Teachers as Mentors in Critical Pedagogy :: Teaching Learning Essays

Teachers as Mentors in Critical Pedagogy The young world history teacher stood stern and erect before her students. Around the side of her arm she wore a black cloth. "My name is Ms. Aping. When you are responding to me, you will direct me standing up as Ms. Aping, ma’am. You are not to speak unless I request for you to do so. I will teach you what you need to know, and I expect you to learn it well†¦questions are quite unnecessary. If you fail to abide by my rules you will spend a great deal of your lunchtime with me. Understand?"†¦ An awkward silence followed, then voices raised, "Yes, Ms. Aping, ma’am." My voice was among the reluctant echoes in response to this teacher who was clearly exerting the same right and power of a dictator. I later discovered that my teacher was only executing a realistic performance. The scenario, however, proved quite disturbing as well as revealing. Why was it that not a single student stood up to disagree with the teacher? I doubt any of them felt that her extreme an d absurd regulations were right or even permitted, but not one person had the courage to go up and question her style of teaching and authority. Our educational system, while wanting to educate and strengthen its youths’ minds, has horribly done the opposite through an almost misguided perception of how teachers are supposed to teach. For the majority of our academic learning careers, we have been exposed, to some extent, to the "banking" concept of education described by Paolo Freire. At the youngest age, when we were perhaps considered the most unknowledgeable, we were fed a vast amount of information by our teachers, and were expected to receive and memorize this knowledge and accept it as true. As young elementary school kids, we were taught that Christopher Columbus was the first human being to discover America, only to find out later, that information was not true. These half-true facts, taught to children, are quite acceptable though. It is simple for a child to learn and memorize that Columbus first sailed the ocean blue and founded America for the rest of the world. On the other hand, much energy is needed and confusion may arise for them to acquire and comprehend the immigration of Native American Indians into America, much before the arrival of Columbus, and the possible voyage of early Vikings from northern Europe to the southern coast of present day Canada.

Half of a Yellow Sun Essay -- Analysis, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

To go to war is to engage in a fight with another Nation. Many view war as being an appropriate action that can only solve problems. Others believe that war is a violent action that leads to nothing but casualties. In the article, â€Å"Regarding the Torture of Others† Susan Sontag writes about the torture soldiers are inflicting on prisoners. Some torture was done so brutally that the some of the soldiers deem that acts as correct and in the process seem to try to dehumanize the victims. The bush administration considered torture as being mistreatment not evil. The Blog â€Å"Military Blog† by Zachary Scott-Singley deals with the day by day life and thoughts of a solider at war. Zachary Scott-Singley is a soldier struggling with the wrong of his actions. At one point, he believes that the killing of Iraqis is okay, but he then believes it is not. He was torn between he believes is right and not. The story â€Å"Half of a Yellow Sun† by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche is a story about a young girl and her families struggles during the Nigerian civil war of the 1960’s. Her family has pride like much of the people of Biafra. That all changed when her younger brother Obi died, and the family realizes at that point the war was lost. While Sontag still maintained that war was not bad, she still believed that it was the torture of others that made war such a brutal action. On the other hand, Zachery from military blog was lost trying to find out if War was correct or not. The characters from â€Å"Half of a Yellow Sun† share a belief that war is necessary to defend their nations honor and pride but as the war progresses and it began to affect them they begin to see that the war was not as productive as they hoped it would be. Looking at pictures of war is like l... ...at can come from war. War is seen as a last resource because of all the physical and mental damage it causes. In the story â€Å"Half of a Yellow Sun† war was seen as a way to gain the respect of a nation, but as the story progressed the family became affected, and the war that was supposed to benefit did nothing but badly affect them. In the blog Military Blog the main character saw war as a way of defending is nations pride along with protecting his family, but his continuing struggles with his actions kept him from being comfortable with his actions. In the article "Regarding the torture of others", Sontag saw the war as being a process that was not wrong but that was turned upside down because of the immoral actions of the soldiers. All the characters in each text showed how war changes not just the picture of war but the emotions and reasons that change afterward.

