Students with Learning Disabilities: Self-Concepts

Students with Learning Disabilities: Self-Concepts Learning disabilities (LD) is an umbrella term used to describe a number of other, more specific learning disabilities (SLD). Students with SLD comprise the largest single category of students with special needs (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2016). There are many obstacles that students with LD encounter. One of those obstacles being how they judge themselves based on comparisons of other students without LD. In order to better understand this obstacle, one must first examine how children with LD understand their disability and how this understanding is associated with global self-esteem and other self-perceptions. A study conducted by Cosden, Elliot, Noble, and Kelemen (1999) used an assessment consisting of three components: Harters What I am Like scale, Heymans Self-Perception of a Learning Disability (SPLD), and a series of open-ended questions about learning disabilities to determine how children with LD understand their disability and how this understanding is associated with global self-esteem and other self-perceptions. The study consisted of students from both elementary and junior high school. Cosden, Elliot, Noble, and Kelemen (1999) findings revealed that students in the junior high school group had more negative self-perceptions than did students in the elementary group. The largest population of students in each group was informed about their learning problems by school personnel, while other students were informed by their parents. 20% of the junior high students and over one-third of the elementary students reported that no one told them about their disability. A majority of ele mentary students were not able to explain LD in their own words, while one-third of junior high students were able to define learning disabilities as a specific academic problem. A majority of all students believed they would outgrow their LD; however, one-fourth of the junior high students stated that LD would continue to affect them, but not as severe. The remaining students felt that their learning disability would continue to affect them the same as now or didnt know what would happen in the future. Data from the SPLD scores showed that students who reported being informed about their learning disability from teachers had less positive perceptions of their learning disability than students who were told by their parents. Cosden, Elliot, Noble, and Kelemens (1999) revealed additional data that some students told by their teachers were able to articulate an accurate verbal description of their LD; while others told by their teachers demonstrated very little understanding. Therefor e, Cosden, Elliot, Noble, and Kelemens (1999) determined that the source of information had a mixed impact on the students self-understanding. There was some indication that greater knowledge about learning disabilities was associated with lower self-esteem for the children in this study. Now, that weve gained some insight on how self-understanding of ones learning disability affects self-esteem and self-perceptions, lets uncover what research shows about children with LD in regards to academic self-concept and self-esteem. Heyman (1990) examined the self-perception of a learning disability and its relations to academic self-concept and self-esteem. The instrument used for measuring self-esteem was the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory School Short Form, Form B (SCEI-SF). Academic self-concept was measured by three subscales of the Students Perception of Ability Scale (SPAS) developed by Boersma and Chapman (1979). Self-perception of ones learning disability (SPLD) was assessed by a 25-item scale developed by Heyman specific for this study. Participants were tested individually or in small groups of two to eight children. Heyman (1990) found a positive correlation between self-perception of learning disabilities and academic self-concept and self-esteem. Self-perception of learning disability explained 12% of the variability in self-esteem and more than 30% of the variability in academic self-concept. This relationship remained significant after controlling for sex, ethnicity, age, reading and math achi evement, self-contained versus mainstreamed class setting, and age at the time the learning disability was diagnosed. The results of Heymans (1990) study suggest that self-perception of the learning disability may have an effect on academic self-concept and self-esteem, which in turn may influence achievement for children with learning disabilities (Heyman, 1990). At this point, I will discuss differences in self-concept between a student with LD and nonhandicapped students. Cooley and Ayers (1988) investigated differences in self-concept between a student with LD and nonhandicapped students, differences between attributes made by students with LD and those made by nonhandicapped students when explaining success and failure, and the relationship between self-concept and the attributions used by the students. Instruments used for this study included The Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept Scale and the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (IAR). Cooley and Ayers (1988) analysis of the data indicated that the children with LD reported significantly lower self-concept scores than their nonhandicapped peers. Cooley and Ayers (1988) indicated that there was not a significant difference between attributes made by students with LD and those made by nonhandicapped students when explaining success and failure. In regards to the relationship between self-concept and attributions, analysis of Cooley and Ayers (1988) data suggested that external att ributions for success and ability attributions for failure are related to the self-concept scores. Below I will review students from primarily Hispanic backgrounds with LD. Gans, Kenny, and Ghany (2003) examined the self-concept of children with learning disabilities (LD) from primarily Hispanic backgrounds. The study compared children with LD and their peers without LD on self-concept and contributes to the literature by using a primarily Hispanic sample and by examining gender differences. The Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept Scale (PHCSCS) was selected for this study due to its theoretical understanding of self-concept, its ease of administration and the targeted population. The PHCSCS includes six cluster scales: Behavior, Intellectual and School Status, Physical Appearance and Attributes, Anxiety, Popularity, and Happiness and Satisfaction. Participants completed this 80-item scale by responding yes or no to the test statements. Gans, Kenny, and Ghany (2003) found that participants with LD scored significantly lower on the PHCSCS subscale of Intellectual and School Status than participants without LD. Also, Gans, Kenny, and Ghany (2003) found th at participants with LD scored lower on the PHCSCS subscale of Behavior than participants without LD. None of the other subscales yielded significant differences between participants with LD and those without LD. There was no difference between boys with LD and girls with LD on self-concept. The correlations of PHCSCS Subscales for students with LD and students without LD were presented. The correlation of Happiness with Behavior was significantly higher for students with LD than for the students without LD. No other subscale correlations were significantly different. This study focused on children from the primarily Hispanic background from only one school in an urban area. The results are generalized only to schools with similar populations; therefore, future research should employ larger samples of other ethnic groups. The next study will evaluate the self-concept of LD students versus academically gifted children. Educators and researchers traditionally relate self-concept with educational status, often concluding that children with LD have low self-concepts and academically gifted children have high self-concepts (Montgomery, 1994). Using the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale (MSCS), Montgomery (1994) assessed the self-concept of students with LD, comparing observer ratings and self-reports both within the LD group and across LD, nondisabled, and high-achieving classes. Montgomerys (1994) results show that children with LD report lower academic and competence self-concepts than do high achieving and nondisabled children. However, the three student groups; LD, Nondisabled, and High Achieving, did not differ significantly in their social, family, affect, or physical self-concepts. Montgomerys (1994) comparisons of teachers evaluations of LD, nondisabled, and high achieving students global self-concepts showed that teachers incorrectly evaluated children with LD as having lower self-concepts t han nondisabled