Mission Statement For Apple Inc.

The company I choose to follow for the next 5. 5 weeks is Apple Inc.. They were founded on April 1, 1976 butt was incorporated on January 3, 1977. The founders were Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak (Sanford, 2013). Apple Inc. mission statement is â€Å"Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad† (Apple Inc. 2013). When you look at a mission statement especially in this case, Apple Inc. mission statement acts as a guide to the company’s internal efficiencies because it shows all that they have accomplished as for products and services that they give to their clients and customers. Apple Inc. is rated number 6 on the fortune 500 list and they are number 6 because their missions statement makes their internal efficiencies for developing the cutting edge products and innovations. They to are always upgrading their models with either new versions or allowing downloads of the latest software so their products don’t go out of date. The only on that can define the future direction of Apple Inc. , is that of the internal efficiencies of the company for the change in its internal efforts. When you look at their mission statement their efforts are based on the products that they offer. If they have a new innovation from their efficiency and efforts internally than it can also build and re-word their mission statement. Their internal efforts are what makes their mission statement and why they are the leaders in technology. No efforts have gone with out recognition. When you think of Apple Inc. , you think of 100% their mission statement. I personally am an apple user on all levels. I use to never understand a Mac, Mp3 player or now an Ipod let alone an Ipad. However, the two founders had a dream and goals. Those dreams and goals were effectively brought out by the internal efforts and efficiencies of what they founded. They are the leaders in technology and have competitors following in their footsteps. I am interested in the future mission statement of Apple Inc. and how their efforts and efficiencies internal can make that statement grow and grow. I wonder when Siri will make her debut on the mission statement. Siri is a good example of Apple Inc. , efforts internally for being the leader, best, reinventing and creating the future in technology. All this is from the credit of their internal company. Apple Inc. (2013). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://investor.apple.com/faq.cfm?FaqSetID=6 Sanford, G. (2013). Apple-history. Retrieved from http://apple-history.com/h1

“The Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead” by Del Guárico

â€Å"The Secrets of Haiti’s living dead† by Del Guarico was a very interesting story o read. It shows how people of different places will believe something if they want or expect it to be true. This is especially true if it is deeply a part of their culture. In the story, this idea is illustrated through the examination of zombies in Haitian voodoo culture. The article describes a search by a Harvard student named Wade Davis for a drug causing zombie-like effects. Zombies are a fact of Haitian culture. When most people hear this they get their own perception about zombies and the culture. People in America tend to think of zombies as otherworldly and a source for tales of Horror and we are not more or less scared of the actually zombie, but the fact that we think that they can turn us into one. Davis soon finds this drug and discovers that zombies are faked in a material sense. They use the poison from the Japanese Fugu fish and other chemicals. He also found out that there is a secret society that is responsible for policing the society and the treat of zombification is a threat to keep everyone in line. He was not able to discover how common it was in Haiti He give credit for finding his answer on his approach. Some people might wonder why he wouldn't just make a general announcement and attempt to enlighten the Haitian people as to this fact. If he did that he would only be insulting they people and trying to take away the belief that they have had for hundreds of years.

Classical Approach to Management Essay

The classical school of thought, established in the late nineteenth century, was composed of the writers who first contributed to organisational theory. Over the last one hundred years, the perception on management has evolved significantly. However many of the original views devised by the classical theorists are still evident. The theories formulated by Henri Fayol, Max Weber and Frederick W Taylor focus predominantly on efficiency, leading to a rational perspective on management and organisations. This essay will discuss the opinions portrayed by these writers and demonstrate that their approach remains relevant today. Henri Fayol suggested management should be classified as a separate activity in business. Within this managerial class he composed five primary objectives that managers should follow and adhere to. These were to plan and forecast, organise, command, co-ordinate and control. He also determined fourteen principles of management, which included specialisation, authority and unity of command. Fayol’s approach seemed very logical and rational, regarding management as a science – something that could be taught. He believed his principles could be educated to managers and as a result, encourage them to manage more efficiently. Fayol was a lucrative businessperson and his research was based upon this success. This led others to believe his findings were more plausible. Fayol’s work could be deemed as being too idealistic and to a certain extent some of his principles could be classed as being rather old-fashioned. Much of his work is based upon the assumption of compliant labour, however in this modern century employees are not always happy to oblige to new procedures or regulations. On the other hand, his identification of distinct managerial activities is still able to influence modern day managers. His principles can be commonly found in twenty first century organisations. The specialisation of labour sees large corporations broken down into smaller departments such as marketing, finance and human relations whilst remuneration of personnel sees workers being rewarded in the form of wages and bonuses for their efforts. Although Fayol’s observations were derived from an economy dissimilar to our present one, his efforts very much provide the basic building blocks to the more modern and dynamic style of management. Max Weber was concerned with the structure of authority and identified three sources. Firstly, charismatic authority, often indicated by politicians, is when a person is able to persuade others through their personality. Secondly traditional authority, when authority is passed on from one generation to the next, is frequently seen in monarchies and family run firms. Thirdly rational-legal authority, when an individual has power through the position they hold due to experience or ability. It is the last example, Rational-legal, which is the main form of authority in modern society. Weber is responsible for introducing the term â€Å"bureaucracy†, a type of organisational structure, which has been developed from the principles of rational-legal authority. Although a bureaucratic organisation repels the use of charismatic authority and has a definitive hierarchical structure, there tends to be a high level of efficiency because workers are normally following a designated set of tasks whilst adhering to set rules. This can particularly be seen in large fast food chains e. g.  McDonald’s and Burger King, whereby employees have different roles within the organisation which contributes towards a sustained level of efficiency and productively. Work is centred on achieving goals instead of the need to innovate and be creative. Other examples are government organisations, the military or large monopolistic companies such as royal mail, which all focus greatly on specialisation and efficiency. Weber’s approach to management is shown in today’s police force, which has a definitive authority structure and is effective at delivering a productive service to society. Frederick W Taylor developed ideas on scientific management. He conducted numerous experiments on activities such as shovelling and bricklaying, in order to maximise efficiency and productivity throughout the workplace. He achieved this by simplifying procedures and enhancing specific variables in order to ascertain an optimum level. Taylor’s efforts are evident within the Bethlehem Steel works, where productivity was increased by four hundred per cent. There is a great degree of controversy surrounding Taylor’s theories, the main criticism being his dehumanising approach. Workers are often likened to resources, a lack of regard is experienced towards their feelings and the opportunity for individuality is limited. However, his findings do lead to efficient production levels and wages are distributed accordingly to performance levels. The quotation â€Å"a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work†, often expressed by Taylor, is limited in modern times due to the introduction of a minimum wage. However, remuneration is achieved in the form of bonuses. There is a lot of evidence of Taylorism being used by a wide variety of industries in the twenty first century. The McDonald’s franchise is a modern example of a corporation who operates using scientific management. The roles and tasks to be undertaken are made clear to staff and the process of ordering and supplying a good to the consumer remains the same in every single outlet. The service provided by the staff, outlet and ultimately brand, remains consistent. Taylor’s theories have also been closely linked to Henry Ford and in modern automobile production plants, as well as call centres, fast food chains and countless other mass-produced goods such as computers  Although the classical school were dominant in a previous century, much of their work is still evident in contemporary management styles; in particular Henri Fayol’s and Frederick Taylor’s. The ideas put forward by the classical theorists were in effect, a set of rules on how to manage. There is little room for flexibility, which is not the case in this modern economy – which is very dynamic. Companies are focused on globalisation, consumers have different desires and needs, attitudes towards careers have changed and technological advancements have led to people being replaced by machines to complete simple or tedious tasks. With that being said, the classical school has a huge influence on the way managers behave in today’s society. Fayol’s five managerial objectives are repeated throughout the office and the scientific approach is frequently seen by planning tasks and assigning them to individuals who are most appropriate for them. The classical approach has provided a fundamental basis for management, not only in the past and present but also for the future.

Survey analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Survey analysis - Research Paper Example In this survey The AC Nielsen Online Consumer Company aimed to determine the confidence levels in consumers and conducted a worldwide survey in 42 markets. The results from the survey indicated that in markets with a sample size of 500, the error margin was plus or minus 4.4% and in markets with a sample size of 1000 consumers, an error margin of plus or minus 3.1% was likely to occur. In this confidence survey, over 23,500 people were interviewed in 42 markets word wide in : Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, and the United States. The market sample in each market was approximately 500 but in China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States it was 1000. About 57% of the respondents admitted to cut down on out of home entertainment and 53% claimed to spend less on buying new clothes to sustain their budgets. About 48% said that they would delay upgrading their technology in order to stay within their budgets. In the five regions surveyed worldwide, the priorities given by the consumers varied among the consumers. Out of home entertainment was the first thing that 61% of consumers in Latin America would cut down on, 58% in Asia pacific and 54% in Europe. In North America, 70% of Canadians and 66% of Americans would be the takeout meals as compared to out of home entertainment. In addition, saving on gas and electricity was a priority among the North Americans. A survey on the political situation in the United States of America regarding the popularity of American presidents namely The presidential job approval was conducted and

