benefits of a volcano essays

benefits of a volcano essays Volcanoes both harass and help mankind. As dramatically demonstrated by the Mount St. Helens on May 1980 Volcanic materials ultimately bread down to form some of the most fertile soils on Earth, cultivation of which fostered and sustained civilizations. People use volcanic substances as construction materials, as abrasive and cleaning agents, and as raw materials for many chemical and industrial uses. The internal heat associated with some young volcanic systems has been harnessed to produce geothermal energy. The Earth's crust, on which we live and depend on, is in large part the product of millions of once-active volcanoes and tremendous volumes of magma that did not erupt but instead cooled below the surface. For example, volcanic ash blown over thousands of square kilometres of land increases soil fertility for forests and agriculture by adding nutrients and acting as a mulch. Groundwater heated by large, still-hot magma bodies can be tapped for geothermal energy. And over many thousands of years, heated groundwater has concentrated valuable materials including copper, tin, gold, and silver, into deposits that are mined throughout the world. Therefore the benefits of living near the volcano outweigh the costs. Given enough rainfall, areas buried by new lava recover quickly; revegetation can begin less than one year after the eruption. Erosion and breakdown of the volcanic material can form fertile soils over periods of tens to thousands of years. These rich soils fostered the agricultural development of the Hawaiian Islands, as represented principally by the sugar, pineapple, coffee, and macadamia nut industries. This is also the case of Mt Merapi in Indonesia where farmers are excited and continues to plant new rice on the rich soil. When snakes slither from their pits and move down the mountain thats a sign for villagers to toss rice and tonics of herbs and spices into the crater . Mt merapi is one of indon...

SAT Essay Rubric Full Analysis and Writing Strategies

SAT Essay Rubric Full Analysis and Writing Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips We're about to dive deep into the details of that least beloved* of SAT sections, the SAT essay. Prepare for a discussion of the SAT essay rubric and how the SAT essay is graded based on that. I'll break down what each item on the rubric means and what you need to do to meet those requirements. On the SAT, the last section you'll encounter is the (optional) essay. You have 50 minutes to read a passage, analyze the author's argument, and write an essay. If you don’t write on the assignment, plagiarize, or don't use your own original work, you'll get a 0 on your essay. Otherwise, your essay scoring is done by two graders - each one grades you on a scale of 1-4 in Reading, Analysis, and Writing, for a total essay score out of 8 in each of those three areas. But how do these graders assign your writing a numerical grade? By using an essay scoring guide, or rubric. *may not actually be the least belovà ¨d. Feature image credit: Day 148: the end of time by Bruce Guenter, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. The Complete SAT Essay Grading Rubric: Item-by-Item Breakdown Based on the CollegeBoard’s stated Reading, Analysis, and Writing criteria, I've created the below charts (for easier comparison across score points).For the purpose of going deeper into just what the SAT is looking for in your essay, I've then broken down each category further (with examples). The information in all three charts is taken from the College Board site. Reading The biggest change to the SAT essay (and the thing that really distinguishes it from the ACT essay) is that you are required to read and analyze a text, then write about your analysis of the author's argument in your essay. Your "Reading" grade on the SAT essay reflects how well you were able to demonstrate your understanding of the text and the author's argument in your essay. Score Reading 1 (Inadequate) The response demonstrates little or no comprehension of the source text. The response fails to show an understanding of the text’s central idea(s), and may include only details without reference to central idea(s). The response may contain numerous errors of fact and/or interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes little or no use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating little or no understanding of the source text. 2 (Partial) The response demonstrates some comprehension of the source text. The response shows an understanding of the text’s central idea(s) but not of important details. The response may contain errors of fact and/or interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes limited and/or haphazard use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating some understanding of the source text. 3 (Proficient) The response demonstrates effective comprehension of the source text. The response shows an understanding of the text’s central idea(s) and important details. The response is free of substantive errors of fact and interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes appropriate use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating an understanding of the source text. 4 (Advanced) The response demonstrates thorough comprehension of the source text. The response shows an understanding of the text’s central idea(s) and of most important details and how they interrelate, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the