or high achieving students. The teachers appeared to magnify the differences among the student groups and clearly differentiated among LD, nondisabled, and high achieving children did themselves. The teacher-children comparisons for each student group show that teachers did indeed underrate the self-concepts of the children with LD. Montgomery (1994) concluded that parent evaluations of the children with LD were equivalent to the childrens self-reports. Parents of nondisabled and high achieving children also assessed their childrens global self-concepts accurately. Lastly, I will discuss the effects of school placement and social support on the self-concept of children and adolescents with LD. The primary purpose of the study conducted by Forman (1988) was to examine the effects of two types of social factors; school placement and perceived social support, on the self-concepts of children and adolescents with LD. The LD students received three types of educational services: self-contained LD classrooms, remediation during part of the day in LD resource rooms, and not yet receiving LD services in school. Perceived social support was assessed using a self-report measure developed by Harter which provided information on the availability of support from parents, teachers, classmates, and friends. Formans (1988) finding concluded that the self-perceptions of the LD students and adolescents studied were related to their perceived access to adequate social support. Forman (1988) showed the higher social support from parents, classmates, teachers, and friends were associated with higher self-esteem in general self-worth, scholastic competence-specific behaviors, athletic competenc e, and behavioral conduct. Also, Forman (1988) revealed that school placement did not seem to affect self-concept in her sample of subjects. She contributed this to the small number of subjects in both resource and regular classroom placements, making it difficult to achieve statistically significant difference at the .01 level. Further research using a larger sample is needed to better assess the impact of school placement on students with LD. The research described above demonstrates some of the many obstacles that students with LD encounter. There were inconsistencies in the research regarding the self-concept of students with LD. Heyman (1990) noted that there is a positive correlation between self-perception of learning disabilities, academic self-concept, and self-esteem. Cooley and Ayers (1988) concluded that there is a difference between students with LD and nonhandicapped students self-concepts. Gans, Kenny, and Ghany (2003) suggested children from primarily Hispanic backgrounds with LD had lower self-concept based on their responses on the Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept Scale. Also, Montgomery (1994) found that students with LD had lower self-concept based on their responses on the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale. Additional factor such as placement of students with learning disabilities was also reviewed. Foreman (1988) showed that there isnt a reliable correlation between placement and self-concept. In conclusion, the research discussed in my literature review revealed that there are obstacles that students with LD encounter that affects their self-esteem and other self-perceptions. References Cooley, E.J. Ayres, R. R. (1988). Self-Concept and Success-Failure Attributes of  Nonhandicapped Students and Students with Learning Disabilities. Journal of Learning  Disabilities, 21, 174-178. Cosden, M., Elliot, K., Noble, S. Kelemen, E. (1999). Self-Understanding and Self-Esteem in  Children with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 22, 279-290. Forman, E.A. (1988). The effects of social support and school placement on the self-concept of  LD students. Learning Disability Quarterly, 11, 115-124. Gans, A. M., Kenny, M. C., Ghany, D. L. (2003). Comparing the Self-Concept of Students  With and Without Learning Disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities,36(3), 287-295. Heyman, W. B. (1990). The Self-Perception of a Learning Disability and Its Relationship to  Academic Self-Concept and Self-Esteem. Journal of Learning Disabilities,23(8), 472-475. Montgomery, M.S. (1994). Self-Concept and Children with Learning Disabilities: Observer-Child Concordance Across Six Context-Dependent Domains. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27(4), 254-262. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Digest of  Education Statistics, 2015 (NCES 2016-014), Table 204.30. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=64

Food Processing Industry Analysis

Food Processing Industry Analysis 1.0 Introduction A strategic management process like strategy analysis, strategy formulation, and strategy implementation are important for an organization. (Anthony H,2008) 2.0 Strategy Analysis Macro-environment can act as an analysis which provide early warning system for organizations to anticipate threats, opportunities, and develop appropriate responses (Ginter and Duncan,1990) in the discerning trends in general environment which may impact upon its industry and markets. Strategy analysis can make organization to focus on factors and conditions which influence a firms profitability within an industry and focus on predicting the dynamics of competitors actions, responses and intentions. (Anthony H,2008) This tool of analysis will discuss about PEST framework, Porters Five forces framework and SWOT analysis for BreadTalk in BreadTalk Group Ltd. 2.1.0 Analysis of food processing industry 2.1.1 PEST Analysis PEST analysis is a useful tool to help Breadtalk Group Ltd to help detect and monitor all weak signals to recognize the discontinuities or fractures to shape the environment. PEST refers to political, economic, social and technological. i) Political Factors The political factor encompasses all legal elements like legislation, taxation, deregulation philosophies, labour training and etc. (Anthony H,2008) All organization within the food processing industry are forced to innovate and cut costs to remain competitive to prevent new entrants as new entrants will enter the market with lower cost and more clearing understanding of consumer needs by offering more innovative products and services. Increasing globalization and trade barriers has created an opportunity and challenge to BreadTalk as BreadTalk can enter the market by emerging companies in political stable country to explore the new market especially in markets where bread could be luxury but at the same time BreadTalk will have to challenge with all type of sources to source for low cost high quality from world over. ii) Economic factors The strengthening of an economy will generally benefit industries but its effect will vary according to which factors are most affected. The economic factors include interest rate, disposable income, inflation, gross domestic product, unemployment rates, budget deficit and surplus, personal savings rate, business savings rates and exchange rates. (Anthony H,2008) The rise and fall of commodity and raw material and rise in fuel prices all over the world cause the rise of purchasing costs for BreadTalk and the extra cost has to pass over to consumers by increasing the prices of products. The credit crunch can impact BreadTalk as it might decrease the power of purchasing of consumer and BreadTalk may face competition from local small bread retailers who offer at more affordable prices though less delicious to cost conscious consumers. iii) Social factors Social factors include all cultural changes like social cultural within the environment or country and it would influence consumer spending patterns. Social cultural include traditions, lifestyles, values, attitudes, beliefs, tastes, and workforce diversity. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk forays into the markets of China and India and social factors come into understanding. Chinese and Indian customers have different culture in lifestyle, and they have different opinions and needs on the current products offered. iv) Technological factors No doubts that major changes taking place in the general environment that are impacting the competitive environment are technological. Technological factors include product innovation, applications of knowledge, new communication technologies and etc. The rapid rate of changes of technology has allowed new entrants to enter the market at a lower cost base. (Anthony H,2008) Modern processes and machinery with many communications devices now can now be used by BreadTalk to ensure the cost of labor and production are reduced and orders to process faster due to globalization and changes in technological factors. 