salvia. For example, mosquitoes, fleas, and even lice carry fatal germs that can cause diseases such as malaria, plague, or even typhus, and once bitten you can easily contract any of those diseases (p.198). Moreover, the worst type of transmission of the germs is by passing through a woman to her fetus and pass on –infect- her child. That type of transmission diamond describes as contracting syphilis, AIDs, and rubella (p.199). AIDs, as Diamond informs us, came from a virus in African Monkeys that was first detected in 1962 (pp.197, 199, 201, and 208) One main example of how disease had a huge impact on shaping the course of history is the Europeans defeating the Native Americans (pp. 210, 211, 212, 197). The Europeans came to the Americas in 1492 on Columbus’s voyage. When they came they were able to conquer the Native Americans due to the murderous microbes. Many more Native Americans died in bed from disease than ob n the battle field because of the Eurasian germs. For example, Cortà ©s came to the Mexican coast attempting to conquer the Aztec empire. When he reached Tenochtitlan he was able to escape with one third of his army left. When they returned, the Spaniards had an advantage due to the epidemic that was brought to the Aztecs by a Spaniard. The epidemic spread like wildfire and by 1618 the Aztec population drastically decreased from 20 million to 1.6 million (p.210). Additionally, Pizarro had the same luck when he got to Peru and attempted taking over the Inca Empire in 1531. Smallpox came in 1526 killing a large number of Inca residents’ as well as the emperor and his successor. Hernando de Soto came to the Americas and was the firsts to march through southern united states. He came across many abandoned sites due to epidemics and Eurasian germs. As de Soto marched through the Indian sites of lower Mississippi, Eurasian germs had already reached most of north America and kept spreading. The main killers of the Indians had been the Eurasian germs that were not introduced to the native Americans and therefore never immune.