Apple Case Study

Please divide Apple's history into periods and trace the changes in business models that took place over these periods. Apple history is explained in the case history from 1972 – 2006. Apples history is described below, reflecting on the changes In Business Model (how the company generated revenue). The Beginning years, 1976 – 1 985: Apple was founded In 1976 and they built a computer circuit board named the Apple l. Within span of 4 years they went to PIP with the help of Venture capitalist Markup, Jar. Its original business model was based on selling a computer that could e used straight out of the box with a closed platform.In 1981 IBM introduced a Microsoft's DOS operating system and it's an open system and easily cloned, whilst a lack of compatible software on Macintosh (Mac) made net income fall 17%. Steve Jobs was removed from his operational role by the board. Jobs left Apple to find a new company NeXT. The sculls years, 1985-1993: In 1985 John Sculls was appoin ted as CEO. Sculls was an operations and marketing expert from Pepsi. Scull's strategy was focused on taking Apple into the corporate world, which he did successfully, making Apple a well-known brand name.During the Sculls years Apple was able to monopolize on the â€Å"love affair† for Macs by selling at a premium. In 1990 Sculls changed the business model to sell their computers at lower prices to get more market share, while also delivering new ‘hit products' every 6-12 months. Apple embarked on a Joint venture with MOM to create a new operating model, multimedia applications, etc. Sculls also reduced headcount by 10% and moved much of the manufacturing to contractors. Sculls also made himself Technology officer despite having no skills In this area.He was then relinquished of his duties In 1993. The spindled years, 1993 – 1995: Spindled was an engineer and had successfully headed Apple Europe and changed the business model once more to focus on education and publishing. He killed the plan to put the SO on Intel and instead he would license other companies to produce MAC clones. He focused on international growth I. E china. Spindlier business model also focused on the fact that the new operating model would save the company. Like Sculls, Spindled had to slash costs but Apple still had problems.In first quarter of 1996, apple reported $69 million in losses and more layoffs and Spindled was replaced. Amelia years, 1996 – 19971 ND a high pricing / differentiation strategy and slash payroll. Amelia wanted to turn apple back to its premium price differentiation strategy. He cancelled the next generation Mac SO, which had already cost $mom in R&D. Instead apple would acquire Next along with Steve Jobs. Amelia brought NeXT and brought Jobs as an advisor. Apple still suffered financially and Amelia was forced out. Steve Jobs became the temporary CEO. 997- Steve Jobs era: Steve Jobs re-joined the company in 1996 after Apple acquired NeXT. He made several drastic changes; investment into Apple, a commitment to develop core reduces, ended the Mac licensing program while buying the assets of the leading clone maker, consolidated the product ranges, and launched the Apple website to sell products directly. Jobs' business model turned the company around. He agreed that Microsoft would invest in core products for MAC ii office. Also he rationalized product range from 15 to 3, research projects by 70% and reduced staffing and outsourcing.Comment on what you learn about business model and business model change from this case. When evaluating Apple's business model, it's useful to think in terms of the pre-1996 era and the post-1996 era. Apple has always been and continues to be a manufacturer of computers and electronics with a focus on complete hardware and software integration. Prior to 1996, the company focused almost exclusively on personal computers in the Macintosh line, with the occasional foray into innovative produ cts like the Newton.When Steve Jobs re-joined the company in 1996, that mission evolved beyond personal computing into products like the pod, phone, and pad. Apple is positioned well for the future, and it's not a company that's willing to settle for current success. Unafraid of centralization, the company continues to churn out Phones that make the pod look like a hobby, as well as the pad Mini that unashamedly steals market share from its big brother. Notoriously secret, the company reveals little about the product pipeline, but it's believed that Steve Jobs has left a product roadman for more than a decade.How do other theories of strategy such as capability theory fit with this story? Apple was unable to maintain any strategy over this period since every CEO inconsistently changed the business model and strategy of Apple. Apple's most important resources and capabilities are Steve Jobs, and the integrated system of hardware and software hat the firm has developed and successfull y marketed to derive value. Steve brought Apple back to tremendous success following a decline in relevance and heads the continued creation of billions of dollars of value.While Apple's designers, programmers, and engineers each represent key resources, the ability of the firm to exploit their abilities to create their entire software/hardware ecosystem is the firm's Apple Stores – Retail Locations The introduction of Apple stores has provided the company with an important physical presence to act as both a sales location and an advertisement. Apple tops any retailers in in-store sales, generating $4,032 per retail square foot per year, beating other retailers like Tiffany & Co. At $2,666 and Best Buy at only $930.Relationship with Moms Apple has outsourced all of its manufacturing processes to MEMO partners in China, like Foxing and Hon.. Ha Precision Industry while focusing on design internally. The relationships between Apple and their MEMO partners are very close to prov ide Apple with excellent service and high quality products. Industrial Design Capability Apple's incredible industrial design capability is a function of their innovative design names, led by Jonathan Eve, senior vice president of industrial design, and the firm's parameterization of design and outsourced production.Talented Software Development Teams Apple's software developers are carefully selected and talented programmers. They've produced industry award winning software and the highly regarded iterations of Macintosh SOX operating system. Tailored Hardware/Software Systems One of Apple's most important capabilities is their ability to develop and build highly integrative systems with software designed specifically for the hardware it runs on. Apple Case Study A. The PC industry is much older than the MP3 player industry. As it is an older market, its structure is also more consolidated with only a few builders accounting for the majority of the market. On the other hand, the first MP3 players only surfaced less than ten