text. The response is free of errors of fact or interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes skillful use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating a complete understanding of the source text. You'll need to show your understanding of the text on two different levels: the surface level of getting your facts right and the deeper level of getting the relationship of the details and the central ideas right. Surface Level: Factual Accuracy One of the most important ways you can show you've actually read the passage is making sure you stick to what is said in the text. If you’re writing about things the author didn’t say, or things that contradict other things the author said, your argument will be fundamentally flawed. For instance, take this quotation from a (made-up) passage about why a hot dog is not a sandwich: â€Å"The fact that you can’t, or wouldn’t, cut a hot dog in half and eat it that way, proves that a hot dog is once and for all NOT a sandwich† Here's an example of a factually inaccurate paraphrasing of this quotation: The author builds his argument by discussing how, since hot-dogs are often served cut in half, this makes them different from sandwiches. The paraphrase contradicts the passage, and so would negatively affect your reading score. Now let's look at an accurate paraphrasing of the quotation: The author builds his argument by discussing how, since hot-dogs are never served cut in half, they are therefore different from sandwiches. It's also important to be faithful to the text when you're using direct quotations from the passage. Misquoting or badly paraphrasing the author’s words weakens your essay, because the evidence you’re using to support your points is faulty. Higher Level: Understanding of Central Ideas The next step beyond being factually accurate about the passage is showing that you understand the central ideas of the text and how details of the passage relate back to this central idea. Why does this matter? In order to be able to explain why the author is persuasive, you need to be able to explain the structure of the argument. And you can’t deconstruct the author's argument if you don’t understand the central idea of the passage and how the details relate to it. Here's an example of a statement about our fictional "hot dogs are sandwiches" passage that shows understanding of the central idea of the passage: Hodgman’s third primary defense of why hot dogs are not sandwiches is that a hot dog is not a subset of any other type of food. He uses the analogy of asking the question â€Å"is cereal milk a broth, sauce, or gravy?† to show that making such a comparison between hot dogs and sandwiches is patently illogical. The above statement takes one step beyond merely being factually accurate to explain the relation between different parts of the passage (in this case, the relation between the "what is cereal milk?" analogy and the hot dog/sandwich debate). Of course, if you want to score well in all three essay areas, you’ll need to do more in your essay than merely summarizing the author’s argument. This leads directly into the next grading area of the SAT Essay. Analysis The items covered under this criterion are the most important when it comes to writing a strong essay. You can use well-spelled vocabulary in sentences with varied structure all you want, but if you don't analyze the author's argument, demonstrate critical thinking, and support your position, you will not get a high Analysis score. Score Analysis 1 (Inadequate) The response offers little or no analysis or ineffective analysis of the source text and demonstrates little or no understanding of the analytic task. The response identifies without explanation some aspects of the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student’s choosing, Or numerous aspects of the response’s analysis are unwarranted based on the text. The response contains little or no support for claim(s) or point(s) made, or support is largely irrelevant. The response may not focus on features of the text that are relevant to addressing the task, Or the response offers no discernible analysis (e.g., is largely or exclusively summary). 2 (Partial) The response offers limited analysis of the source text and demonstrates only partial understanding of the analytical task. The response identifies and attempts to describe the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student’s own choosing, but merely asserts rather than explains their importance, or one or more aspects of the response’s analysis are unwarranted based on the text. The response contains little or no support for claim(s) or point(s) made. The response may lack a clear focus on those features of the text that are most relevant to addressing the task. 3 (Proficient) The response offers an effective analysis of the source text and demonstrates an understanding of the analytical task. The response competently evaluates the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student’s own choosing. The response contains relevant and sufficient support for claim(s) or point(s) made. The response focuses primarily on those features of the text that are most relevant to addressing the task. 4 (Advanced) The response offers an insightful analysis of the source text and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the analytical task. The response offers a thorough, well-considered evaluation of the author’s use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student’s own choosing. The response contains relevant, sufficient, and strategically chosen support for claim(s) or point(s) made. The response focuses consistently on those features of the text that are most relevant to addressing the task. Because this category is so important, I've broken it down even further into its two different (but equally important) component parts to make sure everything is as clearly explained as possible. Part I: Critical Thinking (Logic) Critical thinking, also known as critical reasoning, also known as logic, is the skill that SAT essay graders are really looking to see displayed in the essay. You need to be able to evaluate and analyze the claim put forward in the prompt. This is where a lot of students may get tripped up, because they think â€Å"oh, well, if I can just write a lot, then I’ll do well.