2.1.2 Porters five forces framework The five forces of Porter are, threat of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, Bargaining power of suppliers, threat of substitute product and intensity of rivalry Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is when new competitors decide to enter an industry and reduce profits being earned by incumbent firms and to decrease level of customers loyalty within the food processing industry. (Anthony H,2008) With BreadTalks product differentiation and high brand name recognition and customer loyalty, it will prevent new entrants to enter the market, so the threat of new entrants will be low. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers have the influence power for an industry to force down prices and offer higher quality as consumers purchase represents a sizable proportion of organizations overall sales. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk produced products that are potentially lower price for customers as they design its own products and have their own factories. BreadTalk enhance customer loyalty by enhancing existing customer and getting new customers by providing positive shopping experience through good customer services, so the buyer power is high. Bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers have the power of bear or apply in an industry by raising price or reducing the quality of products. (Anthony H,2008) The increase of supplier power is the mirror image of increase buyer power. BreadTalk uses a strategy of building greater loyalty and long-term relationships marketing with suppliers and retailers and then to result in improve performance in work and provide good service to customers. Threat of substitute products or services By having a products or services that meet similar needs will make customers switch to substitutes in response to a price increase on product. (Anthony H,2008) In Singapore, there are many substitutes for bread like hawker centers and restaurants like Delifrance and McDonalds are close substitutes in terms of pricing and perform the same function to sell food. Intensity of rivalry among firms in an industry When an organization exhibit a high level of rivalry, it will cause the industrys profits to reduce because of aggressive competition on price as when rivalry cut down on price, the other organizations will cut down price to sustain in their market positions. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk main competitors are Four Leaves, Prima Deli, Q-Bread, Sweet Secrets, Bengawan Solo, and so forth. BreadTalk is facing an intense rivalry competition from both small-scale production like small family-fun in the neighbourhood and large retailers like Sunshine and Gardenia which produce affordable products. Due to this intense competition, BreadTalk attempted to enter Chinas market for diversity purposes. SWOT analysis SWOT analysis refers to strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strength and weaknesses refer to the BreadTalkss internal environment within the firms control while opportunities and threats refer to BreadTalks external environment which the firm has less control. Strength The BreadTalks concept is unique from the traditional bakeries in the market as BreadTalk has a wide menu of confectionery products like breads, buns, pastries and cakes which allows the menu change on daily basis to satisfy customers varied needs. BreadTalk will introduce new products every four months to cater customers changing taste.(competitive strengths,2009) Other than this, strategic locations is one of the competitive strength. BreadTalks retail outlets are mostly near the public transport systems like bus terminals, the Mass Rapid Transit Stations, and the Light Rail Transport stations.(competitive strengths,2009) Weaknesses There is very much reliant on Singapore with a small domestic market of five million and it is also underserved in the emerging economies of Asia, in result this might drag BreadTalks company performance in long term fairly saturated with little growth in local market. Although BreadTalk offers a wide range variety of products, it does not have halal certificate, so it is very hard and critical to penetrate into the Muslim market, Malaysia market and Indonesia markets. Opportunities BreadTalk oppose its main weakness by expanding and emerge its market in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries with its affordable, low-priced high volume breads. Other than this, the increase of popularity of online shopping has provided an opportunity to BreadTalk to lower expenses by expanding its business into the realm of virtual marketplace. Threats Existing bread related firms like Gardenia, Ya Kun and Sweettalk are also competing BreadTalk directly to offer bread with fillings and more variety of bread, this move will significantly effect on BreadTalks revenue of the sales of bread. If the health conscious alternative like Subway decides to sell low priced bread, BreadTalk will face a challenge. 2.2 Value Chain Analysis There are two analytical tools like Value Chain analysis and Benchmarking to asses whether BreadTalks costs are competitive with those of rivals as is a crucial part of company situation analysis. Value Chain analysis is more suitable for BreadTalk Group Ltd. A companys businesses are consists of all activities undertaken in producing, designing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product and service which perform internally combine to form a value chain. Value chain analysis was devised by Porter (1985) which helps us to assess an organizations resources to determine its strengths and possible weaknesses. Value Chain contains two types of activities which are primary activities where most value for customers is created while support activities facilitate performance of the primary activities. For bakery goods maker like BreadTalk, its primary activities would be producing bread from raw material to semi finished products by the activities emulsifiers, enzymes, sourdoughs and yeasts, supply chain management, recipe development and testing, mixing and baking, packaging, sales and marketing and then distribution. For its support activities, it would be quality control, hu man resource management and then administration. Value Chain analysis has a few characteristic: To combine costs for all activities in a companys value chain to define the companys internal cost structure To compare a firms costs activity by the activity against costs of key rivals from raw materials purchase to and price paid by ultimate customer To pin point the source of cost advantage or disadvantage on its internal activities 3.0 Strategy Formulation Strategy formulation can be argued that it can constitute differential firm performance and allows BreadTalk to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and to accomplish their objectives and mission. An organization must be mindful of its ability before it can implement strategy during the strategy formulation stage. Business level and corporate level strategy will be discussed as BreadTalk Group Limited used these two strategies to improve the companys performance. Business Level Strategy Business level strategy can work as separating out and formulating a competitive strategy at the level of individual business unit and sometimes referred as strategic business unit (SBU) which focuses upon a particular market or markets for its products and services.(Anthony H,2008) Business unit is needed to devise a strategy to allow it compete successfully to the marketplace and contribute to corporate strategy. Business level strategy can be evaluated by using Porters generic competitive strategies as business strategy is always in pursuit of a sustainable competitive advantage.