years ago. While Apple’s Ipod may dominate the market, there are much more MP3 player manufacturers compared to PC manufacturers.Another difference between the two industries is that PCs tend to be commodity products as opposed to MP3 players which are seen as lifestyle or luxury products. This means that PCs for the most part are considered disposable items, especially to bulk buyers like firms or educational institutions. As such, value for money is a premium for PC manufacturers and the trend for the industry is to have better products per new generation at a lower price.Compare this to MP3 players which are for the most part used for personal entertainment. The popularity of the Ipod has cemented the MP3 player as a fashion accessory in addition to a consumer electronics product. Consumers also tend to be more concerned with the form of their MP3 players as opposed to the form of their PCs.Both industries are also experiencing the trend of convergence with PCs having more and more features oriented towards entertainment and MP3 players having more features geared for productivity. Additionally, the cellphone is also encroaching on both products. Smartphones are slowly gaining more PDA and laptop like features. These same devices are also starting to gain more and more entertainment features with newer models coming equipped with the ability to snap pictures and play music.B. Apple products have always been known for its innovation, ease of use and high price. One could say that while PCs in general are a commodity product, Apple computers are marketed like luxury items. Apple computers look better than the competition, are easier to use than the competition, and cost more than the competit ion. As opposed to its PC competitors who used different strategies to be able to offer the lowest prices possible, Apple’s offerings have always been about function and form first, cost second.Apple’s initial foray into the MP3 market touted ease of use as its main strategy. The Ipod featured a thumbwheel that simplified the access of thousands of songs stored in the player. The Ipod’s ease of use was essential to its adoption by newcomers who were unfamiliar to MP3. Secondly, ITunes was very innovative in the way that it simplified the process of legally obtaining music over the internet.Apple made possible a new distribution method for music through ITunes wherein the customer can access exactly the tracks he wants, anywhere in the world and the music is delivered directly to him. Lastly, the success of the Ipod has allowed Apple to leverage its brand strength as a key strategy for the Ipod. Apple successfully marketed the Ipod as a lifestyle accessory and a successful marketing campaign has made an Ipod (not an MP3 player, an Ipod) a must have.C. One key strength for Apple has been its brand. Successful products in the past have infused the Apple Brand with the values of ease of use, innovation and style. This is best seen through the cult of Apple fanaticism with Apple devotees preaching the values of Apple products to their peers. Like whole foods, the Apple brand has formed its own following that serves to promote the values of Apple products.While marketing strength may be a great strength of Apple, their culture of innovation allows them to maintain a lead over their competitors in terms of ease of use and new features. The key to Apple’s innovation is their focus on satisfying the needs and uses of the customer as opposed to simply cramming their products full of gadgetry.This is best seen during the years before Apple switched to Intel processors. While relegated to using the antiquated PowerPC processor from Motorola, Ap ple was able to maintain interest in their computers by innovating on the software side, coming out with the much acclaimed OS X operating system and its succeeding incarnations.Apple PCs have also been known to be better in design related applications. Macintosh computers are seen by many to be better suited for creative applications such as image processing, music creation and video editing. Apple itself has invested heavily in these areas with their free, pre-installed versions of these types of programs being far better than the offerings of their competitors.Lastly, Apple’s policy of being tight with its technology has allowed it to keep a high level of control over products associated with Apple products. Unlike other PC manufacturers whose technology is available to all OEMs, Apple technology is shut out to third party manufacturers. For the most part, Apple controls who makes Apple peripherals.While this limits the expansion of Apple and keeps the cost of its peripher als high, it has allowed Apple to maintain a high level of quality for its peripherals and its own products as their computers are less likely to crash due to shoddy third party products.

Wow Black Eye

Ebonie Quick March 6, 2012 MKTG 4103 Case: Black-eyed Marketing 1. The Black Eyed Peas are a band that appeals the global fans base. Their wide variety fan makes them an ideal candidate to serve as a spokesperson for a product. The type of product they endorse would vary, but also be limited. For example their feel good pop music wouldn’t be used to represent a new drug to treat diabetes. On the other hand their music could be used to endorse entertainment, events, advancement in technology, and other social aspect of our society. . The Blacked Eyed Peas have done very well when it comes to socially engaging a consumer and a product. They bring high energy performances to excite people about a certain brand or product. Brands and product that what to appeal to consumers emotions by cause excitement, interest, or curiosity benefit the most from bands like The Blacked Eyed Peas, and other rock bands. Country artists tend to be about to trigger sadness or happy emotions, those ty pes or artists can be used to endorse more sentimental or serious products. . My target for the concert would be teens and young adults that are energized and like to have fun. The concept of the television would be would a rave in which the Blacked Eyed Peas where rocking out behind a graffiti stage. The audience would be full of live and energy, jumping around while singing the lyrics. The purpose of this ad would be to show young adults that you can be sober and still have fun while listen to your favorite band live. 4. Homecoming 2012 Rock the valley Blacked Eyed Peas edition† They message I would be sending to the students is that the Black Eyed Peas will be in Fort Valley live in concert for homecoming. A pop band will be coming to rock out with us, as well as shake things up from the normal R&B performances. 5. Brands and product that want to take a serious approach in there advertisement wouldn’t use a band such as the Blacked Eyed peas. For example hospitals, f uneral, homes, and religious groups that take their brands, services, and products very seriously wouldn’t use a rock band to endorse the.