Political ideologies Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Political ideologies - Article Example Engel was the only user of this phrase, and not even once by Marx. He used it in a private epistle to Franz Mehring in 1893. In this letter he wanted to talk about how little or no effort was invested in thinking about the influence of the state of mind in determining social action. He and fellow philosophers had only thought of the reverse. False consciousness refers to the knowledge that a working class character should have but are yet to possess due to lack of consideration of how they should be paid, their working conditions, their rights and privileges (Lukacs 4). Simply it is the lack of knowledge of one’s own best interests. Self-sacrifice is a form of false consciousness. It is likened to working for free yet one is entitled to pay as well as privileges since one is cut out for that particular job. That one is needed by the owner of the mode of production but fails to see the fact that since they are needed, they should be getting a wage, not only as pay for the work but also privileges to ensure that they are ever available and to make their life as comfortable as possible in order for them to undertake their scheduled task as efficiently and as to the maximum profit achievable. Lukà ¡cs introduced this idea in the 1920s with a bid to comprehend ‘how come the working class is made of the less of social revolutionaries.’ ... mployer should ensure he has health insurance, or his pay may be too low compared to the amount of labor, and in case of errors because of being human, and not deliberate sabotage, his pay is safe from deductions. A paralegal who works in the archives is also entitled to the same health benefits as those of the legal superiors she works for. The dust id hazardous and the working hours are long for someone who is on their feet three quarters of the time. That due to the fact that they know the content and location of the files, they too are needed and their pay deserves to reflect that. 2. Specifically how has mechanical reproduction compromised our ability to think critically? (Walter Benjamin) Mechanical reproduction takes away the authenticity of art. It no longer becomes the property of the original artiste but becomes of the masses. They get to own the product even though they did not contribute to its composition, neither did they contribute to its creative works. Mechanical rep roduction also takes away the autonomy of the artwork itself. It seizes to be the only one of its kind and it becomes a mass production which anyone can have at their will. This reduces its exchange value and therefore the artwork becomes less of an attraction to own. The mechanical reproduction of a photograph of a human model or actor, for example, loses value as it is transferred from one person to another from the original photographer. The ideas of the original photographer are disseminated throughout and they become less interesting when seen too many times. If a certain company wants to use that picture and they happen to find it in circulation, they will want to use a picture that has never been seen by the public. In any case, they wanted to make an impression that was unique to

PASBD reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PASBD reflection - Essay Example Due to the knowledge obtained from this unit, my presentation skills, communication, group-handling skills, decision making under both certainty and uncertainty and the much-needed problem solving skills are sharp. In the short past in the industry, we have made three presentations and one interview, made analysis, and compiled corporate reports. These trainings have made us realize our areas of weaknesses and opportunities. I have gained immense insight and training in my field based on the provisions of the unit (PASBD). My interview, teamwork, and communication skills are quite efficient. As a result I am today in a position of interacting with personalities of whatever manner. The PASBD is designed with the sole aim of developing the skills of professionals in a manner that as graduands of the course we are able to handle hard tasks with tighter deadlines and unpredictable situations (Bolton 2005). As an accountant having gone through this course, I exhibit the highest form of competency in my work. Apart from simply aiding my group members and me in getting a job, PASBD also helps me be organized in any job to an extent that I am able to grow, survive in the jobs and ultimately excel in terms of my career growth. My theoretical aspects of the course already acquired throughout the other modules of the course have been translated into practical approaches. Today I am able to adopt technological approaches to finding solutions to problems I face in the industry. At my workplace, I am able to work harmoniously in teams and achieve individual targets as well. In addition, my listening skills are quite effective and making professional or corporate presentation in our organization is just exemplary. Today, from the knowledge acquired am able to identify and solve a variety of problems whether structured or unstructured an aspect that I appreciate so much (Cartwright & Scisco

A report on what your local banker says he or she can do to help you Research Paper

A report on what your local banker says he or she can do to help you get paid from abroad by customers of your new small export - Research Paper Example Following section will discuss as to what our local banker can offer to us as an exporting company. Financing Facilities for Exporting Company During our discussion with the banker, we came to know that an exporting company can have access to different sources of finance to help it achieve its overall organizational objectives. First source of finance identified by our banker was for the purpose of meeting our working capital requirements including sourcing raw materials, managing our receivables as well as paying our overheads and salaries. Our banker informed us that exporters often enjoy concessionary rates of interest on such working capital facilities because they help bring the country the precious foreign exchange which is essential for managing balance of payments of a country. The export related financing for meeting our working capital requirements however, was related with our ability to take the new orders and financing, according to banker, will be limited to the amount of orders we receive. Another important source of finance identified by our banker was the discounting of letter of credits which we receive from our buyers in international market. As one of the conditions of our dealings, we will ask our customers to open a letter of credit in our favor thus providing us added security and safety.

Critical Analysis of CIPD Survey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Critical Analysis of CIPD Survey - Essay Example The effectiveness of business research, as also of the research related to other sectors, is depended on certain criteria. The validity of data employed is critical in order to decide whether a business research project is credible or not.. In addition the methods used for data analysis need to be reviewed and evaluated. In any case, the ability of a research project to meet the targets set by the researchers has to be checked. In current paper reference is made to a particular research project: the ‘Annual Survey Report 2012 - Resourcing and Talent Planning’ of CIPD. Particular emphasis is given on two specific aspects of the above research project: a) its statistical analysis and sampling and b) its ability to explain clearly the impact of social/ economic change on resourcing and talent management. In terms of the first of the above issues, the particular project can be characterized as successful; still, certain improvements would be possible so that the level of qua lity of the project is further increased. As of its scope, the project has managed to respond to the vision of its designers, showing clearly the interaction between the social/ economic change and the talent management/ resourcing. Literature related to the specific subject has been used for critically exploring the issues highlighted above. Part 1 – Analysis case, sampling Before explaining the appropriateness of statistical analysis and sampling methods used in the particular research project it would be necessary to present the key characteristics of this project, as of the above two elements. The survey has been based on the responses of 522 organizations operating in different sectors across UK (case study, p.34). In fact, organizations in ‘the private, public and voluntary sectors in UK’ (case study, p.34) have been asked to state their view in regard to the 42 questions included in the survey’s questionnaire (case study, p.34). Particular emphasis has been also based on the size of companies involved. As explained in the case study, 6 different categories of firms have been addressed in the context of the particular survey. These categories are presented in Table 1 below. Table 1 – Types of firms used in the survey based on the number of their employees (Source: case study, p.36) The above table indicates an important characteristic of the particular research project, as differentiated from the organization’s similar research project of 2011. For its survey of 2012 CIPD has focused on medium size firms and not on small firms, as in 2011. Indeed, in the organization’s survey for 2012 emphasis has been given on firms with 1,000-4,999 employees instead of firms with 10-49 and 50-249 employees. The above differentiation is expected to influence, even slightly, the findings of the research at the level that employees in medium size firms have to face different organizational conditions. Also, the needs and HRM practices of medium firms have to be different, at least at certain points, from those of the small firms. More specifically, the operation of small firms is based on families, meaning that each small firm is usually administered by a single family so that the control over the firm is secured. Another characteristic of the firm’s sampling method is the choice of organizations operating in different areas of UK (Table 2 below). Efforts have been also made so that organizations from different industrial sectors are employed in the study, as indicated in the Table presented in page 35 of the case study. These practices show the efforts of the researchers to guarantee the credibility of findings, as indicators of the resourcing and talent management practices held across UK. The quality and the effectiveness of sampling in the particular research project are analyzed below using appropriate literature. Table 2 –

Can Information Technology change Organisational Behaviour Essay

Can Information Technology change Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example The main purpose of the research is to present that in this era of globalisation and industrialisation, innovation of information technogy (IT) is one of the most significant and emerging concepts which facilitated the transmition of large scale of information or knowledge very easily from one place to the other. The development of information technology concept offered revolution in the world of technology which rather proved to be highly beneficial. The term Information technology (IT) mainly deals with technology or knowledge to treat varied information. The acquirement, managing, storing and propagation of vocal, picturesque, documented and numerical information by a microelectronics-based arrangement of electronic telecommunications. This is a modern concept of transmition of information of recent times which proved to be efficient in each and every sector such as banking, retail or telecommunication. Moreover, Inforamtion technology helps in controlling technology and wide exte nt of areas including computer software, information technology, computer hardware, programming languages’ but are not restricted to aspects namely processes, and assemblance of data. In addition, information technology (IT) is defined as the concept that transfers data, knowledge or facts in any visual configuration with the help of multimedia distribution instrument, which is often considered as one of the significant components of IT domain. In addition, introduction of information technology not only improved the productivity of the organisations but also augmented human activities as well. IT augmented the skills and knowledge of employees thereby improving the productivity and profitability of the organisations. Therefore, introduction of IT improved both organisational behaviour along with the culture thereby enhancing its sustainability in long run (Forester, 1985). This is a report which highlights the influences and benefits of information technology (IT) in mainly three sectors namely retail, telecommunication and banking in a concise and structured way. It is divided into three parts namely introduction, discussion and conclusion. The discussion part is again sub–divided into three fractions namely case 1, case 2 and case 3 spotlighting the impact of IT on organisational behaviour (OB) in three sectors. 1.1.DISCUSSION Information technology (IT) is that area of engineering which works with the utilisation of varied electronic computers and telecommunications in order to retrieve, accumulate and convey large amount of information from one part to the other in a simple and trouble–free way(The Mathematical Association of America, 2012). The term ‘OB’ is described as the study of the employees actions or performances in a specific workplace. Moreover, it is

English composition 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English composition 2 - Research Paper Example There are a number of social and economic factors, which promote illicit and offensive behavior in young adults, such as, loneliness, poverty, disorganized family structures, and materialism. The types of crimes associated with juveniles usually include bullying, theft, drug abuse, and disorderly conduct. However, current researches show that some juveniles also commit serious crimes, such as, homicide, arson, vandalism, robbery, assault, auto theft, and rape. â€Å"On average, juveniles were arrested for violent robberies or carjackings at least once a day last year, an almost 50 percent increase from 2007† (Klein). In this paper, we will discuss the importance of reducing juvenile crimes. Moreover, we will also discuss some ways, which can be used to reduce the rate of juvenile crimes in the United States of America. Reduction in Juvenile Crimes In today’s world, the issue of juvenile crime has reached its heights all over the world and the United States of America is not an exception. It is the responsibility of the government of the United States to take such measures, which should not only result in the reduction of juvenile crimes but also in eliminating their root causes.