Standing Tall: Japan’s Resilient Luxury Market

McKinsey Consumer and Shopper Insights June 2012 Standing Tall: Japan’s Resilient Luxury Market Brian Salsberg Naomi Yamakawa Photograph: Abbie Chessler 2 In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster that hit Japan last year, killing 19,000 people and battering the nation’s already shaky confidence, it was hardly surprising that people didn’t feel like shopping. At the time, the conventional wisdom was that such restraint was likely to last.People would still have to shop for essentials, of course, but the market for things like high-fashion apparel and luxury handbags was surely bound to suffer long-term damage. Such thinking made eminent sense – except it didn’t happen. Fifteen months on, today’s luxury market looks a lot like the luxury market that existed the day before the Great East Japan Earthquake, much as we anticipated in last year’s report. 1 Our findings at the time were necessarily tentative, coming as they did less than three months after the disasters.Today, we can assert this with more confidence. When asked if the disasters had changed their attitudes, for example, fewer than 20 percent of the 1,450 Japanese consumers we interviewed were less interested in shopping for luxury goods than they were before the disasters (Exhibit 1). The Cabinet Office’s Consumer Confidence Survey report from May 15, 2012, shows that consumer confidence has risen strongly since March 2011 (to 40. 3) and is back to up to levels last seen in 2010. Moreover, in a small but telling sample, when we asked 20 Japan-based luxury company CEOs about their sales outlook, every single one said 2012 would be better than 2011, and almost three-quarters said that the disasters of 2011 had no effect (63 percent) or, counter-intuitively, had a positive effect (10 percent) on company performance. Seventy percent of CEOs Exhibit 1: A vast majority of consumers still have strong interest in luxury Wh ich best describes your own attitudes towards shopping for luxury goods since the earthquake and tsunami on March 11?Percent selecting â€Å"Somewhat less interested,† or â€Å"Less interested† on a 5-point scale Less interested 20s n = 224 30s n = 497 40s n = 414 50s+ n = 323 4. 6 5. 8 10. 4 Somewhat less interested 7. 8 14. 6 22. 4 8. 2 12. 8 21. 0 12. 5 15. 7 28. 2 SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2012 were optimistic about the near future and the prospects for Japan’s luxury market (Exhibit 2). Japan’s luxury market rings up between $10-20 billion a year in sales (depending on how the market is defined).That figure is unlikely to grow much, given Japan’s shrinking population, slow economic growth, and cost-conscious consumer attitudes. Strictly from a sales ratio perspective, Japan’s luxury market will continue to wane in importance for most luxury manufacturers. A case in point is LVMH. Just five years ago, Japan accounted for 13 percent of the Exhibit 2: Most executives we surveyed maintain an optimistic view of the future of Japan’s luxury market Which best represents your perspective on the mediumterm future of the luxury goods market in Japan?Percent; n = 20 Somewhat pessimistic 30 35 Optimistic 35 Somewhat optimistic SOURCE: 2012 Luxury CEO survey 1. http://csi. mckinsey. com/Home/Knowledge_by_region/Asia/Japan/japanluxury. aspx 2. Cabinet Office of Japan, http://www. esri. cao. go. jp/en/stat/shouhi/shouhi-e. html 3 â€Å"When it comes to watches, we see customers trading up to higher-end brands and higher-end products. † —Japan president, luxury watch manufacturer company’s global revenue. By 2011, the figure had dropped to 8 percent (and that marked an improvement from 2010).Compare that performance with the rest of Asia, where the company’s sale share rose from 17 percent to 27 percent over the same period. 3 And yet, such figures make it easy to lose sight of one simple reality: Japan remains the world’s third-largest luxury market, after the US and China. more high-end brands than cheaper brands. Not surprisingly, their spending on luxury is not as high as for other age groups, but a higher percentage of them are active in the luxury market (5 percent compared to 2. 3 percent of those age 50 and up).This cohort are more likely to be willing to pay full price and are also more likely to see owning luxury goods as something special. As for men, while they make up a minority of luxury shoppers in Japan, they have stayed more loyal to expensive brands. There are an estimated 3 million men under the age of 34 living alone in Japan. According to government data, average incomes for this group increased by 7 percent Exhibit 3: in 2011, and their spending jumped by 13 percent. Compare this to single women, whose spending grew less than 2 percent, and the average Japanese consumer, whose spending dropped. Young men, it seems, saw the M arch 11 disaster as a good reason to live for the moment, and Japan’s luxury goods market appears to be a beneficiary. Finally, when we look at segmentation by income, Japanese who spend more than a million yen (about $12,000) a year on luxury goods are more than three times as likely to say they are switching to high-end brands than to low-end brands (Exhibit 3). Those who spend less than half as much are reporting the opposite. What we learned Here are some of the most striking insights from McKinsey’s 2012 Luxury Consumer Survey: ?Japan is a market of markets That is, some niches and segments are more promising than others. In terms of products, for example, highend Swiss watches, such as Rolex, Omega, Piaget, and TAG Heuer, have reportedly enjoyed significant growth in the past year. 4 Why? Because luxury consumers seek both emotional and functional benefits. A great watch, they believe, is the kind of item that appreciates in value and can be passed down to the ne xt generation. In terms of behavior, there is opportunity on the sales floor.For reasons that range from a more stable economy to better upselling skills, consumers are trading up in some luxury categories, even as they trade down in others – primarily apparel and similar categories with shorter shelf-lives and greater selections of alternatives. Demographically, younger consumers and men are worthy of particular attention. Twentysomethings are the only group buying Big spenders appear to be â€Å"trading up† to higher-end brands Annual luxury spend (JPY) I am purchasing luxury goods . . . Less often More often Above 1 mil (n = 48) 15 8 I have switched to buying . . More high-end Cheaper brands brands 6 21 0. 5-1 mil (n = 100) 16 5 9 14 Up to 0. 5 mil (n = 953) 22 4 15 5 SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2012 Photograph: Abbie Chessler 3. Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2012. 4. Nikkei Weekly, April 2, 2012. 5. Statistics Bureau of Japan, â€Å"Family In come and Expenditure Survey,† first quarter, 2012. 4 ? Experience is increasingly valued The in-store experience is a key element in enjoying luxury, and it may be particularly important in Japan, whose customers are renowned for their high service standards.Asked what were the key elements that enhanced the buying experience, the top two answers Japanese consumers gave were: 1) The staff was kind, and 2) The staff was knowledgeable. Responses were consistent across categories. Luxury executives tell us that for their best customers, the in-store experience and overall customer relationship are nearly as important as product performance. Luxury brands, by definition, are about high quality and exclusivity; providing an excellent customer experience helps to deliver something extra, and those we spoke with are convinced that doing so is well worth the investment.One executive told us that his company, a luxury automaker, saw tremendous value in closely monitoring the daily cust omer relationship management activities of its sales team and using the information to coach staff, not only on closing a sale, but on upselling various options and features. The value of experience also comes through in what consumers tell us they want. There is clear potential for luxury experiences to become â€Å"the next big thing. † Asked their level of interest in various products, those 30 and up named luxury hotels above all others (it ame in second among those in their 20s). Spas and beauty services also scored highly (Exhibit 4). We also asked one of our favorite questions from previous surveys: â€Å"Imagine you won 300,000 yen (about $3,800) in a lottery today. How would you spend it? † Except for those in their 20s, travel scored highest by a decisive margin (Exhibit 5). ? Digital marketing in Japan has far to go Even the executives we spoke to agreed with this. More than twothirds of them admitted that luxury brands have been â€Å"less successful† Exhibit 4: n capturing the changing behavior of consumers, and just 15 percent called online sales a â€Å"meaningful† part of their business in Japan. At the same time, 90 percent said online marketing and promotion was â€Å"somewhat† or â€Å"very† important. A look at the demographics confirms that digital complacency would be a mistake for most luxury players. For one thing, women are more likely than men Are luxury-branded experiences the next big trend? Very interested Interested Think about the luxury brands you like most. When that brand is associated with the following product or service, what would be your level of interest?Percentage of those who are â€Å"very interested† and â€Å"interested† on a scale of 6; n = 1,458 Total Hotel Perfume Home textiles Cosmetics Furniture Spa and other beauty service Home electronic products 13 10 9 10 8 9 8 26 20 21 19 19 17 17 30 30 29 27 26 25 39 20s 14 16 12 16 9 15 24 23 26 29 25 30 33 38 36 45 40 45 30s 14 11 10 12 9 10 27 21 22 20 20 23 24 32 32 32 29 33 41 40s 15 24 39 50s+ 9 5 6 26 19 19 25 25 35 10 15 25 10 18 29 10 14 23 9 15 24 9 12 21 11 18 29 5 16 21 3 20 4 10 14 22 23 9 15 24 7 17 3 19 SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2012Exhibit 5: Overall, luxury shoppers show an increased appetite for travel Imagine you won 300,000 yen in a lottery today. How would you spend it? Aggregated average by age group; n = 1,458 20s 100% = 244 Luxury goods 26 30s 224 27 40s 497 21 50s+ 414 21 467 22 410 26 257 27 323 22 Travel Hobbies Living expenses Savings Other 27 25 29 32 26 36 37 9 5 20 2 2011 38 12 6 21 2 2012 6 8 32 1 2011 7 7 33 1 2012 9 7 31 3 2011 9 7 30 1 2012 10 8 28 2 2011 11 6 22 4 2012 1 Includes leather goods/bags, shoes, watches/jewelry SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2012 5 We see big tickets becoming even bigger. The level of customization on luxury performance cars has hit a recent high this year: this is where all the money is made. â⠂¬ Ã¢â‚¬â€President, luxury car manufacturer to use digital means on their Consumer Decision Journey;6 this matters because women account for about 75 percent of luxury sales in Japan. For another, almost 16 percent of 20-somethings who had a smartphone or tablet had used it for their last luxury purchase, compared to 5 percent for over-50s; and a full 75 percent of younger consumers had used their device to check prices (Exhibit 6).Capturing the younger consumer is vital, given the looming cloud that is Japan’s relentlessly aging society. As established brands strive to ensure they remain relevant to Japan’s technologically-oriented young people, it is plausible, even likely, that a digital component will be central to those efforts. Likewise social media cannot be ignored. A February 2012 Nikkei survey of Japanese smartphone users showed that about 80 percent of women in ther 20s and 30s, 80 percent of men in their 20s, and 60 percent of men in their 30s and 40s us e social media. 7 ?Old-school rules – by default Because the luxury experience is so important, it stands to reason that both sexes and all ages strongly prefer to do their high-end shopping in person. They still like it best of all in department stores (Exhibit 7). It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that the department store format is thriving. On the contrary: while the sheer number of department stores in prime locations all but guarantees a large audience of shoppers, the tired format has yet to find its place in today’s more dynamic, user-friendly retail landscape.What it all means Based on this research and our experience with many retail clients, we have identified several important implications. ? Own the interplay between digital and in-store touchpoints and embrace social media Just a few years ago, at one of McKinsey’s annual luxury leader dinners in Japan, the consensus in the room was that social media and Exhibit 6: luxury were mutually ex clusive. After all, the thinking went, social media is inclusive by definition, and luxury is exclusive.Today, companies like Burberry are demonstrating just how backward and self-defeating that thinking was. Burberry boasts 12 million Facebook followers, 800,000 Twitter followers, and 12 million views on 250 different YouTube videos. In a statement accompanying Burberry’s results over the sixmonth period to September 30, 2011, Angela Ahrendts, the CEO, Smart phones have become an important tool in purchase process for younger consumers General public Do you own a smartphone or tablet PC? Did you use it for your last luxury purchase?Percent, n = 1,458 Shoppers who used a I used it on my last smartphone or tablet PC on I have smartphone/tablet PC luxury purchase last luxury purchase 20s n = 224 30s n = 497 40s n = 414 50s+ n = 323 12 68 36 53 26 46 20 27 Luxury purchases 23 16 22 12 17 8 19 5 SOURCE: Impress R&D ? Smartphone/mobile use trend survey? , 2012 Luxury CEO dinner re spondent survey Exhibit 7: Department stores continue to play crucial role for the category, but three other channels are also strong Thinking about the past 12 months, what channels did you visit to buy luxury goods? multiple answer) Department Fashion goods n = 296 Leather goods n = 294 Watch/jewelry n = 270 Shoes n = 236 76. 2 58. 1 64. 2 77. 0 Brand shop 35. 5 27. 0 34. 2 39. 2 17. 0 33. 0 Outlet 39. 7 39. 7 Duty Free Shop 35. 4 32. 3 28. 6 29. 7 SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2012 6. The term â€Å"Consumer Decision Journey† refers to the progression from initial consideration, active evaluation, and moment of purchase to post-purchase experience and loyalty, first presented in the McKinsey Quarterly, â€Å"The Consumer Decision Journey,† June 2009. 7.Nikkei Shohi Watcher, â€Å"The ‘Smart’ Set is Mainly Female† (â€Å"Suma-ju† na hitobito shuuyaku wa josei), February 2012, p. 22. 6 attributed the company’s strong r esults to â€Å"continued investment in innovative design, digital marketing, and retail strategies†. Tiffany & Co. has also embraced digital media, with a highly regarded e-commerce site, Facebook presence, and even an iPad app showcasing its famous line of engagement rings. A key to succeeding in social media is to deliver the brand story and heritage consistently across media while tailoring messages to the specific consumer segments that are using each media format.It’s also important to understand the role each medium plays in the Consumer Decision Journey. For example, in cosmetics it can be easier to introduce cosmetic routines (e. g. , how and in what sequence to apply the product) in store, but consumers often seek out additional information and reviews online. For apparel and accessories, customers may go to the store to buy, since they want to be able to touch items and try them on. The initial introduction and attraction often happens outside the store â₠¬â€œ from storefronts, wordof-mouth, or magazines.Winners will be those who can excel at multichannel marketing and sales. ? Make the most of travel retail Japanese consumers love to travel – up to 20 percent of all luxury consumers have shopped abroad in the past 24 months (Exhibit 8). This accounts for the crucial role of dutyfree shops, where a third of luxury consumers have shopped in the last year. Women are particularly prone to stopping by duty-free, with 36 percent of them buying there. As a result of international travel and the Internet, consumers today know what luxury goods cost both inside and outside Japan, and they ay be timing their shopping to take advantage. This is especially poignant for luxury manufacturers – they need to recognize that the consumer relationship with any given brand crosses international borders. That fact has implications for after-sales service, and underscores the importance of maintaining consistency with the face of the brand across both channels and geographies. For a number of years, we have been observing the emergence of â€Å"global tribes†, that is, groupings of consumers who have more in common with their counterparts in other geographies than with their fellow countrymen.Easy access to social media and cheap travel will only deepen this phenomenon. In response, luxury manufacturers will need to do much more than simply accept that today’s consumers are global; they will need to make their brands even more so. ? Manage parallel imports Parallel imports – identical products imported from a foreign country, then sold for much less – cannot be prevented, but can be managed. Some brands are trying to restrict parallel imports by tracking serial numbers to determine where the imports are coming from, and decreasing Exhibit 8: argins for retailers who are caught. Others are putting limits on aftersales services available to parallel imports. Few companies have chosen to move to one global, exchangeadjusted recommended retail price, though that may become a more standard approach. ? Embrace customization and made-to-order luxury Building off a trend popularized by other consumer-goods companies, such as Adidas and Nike in sports footwear, luxury auto manufacturers, and luxury handbag and accessory players are embracing customization.This is consistent with a broader consumer trend in developed markets (the â€Å"My† generation) where niche is replacing mass in many areas and consumers have grown used to customizing everything from their playlists to their iPhone covers. Luxury has always been synonymous with exclusivity, but with so many stores and so many new channels to buy from, we have begun to see a â€Å"commoditization† of exclusivity. In a sense, then, customization is the ultimate in exclusivity. For example, Louis Vuitton recently launched a service in Japan that allows customers to select the leather and then design uniqueJapanes e consumers continue to purchase luxury items abroad 2012 2011 2010 Which of the following places did you make a luxury purchase in last 2 years? Percent of respondents who bought luxury goods in category abroad within last 24 months; multiple answer; 2012 Top 5 Hawaii Korea Europe North America (excluding Hawaii) Hong Kong/Macau SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2011/2012 14 10 12 14 17 17 18 22 21 22 22 25 27 32 19 7 â€Å"We continue to be concerned about the relevance and impact of department stores. We can’t stop experimenting with new concepts. —Japan president, global luxury accessory and apparel player products. Some luxury carmakers tell us their strong revenue growth in Japan has come not because they are selling more cars, but because buyers are loading up on various bells and whistles to create their own personalized, ideal vehicle. Of course, customization comes at a cost to luxury manufacturers, adding complexities to the supply chain and bey ond. It must be reserved primarily for truly high-end products. the number of car-sharers has increased 10-fold, to 170,000, and revenues ould surge to $550 million by 2016, according to estimates from Frost & Sullivan. 9 This shift to value is real and enduring. So, we believe, is the emphasis on discretion. In the wake of the earthquake, the percentage of those who said that showing off luxury goods was in bad taste rose sharply, from 24 percent to 49 percent; this year, it was 51 percent. The quest for value and a desire to avoid the appearance of conspicious consumption are not necessarily antithetical to an appreciation of luxury. These attitudes can co-exist.In fact, that precisely describes the state of the Japanese market: Consumers are ready, willing, and sometimes eager to buy. But they are doing so with rigorous deliberation. Exhibit 9: Brian Salsberg is a principal in McKinsey’s Tokyo office and a leader of the Consumer & Shopper Insights center in Asia. Naomi Yam akawa is a marketing expert in Tokyo. The authors wish to thank Georges Desvaux, Todd Guild, Ryu Iwase, Euljeong Moon, Yuka Morita, and Kohei Sakata for their help. Conclusions Only a little more than a year after the worst crisis to hit Japan since World War II, the Japanese luxury market is stable.Ultimately, it comes down to this: despite deflation and disaster, Japanese consumers continue to want luxury goods and to buy them at a good clip. But – and this has been true since the financial crisis hit in 2008 – they are more cautious about price and more demanding. They do not just want an expensive product to look great and to work beautifully, but to satisfy other needs, whether emotional or even social. Half of luxury car buyers, for instance, say that â€Å"eco-friendliness† is important to them (Exhibit 9). The quest for value, in all its forms, is becoming characteristic up and down the retail chain.As we argued in the McKinsey Quarterly in 2010, many co nsumers have diverted a chunk of their spending away from high-priced prestige. 8 Wal-Mart, Amazon, Costco, Ikea, Daiso, Uniqlo, private-label foods, and the low- to middle-end specialty apparel players are all doing conspicuously well. Then there is carsharing – short-term rentals by the hour. This service barely existed in 2009 (revenues were about $17 million). Today it has become positively mainstream. With many Japanese deterred by the high price of owning and maintaining a car,Photograph: Abbie Chessler What do luxury consumers think of luxury automobiles? 2012 2011 Regarding luxury cars, do you agree/disagree to the below statements? Percent who answered â€Å"strongly agree† and â€Å"agree† within 6 scale; n = 1,458 Luxury cars have characteristics that justify the premium price 20s 30s 40s 50s+ 31 37 33 30 35 33 41 39 9 12 11 11 10 It's worth the money to buy a luxury car for the superb driving experience 13 13 12 Being â€Å"eco-friendly† is as important for luxury cars as design or driving experience 51 47 48 50 56 52 52 44SOURCE: McKinsey Japan Luxury Consumer Survey 2012 About the Japan Luxury Consumer Survey McKinsey conducted this national online survey of 1,450 consumers in April and May 2012, for the fourth year in a row. Focusing on four categories (fashion, leather goods, shoes, and watches/jewelry), we interviewed 250 to 300 luxury consumers (defined as those who have purchased any one of 174 brands in the last two years). We also spoke to 350 â€Å"lapsed† luxury buyers. Two-thirds of the respondents were female. 8. McKinsey Quarterly, â€Å"The new Japanese consumer,† March 2010. ttps://www. mckinseyquarterly. com/The_new_Japanese_consumer_2548 9. Frost & Sullivan, â€Å"Strategic Analysis of the Car-Sharing Market in Japan,† July 2011 8 What McKinsey’s Consumer and Shopper Insights portal has to offer Where do more than 15,000 executives get their daily dose of consumer insights? c si. mckinsey. com. Sign up now. It’s free. ? ? ? ? ? How are China’s hypermarkets different from Western ones? (One clue: those live chickens in the food aisle. ) How is the digital consumer changing? (In six major ways. ) How are Mexican consumers feeling? (Not great. Are global luxury shoppers cutting back? (Not so much. ) Is Poland promising territory for online retailers? (Yes. ) The 21st century has already seen the unimaginable and the improbable. But here is one certainty: The world is about to see the biggest increase in consumption in history. Learn all about it—and be part of the conversation—at csi. mckinsey. com. These are just a few of the questions asked and answered on csi. mckinsey. com. As a global consultancy, McKinsey has the resources, and the desire, to explore the ever-changing, ever-elusive global consumer.To take just one example, we have spoken with more than 60,000 Chinese shoppers to discern what they are thinking, buying and thinking about buying. Here’s another example: Since August 2008, McKinsey has interviewed a representative sample of Americans every six months to track their attitudes and spending. How do the world’s digital consumers spend their online time? We can tell you that, too. While csi. mckinsey. com is a rich forum for McKinsey’s work, we also spotlight the best of others, not only on the site, but on our Facebook and Twitter accounts (@mckinsey_csi).By combining the best of McKinsey and the best of the rest, we add something new to the site almost every day. We believe this makes csi. mckinsey. com the go-to place for those who need the freshest, smartest thinking on why consumers do what they do. What’s next? We want to get our users more involved; we’d also like to diversify how we present our materials. So we hope you will join us as we continue to improve csi. mckinsey. com. Just click the sign-up button on the top right of the site, or emai l us at [email  protected] com. We’ll send you notices of what’s new about twice a month. ttp://csi. mckinsey. com 9 McKinsey Consumer and Shopper Insights You can dowload McKinsey’s previous luxury reports at http://csi. mckinsey. com July 2010 McKinsey Asia Consumer and Retail McKinsey Asia Consumer and Retail Luxury goods in Japan: Momentary sigh or long sayonara? How luxury companies can succeed in a changing market Japan’s luxury consumer: Detecting a pulse? Special Report: McKinsey & Company Japan Luxury Goods Survey 2010 Brian Salsberg Naomi Yamakawa Luxury goods in Japan: Momentary sign or long sayonara? (June 2009) Japan’s luxury consumer: Detecting a pulse? (June 2010) June 2011Consumer and Shopper Insights August 2011 August 2010 CSI Insights Flash June 2010 McKinsey Consumer and Shopper Insights McKinsey Consumer & Shopper Insights Korea’s luxury market: Demanding consumers, but room to grow McKinsey Asia Consumer and Shopper I nsights No seismic shift for luxury in postquake Japan Special Report: Japan Luxury Goods Survey 2011 Understanding China’s Growing Love for Luxury By Aimee Kim and Martine Shin Key themes from the 2011 McKinsey Korea Luxury Consumer Survey Every year since 2006, sales of luxury goods in South Korea have risen at least 12%1, to an estimated $4. billion in 2010. In the first four months of 2011, sales at department stores were up more than 30% compared to 2010. 2 This continues an established trend, as last year’s report on the market showed (see report at csi. mckinsey. com: â€Å"Living it up in luxury. †) Still, insiders are asking whether it can last. For one thing, according to McKinsey’s survey, the percentage of household income that luxury consumers spend on luxury is already higher in South Korea (5%), than in Japan (4%)3—and the Japanese luxury market has been stagnant in recent years.Moreover, the performances of famous brands in Korea ha ve been mixed. For example, LVMH and Ferragamo continued to do well, but others, like Gucci Group and Dior, saw sales drop in real terms in 2010. 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 Thus, while the headline news is that the luxury market is still growing strongly, uncertainty is also mounting. In this year’s report, McKinsey addresses these concerns, which come in the form of three key questions: Can South Korea keep it up? What’s changing?And what do these trends mean for the players in the luxury industry? To answer these questions, for the second year in a row, McKinsey surveyed 1,000 Koreans who had purchased at least 1 million Korean won ($930) in luxury goods in the previous year across four categories —fashion apparel, leather goods, shoes, and watches/jewelry. Among the respondents were 200 â€Å"heavy purchasers†Ã¢â‚¬â€those who had spent at least 10 million Korean won ($9,300). We also interviewed 24 senior executives of luxury-goods companies. Here’s what we found. 5Let’s start with the proposition that not all consumers are created equal; to a startling degree, it is mainly the heavy purchasers who are keeping the Korean luxury market rolling with such force. For example, Lotte department store estimated that the number of â€Å"Most Valuable Customers†Ã¢â‚¬â€those who spend 15 million won ($14,000) or more a year—rose 14. 4% in 2010, compared to 9. 2% for other kinds of luxury consumers. The number of VIP customers at Shinsegae department store —those who spend more than 8 million won ($7,400) —grew 35%, compared to 12% for other consumers. 6 Shopping at the high end also appears to be habit-forming.McKinsey found that heavy purchasers are much more likely to say that they enjoy their goodies â€Å"as much as I always have† vs. non-heavy customers (33% to 12%). This difference in attitude was reflected in their actual spending: The big-spenders indicated that they had spent more on all four luxury categories in the previous 12 months. Non-heavy buyers were pickier: While they spent more on watches and leather, they spent less on South Korea: Living it up in luxury Special Report: 2010 Luxury Goods Survey McKinsey & Company South Korea Brian Salsberg Naomi Yamakawa 1. Can South Korea keep it up?Yes. A number of trends, small and large, are creating a model of sustainable growth for the next three to five years. McKinsey Insights China Euromonitor Ministry of Knowledge Economy McKinsey analysis Financial Supervisory Service The report surveyed at least 200 luxury consumers for each product category; luxury consumers were screened based on purchase history of select luxury brands (ranging from affordable â€Å"masstige† brands to â€Å"super premium† brands) and included 85 luxury fashion apparel brands, 57 luxury leather goods and shoes brands, and 47 luxury watch/jewelry brands.Asia Economy, â€Å"VIP customers have increased at department stores,† August 28, 2010 No seismic shift for luxury in post-quake Japan (June 2011) Understanding China’s growing love for luxury (March 2011) Korea’s luxury market: Demanding consumers,but room to grow (August 2011) South Korea: Living it up in luxury (August 2010)