Strategic Market Planning for Social Media Platforms

Over the past several years, social media marketing has been an addition to an increasing number of companies' integrated marketing plans. Firms of all sizes are employing various platforms of this marketing tactic. At the most basic level, social media marketing enables conversations between firms and their customers, as opposed to traditional marketing methods where the firm directs the message. Businesses are beginning to realize that they cannot control these ongoing conversations, but rather, influence them. This trend has resulted in the growth of SocialCorps, â€Å"companies that are learning to take advantage of the power of social media to reshape their relationships with customers and other important audiences.†1 Popular social media sites visited by Internet users include: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, Flickr, and Digg (Exhibit 1). Of those, the top four social sites used by marketers, in order of popularity, are: Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, and Face book. Becoming a SocialCorp allows a company to gain benefits that are otherwise limited with traditional forms of marketing. Such advantages include: unparalleled access to market research, enhanced brand awareness and perception, better engagement with all stakeholders, increased control over the company's marketplace message, and a richer user experience. This paper will explain how various companies have used social media marketing differently to achieve these advantages. Social networking websites are visited by three-quarters of all Internet users2. With the growing popularity of social media usage, many companies believe Web 2.0 marketing is the future3. As social media marketing gains headlines in companies' strategic agendas, astonishing statistics are revealed about the use of this marketing tactic: * Dell estimates that through its various communication channels, the company has two billion â€Å"conversations† with customers every year.4 * 88% of marketers are using social media marketing for their business. Of these, 72% reported that they had been using social media marketing for a few months or less.5 * 79% of the Fortune 100 companies are present and listening, using at least of one of the main social platforms to communicate with their customers.6 * By 2011, online social media advertising in the U.S. will be approximately $2.5 billion.7 From these statistics, it is evident that companies of all sizes are actively using different social platforms to reach their target segments. However, a shift of focus to social media marketing will bring substantial transformation to a company's strategic planning process. As such, this paper will answer a question that companies should ask when engaging in social media marketing: will it be more beneficial to leverage publicly available social media platforms or to build a platform in-house? Will the choice differ between companies, and what are the benefits and risks of either solution? Benefits of Leveraging Established Social Media Platforms The advantages of using an established social media channel over one created in-house are lower production and maintenance costs, quick access to a large established user base, ease of use for the consumer and increased information credibility. Businesses create company-specific marketing campaigns on established social media channels to leverage these benefits in order to engage consumers, increase brand and product/service awareness, reduce customer support costs, and drive revenues. The Ford Fiesta Movement Campaign A successful social media marketing campaign which demonstrated the benefits of using established social media channels was the Fiesta Movement Campaign by Ford. Ford gave 100 participants Ford Fiestas for six months and asked them to complete a different â€Å"mission† every month. These â€Å"agents† delivered dinners from Meals on Wheels, eloped with the help of the Fiesta, and wrestled alligators8 among many other things. Agents were required to document their adventures on Youtube, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter pages which Ford had created. The Ford Fiesta Movement was considered an extremely successful social media campaign. Agents produced 700 videos which generated 6.5 million views. Photos taken by the agents have accumulated more than 670,000 views. The campaign prompted over 50,000 U.S. consumers to request more information about the car, 97% of which did not already own a Ford vehicle. In the first six days of sales, Ford sold 10,000 units. 9 First, using established social media channels allowed Ford to gain quick access to a large established user-base. Ford's target market for its small European cars is Millennials, those born between 1979 and 1996. It is estimated that 75% of Millennials use social media sites and one in five have uploaded a video of themselves online.10 Ford therefore focused their efforts on the established social media sites, as a large majority of their target market is already using these sites. It was easier for Ford to leverage existing websites instead of working to direct consumers using an in-house social network. Second, Ford was able to benefit from consumers who were already familiar with popular social media websites to build awareness. Ford hand-picked â€Å"agents† in their 20s who had already successfully built an online fan community of their own and who were able to craft a narrative.11 Instead of pitching the idea to agents as the means to a free car, agents were incented to create content for their own benefit to feed their current networks and build their own profiles. In the process, the agents contributed to building Fiesta's brand by helping develop an image of glamour, uniqueness and excitement around the car. Third, Ford created a sense of credibility by using external social media channels on which the content would be harder to control or modify. Ford took a huge risk by taking a â€Å"hands off† approach, telling agents to be completely truthful and agreeing not to edit or censor any information that was posted. This showed consumers that Ford cared about what they had to say which was particularly important at a time when consumers were not happy to be bailing out Amercian automotive companies.12 Allowing agents to freely express their opinions about the car also helped Ford to fix any reported problems or improve functionality based on the agents' suggestions. Key Takeaways Ford used established social media channels to engage consumers and build brand awareness. Using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, Ford was able to gain quick access to its target market with consumers who were already users of these channels. Ford was also able to use specific consumers who were experts with these established channels to attract more viewers as well as raise awareness among the experts' large base of followers. Finally, Ford established its credibility by allowing agents to post whatever they wanted. While Ford took a huge risk by agreeing not to edit the agents' content, it ultimately worked in their favour. Risks of Leveraging Established Social Media Platforms Along with the many strengths of social marketing, there are also many risks that are associated with relying on third party platforms. For one, companies that engage in this medium often experience lack of content control. Second, information gets spread too quickly due to the large user bases of established social media websites. Third, the effectiveness of conventional social media marketing is limited, due to the sheer volume of companies already utilizing this mechanism. Molson Coors Dorm Room Campaign Molson Coors Brewing Company (Molson) is a classic example of how a company underestimated the negative consequences that are associated with traditional social media marketing mediums. Molson is Canada's oldest brewery and the world's fifth largest brewing company. Therefore, it is well-recognized within Canada and has a significant market share in the beer industry. In the past, Molson has experimented with blogs13 and a static corporate website, but has had very little social media presence overall. Recognizing that a large portion of their current target audience utilizes these mediums and wanting to catch up to its competitors, Molson initiated an online media campaign. On October 18th 2007, Molson officially launched its â€Å"Dorm Room† project on the fastest growing social networking site – Facebook. The campaign encouraged Canadian university and college students from ages 19 to 24 to post pictures of themselves partying on campus. The school with the most pictures uploaded would win a trip for five to spend spring break in Cancun, Mexico. An advertisement for this campaign read, â€Å"Be the #1 party school in Canada; show everyone how you and your crew get the party started.