The Recent History and Dynamics of Culture Essay

The Recent History and Dynamics of Culture - Essay Example Spoken communication gave rise to stories, poetry and music in order to make remembering easier and communicating more entertaining. Written language changed the way we use our brains, and the printing press made knowledge available to all who could learn to read. This led to the rise of the middle classes, and to the development of the idea of a separation between the cultured and the masses. Public education was one result of technology and the rising middle class, as society needed to train its best and brightest in order to maintain productivity and growth. The Internet has now eliminated the need for physical books and made this knowledge available to literally anyone in the world with a connection. The common thread here is language, art and communication. Most parts of any culture fall under one of these categories. Law and government seem to be part of culture, but these are simply formal governance of the cultural values society. So culture is, essentially, everything involving more than one person in a society. This includes literature, music, art, value systems, behavioural norms, institutions, and the interpretation and dissemination of each of these. Food, a major part of culture, is both ritual and art. Music and visual arts are products, and also mirrors, of the culture. However, more than anything else, a society’s language and its texts represent it s culture.... (Most Canadians or Australians did not make the cut either.) British and Western Europeans were the sole providers of â€Å"literature†. Cultured people were â€Å"elite†, so anything readily accessible by the masses was not a part of culture. This meant that even though cultured texts, music and art were available to everyone, only the most cultured could truly understand them, if they even read them. It required a great deal of education to read Homer in the original language, or to appreciate Opera without subtitles, or ballet, or to read works of learned men and discuss the myriad values of each. Theoretically, culture includes modern discourses that bridge the various disciplines which include culture as part of their inquiries. Certain critical practices for cultural analysis are used to create that discourse concerning cultural activities, products, and institutions (Jere Paul Surber). It has expanded to this from the very narrow beginnings in Great Britain in th e 18 century. Certain British universities instituted cultural studies in the 1950s. With this kind of base, cultural studies aims for a practical critique of concrete and measurable factors that effect economic and political power. In its beginnings, culture was the pursuit of improvement of person among the aristocracy by virtue of education and practice. One of the first developments of any culture is the appearance of its critics. Critics always try to define what they criticise in order to be able to define its value. This sets them up to be the experts and that attracts people who need to feed their egos. In the late nineteenth century, people like Matthew Arnold saw culture more as a product than an aspect of society. It was something to aspire to as it represented knowledge of the best

Video games’ good and bad effects Essay Example for Free

Video games’ good and bad effects Essay Many wonder if there are any good things about video games. The question becomes even more prominent when you think about children and teens, who might spend more time playing video games than going outside. And then there are adults who develop video game addictions. Sometimes these addictions could lead to problems with employment, relationships and other aspects of life. However, despite all these things, I still say there are many good things about video games, regardless of who is playing. True, while everyone needs to have a life beyond the Xbox, video game entertainment is generally very positive. Through video gaming, you develop the following: 1) Eye-Hand Coordination When youre thinking about some of the good things associated with video games, this tops the list. This is particularly the case for young children, who still need to develop their motor skills. Interaction with the controller teaches them how to coordinate their movements. 2) Fitness Thanks to the Wii, the Xbox Kinect and similar devices, video games can be controlled by more complex body movements. If this is done over a long period of time, video games can actually help a person lose weight. In fact, there are even games dedicated to fitness. They offer the same workout as any aerobics class. 3) Problem-Solving Skills Many games on the market will not let you progress unless you solve a puzzle. How the puzzle manifests itself will depend on the title, but most are designed to test a persons deductive reasoning. 4) Improved Reading Although the reading is not as intense as a book, it is still more detailed than what you see on television. Bad things Video games can be bad for you, but not for the reasons you might think. Theyre not bad for you because theyll make you violent — because they wont. However they can be bad for you for other reasons. Heres a look at the top 5 reasons why video games can be bad for you. Addiction is defined as The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something. †  Anyone who has really been into video games has experienced this. Kids and adults alike think about getting home and playing games. They also spend a great deal of time reading gaming magazines, participating in online gaming forums, looking for future game releases, and of course, spending countless hours playing games. When they arent doing any of these things, theyre wishing they were. It cost a lot of money to stay current with the latest video games and hardware (console and/or computer). Many gamers spend all of their money on gaming. For example, its not uncommon for a gamer to have 50-100 games that cost $40-$50 each. They also often have at least 2 different game consoles and 1 high-end PC. This can easily add up to thousands of dollars a year to maintain a typical gamers habits. Theres often a direct correlation with the amount of time spent playing video games, and the amount of time spent engaging in a quality relationship. In the most extreme example I could find, there was a couple that was so consumed with playing video games that they ended up neglecting their 3 children — to the point that they were malnourished, naked, and covered in their own feces. Although thats an extreme case, I still think theres something to be said about people who spend the majority of their free time playing video games. My guess is that theyre probably not dating or pursuing a meaningful relationship in their free time. Update: A reader brought to my attention an online group dedicated to loved ones who have been affected by their partners addiction to World of WarCraft (WoW). Their description includes the following Do you have a loved one that plays World of Warcraft so much that you feel like you are a widow? This group isnt just for wives, but for anyone, husbands, girl or boyfriends, mothers, fathers, sons or daughters, or anyone that has had a relationship effected by this addictive game. Avid gamers are similar to people who smoke a lot of marijuana — in that they dont get much done. Reading a good book, taking care of bills, writing an article, inventing something, mowing the lawn, etc are simply not a priority when it comes to getting to the next level or finishing a game. Many gamers have things they would like to do in life, but they never get around to it, because they spend so much of their time playing games. Then, when they do have time to work on one of their projects, theyre too tired to do it, because they stayed up till 3am playing a game. Instead of taking a trip, mountain biking, or hanging out with friends at a cafe, gamers spend their time in a virtual reality. Whereas real life experiences bear long lasting friendships and memories, videos games do not. The only pictures that come from video games are screenshots, and the memories that are created from playing those games are ultimately meaningless. Living means interacting, growing, learning, teaching, and loving — none of which can be accomplished in the virtual wasteland of video games.