Best economic progress since WWII Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Best economic progress since WWII - Essay Example However, its economic growth did not translate into military might since its international status was regulated by treaty powers. Indeed, German’s economy has successfully grown since the World War II. Germany did not act as decisive leader, but projected itself as a good team player, in the international affairs. The increased levels of Germany economy after the World War II, was caused by elimination of price controls, reduction of marginal tax rates, and currency reforms, between 1948 and 1949 (William 48). Before the year 1948, Germany was controlled by rationing and price controls. Price controls and rationing, which existed before 1948, were meant to buy raw materials at artificially low price. Most Germans lacked enough food due to price control on food. Currency reform, in Germany, was pioneered by Ludwig Erhard. He was determined to shape a successful economy in Germany. The currency reform led to the abolition of Reichsmark. As a result, a new currency-deutsche mark- was introduced. The currency reform was installed on 20 June 1948. Most Nazi and occupation regulations and rules were abolished to usher in a new economy; currency reform aimed at the provision of valuable store, and accepted legal tender. It also laid a foundation for West German State and economy (William

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Social Media - Essay Example Michael Haenle in and Andreas Kaplan describe social media to mean "a set of Internet-based appliances that exploit the technological and ideological basics of Web 2.0, as well as permit the formation and interchange of user-generated information (2010). Additionally, social media hinges on web-based and mobile technologies to form extremely interactive programs through which communities and individuals co-create, share, discuss, as well as transform user-generated information. It initiates pervasive and significant transformations to communication among organizations, individuals and communities. Social media is different from industrial or traditional media in numerous aspects, for instance, reach, permanence, quality, frequency, immediacy, and usability. Social media technology takes on numerous different varieties including Internet forums, magazines, social blogs, weblogs, wikis, micro blogging, social networks, pictures or photographs, podcasts video, rating as well as social b ookmarking. Through applying a collection of concepts in the arena of social processes and media research, Haenlein and Kaplan formed a classification system in their Corporate Horizons (2010) article. They used six varied kinds of social media: micro blogs and blogs (for instance, Twitter), collaborative projects (for instance, Wikipedia), content communities (for instance, Daily Motion and YouTube), and social networking websites, for instance, Facebook. Others include virtual social worlds (for instance, Second Life), simulated game worlds (for instance, World of War craft).The technologies comprise blogs, wall-postings, picture sharing, email, vlogs, instant messaging; voice over IP and crowd sourcing, and music sharing. Much of these packages can be assimilated through social network accretion programs. Social media net websites comprise sites like, Twitter, Facebook, Viadeo, Vkontakte, Tuenti, Hyves, Daniel's World , Dreams village, MySpace, and Bebo. Once social media is appl ied in sequence with mobile gadgets it is termed as mobile social-media. Therefore, social media is a set of mobile promoting applications, which permit the formation and interchange of user-generated information. Owing to the datum that mobile-social media operates on mobile gadgets, it distinguishes from outmoded social media since it integrates new aspects, for instance, the current user location (location-sensitivity) and the time interval amid sending as well as receiving texts (time-sensitivity) (Watts, 2010). Whereas traditional-social media provide a range of prospects for corporations in a comprehensive range of corporate sectors, mobile-social media utilizes the time - and location -sensitivity facets of it to take on marketing research, sales discounts or promotions, communication, and affiliation loyalty or development platforms. E-commerce businesses denote to social media as CGM (consumer-generated media). A shared thread running within all social media descriptions is a combination of social interaction and technology for the co-formation of value (Li & Bernoff, 2008). Individuals obtain information, news, education, and other facts from print and electronic media. Social media is distinctive from traditional or industrial media, for instance, newspapers, film television, since they