(Anthony H,2008) Porters seminal work on industry and competitor analysis (Porter 1980) argues that what will drives an organizations performance and differential firm performance and it is also referred as to the positioning of the firm within the industry to take advantage and the attractiveness or profitability of an industry is determined by his five forces framework. Generic Competitive Strategies Performing different activities or similar activities in different ways which will be recognized as being superior to its competitors can create a sustainable competitive advantage. Porter (1980) argues that competitive strategy develop a defendable position in an industry which enable the firm to deal effectively with the five competitive forces and generate superior return on investment for the firm. BreadTalk can achieve it by following these steps; first, BreadTalk can offer its products at a lower price than rivals but without sacrificing the quality of products. Second, BreadTalk can produce differentiated product with premium price for customers who perceive better value than from rival firms, third BreadTalk should choose which market segments to compete within. Porter (1980) developed three generic strategies to help organization to outperform rivals and position itself against the five forces within the industry which are Overall Cost Leadership Strategies, Differentiation Strategies and Focus Strategies. Overall Cost Leadership Strategies This strategy involves firm to be the lowest-cost producer within the industry and target its products and services at a broad market to outperform rivals within the industry as it charge lower prices and its lowest-cost-base can still earn superior profits where the rival simply cannot match. According to Porter, cost leadership strategy require organization to pursue aggressive construction of efficient-scale facilities, vigorous pursuit of cost reductions from experience, tight cost and overhead control, avoidance of marginal customer accounts, cost minimization in areas like research and developments, service, sales force and advertising. (Porter 1980, p.35) BreadTalk generate above-average profitability where intense competitions exist in Singapore. Its lower cost base allows BreadTalk to still earn returns after other higher cost direct main competitors like Gardenia, Four Leaves and my bread (CIMB research report,2009) to competed away their profit through rivalry. A low cost position allows BreadTalk to defend itself against buyers who can only price down to the next most efficient competitor. BreadTalk provide a hedge against any increases in their input prices when facing with the bargaining power of suppliers as BreadTalk is being a low-cost producer. BreadTalk is at advantageous position to compete prices to prevent the threat of entry and acts as barrier to entry. Differentiation Strategies Differentiation strategy means organization produce unique or different products or services at a broad market for consumers and it also acts as an opportunity to meet different customer needs. Customers willing to pay a premium price for unique products and services. The major benefit of this strategy is that rivals will find it difficult to imitate. Organization can differentiate their product offerings like design, brand image, market abilities, reliability, creativity, customer service and so on. BreadTalk different themselves from other bakeries with their open-concept design and space-age looking store facades which actually allowed customers to view the bakers while they are working and it also generated interest in customers of their products.(Unique Concept and Branding,2009) BreadTalk also offer wide range of baked products every four months to satisfy every customers. All the creative and innovative differentiation methods will set BreadTalk away apart from their competitor.(Wide Range of Products, 2009) Corporate level strategy Corporate level strategy can be defined as the scope of the industries and markets within which the organization competes in order to achieve its organizational purpose.(Anthony H,2008) The managers of business units have freedom of action to create their business level strategy with the knowledge of local markets, customers and competitors and show their business strategy ultimately to contribute to the corporate strategy. Corporate parenting exists when an organization is made up with multiple business units which those levels of management that are not part of customer-facing and profit run business within the multi-business organization.(Anthony H,2008) There are many strategies in corporate level strategies like Growth Strategies, related diversification, unrelated diversification and so forth. Growth Strategies Ansoft (1965) invented a matrix to analyze different strategic directions organizations can achieve and there are four strategies for organization to follow, market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification. i) Market penetration Market penetration will increase market share in existing markets by using existing products aiming to get new customers to maximize organizations profits. Organization will improve its products quality and level of service and add on with promotional spend before the firm will achieve market penetration. This strategy is relatively low risk as organization will use the existing resources and capacities to penetrate to the new market. (Anthony H,2008) In 2009, BreadTalk successfully penetrate new markets and also infiltrated in countries like Singapore, PRC, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand with 119 outlets and 182 franchise outlets in Indonesia, Philippines, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, India, Korea, PRC.(BreadTalk Financial Review 2009) ii) Market development Market development involves entering new markets with organizations existing products like targeting new market segments and new geographical areas. Certain social and cultural adjustments will be made to ensure the products will meet the needs of particular geographical market segments. (Anthony H,2008) BreadTalk increase their market share by penetrating their near existing market like Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan and India with their existing products. BreadTalk has good store locations in Chinas fast multiplying shopping malls which are easy to be found.(Daily Bread,2008) BreadTalk is trying to get halal certificate in order to fully develop its expansion in Malaysia and Indonesia. Other than this, BreadTalk had made some changes on its current existing baked products to fulfill the demand of china and India customer as they have different cultural beliefs and preferences in baked products Product development Product development will develop new products to sell in existing markets. A strategy of product development is necessary where organizations are faced with rapid changes in consumer markets and shorter product life-cycle. In food processing industries, organizations are forced to continually develop new products to keep competitors on the defensive and maintain and grow their market share. (Anthony H,2008) In bakery industries like BreadTalk, BreadTalk has to produce new products to maintain its position in the market to prevent its competitor to overtake it positions as customers will change to competitors products and services if BreadTalk never change its menu of serving. BreadTalk always produce with new baked products every four months to satisfy customer needs to sustain its position in the existing markets. The latest special was spring summer(fresh from oven,2009) Diversification Diversification can be defined as develop new products to serve new markets, in another word, organization that move away from its current products and markets to turn into new products and new markets to broaden its scope of activities are the steps of diversification for organizations. Broadening the scope of the organization can help to spread risk by reducing the reliance of any one market or product. (Anthony H,2008) Not only they offer convenient atypical of other typical bread stores, BreadTalk diversified their business by opening restaurants like Din Tai Fung targeting on family market as their priority market other than relying too much on the competition in the local food processing industries. BreadTalk diversify their operations in other countries like China to open a new market trying to dominate the new market and be dominant by importing the concept of smart food beverage retail and sells western-style baked goods.(Daily Bread,2008) BreadTalk now not only have Bakery business, they have diversified into Restaurant and Food Atria businesses. On 17 December 2007, BreadTalk Group Limited acquires and manages the franchise agreement with J.co Donuts coffee. 4.0 Strategy Implementation The best formulated strategy in the world would fail if the strategy is poorly implemented. In order to implement effective strategies, it requires organization to be sufficiently flexible in its organizational design and effectively communicated and properly resourced, the changes must be clearly understood and properly coordinated with stakeholders inside and outside the organization. Strategy implementation allocates resources for strategy-critical activities and establish strategy-supportive policies and to motivate people to pursue the 4.1 Management issues There are a lot of management issues in BreadTalk like annual objectives, policies, resources organizational structure, restructuring, rewards, resistance to change, natural environment, supportive culture, operations, and human resources to be implemented. BreadTalk has to manage conflicts in the management issues but not all conflict is always bad and no conflict may signal apathy. Conflicts can energize the opposing groups to action and also can help managers to identify problems. (Fred R. David, 2009) According to Chandlers (1962) strategy-structure relationship, he says when a new strategy is formulated, new administrative problems will emerge and cause the organizational performance to declines and then a new organizational structure will be established and finally organizational performance will improve and BreadTalk experienced this issue when they start implementing their formulated strategies. In order to let BreadTalk to be more effieciency, workers must be treated well in order for them to work willingly for the firm as employees are the greatest asset for company. Human resources strategic responsibilities are to assess staffing needs and costs, develop performance incentives, employee stock ownership plans, child care policies, work-life balance issues. (Fred R. David, 2009) By implementing all the extra benefits to workers, it will diverse workforce like improves corporate culture, improves employee morale, increases creativity, increases productivity, enables the organization to move into emerging markets, maximizes brand identity, leads to higher retention of employees, decreases complaints and litigation, decrease interpersonal conflict, reduces training costs and so forth. 