†14 According to Molson, the intention of the campaign was to show â€Å"school spirit and sociability;† however, these goals were not reached and the campaign placed Molson under public scrutiny. The nature of the campaign was highly criticized by universities, parents and students because they blamed the company for encouraging binge drinking. Even the front-runner of the contest, Memorial University in St. Johns, stated that the contest made them look bad. Within days, the company received numerous complaints. Several universities – including Queen's, McMaster and St. Francis Xavier – condemned the contest in the Globe and Mail as â€Å"glorifying excessive drinking.†15 As a result of the public backlash, the contest was shut down a week prior to the November 29th deadline. While there are advantages for Molson to engage their customers via social marketing, the message of the â€Å"Dorm Room† campaign was controversial. As a result, this exemplifies how marketing using established social networking mediums can bring significant risks to the brand. First, on Facebook and other traditional social media websites, companies cannot control how much freedom they give to their audience. Users have the freedom to post pictures, messages and videos. However, on in-house websites, companies have the ability to adjust the amount of power they give to the end consumer. Molson did not have the ability to control how much freedom they gave to consumers, allowing consumers to post whatever they wanted and consequently, violating the privacy rights of many individuals. Once a picture was posted, only Molson could remove the picture. Molson was unaware of certain individuals' resistance to having their pictures posted on the site and the campaign generated negative backlash. Even as Molson shut down the contest, they could not ensure that they erased all traces of the pictures posted on the Internet. Second, by using traditional social media websites, the established user base compounds the speed at which information is spread. In Molson's case, pictures spread quickly across Facebook, much to the dismay of many students featured in the photographs. Facebook has over 500 million users who all had access to Molson's pictures. Further, the pictures could be immediately viewed by the members of one's network with the â€Å"tagging† and â€Å"news feed† features. Finally, the effectiveness of conventional social media marketing is limited due to the sheer volume of companies who are already marketing to consumers on these websites. In 2006, U.S. companies spent $920 million on advertising on social media websites. Despite high spending, only 12% of Facebook users have added a brand to their page, and over 75% of Facebook users said they would not purchase a product or service from a brand via their profile page.16 Therefore, social media marketing should not be viewed as an infallible way for companies to promote. The Molson campaign was one of the many campaigns on Facebook and was popularized by the outcry of the public, rather than direct support from its target market. In total, only 200 pictures were uploaded onto Facebook and large universities such as the University of Toronto and Guelph University only submitted 15 photos each (Exhibit 3).17 Key Takeaways By using traditional social media channels, managers might be forced to give up control over the contents to the websites and to their users. In Molson's case, it passed the power to individuals who posted images onto Molson's Facebook campaign page. The company should be wary of the freedom which the users can have when it reengages itself in conventional social media marketing. Also, social media websites have large user bases; this implies that the information found within these sites can travel at an extreme speed. Photos posted on Molson's page were not limited to just Molson's examination but they were available for the entire network. Finally, even though social media websites have gained tremendous popularity and enormous adoption rates, every campaign should be redesigned for each medium in order to stand out from the competitors. Molson failed to capture a large audience with its campaign because Facebook is already saturated with many advertisers. Therefore, Molson needs to establish a creative method to market its campaign when it reengages in using conventional social media websites. In general, social media advertisement can be a phenomenal way to increase brand awareness when it becomes a company's integrated marketing campaign, as long as the associated risks are acknowledged and accounted for. Benefits of Developing In-House Social Media Platforms There are many benefits associated with creating and managing an internal social community. First, a company has the flexibility to display information in the way they intended. Second, keeping a social network in-house also helps bring legitimacy and credibility to the information available on the platform. Finally, creating a separate social media platform allows users to have access to a closed network. Pampers Village Campaign Pampers' slogan, â€Å"every step of the way†18 embodies their overall strategy. Pampers strives both to provide a high-quality product and a supply a service for women throughout their pregnancy and early child rearing years. The company has created and continues to host an online social community, Pampers Village, to facilitate an open network of communication between itself and its customers (Exhibit 4). On the website, parents have access to a breadth of information about the pregnancy process. They also have access to parenting tips and advice as their child ages. Parents have the ability to communicate with both other parents and also with Pampers' panel of â€Å"baby experts.