THE CHALLENGES FOR NURSES WHO PROVIDE PALLIATIVE CARE TO DAYING Essay

THE CHALLENGES FOR NURSES WHO PROVIDE PALLIATIVE CARE TO DAYING PATIENTS - Essay Example This holistic care services may be carried out in most clinical setting, including patient's home. Role of Nurses in Palliative Care Issues of death and caring for dying patients are certainly emotional human experiences that demands for a compassionate care. ICN reiterates that nurses should reduce suffering and help improve the quality of a dying patient's life, so with the family members. Nurses are expected create and maintain a relationship with the client who is therapeutic; working with them in a peaceful environment conducive for mitigating pain. As health care providers, they must be effective as clinical managers, supervisors, coordinating services, able to set priorities, monitor care outcomes, conducting health teachings to patient and the families, managing resources and efficient in providing nursing leadership in caring for dying patients. Issues and Challenges in Nursing Palliative Care In line with their work, several nurses experienced moral and ethical dilemmas. In January 2004 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (2004, 11), authors who conducted survey about the end-of-life experiences of people who passed away shared that, majority of people preferred to die at home. Regardless of the setting, respondents shared that, the care given by the staff were inadequate: dyspnea (22%), pain (24%), and emotional needs (50%). There was higher patients' satisfaction with hospice care than the care provided by nursing homes, hospitals, and home care providers. Undoubtedly, the goals of care and care itself are interdisciplinary.On the contrary, The Institute of Medicine (IOM) elaborated that, in nursing homes, there is insufficient knowledge regarding the experience... This report approves that The health care team with the family must do advance planning so that, during the course of decision making, patient’s preferences are ensured. The patient needs to be guarded against any aggressive and inappropriate care near death. The team also has to make the time spent by the dying and the family precious. Despite declining physical health, the patient’s quality of life must be ensured. The financial burden of the family must be minimized; patient and the family should be educated in terms of insurance which cover treatment of the illness and help the family with bereavement should be given. All these are important and health care providers should be educated of the said principles. This essay makes a cocnlusion that good health is a responsibility of everyone. The overall health outcomes of a patient greatly depends on the collaborative efforts of the patient and family, health care providers and institution, insurance companies, and all the more, the government. When health care costs are rising, insurers must see to it that they address properly the patient’s needs. The public and policy making bodies must adopt the prolonging-life-at-any-cost approach in order to upgrade the existing quality health care system. Nurses should not only predict the moment of patient’s death but should anticipate the risks and difficulties patient experience, rather discuss dying, support patient and family by informing them about appropriate treatment decisions.

Business Requirement Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Requirement Analysis - Essay Example Running business is not only keeping organization’s website on Internet and driving it simply; It has a full modus operandi that shows the business to consumer; compel them to make business to hat organization, upgrading the site as required, etc. Tamba Internet (1994 - 2007), clearly says in their website â€Å"All successful e-commerce sites follow two vital rules: Goods are clearly and attractively displayed for maximum visual impact; and the customer experience is simple and pleasurable.† Following are few major points that should be kept in mind while transferring your website on air. ï‚ § Consumers are busy ï‚ § Life is boring and dull ï‚ § Price Matters ï‚ § Needs are only resource to compel consumer to buy ï‚ § Competition i.e., Number of same products in the market ï‚ § Internet Bandwidth ï‚ § Consumer information is a private mania ï‚ § Money is what organization wants to earn ï‚ § Government Laws of the country ï‚ § Different Languages around the globe If above mentioned points are prolonged; it is being said that to every point there is a reason and these reasons can allow the designer to design an eye-catching business websites. Consumers are busy: Keeping this idea in mind leads the designer to design a business website that takes no time to acknowledge the consumer about the business and products the company deals in This can be done by placing more pictures and less easy text. The website should be in a manner for the viewer that one can gets to latest updates immediately. Life is boring and dull: This idea may leads to make the website using decent but eye-catching. Obviously, business sites are for mature beings and they don't prefer the bright and funky colors. To make it more attractive a light audio can be added. Some flash videos for advertisements of the own business products. Price Matters: Expensive products are only seems good if they are known to be designer products. But if to make the e-commerce works best for the business, prices should be in the range when people from middle class family can also afford them with the taxes and delivery charges. In the globe around, no doubt people have money to buy things that give them comfort but those people are less and people buying products when needed are more. Needs are only resource to compel consumer to buy: Wishes and needs make the consumer buy the product. So to achieve good e-commerce, the site must be full of attractive text and images. Product profile must have words that realize the consumer that this product is the only thing he/she requires. Competition i.e., Number of same products in the market: Competition makes e-commerce tougher as consumers instead of shop online prefer to go to market and look different products of the same kind at same place and choose the one best fits to their pockets and needs. Though to make the place in the market, Advertisements should be strong and price should be fixed and competitive to other products in the market. Internet Bandwidth: To provide the e-commerce business site to all standard of consumers, web site designers should take care that they don't upload heavy flash video etc. that takes time to load on a simple dial up Internet browsers. As all Internet don't provide good bandwidth and due to this reason many consumers may escape. Moreover, sometimes loading of heavy material takes time which consumer is always short of

The Role of Media in National and International Development Essay

The Role of Media in National and International Development - Essay Example This essay stresses that the role of media in national and international development is best described in relation to the community development theories. The community development theories give a guideline on the practicability of the community development plan. They also analyse various aspects of development such as the forms and processes it takes. Some of the most common community development theories include the diffusion theory, the decentralisation theory, group development theory, group behaviour theory and the growth pole theory among others. This paper makes a conclusion that the contribution of the media to the national and international development cannot be underestimated. An active and unbiased media is needed so as to maintain democracy, good leadership and equality in a country. It helps educate, inform, sensitise and mobilise the public among other functions. By carrying out the above functions, the media facilitates growth and development. National development is achieved through the positive change in the social, political and economic sectors of a country. On the other hand, international development is achieved thorough the creation of a developed world community. The dissemination of information portraying a positive image of the whole world has been the key factor in community development. The theory of community development helps in determining and understanding the role of media in development. The theories have been conceptualised to guide the implementers of policies focused to national and international development.

Kids and reading to them Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kids and reading to them - Essay Example Reading with the kids makes them feel on top of their game. By this, one would mean the consummate ease with which they bring to themselves an understanding of how life’s nuances would be, and how they would be able to tackle the intricacies of the times that are coming up for them. Reading with the kids is the need of the hour because it tells them where they have to grow and develop, and how they shall see the changing realms of life whilst dealing with them on a consistent basis. What is even more interesting is the fact that the children will know that they are being given the attention that they direly require within their midst, as this is a fact that has to see the light of the day. This paper discusses how reading with the kids helps them to grow and develop, and be an important part within this society. The reading element instills in the kids a sense of belongingness that they are bound to learn, analyze and hence understand how life shapes up, and how life’s different turns are handled in the most apt manner. Reading with the kids allows them to feel special; that they are being given the time and energies which shall bear rich fruit as far as their growth and development measures are concerned. What is even more interesting is the fact that the kids need to get in line with the changing norms of the time and for that they have to know what is happening in the world around them (Friedland, 2004). They must be acquainted with the varying norms and routines so that they can achieve results which are complete from all angles. What is even more important is the fact that the kids must adapt to change; and this change shall happen on an incremental basis – for their respective growth and developmental levels nonetheless. It is a well-known fact that the world appreciates if the kids read, study and learn, not only on their own but also with the help and guidance of their elders. Reading makes the kids go wild in their imagination. The y explore the world around them and learn how to implement the same in a practical form (Stewart, 2011). This is a positive undertaking and should always be understood within the relevant angles. Reading with kids allows the parents to comprehend how their kids are shaping up within the study domains and what strengths and weaknesses are within their folds. They would be able to cover up the grey areas that remain within a child’s fore and work upon the strengths to polish them further. It would also tell the parents that their children have some specific preferences as far as career adoption within the future domains is concerned. Hence there is an all-out effort and endeavor on the part of the parents to apprise the kids where they are falling and what they needed to do in order to move ahead further with the passage of time. This is so required because it will tackle the negatives to arise within the kids and keep them at bay with the up and coming issues which might hurt their professional growth and development, and not to forget the personal one as well. How the kids perceive the entire reading process is something that shall be understood properly. This is because the kids want to get acquainted with the changing needs of the time, and this could only be possible if they are on the right track as far as their study realms are concerned. When parents give them the attention the kids learn quickly. It is because the kids know that their parents love them and care for them in the most loving way possible. When they read along with their parents, they come to know the different ways through which a particular language is comprehended, as well as the ways and means through which grammatical and spelling issues are tackled (Demoulin, 2003). The parents teach them how to pronounce words and make use of sentences as are required. They tell them the meanings and definitions of certain words, as well as detail them regarding the sentence structures all the same. Moving ahead with the discussion at hand, the kids need the time of

The impact of increase in lead times in supply chain activities on Research Paper