† While there is some truth to the assertion that longer essays tend to score higher, if you don’t display critical thinking you won’t be able to get a top score on your essay. What do I mean by critical thinking? Let's take the previous prompt example: Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich. An answer to this prompt that does not display critical thinking (and would fall into a 1 or 2 on the rubric) would be something like: The author argues that hot dogs aren’t sandwiches, which is persuasive to the reader. While this does evaluate the prompt (by providing a statement that the author's claim "is persuasive to the reader"), there is no corresponding analysis. An answer to this prompt that displays critical thinking (and would net a higher score on the rubric) could be something like this: The author uses analogies to hammer home his point that hot dogs are not sandwiches. Because the readers will readily believe the first part of the analogy is true, they will be more likely to accept that the second part (that hot dogs aren't sandwiches) is true as well. See the difference? Critical thinking involves reasoning your way through a situation (analysis) as well as making a judgement (evaluation). On the SAT essay, however, you can’t just stop at abstract critical reasoning - analysis involves one more crucial step... Part II: Examples, Reasons, and Other Evidence (Support) The other piece of the puzzle (apparently this is a tiny puzzle) is making sure you are able to back up your point of view and critical thinking with concrete evidence. The SAT essay rubric says that the best (that is, 4-scoring) essay uses â€Å"relevant, sufficient, and strategically chosen support for claim(s) or point(s) made.† This means you can’t just stick to abstract reasoning like this: The author uses analogies to hammer home his point that hot dogs are not sandwiches. Because the readers will readily believe the first part of the analogy is true, they will be more likely to accept that the second part (that hot dogs aren't sandwiches) is true as well. That explanation is a good starting point, but if you don't back up your point of view with quoted or paraphrased information from the text to support your discussion of the way the author builds his/her argument, you will not be able to get above a 3 on the Analysis portion of the essay (and possibly the Reading portion as well, if you don't show you've read the passage). Let's take a look of an example of how you might support an interpretation of the author's effect on the reader using facts from the passage: The author’s reference to the Biblical story about King Solomon elevates the debate about hot dogs from a petty squabble between friends to a life-or-death disagreement. The reader cannot help but see the parallels between the two situations and thus find themselves agreeing with the author on this point. Does the author's reference to King Solomon actually "elevate the debate," causing the reader to agree with the author? From the sentences above, it certainly seems plausible that it might. While your facts do need to be correct, you get a little more leeway with your interpretations of how the author’s persuasive techniques might affect the audience. As long as you can make a convincing argument for the effect a technique the author uses might have on the reader, you’ll be good. Say whaaat?! #tbt by tradlands, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped and color-adjusted from original. Did I just blow your mind? Read more about the secrets the SAT doesn’t want you to know in this article. Writing Your Writing score on the SAT essay is not just a reflection of your grasp of the conventions of written English (although it is that as well). You'll also need to be focused, organized, and precise. Score Writing 1 (Inadequate) The response demonstrates little or no cohesion and inadequate skill in the use and control of language. The response may lack a clear central claim or controlling idea. The response lacks a recognizable introduction and conclusion. The response does not have a discernible progression of ideas. The response lacks variety in sentence structures; sentence structures may be repetitive. The response demonstrates general and vague word choice; word choice may be poor or inaccurate. The response may lack a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a weak control of the conventions of standard written English and may contain numerous errors that undermine the quality of writing. 