The inter relationship between firm growth and profitability

The inter relationship between firm growth and profitability Abstract There is a widespread presumption that there is a close relationship between firm growth and firm profitability. However, most of the past studies on firm growth and profitability have been conducted without mutual associations. Only a few studies, thus far, have examined the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability and the results have been inconsistent. The reason for the inconsistency is mainly due to the lag structure of the models in each study. To address the issue, this study conducted panel unit-root tests on firm growth and profitability separately and then made appropriate models using dynamic panel system GMM estimators. Through the analyses of the models, this study found that in restaurant firms the prior years profitability had a positive effect on the growth rate of the current year, but the current and prior years growth rates had a negative effect on the current years profitability. This outcome implies that profit creates growth but the growth impede s profitability in the restaurant industry. More implications are also discussed in this paper. Keywords: Firm growth; Profitability; Panel unit-root test; Dynamic panel system GMM 1. Introduction The dynamics of firm growth and profitability (or profit rate) is an important issue for industrial practitioners as well as academic researchers (Goddard, McMillan and Wilson, 2006). Theoretically, if firm growth rate is unrelated to firm size and prior growth rate, then firm growth follows random walk and the variance of firm size can increase indefinitely. This is known as the Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE). This stochastic growth process implies unlimited industry growth in the long run. However, if growth rate is inversely related to firm size, firm growth would converge in the long run. On the other hand, Mueller (1977) claimed that firm profitability converges at a certain level due to market competition, which is referred to as Persistence of Profit (POP). The POP literature argues that firm entry and exit are sufficiently free to quickly eliminate any abnormal profit and that the profitability of all firms tends to converge toward the long-run average value. However, Goddard, Molyneux and Wilson (2004) stated, even though it is generally presumed that firm growth and profitability effect each other, that firm growth and profitability are not necessarily connected. Overall, the impact and direction of this relationship remains ambiguous. The ambiguity is associated with various econometric issues. First, due to the endogeneity it is difficult to capture a clear causality and direction between them. Further, if firm growth and profitability time lags are incorporated into the models the endogenous relationship becomes more complicated due to the unknown effects of different time lags. Recently, there have been a couple of attempts to investigate the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability (Coad, 2007; Davidsson, Steffens, and Fitzsimmons, 2009). Although it is worth exploring the relationship, the results of the studies turned out to be inconsistent. In the previous studies, two types of methodologies were used: panel unit-root test and dynamic panel system GMM estimator. The panel unit-root test is appropriate for testing the convergence hypotheses of firm growth and profit rates. It is also useful for finding the significance of the lag term in a simple autoregressive model, but it is difficult to control the endogenous effect in the model. Moreover, the panel unit-root test cannot directly examine the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability. Dynamic panel system GMM estimator can control for endogeneity and test the inter-relationship, but determining the number of lag terms remains ambiguous. Thus, in order to address the analysis problems in the previous literature, we first employed the panel unit-root test and subsequently made a testable model for the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. Through those analyses, we intended to investigate the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability under various time lags. More specifically, the objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the panel unit-root test on the series of firm growth and profitability separately and to find an appropriate lag structure; and 2) to make an appropriate model to investigate the inter-relationship between them through a vector autoregression (VAR) model via dynamic panel system GMM estimator. We used restaurant firms for the study sample and, thus, the results are useful for understanding the dynamics of firm growth and profitability in the restaurant industry. In the following section, we summarize prior LPE and POP literature and present the potential inter-relationships between firm growth and profitability. Next section outlines the details of the study methodology. The following section shows the results of panel unit-root test and dynamic panel system GMM regarding the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability. Finally, we conclude this study with managerial implications and suggestions for further studies. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE) and Persistence Of Profit (POP) The notion that firm growth rate is independent of firm size and past growth rate is known as the Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE) (Gibrat, 1931). According to the LPE, firm growth happens by chance and thus past growth is not a reliable predictor of future firm growth (Goddard et al., 2006). Hence, deterministic factors of firm growth (i.e., managerial capacity, innovation and efficiency) are randomly distributed across firms. However, recent empirical studies have claimed that there is an inverse relationship between firm growth and firm size, rejecting the LPE (Hall, 1987; Evans, 1987; Dunne and Huges, 1994; Geroski and Gugler, 2004). Most empirical studies of LPE used cross-sectional regression models through a simple autoregressive model (for example, AR(1)), but the models were criticized due to their arbitrariness in choosing lag terms. Recently, Chen and Lu (2003) and Goddard et al. (2006) tested the LPE using panel unit-root models because the LPE assumes non-stationarity i n the time series analysis. The benefit of the panel unit-root test on LPE lies in its ability to test a long series effect in non-stationarity, while the weakness of the test is its inability to include control variables that may affect firm growth (i.e., prior profitability, leverage, and market competition). Conversely, researchers on persistence of profit (POP) argue that firm profitability converges at a certain level across all firms and no firms could achieve an above average profit rate in the long run. Mueller (1977) developed the deterministic time-series model for testing the POP and subsequently (Mueller 1986) demonstrated profit rate convergence through an autoregressive model. Since Mueller (1986), most studies on POP have adopted the autoregressive model. However, Goddard et al. (2006) stated that the typical methodology for POP estimated individual effects and autoregressive coefficients for each firm, so the estimated coefficients were often unreliable and the testing power was low. Hence, Goddard et al. (2006) tested the profit rate convergence hypothesis using a panel unit-root test in order to find the stationarity in a profit rate time series. 2.2. The inter-relationship between firm growth rate and profitability (or profit rate) As noted earlier, it is widely believed that firm growth and profit rates are related to each other (Goddard et al., 2004). Some prior studies have suggested that profit rate has a positive impact on growth rate. Alchians (1950) theoretical study argued that fitter firms survive and grow, but less viable firms lose their market share and exit through the evolutionary selection mechanism. Thus, if profit rate reflects the degree of fitness, it is possible to predict that profitable firms will grow. Further, according to the financing constraint hypothesis retained profits can be readily used for investment, whereas firms with low profitability could not grow even if they have positive growth opportunities. This is also consistent with the pecking-order theory, which claims that managers prefer internal capital to external capital, such as debt and equity financing. However, the influence of growth rate on profitability is inconsistent in theories and empirical studies. A Classical Ricardian perspective claims that if a firm shows high profit rates it would grow to exploit additional growth opportunities that are less profitable but still create additional profits. This notion implies three things. First, the profit rate is converges at zero from a long-term perspective. Second, high profit rates have a positive impact on growth rates until the profit rate is zero. Finally, firm growth has a negative influence on profit rate. Along similar lines, the Neoclassical view argues that firms first exploit their most profitable growth opportunities and then consider less profitable opportunities until the marginal profit on the last growth opportunity is equal to zero. Consequently, profitable firms maximize their overall level of profits through profitable growth opportunities but experience a decrease in profit rates. Even though this argument exclud es market competition, it theoretically explains the relationship between firm growth and profit rates. However, managerial growth-maximization hypothesis under market competition (Marris, 1964; Mueller, 1972) claims that the managerial objective of a firm is to maximize growth rather than profit. Thus, this hypothesis proposed that growth and profits are in a competitive relationship with each other, which suggests the possibility that growth victimizes profit. Nevertheless, there are a number of theoretical claims that growth rate has a positive impact on profit rate. First, the Kaldor-Verdoorn Law in economics (Kaldor, 1966; Verdoorn, 1949) claims that growth increases productivity and in turn the enhanced productivity increases profit rates. This notion is consistent with scale economies (Gupta, 1981). Thus, because firm growth contributes to an increase in firm size, the larger size could gain benefits from an economy of scale and in turn this affects profit enhancement. That is, growth can help increase profitability. However, empirical studies on the effects of growth rate on profit rate have not always been supportive. Capon, Farley and Hoenig (1990) reported that firm growth is related to high financial performance, but it was significant only in some industries. Chandler and Jansen (1992) and Mendelson (2000) reported a significant positive correlation between sales growth and profit rates, whereas Markman and Gartner (2002) found no significant relationship between growth and profitability. Furthermore, Reid (1995) claimed growth had a negative effect on profitability. The relationship between growth and profit rates are more complicated when time lags of the two variables are considered. Only a few empirical studies have considered the link between growth and profit rates using various time lag terms. Goddard et al. (2004) found profitability to be important for future growth in European banks. Conversely, through panel data estimates of French manufacturing firms Coad (2007) found that the opposite direction of causation (i.e., growth to profitability) might be true. Both Goddard et al. (2004) and Coad (2007) investigated the relationship between firm growth and profit rates with vector autoregressive models using dynamic panel system GMM estimators. The difference between the two studies was that Goddard et al. (2004) used a one-year time lag but Coad (2007) incorporated three-year time lags in the analysis. More specifically, Goddard et al. (2004) found that a one-year lagged profit rate had a positive significant effect on the current-years gr owth rate, but a one-year lagged growth rate did not have a significant impact on the current-years profit rates. However, Coad (2007) showed that two- and three-years lagged profit rates have a positive significant influence on the current-years growth rate and that the current-years growth rate was positively significant in terms of the current-years profit rates. As noted, Goddard et al. (2004) and Coad (2007) reported opposing empirical results, which could be attributed to the difference in lag length. Considering the scarcity of past studies on the growth-profitability relationship and the problems with analytic methods, there is a need for a study that can verify this important relationship in a more holistic way. Hence, we intended to address the above research need in this study. A detailed outline of how the study was conducted follows in the next section. 3. Data and methodology The data used in the analysis was collected from the COMPUSTAT database using SIC 5812 (eating places). The data covers fiscal years 1978 to 2007 for U.S. restaurant firms. Profit rate (or profitability) was measured as net income divided by net sales and growth rate was gauged as the difference between the current and prior years net sales divided by the prior years net sales. After deleting severe outliers in the two main variables, growth rate and profit rate, this study used 2,927 firm-year observations for the analysis. As previously indicated, this study first conducted panel unit-root tests on growth and profit rates separately. The Dickey-Fuller unit-root test was set up for testing the stationarity of a time series. For example, if à Ã¢â‚¬  1 is equal to a unit in equation (1), the series is non-stationary. Equation (1) could be expressed as equation (2) by subtracting Yt-1 on both sides. Yt = à Ã¢â‚¬  1Yt-1 + ÃŽÂ µt (1) ΆYt = ÃŽÂ ³Yt-1 + ÃŽÂ µt (ÃŽÂ ³ = à Ã¢â‚¬  1 1) (2) Equation (2) above is a simplified Dickey-Fuller unit-root test (DF test). The null hypothesis of a DF test is that ÃŽÂ ³ equals zero and the alternative hypothesis is ÃŽÂ ³ p ΆYt = ÃŽÂ ³Yt-1 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬  iΆYt-i + ÃŽÂ µt (ÃŽÂ ³ = à Ã¢â‚¬  1 1) (3) i=1 However, the data structure of this study was an unbalanced panel. Thus, equation (3) could be expressed as a panel setting following equation (4): p ΆYi,t = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬  iΆY i,t-i + ÃŽÂ µ i,t (ÃŽÂ ³ = à Ã¢â‚¬  1 1) (4) i=1 Equation (4) is the testable model for the panel unit-root test in this study. A few studies have developed panel unit-root tests (Im, Pesaran and Shin, 2003; Levin, Lin and Chu, 2002; Maddala and Wu, 1999). However, in the case of an unbalanced panel setting, the Fisher test is the only one available. It combines the p-values from N independent unit root tests, as developed by Maddala and Wu (1999). Based on the p-values of individual unit root tests, Fishers test assumes that all series are non-stationary under the null hypothesis against the alternative that at least one series in the panel is stationary. Unlike other panel unit-root tests, Fishers test does not require a balanced panel. Thus, this study conducted Fishers test on the growth and profit rates and selected an appropriate lag length in ADF formula. After selecting the proper lag length in ADF formula, it was transformed as follows: p ΆYi,t = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â‚¬  iΆY i,t-i + ÃŽÂ µ i,t i=1 = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à Ã¢â‚¬  1ΆY i,t-1 + à Ã¢â‚¬  2ΆY i,t-2 + à Ã¢â‚¬  3ΆY i,t-3 + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + à Ã¢â‚¬  pΆY i,t-p + ÃŽÂ µ i,t = ÃŽÂ ³Y i,t-1 + à Ã¢â‚¬  1(Y i,t-1 Y i,t-2) + à Ã¢â‚¬  2(Y i,t-2 Y i,t-3) + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + à Ã¢â‚¬  p(Y i,t-p Y i,t-(p+1)) + ÃŽÂ µ i,t = (ÃŽÂ ³ + à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-1 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  2 à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-2 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  3 à Ã¢â‚¬  2) Y i,t-3 + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + (à Ã¢â‚¬  p à Ã¢â‚¬  p-1)Y i,t-p à Ã¢â‚¬  pY i,t-(p+1) + ÃŽÂ µ i,t (5) Consequently, equation (5) could be expressed as follows: Yi,t = (1 + ÃŽÂ ³ + à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-1 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  2 à Ã¢â‚¬  1) Y i,t-2 + (à Ã¢â‚¬  3 à Ã¢â‚¬  2) Y i,t-3 + à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ + (à Ã¢â‚¬  p à Ã¢â‚¬  p-1)Y i,t-p à Ã¢â‚¬  pY i,t-(p+1) + ÃŽÂ µ i,t (6) Thus, if the panel unit-root test chooses p lags in ADF formula, it could be transformed to AR(p+1) model. This AR(p+1) model was then used for the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. Also, since the purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-relationship between firm growth and profitability, this study adopted the vector autoregression (VAR) model to find the reciprocal relationship between growth rates and profit rates. p+1 q+1 p+1 SGi,t = ÃŽÂ ²0 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·iSGi,t-i + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â€š ¬iPRi,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²1Salei,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²2LEVi,t-i + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¶iΆDMAi,t-i i=1 i=1 i=0 + DYeart + ÃŽÂ µi,t Model 1 q+1 p+1 PRi,t = ÃŽÂ ²0 + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ Ã¢â€š ¬iPRi,t-i + à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·iGRi,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²1Salei,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²2LEVi,t-i + ÃŽÂ ²3MarketSharei,t-i i=1 i=0 + DYeart + ÃŽÂ µi,t Model 2 SGi,t is the sales growth rate and PRi,t is the profit rate at time t for firm i. Salei,t is the net sales at time t for firm i. We also included control variables in both models. In the LPE literature, recent studies showed that prior firm size is inversely related with current growth rate (Evans, 1987; Hall, 1987; Geroski and Gugler, 2004). On the other hand, Baumol (1959) provided evidence that firm profitability increases with firm size, while Amato and Wilder (Kwangmin!!, Year and reference?) showed that no relationship exists between firm size and profit rate. Finally, Samuels and Smyth (1968) stated that profit rate and firm size are inversely related. Thus, we included the prior years net sales as a firm size variable in both models to control for size effect. Debt leverage (LEVi,t) was also incorporated in both models as a control variable, which was calculated as total debt divided by total assets. Theories of optimal capital structure based on the agency costs of managerial discretion suggest that the adverse impact of leverage on growth increases firm value by preventing managers from taking on poor projects (Jensen,1986; Stulz, 1990). Opler and Titman (1994) empirically found that sales growth is lower in firms with higher leverage. Thus, the influence of debt leverage on growth could be negative. However, the prior literature on the relationship between debt leverage and profit rate, has shown mixed results. Debt affects profitability positively according to Hurdle (1974), but negatively according to Hall and Weiss (1967) and Gale (1972). Debt could also yield a disciplinary effect under the free cash flow hypothesis (Jensen, 1986; Stulz, 1990). Firms with high debt leverage can reduce wasteful investment opportunities and increase f irm performance, suggesting a positive relationship between debt leverage and profit rates. However, using debt can increase conflicts between debt and equity holders. Equity holders encourage managers to undertake risky projects because the benefits are transferred only to equity holders (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981). Thus equity holders tend to support the use of debt. However, high uses of debt could deteriorate firm profitability by taking on overly risky projects. The effect of leverage on profit rate may not be uni-directional. Consequently, we incorporated leverage as a control variable due to its important potential effects on profitability. In the growth rate equation (Model 1), we incorporated mergers and acquisitions (MA) dummy variables from time t to t-(p+1) because MA execution abnormally increases growth rates. MA executions were identified from the SDC Platinum database. In the profitability equation (Model 2), we included a market share variable, which was calculated as the net sales of firm i at time t divided by the sum of net sales at time t. According to Buzzell, Gale and Sultan (1975), market share had a positive impact on firm profitability. Because a larger market share means stronger market power, firms with large market shares could have the power to control market prices and be in a better position to negotiate with their suppliers. Thus, a positive relationship between market share and profit rates is expected. Because the current years growth could affect the current years profit rate, following Coad (2007), we included the current years growth rate in Model 2. Statistically, ordinary least square (OLS) regression requires that the right-hand side variables should be independent of the error term. However, if there is a bi-directional causation between dependent (left-hand side) variables and explanatory (right-hand side) variables, this condition is not satisfied and thus OLS regression produces biased and inconsistent estimates. This endogeneity problem could be solved by choosing appropriate instrumental variables, which are correlated with the explanatory variables but not the error term. This means that the instrumental variables should be exogenous but if they are endogenous, the equation would be over-identified. However, if the instrumental variables are weakly correlated with the explanatory variables, which is called a weak instrument, the estimates are biased and inconsistent. Arellano and Bond (1991) proposed the GMM estimator for panel data, which could control the potential endogenous explanatory variables. This method uses the first difference model, which eliminates the time-invariant firm-specific effect, and instrumental variables for the endogenous variables were generated by lags of their own level. However, if the lagged level instruments are weakly correlated with the endogenous explanatory variables, there could be a finite sample bias in estimators. In particular, if the variable series tends to show a highly persistent profit rate series (Mueller, 1977), this weak correlation between lagged level instruments and endogenous explanatory variables is problematic. Arellano and Bover (1995) and Brundell and Bond (1998) developed a dynamic panel GMM estimator that estimated with level-equation and difference equation, which is called a system GMM. Consequently, the dynamic panel system GMM estimator has better asymptotic and finite sample propertie s than the one used by Arellano and Bond (1991). Thus, this study analyzed the proposed models using the dynamic panel system GMM estimator, which produces unbiased and consistent estimates after controlling for endogeneity and firm-specific effects even when the sample period is short. Even though the full sample period of this study is 30 years, the panel structure is not balanced due to the entry and exit of firms. Bludell and Bond (1998) suggested the minimum requirement for panel length as T à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 3. Thus, we excluded firms which did not exist at least three years in the sample period. Another requirement was that there is no serial correlation of the second order error terms. We conducted the serial correlation test for panel GMM estimators developed by Arellano and Bond (1991). In order to test the exogeneity of instrumental variables, we used the Hansen test instead of the Sargan test because the Sargan test is not robust enough to detect heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation (Roodman, 2006). Finally, as Roodman (2006) suggested, we included year dummies in the models and estimated the system GMM by two-step estimator because the two-step estimator is robust enough to detect the heteroskedasticity. For comparisons with the dynamic panel system GMM estimator, we conducted ordinary least square (OLS) and fixed-effect regression. 4. Results 4.1. Panel unit-root test for firm growth and profit rates As indicated, we conducted the panel unit-root test developed by Maddala and Wu (1999) using Fishers test, which assumes that all series are non-stationary under the null hypothesis. Equation (4) was tested on both growth and profit rates. The results are presented in Table 1. For the series of sales growth and profit rates, lag(4) was justified. Thus, the law of proportionate effect hypothesis was rejected but the persistence of profit hypothesis was validated. The results indicate that the growth rates are serially correlated and the profit rates are convergent. The purpose of the panel unit-root tests on growth and profit rates was to examine the stationarity of the two series and to make an appropriate model for the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. As shown earlier, if the panel unit-root test justifies p lags, the ADF formula could be transformed to AR(p+1) model. Consequently, the testable model is AR(5) for both growth and profit rates. Based on the lag length from the pane l unit-root test, we excluded any firm that existed less than five years in testing the dynamic panel system GMM estimator. Then, we tested the proposed models using AR(5) in order to identify the inter-relationship between firm growth and profit rates in various time lag structures. (Insert Table 1 Here) 4.2. Descriptive statistics and scatter plots of growth and profit rates Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics of the major variables of this study. The average sales of the sampled restaurant firms was 541.8 million dollars and the average growth rate in sales was 16.3%. The average profit rate (return on sales) was 1.3% and total debt rate (debt leverage) was 61.3%. Thus, the figures show that the restaurant industry has a high growth rate, but its profitability is not positive and it uses more debt than equity. (Insert Table 2 Here) Before conducting the dynamic panel system GMM estimator, we checked the scatter plots between growth and profit rates using various time lags. As Coad (2007) indicated, the non-parametric scatter plots of growth and profit rates gave us a visual appreciation of the underlying phenomenon. Thus, before testing the quantitative relationship, we can obtain useful information via scatter plots. Figure 1 shows the scatter plots of growth at time t (Y-axis) and growth rates at time t-1 to t-5 (X-axis) for all samples. Except for the first plot (growth rate time t versus t-1), all other plots seem to show no relationship. The plots, excluding the first plot, look like a cloud shape but are a bit scattered horizontally. Based on the plot for growth rate time t and t-1, the current and prior years growth rates are positively correlated. However, Figure 1 represents all firms, including MA firms. Apparently, firms with MA can experience abnormally high growth rates compared with non-MA firms. Thus, we checked the same scatter plots after excluding MA firms, as presented in Figure 2. The relationship between current and prior years growth rate is clearly positive and growth rate at t-2 also looks positive on current years growth rate. However, the earlier years growth rates (i.e., t-3, t-4 and t-5) appear to have no relationship with the current years growth rate. Figure 3 shows scatter plots of profit rate at time t (Y-axis) and profit rates at time t-1 to t-5 (X-axis). Interestingly, clear heteroskedasticity is detected in the relationship between them. Thus, the usage of the two-step estimator in the dynamic panel system GMM estimator is justified by Figure 3. In all of the scatter plots there is a tendency toward a positive relationship between current and prior profit rates. (Insert Figures 1, 2, and 3 Here) Figure 4 shows scatter plots of profit rate at time t (Y-axis) and growth rates at time t-1 to t-5 (X-axis). In all plots, points were spread horizontally. It seems that there is no effect of growth rate on profit rate. Surprisingly, the scatter plot of current growth rates appears to have no relationship with current profit rate. On the other hand, Figure 5 shows that profit rates clearly have a positive influence on the current growth rate. The majority of the points were spread vertically. The scatter plots show that prior profit rates seems to have a positive influence on current growth rates, but the influence of prior growth rates on current profit rates was not found. (Insert Figures 4 and 5 Here) 4.3. Results from Dynamic panel system GMM estimator Tables 3 and 4 show the results of the proposed models explained in the methodology section. Even though yearly dummies were not reported in Tables 3 and 4, they were included in the models. As shown in Table 3, the prior years growth rate at time t-1 was found to be positively significant on current growth rates in all three regressions (OLS, fixed-effect and system GMM). However, the directions and significances of the coefficients of the other prior growth rate terms varied across the three models. As explained earlier, however, the system GMM is the most appropriate model for this study due to the endogeneity and time invariant firm-specific effect and the results of the OLS and fixed-effect regression models were used simply for the purpose of comparison. Goddard et al. (2004) reported that the prior years (time t-1) growth rate was positive but not significant. It is difficult to directly compare their results with ours due to the difference in the lag length structure. Interestingly, our study showed that growth rates at time t-1 and t-5 were positively significant on current growth rates, but growth rates at time t-2 and t-4 were negatively significant. These results suggest that short-term and long-term prior growth rates have a positive impact, but mid-term prior growth rates have a negative influence on current growth rates. Our primary interest in Model 1 was the effect of the prior years profit rates on current growth rates. The system GMM results show that profit rates at time t-1 and t-5 were positively significant. The magnitude of the coefficient of profit rate at time t-5 was small, meaning that the positive impact of long-term prior profit rates on current growth rates is small. However, the prior years (time t-1) profit rate has a positively significant effect on current growth and the magnitude of the coefficient is large. Coads (2007) study showed that profit rates at time t-1 to t-3 were all positive but the prior years (time t-1) profit rate was not significant. Coad (2007) used an AR(3) model and thus a direct comparison of ours to Coads (2007) is not possible. Yet it is clear that the direction of the coefficients were very similar. Overall, our study results provide evidence that recently profitable firms may grow faster. In terms of the relationship between prior years firm size and current growth rate, all three results show a negative coefficient but the negative effect was significant only in OLS. Also, debt leverage had a negative effect on current growth rates but the system GMM result was not significant. Additionally, all serial correlation tests were not significant, showing that there was no serial correlation problem. Also, the over-identification tests were not significant, meaning that our instruments were not endogenous and the estimates were reliable. (Insert Table 3 Here) Table 4 shows the results of the profitability equation (Model 2). The results of the system GMM shows that profit rates at time t-1, t-2 and t-5 were had positively significant effect on current profit rates. However, profit rates at time t-3 and t-4 were negatively significant. The results suggest that short-term and long-term prior profit rates have a positive impact on current profit rates, but mid-term prior profit rates have a negative influence on current profit rates. Similarly, Goddard et al.s (2004) results showed that the prior years (time t-1) profit rate was positive and significant in its AR(1) model. Table 4 also presents the effect of the prior years growth rates on current profit rates were negatively significant in time t and t-1. Unlike our results, Goddard et al. (2004) found that the prior years growth rate was posi