The impact of increase in lead times in supply chain activities on retail concerns - Research Paper Example However, for this to happen to any supply chain, the management must enforce some of the basic rules that allow them to compress time to enhance their processes and ensure that the clients receive their orders in due time. Precision and accuracy always work positively as they ensure that the time that lapses between the placement of an order and the delivery of the same is as minimal as possible and at the right time (Chen, et al., 2000, p. 436). This does not imply a reduction in the quality just to satisfy demand. Each employer understands that the employees will always work best if motivated and inspired to keep the quality and time as congruent as possible. As such, working hand in hand with them is not only necessary but advantageous because the management will understand what is required to help them achieve the very best within the shortest time possible (Borzath, Warsing, Flynn and Flynn, 2009, p. 78). Pressurizing them may hinder their full potential and thus failure in the production system because they are not satisfied with what they are doing. However, a clever supply chain manager will always seek innovative means through which they can improve the demand chain performance. To achieve this, they may need to include some of the time-proven ideologies such as lead time reduction, forecasting or customer satisfaction matrix. The report herein will explore the impact of lead time reduction and how this affects the services within a supply chain. The report will also offer some recommendations based on the impacts discussed in relation to the Norwich Nordic and Pulp Company as well as the best means of maintaining this trend. Lead Time This is defined by several researchers as the amount of time that elapses between the start of a process and its completion (Chen, et al. 2000; Borzath, Warsing, Flynn and Flynn 2009; de Treville et al., 2004; Shah and Ward, 2007). Every company wants to encompass the whole system in the supply chain from the consumer de mand to customer satisfaction this means that by all means they have to deal with the total cycle time (TCT) or the lead time. This has three major components that are imperative in meeting the customer demand, information flow and material flow. These attributes are necessities and if well intertwined, could offer the best strategy in meeting the demands of the supply chain management system. The consequent reduction of the lead time is very imperative in the creation of a direct leverage on the bottom-line (Shah and Ward, 2007, p. 786). This will help the chain achieve better competition and allow the management to deal with each of the factors from a more informed position compared to before. By allowing this component, the management will be offering a chance for each of the employees to play to the same music hence minimizing delays and maximizing on the time allocated for each activity. When talking about the lead time there are several components that ought to be considered. They include pre-processing, processing and post-processing. Pre-processing includes the determinations made when resources are required and the steps that allow each of them to be filled in order. It also looks at the final product and how it reflects the current order placed by the client (Ketchen and Hult 2006, p. 575). The processing bit looks at the actual manufacturing of the product and making it like the real product that has been ordered. Post-processing looks at the delivery of the order to the client after the order has been manufactured. Each of this is what the lead time has to be measured against based on the benchmarks set by the company. Reducing the process

Diagnostic Models Essay Example for Free

Diagnostic Models Essay An organization is an open system that is in constant interaction with its environment, taking in raw materials, people, information, and energy, converting these into products or services, and exporting the latter back into the environment but these organization need to regularly undergo the diagnosis of the current performance of the organization so that interventionists should be able to know whether the organization is performing well or not and what changes has to be incorporated so that the main focus of organization to do excellence fulfilled. But it should be planned, systematic and explicit. Well-done assessments or diagnosis is done on the basis of diagnostic models depending upon which model a company adopts to diagnose. This article revolves around 11 diagnostic models that had been constructed keeping in mind the strategies for organization’s development but these models have limitations too. Models are: {draw:rect} Force Field Analysis (1951) Leavitt’s Model (1965). Likert System Analysis (1967) Open Systems Theory (1966) Weisbord’s Six-Box Model (1976) Congruence Model for Organization Analysis (1977) McKinsey 7S Framework (1981-82) Tichy’s Technical Political Cultural (TPC) Framework (1983) High-Performance Programming (1984) Diagnosing Individual and Group Behavior (1987). The Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance Change Each model is unique in itself but there are issues with these models too i. e.there is more or less variables are missing from every model but B-L model of organization performance change has been conceived on the basis of theoretical and empirical literature on organizational behavior. Moreover this model also covered the variables which other model didn’t cover that means it is self sufficient model for diagnosis purpose. 1. Main issue of this article is that most of the models missed one or more important variables like no feedback loop is there, no consideration of environment, no standardized scale labels , key variables are relatively broad and undefined etc. There is doubt regarding support for the relationships among the variables constructed in model. Moreover model doesn’t address the role of external environment in bringing about the change in any of the variables (Leavitt’s model) There is no illustration to depict the framework (motivation, communication, interaction, decision making, goal setting, control, and performance) of Likert system analysis model which is based on four different types of management systems within organizations. These are Now Likert made the instrument to test the perception of employees based on above mentioned systems but the instrument did not have standardized scale labels such as â€Å"strongly agree,† â€Å"agree,† â€Å"neither agree nor disagree,† â€Å"disagree,† and â€Å"strongly disagree. † Instead, Likert provided customized scale labels for each question and resulted in minimum information. ‘Open system theory’ model overemphasis on variables within the organization and there is absence of any feedback from the environment even though this model assume that organization is dependent on environment. Formal system (policies and procedures the organization to claim) informal system (behaviors of employee which actually occurs) are missing from the six box model which unleashes the fact that this gap make an organization less effective. Also there is discrepancy between what organization is and what should be? TPC Model only highlights the questions regarding the diagnosis of technical, political and cultural components. The resources and outputs(variables) in the ‘Diagnosing Individual and Group Behavior’ model are linked by main line of influence and feedback loops which are not reciprocal and also the extensive usage of these lines make it difficult to understand the relationship between variables. Key variables are relatively broad and undefined (Force field analysis) In many models it is not clearly expressed whether variables are merely correlated or whether a cause and effect relationship between variables is thought to exist. Questions that article tried to answer are. Q1. What is the main purpose to construct the diagnostic models? Q2. What are the scopes of diagnosis and what is the problem related to narrow diagnosis? Q3. How diagnosis can be done in a systematic way? Q4. To what extend does the various mentioned diagnostic models are effective for organization? Q5. Why organization’s diagnosticians should not be rigid regarding adhering to one model (limited variables)? Q6. What are the different types of organizations and how do they function? Q7. What is congruency of model? Q8. What is political, technical and cultural dynamics related to diagnostic model? Q9. How nature of relationships between variables in various model differ? Q10. What are the key features of B-L Model that set it apart from other models? Q11. Why validation of any diagnostic model is vital? What are the procedure to validate a model? Q12. What are the findings of studies done on the variables of B-L diagnostic model? Q13. What is difference between path analysis and structural equation modeling? What are the key features of SEM that make it preferable procedure to validate a diagnostic model? Diagnostic models identify different vital organization’s variable. Variable are correlated i. e they are reciprocal or leave one way impact. Organization’s diagnosticians should not be rigid regarding adhering to one model. Assessment and improvement of organization depends upon the involvement of external environment in any diagnostic model. There is a fit between organization and environment i. e. what is and what should be done in an organization Validity of a diagnostic model is necessary before conceptualizing it along the empirical investigations. {text:list-item} B-L model covered all the variables in form of transformation and transitional along with environment and feedback loop after theoretical and empirical studies which is self sufficient model and keep it apart from other models, to adopt by any organization for diagnosis Key message of this article is that only theoretical and empirical studies are not feasible for conceptualizing any model but also validating it becomes necessary otherwise there could be one or more variables can be  missed out or they may also act as restraining forces in the path of excellence of any organization. According to me B-L model don’t have any loophole in it. There are several key features of B-L Model which set it apart from the other models are : {text:list-item}.

Graduation Rate Trends in California Essay Example for Free

Graduation Rate Trends in California Essay In California, graduation rates among public high schools students declined from sixty nine percent in 1992 to sixty five percent in 1996 (Plucker, ET all). In 2000, the State managed to exceed the national graduation average rate for public high schools for the first time in that decade. Before that year, California had always being between half to four points below the national average (Plucker, ET all). Johnson (2008) quotes from the 2008 Sacramento County Children’s Report Card report by stating that graduation rate in the high schools has fallen with fewer students meeting the requirements needed to join either California State University or The University of California. According to the report, the high schools graduation rate declined from 85. 1 percent in 2000/1 to 79. 6 percent in 2006/7. In the same report, it was revealed that the percentage rate of graduates (high school) who meet the GSU and UC requirement fell from 34. 4 % in 2002 to 22. 5 % in 2006 (Johnson, 2008). On the other hand, Mitchell (2008) reports that in Los Angeles, the number of public school students graduating has fallen for two consequent years (2006/7). She attributes this to the policy requiring all the students to pass an exit examination if they will have to get a diploma. The study also shows that decrease in the graduation rate can be attributed to the experiences of students while at the middle school and the quality of the high school teachers (Mitchel Sberg, 2008). According to San Jose Mercury News, the administration of exit exam was the reason for the decline in the graduation rate in the year 2006 (the first class sat for the exam). The rate of the high school graduates fell by four percent in California that year (Dave, 2007). However, despite the general decline in the number of students who are graduating, the number from the minority students is increasing (Nierstedt 2008). Experts have projected that the rate of graduation will continue falling over the next five years and that will definitely cause a decrease in college applications. On the other hand, due to the rising numbers of the graduating minority groups such as Asians and Hispanics colleges’ diversity will increase (Nierstedt 2008). The graduation rate in California among the blacks is increasing as compared to that of the whites students. For example, Pomona College in California has a graduation rate of black students being eighty-three percent, which is below that of other similar institutions. However, if compared with graduation rate of the white students, the rate is higher because the rate of graduation for the later is eighty one percent (Edwards, 2009). In addition, the methods that are used to calculate the rate are criticized because of the variations that are gotten if checked by different institutions. For example, California data shows that its graduation rate is better than the national average. However when the rate is analyzed by ethnic or racial groups, the results show that the number of African Americans and the Latinos is lost disproportionately (Koehler, 2004). Seventy percent of all the students in Californian schools graduate but two out of every five black Americans never graduated in 2000(Olmos, 2008). According to Patrcia (2008), Latino and African American students are less likely to graduate from high schools when compared to the white or Asian students. Also about one third or a quarter of all the public high schools students in California do not graduate. There is an allegation that there are States, California included that inflate graduation rate. The Education Trust based in Washington stated that â€Å"many States hide behind false data† with the study conducted showing that California had once reported that its graduation rate was eighty seven percent while in the real sense it was approximately seventy one percent (Eslinger, 2005). The report by the US Department of Education shows that the rate of graduation in all secondary schools is seventy percent with some schools in poor urban areas of California with a rate of forty four percent. This has been attributed to high costs of education and political and social factors (Douglass, 2008). Of all the 2004 high school students who sat for The California High School Exit Exam, only less than a half passed the exams a situation that forced the education board to postpone the use of the results as a graduation requirement until 2006 (Warren, 2008). Many young people in the State of California do not complete high school, many of them being African Americans and the Latinos (WestED, 2008). Fifty three percent of LAUSD students (freshman) never graduate four years later when compared to thirty eight percent of County freshman and twenty eight percent of California ninth graders (California Department of Education, 2009). A report by the Los Angeles County, Sheriff Lee Baca gave a report that associates the increase in criminal activities with the low rate of graduation among students. The reports suggests measures to increase the rate of graduation which include participating in high quality preschool, check and use of connect programs (to monitor whether high risk students are in school and connect them with needed services) (Bagchi, 2008). To improve the situation, several researches have been undertaken to get the main reason why the rate of graduation is moving down. The University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute has initiated the California drop out research project. The main objective of the research is to synthesize the researches that already exist and also to be in a position to make the policymakers and the public know the nature and the solutions to this problem(California Dropout Research Project, 2008). The report also suggests claims that the government of California is not doing enough to reduce the decreasing rate of graduation and more investment should be done to contain the situation (FCIK, 2008). The California Get Real coalition has proposed that Career technical education expansion can be useful in increasing the graduation rate in California (Price, 2007). On the other hand, Eccles (2008) states that students should be motivated to continue with their studies by building a stronger student teacher relationship. Students should also enroll in CTE programs as they increase their chances of graduating (Bates, 2008). REFERENCES Bagchi, S. (2008). Improving Graduation rates can cut crimes. Los Angeles: Heartland Institute. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://www. heartland. org/publications/school%20reform/article/22869/Improving_ Graduation_Rates_Can_Cut_Crime. html Bates, S. (2008). Facts about Academic success, drop-out rates, and career technical education. Retrieved March 5, 2009 http://www. citea. org/images/resources/Facts_about_academic_success_dropout_rates_ and_CTE pdf California Department of Education. (2009). Student Enrollment and Graduation Trends for LAUSD, Los Angeles County and California. Retrieved March 5, 2009 from http://www. afabc. org/chevron%20texaco%20brochure-2. pdf Douglass, J. A. (2008). Wrong Trajectory. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://alumni. berkeley. edu/california/200805/freespeech. asp Eccles, J. (2008). Can middle school reform increase high school graduation rates? Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://www. edcoe. k12. ca. us/departments/curriculum_instruction/documents/ CILC082008_DropOutMiddleSchoolReform. pdf FCIK. (2008). Drop out Prevention report. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://www. fightcrime. org/ca/dropout/index. php Rumberger, R. (2008). California Dropout Research Project. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://www. lmri. ucsb. edu/dropouts/about. htm Johnson K. (2008). Report: High school graduation rates decline in Sacramento County. Sacramento Business Journal. Retrieved March, 5 2009, from http://www. bizjournals. com/sacramento/stories/2008/11/17/daily7. html Mitchell, L. Sberg. (2008, June 21) Graduation rates declining in L. A. unified despite higher enrolment, study finds. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March, 5 2009, from http://articles. latimes. com/2008/jun/21/local/me-grads21