†19 Pampers Village exemplifies many of the benefits associated with hosting an internal social community, as opposed to promoting their brand via established social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. First, Pampers Village ensures that Pampers has enormous flexibility in the way data is displayed and how communication is encouraged. On Twitter, or example, messages are limited to 140 characters. Although websites such as Facebook allows more flexibility than Twitter, the pages companies can create nonetheless have preset layouts and formats. Pampers Village is divided into five sections depicting a stage in a child's life. Each section is further divided into categories which discuss various issues a mother may face at that stage. Existing social media websites would not have been the appropriate medium to host Pampers Village on as the display and organization of data would be restricted by the inherent limitations of the existing platform. Second, developing their own social network brings legitimacy to their message. On traditional social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, anyone can share their thoughts and claim to be an expert. However, on Pampers Village, there are a variety of experts from the Pampers Parenting Network (PPN) moderating discussions and providing pregnancy and parenting advice. PPN members participate in Q&As, write blogs and articles and post video demonstrations. PPN experts include: Laura Jana, M.D., a widely recognized parenting expert; Lisa Druxman, founder and CEO of Stroller Strides; and Julian Claus-Ehlers, executive chef and expert in healthy eating habits for the family.20 Mothers visiting Pampers Village recognize that they have access to high-quality and credible advice from parenting experts and thus continue to return to the website. Finally, creating a social media platform separates the audience from their traditional network. Mothers have to register to use Pampers Village; however, they can register under whichever name they choose, bringing anonymity to the platform. If Pampers Village was hosted solely on Facebook, the forums likely would not be as active. Forum conversations include, â€Å"Actively trying to start a family,† â€Å"LGBT Parenting†21 and â€Å"Baby Basics.† Mothers would be less likely to be open and honest on these forums if their posts were in full view of their entire social network, as it would be difficult to ensure confidentiality of these discussion posts on traditional social media websites such as Facebook. Pampers Village provides mothers the opportunity to network with other mothers in a closed network. Jodi Allen, North American vice president and general manager for Pampers echoes this sentiment, â€Å"All moms share a common goal — to raise a healthy, happy child. And the great thing about Pampers.com is that moms can connect, bond and chat with other moms all over the globe in real time and share in each other's experiences.†22 Key Takeaways A strong online presence is critical to Pampers' success. â€Å"We leverage Pampers Village to maintain a constant conversation and relationship,† says Zeeshan Shams, category brand manager, baby and toddler care, Procter and Gamble, Canada. â€Å"Our online properties help to keep our brand top of mind.†23 Despite massive competition in the online parenting field, Pampers Village has been largely successful in accessing new mothers. In 2009, Pampers Village generated 20,000 unique visitors per month in Canada.24 It is likely that the Pampers Village concept would not have been as successful if it had been hosted on a traditional social network. The creators of Pampers Village correctly recognized that in order to gain an audience in the online parenting field and consequently learn more about their customers; they needed to create their own social community. The development of a brand new network allowed the company to distribute a wide variety of content in their own format, brought legitimacy to the platform and created a new community where mothers could connect anonymously. The success of Pampers Village illustrates the benefits of taking a risk and developing a new social network. Risks of Developing In-House Social Media Platforms Despite the many benefits that can be gained by developing a unique in-house social media platform or campaign, this approach presents a number of risks and challenges. First, it can sometimes be difficult to engage consumers and draw them to newly created social media websites. Second, in-house social media efforts are likely to require greater maintenance and monitoring. Third, in-house developments demand a greater degree of corporate responsibility than is needed when using publicly available social media platforms. GM Chevy Tahoe Apprentice Campaign In the spring of 2006, General Motors teamed up with Donald Trump's The Apprentice franchise to create a website that allowed contestants to develop their own commercial to promote the new Chevy Tahoe SUV. Their website, ChevyApprentice.com, encouraged participants to design a 30 second digital advertisement by selecting from a variety of pre-set backgrounds, video clips, and theme music that GM had constructed. These user-generated commercials could also include floating text over the images of the creators choosing.25 In addition to having their personal commercial aired on television, the winner and other top contenders had the chance to win a number of big-ticket items, such as a trip to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.26 Over the course of the contest, thousands of users took the opportunity to share their personal thoughts on the Tahoe. Not surprisingly, the ability to share one's thoughts freely created the perfect opportunity for the anti-SUV crowd to voice their discontent for GM's newest vehicle. Of the 22,000 commercials that were submitted, approximately 4,000 took a negative tone.27 The majority of these submissions were either anti-SUV, promoted a specific cause, defamed a particular group or directly attacked the product (Exhibit 5). For example, some critics pointed fingers at GM for contributing to global warming, as witnessed in an ad that featured shots of the Tahoe zooming through snow, mountains, and desert. Over these clips appeared the phrase â€Å"Global warming isn't a pretty SUV ad. It's a frightening reality.† In another clip, the words â€Å"Yesterday's technology today† appeared over a clip of pumping engine pistons.28 Many of these negative commercials went viral, and could be found everywhere from YouTube to Flickr to specific message boards, such as DemocraticUnderground.org. The Chevy Apprentice campaign highlights many of the risks associated with creating a social media website in-house. First, the biggest risk that companies face in attempting to create their own social media website is attracting traffic to their newly created websites. GM mitigated this risk successfully by launching their campaign on the popular television show, The Apprentice, and leveraged other forms of marketing to generate awareness of their social media website. Ultimately, over 22,000 people were enticed to participate in the campaign. ChevyApprentice.com generated 2.4 million page views, with the average visit lasting more than nine minutes.29 A truly unique platform has the potential to draw consumers if it is able to create a novel social media experience. Second, developing a unique social media website is a large investment, as the company is building a new infrastructure for social interaction from scratch. The company must devote significant resources to maintain the website, as they are solely responsible for managing and storing data, enabling security mechanisms, user identity management, and continual upgrades. A flaw in managing any of these aspects has the potential to hamper the overall success of a social media effort. Third, companies are directly accountable for what happens as a result of their personal social media efforts, as they have the ability to directly control content and how the public can view it. On publicly available platforms such as Facebook, companies can blame negative content posted by consumers on the open-ended nature of these platforms and the lack of control the company has over filtering content. GM did not explicitly state rules for contestants designing an advertisement, which gave consumers the impression that GM was not taking responsibility for the content that is being generated. Further, they did not screen any of the submissions before it became viewable by the general public. After negative submissions surfaced on the website (Exhibit 5), GM did not remove these commercials, specifically stating that they would â€Å"begin screening ads for offensive and inflammatory content but would not remove any material based solely on a negative tone toward the company.