Survey Of Data Mining Techniques On Crime Data Criminology Essay

Survey Of Data Mining Techniques On Crime Data Criminology Essay Data mining is a process of extracting knowledge from huge amount of data stored in databases, data warehouse and data repositories. Crime is an interesting application where data mining plays an important role in terms of crime prediction and analysis. This paper presents detailed study on clustering techniques and its role on crime applications. This also helps the law enforcers in better investigation and crime prediction. Key words: Crime data mining, crime data analysis, clustering. Introduction In recent years, volume of crimes lead to serious problems throughout the world. Now-a- days criminals have maximum use of modern technologies and hi-tech methods which serve up criminals to commit crimes at an immense measure. The law enforcers have to effectively meet out challenges of crime control and maintain public law and order. Hence, creation of a data base for crimes and criminals is required. Data mining techniques have higher influence in the fields such as law-and-enforcement, narcotics, cyber crime, human trafficking and high-tech crimes. Crime data mining has been applied in the law and enforcement to retrieve the criminal details and useful information automatically, using named entity-extraction method. In this method, each word is compared with the noun phrases and the binary value either zero or one will be generated which indicates the match or mismatch of the name. Intelligence agencies and university of Arizona collaborated COPLINK project and applied crime data mining in two-dimensions as crime types and security concerns to analyses crime and criminals and face challenges of law-enforcement problems of massive data bases from police narrative records [9]. Suspects give details to police investigations in order to confuse and spoil the proceedings of the investigation. During the time of investigation, comparison is needed to find the differences between real entities and deceptive entities. One of the distance measurement methods is Euclidean distance method which is applied to calculate the distance between pairs of the real and deceptive entity and this distance gives the deceptions accurately at the time of detection [10]. Hence, data mining techniques and clustering algorithms have been developed for better crime analysis which leads to the prediction of crimes in future. The organization of the paper is as follows. Section II discusses some researches and applications on crime data analysis. Section III defines the role of data preprocessing in crime data mining. Section IV presents various clustering methods on crime domain and Section V discusses the conclusion and future work. II Related work Recent developments in crime control applications aim at adopting data mining techniques to aid the process of crime investigation. One of the earlier projects COPLINK, was teamed with Artificial Intelligence Lab of Arizona University, the police departments of Tuscon , Phonix solving crime and criminal network analysis [8]. Brown et al. proposed a framework for regional crime analysis (ReCAP), which was built to provide crime analysis with both data fusion and data mining techniques[2]. Data mining steps involved in crime investigations are: collection of crime data from multiple data sources such as police narrative records, criminal background information which consists of previous investigation files and police arrest records are used to diagnose whether a suspect was involved in any earlier cases. If it so, verdict clues from past annals featuring the suspect and it avails the investigators to preside in the case. Using crime data mining techniques, most required information has been extracted from the vast crime databases which are maintained by NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau) for locating à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“crime hot-spotsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . This helps the law enforcers to predict the crimes and to prevent in the near-future. Nath et al. has proposed k-means clustering technique with some enhancements to aid the process of identification of crime patterns. Semi-supervised learning technique for knowledge discovery has also been further developed which helps to increase the predictive accuracy [6]. J.S. de Bruin, K.Cocx and Kosters et al. have applied clustering techniques for the analysis of crimes and criminal carriers based on four salient factors such as crime nature, frequency, duration and severity of crime[3]. Binary (BCS) and transformed (TCS) categorical methods are similarity based methods used to find the similarity of corresponding attributes between real and deceptive entities from the crime records[13]. Ozgul et al. recently suggested a crime prediction model on crime details like location, date of the incident and mode-of-operandi of events against terrorists which have not been solved[20]. An enhanced Ak-mode algorithm called a weighted clustering algorithm which consists of two-phases to extract similar case subsets from large number of crime datasets[16]. III. Role of data preprocessing in crime data mining Data preprocessing techniques are mainly used for producing high-quality mining results. Raw data are being preprocessed before mining because data are in different format, collected from various sources and stored in the data base and data warehouses. Major steps involved in crime data mining are data cleaning, data integration, data transformation and data reduction. Data Cleaning Fill in missing crime data value. Smoothing crime data Removing outliers of crime data. Resolve inconsistent crime data. Data integration Merging of crime data from multiple data storages. Data Transformation Crime data normalization. Attribute construction Data Reduction Crime Attribute subset selection. Dimensionality reduction of crime attributes Data mining process Raw data Analysis Mining results Fig. Data Preprocessing steps in crime data mining Crime data have been collected from different sources such as police narrative records, criminal profiles, case histories and log files. In the data cleaning step, missing values are filled, noisy data are smoothened ,outliers data are removed and inconsistent data are resolved. Data integration step undergoes merging of crime data. Data normalization and attribution construction are done in the data transformation for standardizing data. When standardization of crime data, the data range falls under 0.0 to 1.0. Attribute subsets are selected from crime dataset and dimensionality has reduced. After preprocessing, finally standard data underwent the process of mining and hence better results are obtained. IV. Application of clustering methods in Crime The Clustering methods play an important role on crime applications. Some of the clustering techniques highlighted are k-means clustering, Ak-mode algorithm and other similarity methods. After preprocessing, the operational crime data are undergoing the clustering techniques for grouping the nature of crimes as different clusters. In this process, lots of unsolved crimes are also grouped together. The next step of clustering is to identify the significant or decisive attribute. This may from case to case.ie. one of the cases may need the age group of victim as decisive attribute and it is very important in a murder cases. The k-means clustering is one of the basic partition clustering techniques. The objects of similar crime cases are grouped together and are very dissimilar when compare to other groups. This algorithm mainly used to partition the clusters based on their means. Initially number of crime cases are grouped and specified as k clusters. The mean value is calculated as the mean distance between the objects. Then number of iteration are done until the convergence occur. The iterative process of weighing attributes and crime types, future crime patterns can be detected by the detectives or analysts. Unsolved crimes are clustered based on decisive attribute and the results are given to the investigators to proceed the case further. This k-mean is applicable only for numerical attributes and it is not applicable to categorical attributes. Ak- mode clustering technique is used for categorical attributes. In this technique there are two steps such as attribute weighting phase and clustering phase. Weights of the attributes are computed using Information Gain Ratio (IGR) value for each attribute. The greatest value of weight is taken as decisive attribute. The distance between two categorical attributes are computed by finding the differences between two cases give the similarity measures. The analyst has set the threshold value ÃŽÂ ± with the help of the computation result of similarity measures. Finally binary and transformed categorical similarity methods are discussed for finding similarity measures. In the data bases, attribute values are either numerical or categorical i.e. either quantitative or qualitative. In the quantitative (numerical), the difference between two attributes are calculated as the direct difference between those two values of attributes. In the case of qualitative(categorical), the difference between two attributes are calculated as binary values as 0 or 1. If there is a match than attribute value will be 1 or 0 if it is not. This method is named as binary categorical method (BCS). In the transformed categorical similarly (TCS) method, the similarity table has created for all the attributes and the differences between those attributes value will be calculated. This difference gives the similarity measures. Hence various clustering techniques are used to identify the crime patterns which helps the crime analysts to proceed the cases further. V. Conclusion and future work Crime data were under various data preparing steps i.e cleaned the data, resolved inconsistent data and outliers are removed. Grouping crime data objects of clustering was needed to identify crime patterns which support crime analysts and law-enforcers to proceed the case in the investigation and help solving unsolved crimes faster. Similarity measures is an important factor which helps to find unsolved crimes in crime pattern. K-means, Ak-mode and other similarity methods such as binary categorical and transformed categorical methods were used to find the similarity measures of attributes which are very much needed to the crime analysts and police enforcers to solve unsolved crimes. In future, some of the enhancements should be done in the existing algorithms to get an accurate results. There should be some improvement in finding similar case subsets that will be a good direction for solving crimes easily. Finally, challenge of setting threshold value without crime analyst may be an important task in future.