Examining The Importance Of Requirement Elicitation Information Technology Essay

Examining The Importance Of Requirement Elicitation Information Technology Essay Requirements elicitation is a process during whichanalyst must interact with the stakeholders in many different types of elicitation sessions to draw out the user requirements for a project (Tagbo, 2011).Hossenlopp and Hass, (2008) defined requirement elication as the process of gathering business requirements for a new business solution. According to Hossenlopp and Hass, (2008), activities involved in requirement elicitation process are intended to draw out and acquire requirements for business soulutions from buisness experts. Unlike Tagbo (2011),Hossenlopp and Hass (2008) definition is specific and confined confined the source information(business requirement) to business expert Why is requirement elicitation important? Requirement elicitation is a critical activity in the requirement development process. It discovers the requirements of stakeholders. This means it is where analyst identifies what the users or owners of the system to build want to see. The success or failure of this process is based on recognizing the relevant stakeholders and detecting and discovering their needs as well as the quality of requirements (SajjadHanif, 2010). A study on requirement engineering conducted byDavis, Fuller, Tremblay, Berndt, in 2006, found accurately capturing system requirements is the major factor in the failure of 90% of large software projects. Their conclusion was in line with earlier work by Lindquist (2005) who concluded poor requirements management can be attributed to 71 percent of software projects that fail; greater than bad technology, missed deadlines, and change management issues. An insight from these two conclusions is that requirement elicitation determines the success or failure of a pro ject and proper requirement elicitation is prerequisite for project success and therefore, without complete, clear and consistent requirement project is doomed to failure.The cost of a failed project is an enormous expense to firms. A study by Browne and Rogich (2001) found that failed or abandoned systems cost $100 Billion in the USA alone in 2000. The cost of failed project is not limited to financial cost but has lasting consequences on the system during its lifespan.Fixing mistakes made at requirements elicitation stage accounts for 75 percent of all error removal costs (Urquhart, 2001). In the following figure we show the impact of invalid requirements on software development. Figure 1: Requirement -software failure. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from: http://www.scarpedia.com/general/requirement-elicitation/ This figure shows the result of a study conducted by the Standish Group in 1995. In the study, 8000 software projects from 352 companies were studied. The study exposed that in more the 50% software project failures the reason lies somewhere in requirements (Requirement Engineering, 2010). Types 0f requirement elicitation Requirement elicitation is divided into; Greenfield engineering, R-engineering and interface engineering (Requirement Engineering, 2010). We first start with the description of Greenfield engineering followed the other two. Greenfield Engineering: is requirement elicitation used when new system is to be built. No Preceding system exists so requirements are pull out from Client and End User. This type of engineering is reliant onUser needs (Requirement Engineering, 2010). Re-Engineering: unlikeGreenfieldengineering, this type of requirement elicitation is used when a system exists. Existing system is re-design and re-implemented using a newer technology. It is technology oriented type (Requirement Engineering, 2010). Interface Engineering: It is a type of requirement elicitation where the system and its functionality remain the same but the environment in which the system operates is modified. It is dependent on new market needs (Requirement Engineering, 2010). Requirement Elicitation Challenges This section of the paper deals with the underlying challenges to requirement elicitation. Three syndromes have been identified by Leffingwell and Widring, which posses challenge to requirement elicitation. These syndromes are the Yes, But, Undiscovered Ruins, and the User and the Developer syndrome. The earlier part of this section will be looking at these syndromes and the latter will give details to other challenges found in requirement elicitation. The Yes, But syndrome Stated by Leffingwell and Widring that, this kind of problem; stems from the natural reaction of users; when they get to see the final developed software product. In the initial implementation of the product, users are expected to accept the software as what they where hopping for, or have additional requirements for the product, for example when the users have their first interaction with the system they have that yes, but, wouldnt be nice if kind of comments which indicates that the system is not what they really expected. Undiscovered Ruins syndrome In many ways, the search for requirement is like a search for undiscovered ruins: the more you find, the more you know remain (Leffingwell Widring, 2003, p. 64) Thus software developers struggle to determine when they are done with software elicitation. This makes it difficult for developers to determine when they have found all the requirement that are material. User and the Developer syndrome A big gap of communication exist between users and developers thus theres a user and the developer syndrome. Leffingwell and Widring states that the syndrome arises since the users and the developers might be coming from different worlds, in terms of the languages they are speaking, the differences in their backgrounds, motivations and objectives. Other Challenges to elicitation The following are the challenges identified by Matà © and Silva (2005), in requirement elicitation. These are: The initial scope of the project is not sufficiently defined and such is open to interpretation and assumptions. Stakeholders do not know what their real needs are and are therefore limited in their ability to support the investigation of the solution domain Stakeholders do not understand or appreciate the needs of other stakeholders; users may only be concerned with those factors that affect them directly. The analyst is unfamiliar with the problem or solution domain and does not understand the needs of the users and the processes to be addressed. Requirements generated from stakeholders can be vague, lacking specifics, and not represented in such a way as can be measured or tested. Only very limited guidelines and tool support exist for the process of equipments elicitation.

The Crow Review :: essays research papers

The Crow Reviewed   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the history of movies, movie companies have tried to do it bigger better and more exciting. They bring in bigger stars, better special effects and more convincing stories, which causes the masses to flock to the theatres in eager anticipation of each movie. The audience usually gets what the audience wants—more violence and more action the world over. â€Å"The Crow† has elements of different types of movie genres the horror, adventure, film noir and the western. In this movie there is no difference as is about to be shown in the following paper. They mix the genres together quite well in this movie to make it a true hybrid genre. From the mean streets, the use of shadows and surprise like the horror movie, to the adventure of the over all story. They also mix in a bit of western with the black cowboy that is in the comic, but doesn’t even appear in the movie itself. Now this paper shows how the movie appeals to the different genres using characters, settings, lighting and other effects to make the movie more interesting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Crow,† it starts out with a legend of the crow showing the horror aspect of the movie. It says that â€Å"when a person dies, a crow carries there soul to the land of the dead and sometimes a soul dies with such anguish that the soul cant rest, and sometimes, just sometimes the crow can bring that spirit back to put the wrong things right.† Which was in the case of Eric Draven, is what happened. Him and his fiancà © (Shelly) both are killed while fighting tenant eviction eviction in there building. Eric Draven being the way that he was before he was killed, a rock singer and guitarist, truly makes him the unlikely hero of this story. The way that he paints his face in a mimes face with a smile is quite different then was in the comic, he was suppose to paint his face like the face of tragedy. Instead they do it like a mime, and this is quite ironic as to what he is supposed to stand for. This creates a sense of dramatic horror to an eff ect throughout the movie. The street gang that killed him for the tenant eviction made him quite the man made demon, having only one thing that was on his mind, the revenge of his and Shelly’s death to put his soul to rest.