†30 Although GM was attempting to maintain their customers' freedom of speech, they did not account for differences in opinions when deciding what was â€Å"offensive,† and were criticized for not monitoring controversial topics in their campaign. Key Takeaways General Motors' Chevy Tahoe Apprentice Campaign provides an excellent example as to how using in-house social media can backfire and lead to negative consumer reactions towards the brand. The debate still continues as to whether or not the GM campaign should be deemed a marketing failure or success. The majority of reviewers have labelled it a social media disaster, based on the negative feedback generated. In contrast, GM and a select handful of reviewers believed that this campaign was a marketing success. GM was pleased that the website was highly trafficked and that over eighty percent of commercials depicted the Tahoe in a favourable light. Overall, the campaign generated significant buzz, which was precisely what GM hoped to achieve.31 Despite these apparent successes, there are certainly efforts GM could have undertaken to avoid some of the negative reactions. The company could have taken a more proactive approach to prevent negative backlashes by screening ads more carefully before they could be viewed by the general public. Perhaps a campaign intended to engage participants to create videos about â€Å"how much they love the Tahoe† would have been a better approach.32 Although this may not have generated as many entries, it would eliminate the participants' ability to demote the brand and introduce controversial topics. A handful of authentic, homemade video submissions would have been a better way to promote the vehicle and generate word of mouth buzz in a positive manner. Conclusion The paper examined campaigns that were successful and unsuccessful in utilizing both established social media platforms or developing platforms in-house. Ultimately, a consensus was not reached regarding which strategy is most effective, as there are numerous considerations to take into account given the context of a company's current position. In order to leverage existing social media platforms, the company's target segment should already be current users of these channels so that quick access to these consumers is gained. Additionally, these consumers must be active users of these platforms so that the company can leverage these users to raise awareness about a specific product or brand. However, managers today should nonetheless recognize that social network marketing is still a novelty. Thus, many companies hoping to â€Å"hop on the social media bandwagon† may opt for using existing platforms as these platforms are inexpensive and familiar to their existing customer base. As the number of companies using existing platforms grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate a product and brand on these platforms. Lastly, opting for this marketing tactic ultimately forces the company to give up control regarding the content that is being posted on these third party websites. On the other hand, creating and managing an internal social community allows a company to gain both flexibility with the way in which they choose to display information and bring credibility to those information that is being passed onto the consumers. However, if a company chooses to develop an in-house social media platform, attracting consumers towards this platform may prove more difficult since the in-house platform will not be as well-known as traditional social media sites. In-house social media efforts also require greater maintenance and monitoring and the company creating the site holds a greater responsibility for the content posted since they have the ability to control and filter content. For many companies, social media marketing should be used as an integral part of the company's strategic marketing plan. However, with so many strategic options available regarding social media, it is essential for the company to acknowledge that different social media tactics are suitable for different companies, products, and target customers. The most successful social media marketing campaign requires a thorough understanding of the company's customer base and online habits.

Basic Essay Essay

Introduction This forms the beginning of your essay. It tells the examiner, or your teacher, that you understand the question and gives them an idea of the plan that you have to answer the essay. Give a very brief summary of the text or a definition, if necessary. Answer the question that was asked, without any details or explanation. These answers will become your topic sentence / points in the upcoming paragraphs. your introduction does not need to be more than five lines in length. Body This portion of the essay is an expansion of the points, or the answer, that you gave in your introduction. Each segment of the essay, hence each point, should be given its own paragraph. This is the case because your aim is to express a single idea in one paragraph. State your topic sentence, or one of the points listed in your introduction. Provide at least two appropriate examples, from the text, to prove your point (these can come in the form of quotes, in relation to Shakespeare, or simply a brief retelling of the action). Expand by discussing how the previous examples prove your point, or solidifies your topic sentence. Repeat this process for each point, or topic sentence. Conclusion This is the end of your essay. It prevents your essay from ending abruptly and gives it a feeling of completion. A repetition of the points, or topic sentences, expressed in the body End of essay! EXAMPLE: (Single Text) The book Twilight is about complicated love. a. Discuss one sign, each, that indicates that the two protagonists are in love with each other. b. In your opinion, should Edward have left Bella alone? Introduction Complex love is a complicated relationship between two people. In the text Twilight, Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen share an intricate interconnection that is exhausting, yet fulfilling. Bella obviously loves Edward because she was willing to become a vampire in order to spend all her days with him, while Edward displayed an extreme level of protectiveness towards Bella. Despite this fact, he should have left her alone. Body: point # 1 There is no question that Bella was deeply in love with Edward. This is the case because she was willing to become a vampire in order to spend her life with him. In doing this, she would have to sacrifice life as she knows it. She would have to give up her humanity, her family and friends; her way of life. For some-one to make this choice they would need to be deeply mesmerized by the person. Body: point # 2 Edward’s protectiveness towards Bella also indicates that he too was in love. An example of this over-protectiveness is the fact that he did not drink her blood. In denying his voracious need, as seen when he states that â€Å"you are like my personal brand of heroine†, he is making a major sacrifice. He is fighting his ‘vampire nature’ in order to ensure that she was safe. This can be nothing but love. Body: point #3 Despite the overwhelming love between the two characters, Edward should have left Bella alone. This is the case because he is endangering her life by his mere presence. The major point to prove this fact is that she was hunted by vampires because she was in his company. She was perfectly safe without him in her life, therefore, he should have stayed out of it. Conclusion Based on an analysis of the relationship between Bella and Edward, one could conclude that both characters were deeply in love. This does not, however, excuse the fact that he should have left her alone. [This essay is a class construction: grade 10, 2011] b) COMPARATIVE ESSAY (two texts, poems or short stories) The format for this essay does not differ greatly from the basic essay. It is comprised of an introduction, body and conclusion, with a similar format. The difference is that while you are still answering one question, you are using two texts / short stories / poems to do so. Therefore, your approach to the body of this essay would be slightly different: Your topic sentence, or point, would relate to two texts / poems / short stories. Your examples would come from two texts etc. You would attempt to explain how the examples from each text etc. explains the point, or topic sentence.   