Quest for Eternity in the Poetry of Dickinson Essay -- Biography Biogr

Quest for Eternity in the Poetry of Dickinson      Ã‚  Ã‚   Over the past few decades, a considerable number of comments have been made on the idea of eternity in Emily Dickinson's poetry. The following are several examples: Robert Weisbuch's Emily Dickinson's Poetry (1975), Jane Donahue Eberwein's Dickinson: Strategies of Limitation (1985), Dorothy Huff Oberhaus' Emily Dickinson's Fascicles: Method and Meaning (1995), and James McIntosh's Nimble Believing: Dickinson and the Unknown (2000). However, opinions vary as to how Dickinson explored the question regarding eternity; much ink has still been spent on the issue. This paper, therefore, provides another discussion of the idea of eternity depicted in Dickinson's poetry. I will discuss the issue by considering how her poems describe the process through which the poet finally reaches the belief in eternity-overcoming the feud between Christianity and scientific knowledge and that between Romanticism and existentialism.    As a beginning, let us look closely at one of the poems in which Dickinson gives a detailed account of a deathbed scene: The last Night that She lived It was a Common Night Except the Dying-this to Us Made Nature different We noticed smallest things- Things overlooked before By this great light upon our Minds Italicized-as 'twere. As We went out and in Between Her final Room And Rooms where Those to be alive Tomorrow were, a Blame That Others could exist While She must finish quite A Jealousy for Her arose So nearly infinite-- (P-1100)    It is presumed that Dickinson wrote this piece of verse in circa 1886. In May of that year, Laura Dickey, the wife of Frank W. of Michigan, ... ...Dickinson. 2 vols. 1974. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994. Stocks, Kenneth. Emily Dickinson and the Modern Consciousness. Hong Kong: Macmillan, 1988. Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. Emily Dickinson. 1986. Reading: Addison, 1988. Works Consulted Kjaer, Niels Pastor. "The Poet of Moment: Emily Dickinson and Soren Kierkegaard." Dickinson Studies 59 (1986): 46-9. McIntosh, James. Nimble Believing: Dickinson and the Unknown. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2000. Oberhaus, Dorothy Huff. Emily Dickinson's Fascicles: Method and Meaning. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1995. Rosenbaum, S. P., ed. A Concordance to the Poems of Emily Dickinson. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1964. Scholnick, Robert J., ed. American Literature and Science. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1992. Weisbuch, Robert. Emily Dickinson's Poetry. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1975.   

Edna Pontellier’s Self-discovery in Kate Chopins The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

Theme of Self-discovery in Kate Chopin's The Awakening Edna Pontlierre experiences a theme of self-discovery throughout the entire novel of Kate Chopin's "The Awakening. Within Edna's travel through self discovery, Chopin successfully uses tone, style, and content to help the reader understand a person challenging the beliefs of a naïve society at the beginning of the twentieth century. Chopin's style and tone essentially helps the reader understand the character of Edna and what her surrounding influences are. The tone and style also helps the audience understand the rest of the characters throughout the novel. The entire content is relevant to the time frame it was written, expressing ideas of the forthcoming feminist movement and creating an awareness of what was happening to the women of the early nineteenth century. When "The Awakening" was first published, its popularity wasn't that of modern day. In fact, it was widely rejected for years. Within the context, it is considered a very liberal book from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The ideas expressed within the content concern the women's movement and an individual woman searching for who she really is. Ross C. Murfin in his critical essay "The New Historicism and the Awakening", shows how Chopin uses the entity of the hand to relate to both the entire women's issue and Edna Pontlierre's self exploration: "Chopin uses hands to raise the issues of women, property, self-possession, and value. Women like Adele Ratignolle, represented by their perfectly pale or gloved hands, are signs mainly of their husbands wealth, and therefor of what Stange calls 'surplus value'. By insisting on supporting herself with her own hands [through art] and having control of her own property [the place she moved in to and her inheritance], Edna seeks to come into ownership of a self that is more than a mere ornament. †¦She seeks to possess herself" (p 197). Within in the content, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle represent foils to Edna. Mademoiselle represents a single woman that everyone dislikes who Edna typically confides in. Adele Ratignolle contrasts Edna because she "dutifully plays the social role of 'mother-woman'". The reader learns how Edna contrasts and transcends throughout the entire novel. From her refusal to sacrifice herself for her children in the beginning of the novel to her moving into her own house towards the end of the novel, the reader is effectively aware of the realities that face the women of the early twentieth century individually and as a society. Chopin's style in "The Awakening" is intended to help the audience understand the character of Edna and the dilemmas that she faces as a married

Netflix – Essay

Identify key issues, problems and opportunities facing Nettles. It may be helpful to consider the fact that the Nettles business model evolved through many strategy revisions. What caused them to make each shift? Were the shifts driven from the top or bottom? Is this easier for a small or large company? The key issue that was facing Nettles early on was the selective market of people that were into the DVD market. Most were still with VS. market at this time and it gave them a small problem during start-up.But, with that changing market they new that consumers will soon turn to DVD's and leave behind their old technology of VS.. They also faced the problem of most Blockbuster being a 10 minute drive from at least 70% of U. S. Populated homes. This makes their whole sales pitch of people not having to leave their homes to rent movies even harder due to the number of available Blockbusters. With Nettles no late fee policy this made it easier for them to get more sales because Blockbust er charged late fees.Also, they came across the problem of half the movies they shipped were the new releases. This made under stocking when customers wanted them and overstocking when the movie was not new anymore. They fixed this problem by making the recommended movies for consumers because this expanded their horizons on other movies other then the new ones. They also had a distribution problem because they only had one distribution center. All these shifts were driven from the top. With the growing customers and profits they have learned what consumers wanted.They held surveys to find out what movie a customer wants and the movie recommendation system helped expand the nonuser's movie choices. They even got special packages and were tied into the USPS for their delivery services that got perfected over time. This Is easier for them as they became a large company and made deals and expanded with the profit and knowledge they had about customers from their surveys. (B) How did di sruptive versus incremental innovations play out in the Nettles versus Blockbuster story? Is VOID disruptive or incremental? What roll does diffusion of innovation and adopter categories play?Timing of entry? Disruptive Innovation played a role In the beginning and start-up for Nettles. When they first opened and should to the DVD population this was disruptive. From then on they made incremental innovations along the way from the video recommendations to the shipping services. These were smaller steps done from learning from customers and growing in popularity. Also, their growing profits made innovation easier and affordable for the company. VOID Is disruptive Innovation because It Is a totally new marketing approach by the company.VOID was not a spin off of there DVD rental service It was a totally new approach for the company to take. This would require for the company to have different marketing for VOID and a new concept of nothing through the mean, instead it's all online. Di ffusion of innovation came along when Nettles went into the VOID services. They were one of the innovators of this but shortly after they had many companies patting v I Nils mace It very competitive Ana Nora to De cutlets Decease other companies only did VOID and Nettles was not known for that service.Also, the time of entry for the other business was good because Nettles was not that successful introducing it to the market that when the competitors advertised they got more business then Nettles. (C) Using only the information provided in the case, evaluate alternative approaches to the current problem (VOID), and VOID had the problem of not being able to provide high quality video to the customer as do the cable companies. This problem is hard to fix because it will have to mean changing around Nettles servers to higher quality servers to stream movies n high-definition.Another problem they had was people can not play the movies on their TV but, instead only on their laptops or de sktops. The only was customers can play the movies on their TV's is if they buy either a ERG, S-Video, or HIDE cable so they can project the movie from the laptop to the TV. But, with this means that customers will have to go out and make a purchase to Just watch online movies on the TV. The solution to this problem would be is Nettles provided the cable needed to watch the movies from the computer to the TV for a low rental fee.As long as they have a Nettles VOID account they can pay a one time rental fee for a cable as long as they stay with the company. (D) Select the best alternative. Your choice should be supported by sound arguments and be realistic given the firm's resources. I feel that the best alternative for Nettles is to keep their rental services and also have the VOID services. I feel that both are very profitable services they can provide to customers. They have such a large customer base that they can pick up on shifts in the market.Nettles has been proven o make bot h incremental and disruptive innovation to help their company grow. Even my Android phone has Nettles on it that allows me to stream videos directly to my phone anywhere there is Wi-If. If the market turns to more VOID then Nettles will make that shift and turn their company into a VOID company. But, if it doesn't they still have their rental services for profit. Their rental services cost the most to up- keep because of all the workers and distributed facilities they need to keep up with the demand. VOID has a lot less running fees. They can greatly cut down on employees and facilities.

A cost-effective company

Companies must remain effective and efficient in order to compete in today’s business word. Organizations, even non-profit organizations, must remain cost effective and efficient to remain viable. In order to be cost-effective, a company sets a budget and goals and uses the company’s assets to meet those goals. As long as they remain within the budget, they can focus their attention on meeting the goals of the company.A cost-effective company meets its goals with the funding provided; a company that is not cost-effective either fails to complete the goal altogether or requires additional funds in order to do so. This company must also be cost efficient, meaning that they cannot spend four dollars when two dollars is sufficient. In addition, they must put the company’s finances ahead of all else, including job stability. A cost effective and efficient company stays within a budget while still meeting its goals.It is more important for any organization to be cost e ffective than cost efficient. In the overall picture, an organization must seek to meet its goals above all else. They must focus on using their resources to meet the goals, rather than setting the goal at saving money. Shareholders expect a return on their investment, which absolutely cannot happen if the company does not focus its attention on getting the best value for its dollars.For example, Volvo strives to make the safest cars in the world; for the most part, it has succeeded in this goal. The company uses its resources to maintain an image of safety while remaining profitable. For this reason, consumers view Volvo as the â€Å"safe† car brand; this is why the company is cost-effective rather than cost-efficient. In order to be cost-efficient, Volvo would have to put the product second and the cost of producing the product first. Safety would give way to economy, and this would completely undermine the branding strategy.