Java Programming Language Essay -- Computers Technology Programming La

Java: It's not just for breakfast anymore! The World-Wide Web as it is today reminds me of a bad date I had once; boring, flat, and unexciting. It does absolutely nothing for me. The pages are limited by the specifications of HTML which calls for a two-dimensional layout and a static page. I for one am looking for some new element. A new angle if you will. Something to jolt some life into The Web. Sun Microsystem's Java will bring a new interactive element to the Web. It is designed to enhance the browsing experience and take us into the next generation of The Web. "Java is an object-oriented language that adds animation and real-time interaction through in-line applications (called applets)." (Network Computing) So you are asking yourself, What is Java? How does it work? "Java is a simple, object-oriented, multithreaded, garbage-collected, secure, robust, architectural-neutral, portable, high-performance, dynamic language. The language is similar to C and C++ but much simpler. I think Eric Schmidt, Sun's Chief Technical Officer, put it best when he said, "Java is C++ without the guns, knives, and mace. It was designed for a consumer devices market, to allow applications to move among the devices in a secure manner." (P.C. LETTER) Java programs are compiled into a binary format that can be executed on many platforms without recompilation." (Dr. Dobb) It works by converting the code into a format the Java interpreter can understand. The code or "applets" can be embedded in any standard HTML page. An applet can do most anything a regular C program can do. It is equally complex as C for any given task. For the technically impaired, Java is a highly flexible product for developing programs for The Web. It is capable of carryi... ...5, v20 n8 p56-62 "Java and Internet programming: similar to C and C++ but much simpler" van Hoff, Arthur INFOWORLD; May 1995, v17 n22 p16 "Netscape inks pact with Sun, Macromedia" Wingfield, Nick LAN TIMES; June 1995, v12 n12 p44 "Sun, Netscape to wake up Web users" Raynovich, R. Scott MacUser; Sept 1995, v11 n9 P31 "The Internet becomes multimedia-savvy:Macromedia, Sun nab Netscape Navigator" Snell, Jason Network Computing; August 1995, v6 n9 p48-49 "Next generation Web Browsing" Kohlhepp, Robert Newsbytes; July 1995, pnew07180011 "Sun Microsystems Intros First Java Application" Bowers, Richard P.C. Letter; June 1995, v11 n9-10 p5 "Sun's Schmidt explains Java strategy" Author not given PCWEEK; June 1995, v12 n22 p14 "Sun's Java technology perks up WWW; Java language and HotJava browser provide extensiblity to the World-Wide Web" Sullivan, Eamonn

Essay examples --

Over the last few decades, the organizational role of management accountants has changed radically, along with the environment. Many of these changed management accountants undertake more advisory and strategic roles in their organizations. Their work has become more similar to that to business partners who are involved in both the everyday and the long term strategic decision making process. This essay will critically analyze the role of management accountants in the present day, as compared to their more traditional role in previous decades. First a distinction between financial accounting and management accounting must be made. Financial accountants are concerned with having financial systems put in place that allow them to maintain records, perform routine transactions, and produce year end reports (Cook 1995). Management accountants are more involved in using that financial information to improve management of the organization. Management can be defined as involved in â€Å"identifying, presenting, and interpreting information used for formulating strategy, planning and controlling activities, decision taking, and optimizing the use of resources† (Cook 1995). Historically speaking, management accountants have been viewed as â€Å"functional scorekeepers who are preoccupied with the past and reluctant to accept responsibility for decisions† (Parker 2002). The traditional role is one which concentrates on two main areas: supporting management decision-making and monitoring and controlling (Feeney & Pierce 2007). These management accountants focused primarily on the internal aspects of their work places, as well as a more statistical, financial and analytical perspective. Traditionally management accountants were not involved in decisio... ...e involved (Byrne & Pierce 2007), and operational managers may continue to consider the accountants to be in the role of making suggestions rather than decisions. Over the last few decades, the role of the management accountant has changed drastically. Traditionally involved in analyzing past decisions and statistics, present day management accountants have become more involved in forward thinking strategies and actual operational decision making. This leads to management accountants who perform a wide range of activities which might have been unheard of for them in previous years. However, this transition is not necessarily as straightforward as anticipated. These new kind of management accountants must overcome considerable challenges and conflicts in order to achieve the new role that is seen as both necessary and beneficial for the present business environment. Essay examples -- Over the last few decades, the organizational role of management accountants has changed radically, along with the environment. Many of these changed management accountants undertake more advisory and strategic roles in their organizations. Their work has become more similar to that to business partners who are involved in both the everyday and the long term strategic decision making process. This essay will critically analyze the role of management accountants in the present day, as compared to their more traditional role in previous decades. First a distinction between financial accounting and management accounting must be made. Financial accountants are concerned with having financial systems put in place that allow them to maintain records, perform routine transactions, and produce year end reports (Cook 1995). Management accountants are more involved in using that financial information to improve management of the organization. Management can be defined as involved in â€Å"identifying, presenting, and interpreting information used for formulating strategy, planning and controlling activities, decision taking, and optimizing the use of resources† (Cook 1995). Historically speaking, management accountants have been viewed as â€Å"functional scorekeepers who are preoccupied with the past and reluctant to accept responsibility for decisions† (Parker 2002). The traditional role is one which concentrates on two main areas: supporting management decision-making and monitoring and controlling (Feeney & Pierce 2007). These management accountants focused primarily on the internal aspects of their work places, as well as a more statistical, financial and analytical perspective. Traditionally management accountants were not involved in decisio... ...e involved (Byrne & Pierce 2007), and operational managers may continue to consider the accountants to be in the role of making suggestions rather than decisions. Over the last few decades, the role of the management accountant has changed drastically. Traditionally involved in analyzing past decisions and statistics, present day management accountants have become more involved in forward thinking strategies and actual operational decision making. This leads to management accountants who perform a wide range of activities which might have been unheard of for them in previous years. However, this transition is not necessarily as straightforward as anticipated. These new kind of management accountants must overcome considerable challenges and conflicts in order to achieve the new role that is seen as both necessary and beneficial for the present business environment.