2 (Partial) The response demonstrates little or no cohesion and limited skill in the use and control of language. The response may lack a clear central claim or controlling idea or may deviate from the claim or idea over the course of the response. The response may include an ineffective introduction and/or conclusion. The response may demonstrate some progression of ideas within paragraphs but not throughout the response. The response has limited variety in sentence structures; sentence structures may be repetitive. The response demonstrates general or vague word choice; word choice may be repetitive. The response may deviate noticeably from a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a limited control of the conventions of standard written English and contains errors that detract from the quality of writing and may impede understanding. 3 (Proficient) The response is mostly cohesive and demonstrates effective use and control of language. The response includes a central claim or implicit controlling idea. The response includes an effective introduction and conclusion. The response demonstrates a clear progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay. The response has variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates some precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a good control of the conventions of standard written English and is free of significant errors that detract from the quality of writing. 4 (Advanced) The response is cohesive and demonstrates a highly effective use and command of language. The response includes a precise central claim. The response includes a skillful introduction and conclusion. The response demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay. The response has a wide variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates a consistent use of precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a strong command of the conventions of standard written English and is free or virtually free of errors. Because there's a lot of different factors that go into calculating your Writing score, I've divided the discussion of this rubric area into five separate items: Precise Central Claim Organization Vocab and Word Choice Sentence Structure Grammar, Etc. Precise Central Claim One of the most basic rules of the SAT essay is that you need to express a clear opinion on the "assignment" (the prompt). While in school (and everywhere else in life, pretty much) you’re encouraged to take into account all sides of a topic, it behooves you to NOT do this on the SAT essay. Why? Because you only have 50 minutes to read the passage, analyze the author's argument, and write the essay, there's no way you can discuss every single way in which the author builds his/her argument, every single detail of the passage, or a nuanced argument about what works and what doesn't work. Instead, I recommend focusing your discussion on a few key ways the author is successful in persuading his/her audience of his/her claim. Let’s go back to the assignment we've been using as an example throughout this article: "Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich." Your instinct (trained from many years of schooling) might be to answer: "There are a variety of ways in which the author builds his argument." This is a nice, vague statement that leaves you a lot of wiggle room. If you disagree with the author, it's also a way of avoiding having to say that the author is persuasive. Don't fall into this trap! You do not necessarily have to agree with the author's claim in order to analyze how the author persuades his/her readers that the claim is true. Here's an example of a precise central claim about the example assignment: The author effectively builds his argument that hot dogs are not sandwiches by using logic, allusions to history and mythology, and factual evidence. In contrast to the vague claim that "There are a variety of ways in which the author builds his argument," this thesis both specifies what the author's argument is and the ways in which he builds the argument (that you'll be discussing in the essay). Organization While it's extremely important to make sure your essay has a clear point of view, strong critical reasoning, and support for your position, that's not enough to get you a top score. You need to make sure that your essay "demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay." What does this mean? Part of the way you can make sure your essay is "well organized" has to do with following standard essay construction points. Don't write your essay in one huge paragraph; instead, include an introduction (with your thesis stating your point of view), body paragraphs (one for each example, usually), and a conclusion. This structure might seem boring, but it really works to keep your essay organized, and the more clearly organized your essay is, the easier it will be for the essay grader to understand your critical reasoning. The second part of this criteria has to do with keeping your essay focused, making sure it contains "a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas." You can't just say "well, I have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, so I guess my essay is organized" and expect to get a 4/4 on your essay. You need to make sure that each paragraph is also organized. Recall the sample prompt: â€Å"Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich.† And our hypothetical thesis: The author effectively builds his argument that hot dogs are not sandwiches by using logic, allusions to history and mythology, and factual evidence. Let's say that you're writing the paragraph about the author's use of logic to persuade his reader that hot dogs aren't sandwiches. You should NOT just list ways that the author is logical in support of his claim, then explain why logic in general is an effective persuasive device. While your points might all be valid, your essay would be better served by connecting each instance of logic in the passage with an explanation of how that example of logic persuades the reader to agree with the author. Above all, it is imperative that you make your thesis (your central claim) clear in the opening paragraph of your essay - this helps the grader keep track of your argument. There's no reason you’d want to make following your reasoning more difficult for the person grading your essay (unless you’re cranky and don’t want to do well on the essay. Listen, I don’t want to tell you how to live your life). Vocab and Word Choice In your essay, you should use a wide array of vocabulary (and use it correctly). An essay that scores a 4 in Writing on the grading rubric â€Å"demonstrates a consistent use of precise word choice.† You’re allowed a few errors, even on a 4-scoring essay, so you can sometimes get away with misusing a word or two. In general, though, it’s best to stick to using words you are certain you not only know the meaning of, but also know how to use. If you’ve been studying up on vocab, make sure you practice using the words you’ve learned in sentences, and have those sentences checked by someone who is good at writing (in English), before you use those words in an SAT essay. Sentence Structure Creating elegant, non-awkward sentences is the thing I struggle most with under time pressure. For instance, here’s my first try at the previous sentence: â€Å"Making sure a sentence structure makes sense is the thing that I have the most problems with when I’m writing in a short amount of time† (hahaha NOPE - way too convoluted and wordy, self). As another example, take a look at these two excerpts from the hypothetical essay discussing how the author persuaded his readers that a hot dog is not a sandwich: Score of 2: "The author makes his point by critiquing the argument against him. The author pointed out the logical fallacy of saying a hot dog was a sandwich because it was meat "sandwiched" between two breads. The author thus persuades the reader his point makes sense to be agreed with and convinces them." The above sentences lack variety in structure (they all begin with the words "the author"), and the last sentence has serious flaws in its structure (it makes no sense). Score of 4: "The author's rigorous examination of his opponent's position invites the reader, too, to consider this issue seriously. By laying out his reasoning, step by step, Hodgman makes it easy for the reader to follow along with his train of thought and arrive at the same destination that he has. This destination is Hodgman's claim that a hot dog is not a sandwich." The above sentences demonstrate variety in sentence structure (they don't all begin with the same word and don't have the same underlying structure) that presumably forward the point of the essay. In general, if you're doing well in all the other Writing areas, your sentence structures will also naturally vary. If you're really worried that your sentences are not varied enough, however, my advice for working on "demonstrating meaningful variety in sentence structure" (without ending up with terribly worded sentences) is twofold: Read over what you’ve written before you hand it in and change any wordings that seem awkward, clunky, or just plain incorrect. As you’re doing practice essays, have a friend, family member, or teacher who is good at (English) writing look over your essays and point out any issues that arise. Grammar, Etc. This part of the Writing grade is all about the nitty gritty details of writing: grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It's rare that an essay with serious flaws in this area can score a 4/4 in Reading, Analysis, or Writing, because such persistent errors often "interfere with meaning" (that is, persistent errors make it difficult for the grader to understand what you're trying to get across). On the other hand, if they occur in small quantities, grammar/punctuation/spelling errors are also the things that are most likely to be overlooked. If two essays are otherwise of equal quality, but one writer misspells "definitely" as "definately" and the other writer fails to explain how one of her examples supports her thesis, the first writer will receive a higher essay score. It's only when poor grammar, use of punctuation, and spelling start to make it difficult to understand your essay that the graders start penalizing you. My advice for working on this rubric area is the same advice as for sentence structure: look over what you’ve written to double check for mistakes, and ask someone who’s good at writing to look over your practice essays and point out your errors. If you're really struggling with spelling, simply typing up your (handwritten) essay into a program like Microsoft Word and running spellcheck can alert you to problems. We've also got a great set of articles up on our blog about SAT Writing questions that may help you better understand any grammatical errors you are making. How Do I Use The SAT Essay Grading Rubric? Now that you understand the SAT essay rubric, how can you use it in your SAT prep? There are a couple of different ways. Use The SAT Essay Rubric To...Shape Your Essays Since you know what the SAT is looking for in an essay, you can now use that knowledge to guide what you write about in your essays! A tale from