4.2 Marketing strategies In a successful strategy implementation, organization will be in a good market and providing and experiencing well services and products and raise needed working capital. Marketing variable will affect success or failure of strategy implementation. Marketing issues like market segmentation and product positioning are centrally important to implementation. (Fred R. David, 2009) Marketing segmentation can be defined as company subdividing markets into smaller segments which can be reached more efficiently and effectively with products and services that match customers unique needs and buying habits while product positioning can be defined as the way of a product defined by customer on important attributes like the place of the product occupies in customers minds relative to compete products.(Kotler P, Armstrong G,2008) BreadTalk is facing problem of marketing segmentation around all its outlets around the world when implementing and formulating its corporate strategy level. 4.2.1 Marketing segmentation Marketing segmentation is linked to corporate level strategys growth strategy on market-development, product-development, market-penetration, and diversification. Market segmentation will directly affect the marketing mix variables like product, place, promotion and price. (Kotler P, Armstrong G,2008) Product Product means the combination of products and services offer by a company to their targeted markets. Product influence can affect on consumer behavior and it is important for the marketers to differentiate their products from competitors to create a perception to consumer that the product is worth purchasing.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) In order to sustain and maintain its strong brand name, BreadTalk has to offers more than 150 varieties of baked products, special occasions products and other services to provide more choices to customers and make its company to be different from its strong competitors like Gardenia in order to sustain in the market and success on its strategy formulation. Place Place means how the offer of product available to target consumers. Places of a product and services can influence on consumers buying power. A perfect location of a services or products should be in a convenient and strategic place to ensure consumers can find and buy them easily.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) In order to support to its strategy formulation and implement it, BreadTalk only open its outlet location near public transport systems like bus terminals, Mass Rapid Transit, and Light Rail Transport, departmental stores, supermarkets to attract potential customers and to mark down sales territories as having high customer traffic flow is crucial to Breadtalks success of retail outlets and avoid customers change their buying power to competitors offerings. Promotion Promotion means activities that communicate the merit of the product and persuade target customer to buy it. Promotions can influence consumers thoughts, emotions and experiences about purchasing and using the products.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Every 4 months BreadTalk will offer special new baked products with promotion and for normal promotions with discounts for customers so that customers will not get bored and turn to alternative or competitors and inform consumers about products and services while creating favourable images and perceptions. Price Price is the amount charged on the products which need to be paid to obtain the products. The price of products and services often influence consumers whether to purchase them or not.(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) BreadTalk has to offers affordable prices on their products even sometimes at loss to capture potential customers and capture the loyalty of existing customers as their local competitors are offering lower cost to compete with BreadTalk but at the same times, BreadTalk offers some offerings with higher prices but this will not deter customers to purchase as customer believe their products or services are higher quality or more prestigious . Market Segment Basis Organization must try different segmentation variables in alone and combinations to find the best way to view market structure and there are few major variables mostly used in segmenting consumer markets, the Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral. .(J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Geographic Geographic can divide a market into different geographical units like region, country size, city size, density, climate and so forth. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Although Singapores population is higher than Madium, singapores competitor is much higher and intense as it is a modern country, Madium has bigger field and resources and it is a potential opportunity for BreadTalks business. Demographic Demographic can divide a market into groups based on variables like age, family size, family life cycle, income or occupation, education, religion, race or nationality. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Madiun is a small city in Indonesia and small population, despite small but there is no store that can satisfy their needs from south to west, but BreadTalk enter the market with its innovative and creative products and they understand what different cultured customer wants as they have been successful in all business wide, from small population to big. Once they obtained the halal certificate, they started to penetrate into muslim markets like Jakarta, Malaysia and then Madiun. Psychographic Psychographic can divide a market into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) Customers in Madiun likes healthy food, BreadTalk as offered four new varieties to compromise as healthy meal and giving the state in rice in their country. Behavioral Behavioral can divide a market into groups based on use occasion, benefits sought, user status, usage rate, loyalty status, readiness stage and attitude toward product. (J.Paul Peter and James H.Donnelly,2003) BreadTalk has developed a strong brand name and brand loyalty to customers, therefore customers are willing and they have the readiness to buy. BreadTalk sometimes will offer promotions to stimulate purchases. 5.0 Strategic Leadership Management issues can be solved by using strategic leadership. Leadership is concerned with creating a shared vision of what and where the organization is trying to aim and achieve, and formulate strategies to bring up needed changes to achieve this vision while management is about coping with the complexity to produce orderly and consistent results. Leadership activities are more to formulating strategy and then motivate and inspire employees while management activities implement strategy and control behavior and solving problems to ensure the strategy is implemented. (Fred R. David, 2009) The role of leader can help creating a learning organization and help to develop in shared vision and shaping the value of an organization. The learning organization can be defined as an organization which facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transform itself and (Senge,1990) it comprises adaptive and generating learning. Adaptive learning is the ability to cope with change s in ones environment and generative learning is about creating change by being prepared to question the way we look at the world. (Fred R. David, 2009) The chairman of BreadTalk, Dr. George Quek, as known as the founder is a very good leader in leading its marketing team as he has 30 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. The chairman is always assisted by his senior management whom have vast experience in the food and beverage or retail industries, when a leader leads a team successfully, the performance rate will be maximum.