Elizabethan Gardening

Aspects of Elizabethan Gardening and Landscape Architecture The reign of Elizabeth I was a golden era in English history, a time which abounded in men of genius. Among the many branches of art, science, and economy, to which they turned their attention, none profited more from the power of their wits, than did the art of gardening. Not having shared her father’s personality, nor his desire to not let the people live in more beautiful surroundings than his own, Elizabeth encouraged this art and persuaded her subjects to build delightfully-complex and extravagant gardens by proposing visits. The queen and her retinue would travel across the country and award the proprietors of the gardens she particularly liked. She also encouraged noblemen to support researchers, writers and other great minds who took on the task of contributing to the improvement of landscape architecture in one way or another. Lord Burghley was the patron of John Gerard, a remarkable English herbalist who published a list of rare plants cultivated in his garden at Holborn, still extant in the British Museum, and the famous work Great Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes. To Sir Walter Raleigh, a notable poet and aristocrat of the time, we owe the introduction of tobacco and of our most useful vegetable, the potato. An age of navigation and exploring, the Elizabethan era prided itself with the culture of various new flowers and plants (many of which were medicinal herbs) brought from India, America, the Canary Islands and other newly-discovered parts of the world. While re-editing Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, in 1587, William Harrison states that he has seen over four hundred new species of plants entrusted to British soil and that, day by day, the people begin to think of them as belonging to their country. Lord Salisbury, Lord Burleigh’s son, commissioned a family of highly-skilled and educated Dutch gardeners (the Tradescants) to travel and bring back for his garden foreign species that could have been acclimatized. Written in his lively conversational English style, full of his own personal ideas and fancies, Francis Bacon’s Essay on Gardens is familiar to everyone. Always practical and focused on what it was possible to do, Bacon wanted to put forward a scheme in better taste for the gardens he saw about him. During Elizabeth I’s reign, the persecution of the Protestants on the Continent drove many of them to find a safe refuge in England. They brought with them some of the foreign ideas about gardening, and thus helped to improve the condition of Horticulture. The Elizabethan garden was the outcome of the older fashions in English gardens, combined with the new ideas imported from France, Italy, and Holland. The result was a purely national style, better suited to this country than a slavish imitation of the terraced gardens of Italy, or of those of Holland, with their canals and fish-ponds. There was no breaking-away from old forms and customs, no sudden change. The primitive medieval garden grew into the pleasure garden of the early Tudors, which, by a process of slow and gradual development, eventually became the more elaborate garden of the Elizabethan era. What one currently understands by a â€Å"formal† or â€Å"old-fashioned† garden, is one of this type. However, as genuine and unaltered Elizabethan gardens are rare, it is generally the further development of the same style a hundred years later, which is known as a â€Å"formal old English garden†. The garden of this period was laid out strictly in connection with the house. The architect who designed the house, was also responsible with designing the garden. There are some drawings extant by John Thorpe, one of the most celebrated architects of the time, of both houses and the gardens attached to them. The garden was held to be no mere adjunct to a house, or a confusion of green swards, paths, and flower-beds, but the designing of a garden was supposed to require even more skill than the planning of a house. â€Å"Men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely; as if gardening were the greater perfection†, states Bacon in his essay, underlying the general idea of the period. Sir Hugh Platt's opinion seems to have been the exception that proves the rule, as most other writers were particular in describing the correct form for a garden, but he writes: â€Å"I shall not trouble the reader with any curious rules for shaping and fashioning of a garden or orchard how long, broad or high, the Beds, Hedges, or Borders should be contrived†¦ Every Drawer or Embroiderer, almost each Dancing Master, may pretend to such niceties; in regard they call for very small invention, and lesse learning. In front of the house there was typically a terrace, from which the plan of the garden could be studied. Flights of steps and broad straight walks, called â€Å"forthrights† connected the parts of the garden, as well as the garden with the house. Smaller walks ran parallel with the terrace, and the spaces between were filled with grass plots, mazes, or knotted beds. The â€Å"forthrights† corresponded to the plan of the building, while the patterns in the b eds and mazes harmonized with the details of the architecture. The peculiar geometric tracery which surmounted so many Elizabethan houses, found its counterpart in the designs of the flower-beds. William Lawson, a north-countryman of the time, of whom little is known except for his own experiences which he put down in his work, A New Orchard and Garden, mentioned that â€Å"the form that men like in general is a square†. This shape was chosen in preference to â€Å"an orbicular, a triangle, or an oblong, because it doth best agree with a man's dwelling†, as Shakespeare tells us in his play, Measure for Measure. This sort of house gardens we can get a fleeting glimpse every now and then in Shakespeare’s plays, literary works in which he mentions details such as the knotted patterns of the beds, the high brick or stone wall with which the square garden was usually enclosed, the arbour of box where eavesdroppers could find good cover etc. Another common custom regarded covering the walls with rosemary. According to John Parkinson, an important English botanist of the time, at Hampton Court rosemary was â€Å"so planted and nailed to the walls as to cover them entirely. Gerard and Parkinson both refer to the custom of planting against brick walls. In the North of England, Lawson tells us, the garden-walls were made of dry earth, and it was usual â€Å"to plant thereon wallflowers and divers sweet-smelling plants†. With the seventeenth century, the interest in gardens began to make an appearance in belles lettres, quite independently of real practical work and theoretical professi onal advice. One of the most visionary spirits of the age, Francis Bacon, was the first to direct attention to the matter in this way, though he was neither architect, nor gardener. Bacon formulated several noteworthy plans for organizing gardens: â€Å"The garden is best to be square, encompassed on all four sides with a stately arched hedge. The arches to be upon pillars of carpenter's work, of some ten foot high, and six foot broad, and the spaces between of the same dimension with the breadth of the arch. † This â€Å"fair hedge† of Bacon's ideal garden was to be raised upon a bank, set with flowers, and little turrets above the arches, with a space to receive â€Å"a cage of birds† – â€Å"and over every space between the arches, some other little figure, with broad plates of round colored glass, gilt, for the sun to play upon†. It is not likely that such fantastical ornaments to a hedge were usual, though it reminds one of the arched arcades and does not seem to be at all a new idea of Bacon's. When discussing in Gardener’s Labyrinth the various models of fencing a round garden, Thomas Hill, a well-known astrologer of the time, describes palings of â€Å"drie thorne† and willow, which he calls a â€Å"dead or rough enclosure†. He refers to the Romans for examples of the alternative of digging a ditch to surround the garden, but â€Å"the general way† is a â€Å"natural enclosure†, a hedge of â€Å"white thorne artely laid in a few years with diligence it waxed so thick and strong, that hardly any person can enter into the ground, sauing by the garden-door; yet in sundry garden grounds, the hedges are framed with the privet tree, although far weaker in resistance, which at this day are made the stronger through yearly cutting, both above and by the sides†. He gives a quaint method for planting a hedge. The gardener is to collect the berries of briar, brambles, white-thorne, gooseberries and barberries, steep the seeds in a mixture of meal, and set them to keep until the spring, in an old rope, â€Å"a long worn rope†¦ being in a manner starke rotten†. â€Å"Then, in the spring, to plant the rope in two furrows, a foot and a half deep, and three feet apart†¦ The seeds thus covered with diligence shall appear within a month, either more or less, which in a few years will grow to a most strong defense of the garden or field†. These old gardeners had great confidence in all their operations, and but rarely in their works do we find any allusion to possible failure. Yews were greatly use for hedges, but more for walks and shelter within the gardens, than to form the outer enclosure. In the larger gardens there were two or three gates in the walls, well designed, with magnificent stone piers surmounted with balls or the owner's crest, and wrought-iron gates of elaborate pattern; or else there was one fine gate at the principal entrance, the rest being smaller and less pretentious, merely â€Å"a planked gate† or â€Å"little door†. The main principle of a garden was still that it should be a â€Å"girth†, a yard, or enclosure; the idea of such a thing as a practically unenclosed garden had not, as yet, entered men's minds. But because the garden was surrounded with a high wall, and those inside wished to look beyond, a terrace was contrived. As in the Middle Ages, we find an eminence within the walls, as a point from which to look over them; so at the time, the restricted view from the mount did not satisfy, and to get a more extended range over the park beyond and the garden within, a terrace as raised along one side of the square of the wall. Some pieces of information regarding these aspects we can find in Sir Henry Wotton’s writings on architecture: â€Å"I have seen a garden into which the first access was a high walk like a terrace, from whence might be taken a general view of the whole plot below. † De Caux, the designer of the Earl of Pembroke's garden at Wilton, made such a terrace there â€Å"for the more advantage of beholding those plots†. Another is described at Kenilworth, in 1575, by Robert Langham: â€Å"hard all along by the castle wall is reared a pleasant terrace, ten feet high and twelve feet broad, even under foot, and fresh of fine grass†. The terraces, as a rule, were wide and of handsome proportions, with stone steps either at the ends or in the centre, and were raised above the garden either by a sloping grass bank, or brick or stone wall. At Kirby, in Northamptonshire, a magnificent Elizabethan house, nowadays rapidly falling into decay, all that remains of a once beautiful garden, â€Å"enrich'd with a great variety of plants† (as John Morton portrays it in his Natural History of Northamptonshire), is a terrace running the whole length of the western wall of the garden. At Drayton, an Elizabethan house in the same county as Kirby, there is a wide terrace against the outer wall of the garden with a summer-house at each end, as well as a terrace in front of the house, and other examples exist. The â€Å"forthrights†, or walks which formed the main lines of the garden design, were â€Å"spacious and fair†. Bacon describes the width of the path by which the mount is to be ascended as wide â€Å"enough for four to walk abreast†, and the main walks were wider still, broad and long, and covered with â€Å"gravel, sand or turf†. There were two kinds of walks, those in the open part of the garden, with beds geometrically arranged on either side, and sheltered walks laid out between high clipped hedges, or between the main enclosure wall and a hedge. There were also the â€Å"covert walks†, or â€Å"shade alleys†, in which the trees met in an arch over the path. Some of the walks were turfed, and some were planted with sweet-smelling herbs. â€Å"Those which perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest, but being trodden upon and crushed, are three that is, burnet, wild thyme and water-mints; therefore you are to set whole alleys of them to have the pleasure when you walk or tread†. Thomas Hill, in one chapter of his book, mentions that the â€Å"walks of the garden ground, the allies even trodden out, and leveled by a line, as either hree or four foot abroad, may cleanly be sifted over with river or sea sand, to the end that showers of rain falling, may not offend the walkers (at that instant) in them, by the earth cleaving or clogging to their feet†. Parkinson also has something to say about walks: â€Å"The fairer and larger your allies and walks be, the more grace your garden shall have, the less harm the herbs and flowers shall receive, by passing by them that grow next unto the allies sides, and the better shall your weeders cleanse both the bed and the allies†. The hedges on either side the walks were made of various plants box, yew, cypress, privet, thorne, fruit trees, roses, briars, juniper, rosemary, hornbeam, cornel, â€Å"misereon† and pyracantha. â€Å"Every man taketh what liketh him best, as either privet alone or sweet Bryar, and whitethorn interlaced together, and Roses of one, two, or more sorts placed here and there amongst them. Some plant cornel trees and plash them or keep them low to form them into a hedge; and some again take a low prickly shrub that abided always green, called in Latin Pyracantha†. Regarding the cypress, Parkinson mentions that, for the goodly proportion it has, â€Å"as also for his ever green head, it is and hath been of great account with all princes, both beyond and on this side of the sea, to plant them in rows on both sides of some spacious walke, which, by reason of their high growing, and little spreading, must be planted the thicker together, and so they give a pleasant and sweet shadow†. Gerard, writing of the same plant, says: â€Å"It grows likewise in diverse places in England, where it hath been planted, as at Sion, a place near London, sometime a house of nuns; it grows also at Greenwich and at other places; and likewise at Hampstead in the garden of Master Waide, one of the Clarkes of his Majesty’s Privy Council†. Another interesting aspect of the period’s gardening literature was the fact that, in several writings, there began to appear ideas for protecting and sheltering delicate and exotic plants, which a little later developed into orangeries and greenhouses, and finally into the hothouse and stove. Sir Hugh Platt, particularly, in the second part of The Garden of Eden, not printed until 1660, recurrently mentions the possibility of growing plants in the house, and making use of the fires in the rooms to force gillyflowers and carnations into early bloom. â€Å"I have known Mr. Jacob of the Glassehouse†, he writes, â€Å"to have carnations all the winter by the benefit of a room that was near his glasshouse fire†. Holinshed, while admiring the rchards of his day, states that he has seen capers, oranges and lemons, and heard of wild olives growing here, but he does not say how they were preserved from cold. Gerard also describes both oranges and lemons, while also being, too honest, however, to pretend that they grow in England. A few oranges, nonetheless, were successfully reared in this country. In his treatise on the Orchard, Parkinson focuses on describing the surprising looking after and tending of the Orange tree, as opposed to the Citron and the Lemmon trees. The former used to be kept in great square boxes and lift there to and fro by iron hooks attached to the sides in order to move them into a house or close gallery in the winter time. Other writers suggest that, if planted against a concave-shaped wall, lined with lead or tin to cause reflection, they might happily bear their fruit in the cold climate if these walls did stand so conveniently, as they might also be continually warmed with kitchen fires. The experiment of growing lemons was tried by Lord Burghley. There are some interesting letters extant in which the history of the way in which the tree was procured is preserved. Sir William Cecil wrote to Sir Thomas Windebank around 1561, requesting to have a lemon, a pomegranate and a myrt tree procured for him, along with the instructions on how they should be kept, because he desired to enrich his collection of exotic vegetation (collection which the orange tree was already part of). Although these foreign species of trees became widespread many years later, having been regarded as rarities for half a century, these fist instances of their importation are useful for us in forming a general idea about the level of cultural and scientific development the Elizabethans had reached. An indisputable proof of the progress gardening was making during this period was the growing importance of those practicing the craft in and around London, until at length, at the beginning of King James I’s reign, they attained the dignified position of a Company of the City of London, incorporated by Royal charter. In that year all those â€Å"persons inhabiting within the Cittie of London and six miles compass thereof doe take upon them to use and practice the trade, craft or misterie of gardening, planting, grafting, setting, sowing, cutting, arboring, mounting, covering, fencing and removing of plants, herbs, seeds, fruit trees, stock sett, and of contriving the conveyances to the same belonging, were incorporated by the name of Master Wardens, Assistants and Comynaltie of the Company of Gardiners of London†. The botanical interest of Elizabethan England was shared by most countries of the time, aspect which led to the creation of a strong bond in commerce and political relations. In consequence, this great delight in growing flowers for domestic decoration was a marked feature in English life at this period. Many travelers who visited the kingdom found themselves absolutely charmed with the English comfort and architectural artistry. In one of his works, published in The Touchstone of Complexions, Thomas Newton, an illustrious scholar of the time, quotes the Dutch explorer and physician Levimus Leminius, who came to England around 1560: â€Å"Their chambers and parlors strewn over with sweet herbs refreshed me; their nosegays finely intermingled with sundry sorts of fragrant flours, in their bed chambers and privy rooms with comfortable smell cheered me up and entirely delighted all the senses†.