The physical structure of your comparative essay, therefore, can look one of two ways. (i) You can choose to address two texts in a single paragraph, with the topic sentence as the connector, or, (ii) you can choose to address the texts in separate paragraphs that follow each other (meaning one below the other). Please note that the paragraphs must follow each other because they are connected by the same topic sentence. (i) Single paragraph INTRODUCTION Give a very brief summary of the texts or a definition, if necessary. Answer the question that was asked, (without any details or explanation), using both texts. These answers will become your topic sentence / points in the upcoming paragraphs. Due to the fact that two texts will be used, the introduction for this essay might be lengthier than the single essay. Think along the lines of 6-8 lines in length. BODY State your topic sentence, or one of the points listed in your introduction (must relate to both texts). Provide at least one appropriate example, from each text, to prove your point (these can come in the form of quotes, in relation to Shakespeare, or simply a brief retelling of the action). Expand by discussing how the previous examples, from each text, proves your point, or solidifies your topic sentence. Repeat this process for each point, or topic sentence. CONCLUSION A repetition of the points, or topic sentences, expressed in the body End of essay! (ii) Separate paragraphs INTRODUCTION Give a very brief summary of the texts or a definition, if necessary. Answer the question that was asked, (without any details or explanation), using both books/poems/short story. These answers will become your topic sentence / points in the upcoming paragraphs. Due to the fact that two texts/poems/short stories will be used, the introduction for this essay might be lengthier than the single essay. Think along the lines of 6-8 lines in length. BODY State your topic sentence, or one of the points listed in your introduction (relate to one text). Provide at least two appropriate examples to prove your point from one text (these can come in the form of quotes, in relation to Shakespeare, or simply a brief retelling of the action). Expand by discussing how the previous examples prove your point, or solidifies your topic sentence. Repeat this process in the following paragraph for the next text. Please remember that both texts are, at this point, still exploring the same topic sentence. The analysis of one topic sentence, therefore, occurs in two paragraphs. Each text gets a separate paragraph, and they follow each other. Remember, twins cannot be separated! CONCLUSION A repetition of the points, or topic sentences, expressed in the body End of essay! Rules for the comparative essay: The important point to note is that wherever one text / short story / poem is mentioned, the twin text etc. must immediately be addressed as well. Under no circumstance must you write completely on one text etc, and then address the twin text etc. four paragraphs after. If this is done, it means that you have written two separate essays. If you have three paragraphs for your body, then the two texts etc., must be mentioned simultaneously in each paragraph. Please note that the points from the separate texts etc. can be addressed in different paragraphs, but they must follow each other if they are addressing the same point. Think of the comparative essay as your twin children; it is impossible to go anywhere without both of them. Therefore, do not complete a point without linking your thoughts to the two texts etc. that are to be addressed.

Human Resource Information System-101 Assignment

Human Resource Information System-101 - Assignment Example The process ensures that the organization has the right mix of employee with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the particular jobs (Kavanagh, Thite, and Johnson 284). Job descriptions provides for the working relationships between the employee and the organization. Job descriptions are used in determining the compensation structures, promotions, dismissals, training, performance appraisals, disciplinary procedures and employee grievances handling. Numerous techniques such as the critical incident reporting, task inventory analysis and questionnaires can be used to conduct job analysis (Kavanagh, Thite, and Johnson 285). Advantages of HRIS over â€Å"paper and pencil† approach to HR operations Web-based tools such as the O*Net database which is an online repository with more than 1,000 occupations have enhanced the convenience of job analysis (Kavanagh, Thite, and Johnson 286). Guide.com also provides simple, job analysis tools to the HR professionals. HRIS have en abled online administration of job analysis questionnaires and surveys to the job incumbents. HRIS have increased accuracy and timeliness of job analysis. HRIS will assist the managers to reduce HR administration costs, improve the service to personnel and enhance the reliability of internal reporting by minimizing human input errors on employee database. HRIS will support relational databases and improve report generation since the systems contain query capabilities. HRIS enhances the secure distribution of employee data thus maintaining employee privacy (Kavanagh, Thite, and Johnson 287). Advantages of service oriented architecture for HRIS With the emergency of computer technology, software and internet technologies, most HR professionals know use HRIS to support HR transactional and administrative activities such as data accuracy and employee privacy. Service oriented architecture has enabled HR administrators to leverage on technology in HR administration. Service-oriented arch itecture involves organizing and utilizing distributed computing capabilities that are under the control of different domains in assessing, offering and using capabilities to realize desired organizational effects. The process is focused on adding value to the business rather than the technologies. SOA includes both internal and external services that communicate through coordination among various services in order to achieve the shared organizational goals. Some principles that guide SOA include flexibility, loose coupling, modularity, optimization and standards-based computing (Kavanagh, Thite, and Johnson 290). Some of the benefits of SOA architecture include improved alignment of business strategies and processes, IT consolidation capabilities and integration in order to reduce associated costs and faster implementation through modeling and reuse. For instance, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) supports SOA through data sharing over numerous information systems via the Internet. XML-Enhanced SOA improves the security of employee data and reduces transactional costs while improving customer satisfaction. It also supports compliance with HR policies and business change requirements. XML-SOA supports various HR administration structures like outsourcing, self-service