Research Proposal: The Effect of Extra-Curricular Activities on Academi

Introduction Do extra-curricular activities have a positive or negative effect on a student’s academic performance? If they do, then why do schools take activities away from students at the first sign of academic troubles? If they are scientifically proven to be positive, then why are they not curricular rather than extra curricular? There are numerous influences that impact the academic performance of a student other than after school activities. However, this study will focus on the effect of extra curricular activities on academic performances. In many cases, participation in extra curricular activities positively influences attendance and connection to school. This study will investigate the impact of extra curricular activities that require a daily commitment over an extended period of time, greater than a month. Athletics is the dominant after school activity that requires a daily commitment; therefore, this study will involve student athletes as well as students who are invo lved in other extra curricular activities. Another reason why student athletes will be a large part of this study is that there may be a correlation between the skills necessary to succeed in athletics and academics (American Sports Institute, 1991). While most evidence in the literature proves that extra curricular activities improve academic performances, Solanco School District has no program supporting or promoting the link between the two. This study will examine the effects of participation in extra curricular activities on student academic performance at Solanco High School. Findings from this study could be examined by Solanco High School and similar school districts to support and promote programs of extra curricular activities at... ... as Researchers. 2005 Emmons, Leonard S (1995). Athletic participation and academic achievement: Can the two coexist? National Association of Secondary School Principals. NASSP Bulletin. Vol. 79, Iss. 574; p. 107. Libbey, Heather (2004). Measuring Student Relationships to School: Attachment, Bonding, Connectedness, and Engagement. The Journal of School Health. Vol. 74, Iss. 7, p. 274, 10 pgs. NEA Today (2004). See Ya After School. Vol. 22, Iss. 6, p. 13. Neill, James. www.wilderdom.com Parks & Recreation (2003). After-school programs help kids achieve. Vol. 38, Iss. 6; p. 15. Schneider, Timothy and Klotz, Jack. November 2000. The Impact of Music Education and Athletic Participation on Achievement. 36 pages. Seigle, Del. http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Qualitative/qualquan.htm. 1979

Raves :: essays research papers fc

Social Problems of Ecstasy and Raves Throughout American history drugs have posed a problem to society and lawmakers. Many attempts have transpired to try to prevent future problems associated with drugs. Many of the drugs threatening America were originally designed toward the improvement of human health. The most recent epidemic of recreational drug use is ecstasy. Ecstasy’s popularity is particularly in the possession of the nations youth. The institute of use is at all-night clubs and bars within many large cities. Recent research has been completed about the problems and long term effects of the drug. Does the new era of rave clubs and club drugs such as ecstasy pose a great threat to society? Before analyzing the societal problems associated with ecstasy it is important to understand what it is and its background. Ecstasy or MDMA (methylenedioxmethamphetamine) first originated in 1914 and was used as an appetite suppressant; it was not heavily used again until the 1970â €™s and was used to treat psychological disorders. Finally in the 1980’s the drug administration banned any open use of ecstasy because of recent test results proving it causes health problems. Recently the drug has become very popular and the rising popularity is from the influence of the rave movement. Boom, Boom, Boom. The sound of the new innovative music, responsible for cultivating and transforming society erupts from the speakers of a rave. Codes of conduct at raves are nonexistent. With out rules the crowds are encouraged to participate in whatever they find pleasing. People attend the raves to dance, but in actuality the ravers seek thrill through clandestine actions. Raves usually are praised for creating peaceful and positive vibes, but in spite of the fun and happiness created, raves also have many downfalls. Raving is an all-night activity. Large quantities of "rave kids" use mind and body altering drugs enabling them to indulge in a night of dancin g and immoral behavior. Ecstasy is a quintessential part of entertainment at the rave scene. The drug enhances the scene and the raver does not fully appreciate the moment unless in an altered state of mind. Kids who use ecstasy roam around the scene lost, and not in touch with reality. The ravers are experiencing the moment, but to others it sounds as if they are experiencing mass confusion. Some "ravers" consider alcohol to be a â€Å"square† drug, and therefore seek an alternate source of synthetic energy, such as ecstasy.