Music Festival Essay

â€Å" When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest † said Henry David Thoreau. Music was and still is a significant factor in almost every culture in the world. It is a form of art that can life the soul, or even heals a patient through music therapy. A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and often include other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines, performance art, and social activities, and even theme park rides such as the festival held annually in Abu Dhabi â€Å"Cream Fields†. Which is similar to the festival that I am going to be designing in this paper. The music festival I will conduct is going to be a rather modern based outdoor event, featuring DJs and live acts. The festival would have cartoon based theme, in which attendants would have to come dressed as cartoon characters of their choice, but no regular clothing would be allowed in, it’s either you come in costume or you get out. The idea is for the festival to be its own world for the weekend, and this would be achieved not only through the outfits, but even the stages would have cartoon decorations all around, making everything look colorful and cheerful. For each stage available, there will be a different cartoon theme for that stage, for instance the main stage would have the most famous of all, Tom and Jerry, and so on and so forth. The festival comers would feel as if they entered a world of childhood, making them forget about all the troubles in the world, and simply enjoy their time as much as they could. They can enjoy refreshments and food, along with special live acts where mimics of famous cartoons will be performed in between one artist and another. Unfortunately for the adolescents, there will be an entry age of 21 and above, all under the age of 21 would not be allowed in due to the consumption of alcohol in the region. The type of music that will be played at this festival will be electronic music. Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces its sounds using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical audio signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker. It may include a user interface for controlling its sound, often by adjusting the pitch, frequency, or duration of each note. This type of music can also be referred to as â€Å" Rave music â€Å". Rave music is what most people now call ‘dance’ music, or as some government wonk put it, music with a distinctive ‘series of repetitive beats’. Early ravers discovered that the combination of ecstasy and music with fast, repetitive beats was a marriage made in disco heaven. The term rave first came into use in Britain in the late 50’s referring to the wild bohemian parties of the time, and the crowds were and still are mostly young from all sections of society. The composition of this music is extremely complicated, and it requires years of practice and experience in order to master it, however, I will give a brief summary of the requirements. There isn’t a single â€Å"piece of equipment† that creates the music, it’s a joining of different elements that’s necessary to allow the creation of a full on song. The basic and most important instrument to create this music is the MIDI keyboard. A MIDI keyboard is typically a piano-style user interface keyboard device used for sending MIDI signals or commands over a USB or MIDI cable to other devices connected and operating on the same MIDI protocol interface. Not all MIDI keyboards are based on the piano style user interface. Many MIDI keyboard controllers have pads or buttons that also send MIDI signals, and most pads have a velocity sensing capability so that varying volumes of sound can be played. Then comes in the other pieces, for instance, the sequencer is where you control the audio sources and create the structure of your song, and the mixer is then used to set the levels. After the song has been finished, it is recorded and simply played through the DJ set on the stage. However, the DJ will be using a mixer and a sequencer in order to adjust the structure and the levels of the song, also to move on from one song to another without disruption, blending one song to another. The artists I have chosen for my festival are the following, starting from the first to perform to the headliner. Armin Van Buuren, Armin van Buuren, a Dutch trance producer and DJ. He is the number one ranked DJ having won DJ Magazine’s Top 100 DJs fan poll a record of 5 times, including winning 4 consecutive years between 2007-2010 and again in 2012. David Guetta, a French house music producer and DJ. Afrojack, who is a Dutch music producer and DJ. Skrillex, opening for the headliner is an American electronic musician and singer-songwriter. And finally, the headliner, Deadmau5, is a Canadian electro-house music producer, DJ, and performer based in Toronto. Deadmau5 produces a variety of styles with the house genre, or other forms of electronic dance music. The reason I have selected Deadmau5 to headline for such a cartoony festival is not only does his music suit the atmosphere, but also he comes in costume, as he always wears a big smiling mouse mask that does not fail to attract attention. Moreover, his stage is always colorful and full of energy, a perfect way to end the night at such a festival. The rest of the performers also provide energy to this theme, as it is a day where everything is cheerful, where everything colorful and happy, and this is aim of electronic music, to unite people from every nation, it does not limit anyone, and so do cartoons. That is the connection between my theme and the music being played, all are welcome, no culture, race, nor nationality is looked down upon, everyone is together, one love.

Race Class and Gender in Learning

Race, Class, and Gender in Learning Strayer University There is no simple definition or answer when one asks the question, â€Å"What is the purpose of education in adult learning. † To justly answer or define this question one most first ask one definitive question that will provide three important variables. Ultimately, we must ask â€Å"Who is asking this question? † simply, what is this person’s background, are they a WASP or a minority? What is their social class? Are they male or female? The answers to these questions will provide a contextual framework and starting point in which can genuinely begin to answer our original question, â€Å"What is the purpose of education in adult learning? † The values and norms developed in institutions such as education are authored by the dominant culture. In American society, White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASPS) are the authors of the dominant culture. Unfortunately, there are major disparities between White European Americans and other minorities. These inequalities are prevalent in every American institution, including education. Blacks and other people of color are underrepresented in all types of adult education (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). Traditionally, statistics show that minorities do not participate in adult education. Some researchers cite racism as a barrier to adult education. Adult educators have examined how the invisibility/norm of Whiteness has affected adult education, curriculum, theories, evaluation criteria, and instructional practices (Manglitz, 2003). Researchers found that racism in adult education was not intentional; many adult educators were unaware of the extent to which theories and research reinforce White racist attitudes and assumptions, thus sustaining the perpetuation of inequalities ( Colin & Preciphs, 1991). Some researchers have contended that socioeconomic status not race is the major barrier in adult education. Socioeconomic status is America is highly stratified; only a very small percentage of the population owns all of the wealth, power and influence in American society. In adult education, when social class is the focus, the aim of the analysis and subsequent action is to bring about a change from a capitalist political economy to a classes socialist form of government (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). Some researchers argue that a classless society would result in more participation in not only adult education but in education in general. Usually those categorized in classes lower than middle class tend to have limited educational experiences. When considering race and class we must examine the inequality of gender in adult education. Feminist have placed gender, and gender as it intersects with race and class (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). Statistics have shown that women are increasingly participating in adult education, despite this women still experience inequality in the classroom. Some argue that content knowledge, theories and research encountered in the classroom is still heavily influenced by American patriarchal dominance. Along with addressing the questions of Race, Class and Gender one most also account for the theories of Critical Theory, Postmodernism and Feminist Pedagogy. These 3 theories will give us a clue into how educators can contextualize the learning experience for each variable (race, gender and class). Each theory offers its own explanation on how the adult learning process should be conducted or imporved. First we will examine critical theory and its context to education. Critical Theory’s aim is to transform and improve society through the use of criticism (Henslin, 2008) Critical Theory defines its social critique through the use of social problems often citing â€Å"systems† as part of the problem. The â€Å"system† in a critical theory analysis is an institution (such as government or education) that functions to reproduce the status quo (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007, p. 253). Social institutions exist to positively regulate, order and control members of its society ( Henslin 2008), the institution of education seeks to do the same. Although ideally the institution of education is supposed to improve society, critical theorists often cite the â€Å"status quo† of education as hindering a learner’s experience. Critical Theorist argue that in adult learning there needs to be a paradigm shift in the status quo. Should learning be centered around technology or should more attention be given to emancipatory learning? Essentially critical theorist desire critique the status quo in hopes of developing one that is appropriate and equal to all learners. Postmodernism is a term that is widely used in many fields, such as literature, art, architecture, history, and philosophy. By definition, postmodernism resists definition (Kerka 1997). Postmodernism like Critical theory questions the status quo. Technically one cannot define postmodernism as a theory. According to Kerka postmodernism is a (Kerka, 1997)â€Å"form of questioning, an attitude, or perspective. † Postmodernism never accepts the truth as absolute and sees truth as ever changing. One can make the contention that postmodernism is part of the foundation of adult learning. Concepts popular with adult learning such as transformative learning or narratives urge learners to question their own â€Å"truth† thus by definition, inviting the learner to practice postmodernism. As one would suspect, Feminist Pedagogy is derived from feminist theory. The feminist theory is based in liberation and the feminist pedagogy seeks to create a liberatory learning environment and it also focuses on the concerns of women in the teaching-learning transaction (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). Traditionally a woman is characterized as a docile nurturing human being but rarely as an authority or as assertive. Feminist pedagogy seeks to liberate a woman from this role in the classroom and urges her to be assertive and firm as a learner and to â€Å"find acceptance for her ideas in the public world† (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986, p. 20). The liberatory classroom allows for this sort of transformation. As potential adult educators we have to consider â€Å"what is the purpose of education? † for learners and how that question should be answered individually. As we have seen, that answer varies for each learner. We must be vigilant considering each learners diverse background and constantly examine and revam p the status quo to ensure that each learner’s background is included. Works Cited Henslin, J. (2008). Sociology : A Down To Earth Approach. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Kerka, S. (1997). Postmodernism and Adult Education. Trends and Issues Alerts. ERIC Clearing House on Adult, Career and Vocational Education. Manglitz, E. (2003, Feb). Challenging White Privilege in Adult Education : A Critical Review of Literature. Adult Education Quarterly , p. 119. Merriam, S. B. , Caffarella, R. S. , & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood : A Comprehensive Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.