Analyzing Shakespears Sonnet 5 :: essays research papers

Many factors can be used to analyze “Sonnet 55'; by William Shakespear and “Licia'; by Giles Fletcher. “Sonnet 55'; and “Licia'; share the subject of eternal love. In “Sonnet 55,'; the narrator says that the memory of his love will last through “wasteful wars'; that destroy tangible objects (Shakespear 5). Love remains in the mind;'; it is “living record of [the lover’s] memory'; and cannot be destroyed (Shakespear 8). “Licia'; also mentions strong tangible objects being out-lasted by love. However, it also says that true love lasts beyond the superficial “rose and silver lilies;'; as they die, love remains. Even as the rivers dry and the earth decays, love prevails. The last two lines of each sonnet emphasize the subject; as time passes, everything fades except love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The attitudes of Shakespear and Fletcher are also similar. Both are in awe of the power and perseverance of love. They mention things that they think of as extremely powerful and say that love will outlast them; unlike them, love will not even fade. They make love seem to be like a rock that does not decay or move; it is ever-present with the lovers and it is never forgotten.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both sonnets are Elizabethan sonnets. Their rhyme scheme is a, b, a, b, c, d, c, d, e, f, e, f, g, g. They build up the subject until the last two lines, where they reach the conclusion that love is eternal. Both are in imabic pentameter. Shakespear uses more word play than Fletcher. In line two, Shakespear says that nothing “shall outlive this powerful rime.'; Rime is the crust that builds up when something is in existence for a large amount of time.

Hedonics Presentation: Disgust

Disgust is an intriguing emotion. Psychologists have long been puzzled by its nature: how it develops in an individual and how it affects the society. According to Rozin et al (Rozin, Haidt, McCauley, 2000), there are nine domains of disgust elicitors in North Americans, namely: food, animals, body products, sexual behaviors, violations of the dermal layer, poor hygiene, physical contact with dead or corpses, interpersonal contamination and certain moral offenses. These elicitors are the key to the development as well as maintenance of disgust in humans.Food is considered the most fundamental factor in the development of such emotion. Disgust serves as a mechanism that helps protect the body from ingesting harmful objects or poisonous foods. It is a response towards bad tastes which are acquired through the mouth. As an emotion, disgust is manifested through behavioral, physiological, expressive, and qualia components. Thus, it can be analyzed by examining these components. Understan ding how disgust affects moral judgment, conflict and ethno-political violence lies in these categories.The purpose of this paper is to explain what disgust is, identify the different factors associated with its development, understand how it is expressed by an individual, and finally, explain how it affects the society. Expression of Disgust: How Disgust is expressed Personally and Culturally and the Role of Sympathetic Magic Disgust is a basic emotion that is listed in almost all lists of emotions with at least four types in it. It satisfies any criterion in characterizing emotions, may it be facial, semantic, or eclectic (Rozin et al, 2000).Expression of disgust in individuals as well as cultural entities is subdivided into four components: behavioral, physiological, expressive, and qualia (Rozin et al, 2000). Laws of sympathetic magic also affect the display of disgust in an individual and how disgust is expressed in every cultural entity. Individual Expression Manifestation of disgust as an emotion in humans is subdivided into four components: behavioral, physiological, expressive, and qualia (Rozin et al, 2000). In behavioral component, disgust is being expressed as keeping away from objects, events, or situations which are also characteristics of rejection.In the physiological component, disgust is manifested by two types of physiological changes: one is nausea and the other is salivation. Nausea is correlated with disgust, though it is not a requirement for someone to experience it. Salivation was introduced by Angyal as being correlated with the expression of disgust. It is also associated with nausea, though it can occur without resulting to or beginning from nausea. In the expressive component, disgust is manifested through facial expressions (Rozin, Lowery, & Ebert, 1994).A â€Å"disgust face† is an expression which is analogous to every human being. Such facial expressions include raised cheeks, narrowed eyebrows, curled upper lips, protrud ed tongue and wrinkled nose. Motions of the heads, such as jerking backwards and shaking from side-to-side, are also correlated with disgust. Sometimes, the person may utter sounds like â€Å"ach† or â€Å"ugh†. These expressions depend upon the nature of elicitors which are commonly used to discourage entry of something, most probably food, or as a response to something that causes the disgust, such as rotten flesh.The qualia component of disgust is the mental or feeling component which is considered to be the most difficult to study. As compared with other emotions, disgust is usually experienced in shorter time durations and some disgust-eliciting situations might invoke humor. Laws of Sympathetic Magic Two laws of sympathetic magic, contagion and similarity, which were vital in the formation of belief systems of ancient and traditional cultures, were found to have had great application in the study of various human behaviors (Rozin, Millman, & Nemeroff, 1986).Rozin et al (1986) were able to establish direct link between these laws and disgust. Contagion. The first law of sympathetic magic states that â€Å"once in contact, always in contact†. Contagion, as it is more popularly known, invokes varied response from people. One of which is disgust. As its definition suggests, contagion is the transfer of properties through physical contact of one object into another. Rozin et al (1986) studied how drinks became undesirable after a sterilized, dead cockroach was dipped into it.Cockroaches are usually associated with dirt and diseases and any contact with it invokes disgust. The role of contagion is to transfer these properties into other objects, in this case, the drinks. As a result, a person who sees the cockroach in the drink will experience revulsion of it. Similarities. The second law, commonly called similarities, states that â€Å"the image equals the object† (Rozin et al, 1986). Under this law, objects, especially food, repre sent other undesirable objects.An acceptable food, for example, fudge shaped into dog feces, might invoke revulsion from people because of its looks or what it represents. The role of the second law of sympathetic magic in the acquisition of disgust in an individual is the representation of disgust elicitors by acceptable objects, such as food. Development and Maintenance of Disgust Disgust is often viewed as a food-related emotion. Most studies in the evolution of disgust pointed it as a response of distaste. Bad tastes elicit disgust in varying degrees or relevance.For example, bitter foods are less accepted by people’s mouth, whereas poisonous foods are totally avoided. Disgust serves as a protective mechanism of people against any harm, especially ingestion of foods. However, disgust can also be elicited by other factors. According to Rozin et al (2000), there are nine elicitors of disgust in the Americans, namely: food, animals, body products, sexual behaviors, violation s of the dermal layer, poor hygiene, physical contact with dead or corpses, interpersonal contamination and certain moral offenses. Food RejectionThe most basic elicitor of disgust in humans is food. This arises from the fundamental fact that living organisms, especially humans, need to eat. The need for food is more frequent than any other things. Food shaped cultures more than anything because people are more inclined to eat together. Anything that seems delicious for us today is the result of the thousands of years of cultural transformations. On the other hand, anything disgusting today is also the result of these transformations. Using food as the variable in experimental studies, disgust can be classified under food rejection.The laws of sympathetic magic are concerned on the differentiation between acceptable foods or foods that are thought to be offensive and contaminating (Rozin & Fallon, 94) in different cultures. The mouth plays a very important role since it is the main entry point into the human body. It is therefore important to determine which food must be eaten. Offensive and contaminating foods are rendered inedible thus preserving the health of populations or religious entities. Food rejection is the avoidance of offensive and contaminating foods.Several factors affect people’s perception of likes and dislikes. Rozin (1986) noted that many people dislike certain foods and render it contaminating and inedible. Distaste is the most frequent elicitor of disgust which is also characterized as food rejection. Issues Related with One-Trial Learning Studies on one-trial learning of disgust have been used in exploring the nature of disgust. In this context, a number of individuals are being asked to fill-up questionnaires or survey forms which ask for event(s) that changed their perception of likes to dislikes or dislikes to likes.Initial results showed that it is harder for people to provide preferences rather than creating aversions. This is supported by data gathered from the one-trial learning study done by Rozin (1986). Table 1 shows the number of incidence of reported one-trial learning. However, there are certain issues on the accuracy of the results of one-trial learning. These issues are subjects of debates on the reliability of one-trial learning in the study of disgust. Issues include errors in the statistical method used, bias as results of world events, and biases about learning of new negative events (Rozin, 1986).Relationship of Hedonic Processes to other Cognitive Processes Hedonic shifts in relation to disgust are more on aversions rather than preferences. This was proved using the one-trial learning study on human perceptions of likes and dislikes. The results of the one-trial learning studies showed that there is greater tendency for people to shift from like to dislike and lesser tendency to do otherwise. Thus, negative hedonic shift is more common in disgust. Conclusion Psychologists and socio-analys ts have long been fascinated with the study of disgust as an emotion.A number of articles have been produced in attempts of explaining the emotion. The expression of disgust is divided into four components: behavioral, physiological, expressive, and qualia components. Among these components, the most easily identified is the expressive component which is seen through facial expressions. The facial expressions include crossed eyebrows, raised or curled lips, and wrinkled nose. The two laws of sympathetic magic played important roles in the development and maintenance of disgust.Studies showed that people tend to dislike someone or something that is related to an object (animate or not) in either contagion or similarities. These two laws are vital to the development of cultural entities. Finally, the use of one-trial learning in exploring the hedonic shifts of people in relation to disgust raised many issues that are subjects of debates. The issues include errors in the statistical me thod used, bias as results of world events, and biases about learning of new negative events. References: Baeyens, F., G. Crombez, Van den Bergh & Eelen, P. (1988). Once in contact always in contact: Evaluative conditioning is resistant to extinction. Advances in Behavioral Research and Therapy 10: 179-199. Rozin, P. (1986). One-trial acquired likes and dislikes in humans: Disgust as a US, food predominance, and negative learning predominance. Learning and Motivation 17: 180-189. [2532] (1999). Food is fundamental, fun, frightening, and far-reaching. Social Research, 66(1), 9. Rozin, P. and Fallon, A. E. (1987). A perspective on disgust. Psychol. Rev. 94: 23-41. [660] Rozin, P., Haidt, J., & McCauley, C.R. (2000). Disgust. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions, 2nd Edition (pp. 637-653). New York: Guilford Press. Rozin, P., Millman, L., & Nemeroff, C (1986). Operation of the Laws of Sympathetic Magic in Disgust and Other Domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(4), 793-712. Rozin, P., L. Lowery, & Ebert, R. (1994). Varieties of disgust faces and the structure of disgust. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 66(5): 870-881. [1312] Rozin, P. and C. Nemeroff (1990). The laws of sympathetic magic. A psychological analysis of similarity and contagion. Cultural Psychology. Essays on Comparative Human Development. J. Stigler, R. A. Shweder and G. Herdt. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 205-232. [705] Rozin, P. and D. Zellner (1985). The role of Pavlovian conditioning in the acquisition of food likes and dislikes. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 443: 189-202. [496] Siegal, M. (1996). Becoming mindful of food and conversation. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 4(6), 177-181. [1339]   

Poverty in Philippines Essay

Life is a risking adventure. We commit a lot of obstacles and problems that sometimes pull our hopes down. Watching the documentary creates several feelings about the situations and it brings realizations after and while watching it. First of all, the documentary speaks about a family in Eastern Visayas wherein it reflects a serious poverty in the Philippines. The family experienced or still experiencing sufferings about their whole-life situation. The couples had ten sons and daughters all in all but only six of them were there current priorities. It must be easy for rich families to handle those six responsibilities but for them, it was a serious life challenge. Within a day, eating two meals is the best they can. Green vegetables with rice are considered a delightful meal for them. Because mostly, a piece of bread given by a neighbor or a soup considering rice mixed with water and salt was there food for breakfast while for lunch is still basing for the outcome of their unstable work. They are indeed suffering for poverty – or maybe beyond poverty. As an individual watching an uncommon documentary, I felt a lot of course. First, I felt pity for the whole family but mostly for the children. Children must be playing so free with a full tank – stomach with other kids, educating themselves in school, but what other children of their family do was working too, for the sake of the majority’s food. It was a punch on the heart to see those. Second, I feel so degraded yet fortunate. I am ashamed of myself because they really spend sweats and strengths for their daily benefits while most of us almost take spoon feed from our parents. But I felt so fortunate because even sometimes I feel so poor because of usual money-shortage; I realized how others’ seek hard for a one peso coin. Therefore, the documentary conscientisize most of us, but in a moral way I think. It aroused our conscience not to disgust ourselves because of realizations on mistakes but to change for the better. I am thinking that after watching the documentary, most of the viewer’s felt what I felt too, realized what I realized too, and will change as I’ll change. Starting now, I want to try giving importance with money. I want to encourage myself not to be hopeless in times of struggles. I’ll earn, try my best not to spoil and waste foods, and I will always ask for guidance to God for Him to help me conquer every obstacle. Because life is a risking adventure.