my youth: when I was preparing to take the SAT for the first time, I did not really know what the essay was looking for, and assumed that since I was a good writer, I’d be fine. Not true! The most important part of the SAT essay is using specific examples from the passage and explaining how they convince the reader of the author's point. By reading this article and realizing there's more to the essay than "being a strong writer," you’re already doing better than high school me. girl sleeping on a couch holding a mirror by RickBrenda Beerhorst, used under CC BY 2.0/Resized from original. Change the object in that girl’s left hand from a mirror to a textbook and you have a pretty good sketch of what my junior year of high school looked like. Use The SAT Essay Rubric To...Grade Your Practice Essays The SAT can’t exactly give you an answer key to the essay. Even when an example of an essay that scored a particular score is provided, that essay will probably use different examples than you did, make different arguments, maybe even argue different interpretations of the text...making it difficult to compare the two. The SAT essay rubric is the next best thing to an answer key for the essay - use it as a lens through which to view and assess your essay. Of course, you don’t have the time to become an expert SAT essay grader - that’s not your job. You just have to apply the rubric as best as you can to your essays and work on fixing your weak areas. For the sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics stuff I highly recommend asking a friend, teacher, or family member who is really good at (English) writing to take a look over your practice essays and point out the mistakes. If you really want custom feedback on your practice essays from experienced essay graders, may I also suggest the PrepScholar test prep platform? I manage the essay grading and so happen to know quite a bit about the essay part of this platform, which gives you both an essay grade and custom feedback for each essay you complete. Learn more about how it all works here. What’s Next? Are you so excited by this article that you want to read even more articles on the SAT essay? Of course you are. Don't worry, I’ve got you covered. Learn how to write an SAT essay step-by-step and read about the 6 types of SAT essay prompts. Want to go even more in depth with the SAT essay? We have a complete list of past SAT essay prompts as well as tips and strategies for how to get a 12 on the SAT essay. Still not satisfied? Maybe a five-day free trial of our very own PrepScholar test prep platform (which includes essay practice and feedback) is just what you need. Trying to figure out whether the old or new SAT essay is better for you? Take a look at our article on the new SAT essay assignment to find out! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

Marketing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing strategy - Essay Example One of Porsche’s unique selling points is its engine design and care should have been taken in this regard. Given the heavy losses the company suffered as a result of the introduction of the 928 model, there was a need for a new product strategy. The BCG Matrix was an effective tool for this situation. This portfolio planning method recognizes the need to reposition products in the portfolio to achieve cash flow and profitability. According to the Boston Consulting Group, 928 would have been regarded as a dog because of its low growth rate and low market share. Although 928 may generate enough cash, possibly to break even, it’s simple not worth the investment. Therefore Porsche’s strategy to divest the 928 model and to pump more money in a more promising investment say the 911, was a very sound approach. â€Å"Porsche purists are wary every time a new incarnation of 911 is unveiled. Will there be a change of look, feel, and sound? Porsche’s 911 is going to be made forever, or possibly longer. This is because the company does not know how to end it, only how to make a new one every few years (3)† The use of the product life cycle would have been of interest to the luxury sports car company when deciding its advertising and extension strategies. The 911 model existed at the maturity stage and the failure for the 928 to pick up sales forced the company to reposition and redesign the 911 model over a period of time. So far these strategies were successful, however an important point which Porsche should be aware of is that extension strategies are short term measures and not permanent in nature. In spite of this fact, each product life cycle for each car model is different and therefore its usefulness as a forecasting tool for Porsche may be limited. The Porsche brand developed over the years. There is the belief, however, that the introduction of recent brands

Organizational Behaviour Team Assessment EssayReport Essay

Organizational Behaviour Team Assessment EssayReport - Essay Example Effective teams need to work together and take collective responsibility to complete significant tasks (Campion, Medsker and Higgs, 1993). So teams are formed around a specific purpose. It provides the team a meaningful purpose which decides the direction, momentum and commitment of the team members. This purpose is a vision and broader than specific goals. In my college, I am one of the team members working to shift and rearrange our library. Setting an objectives and purposes motivates members and increase sense of responsibility and ownership over the work and it make the work more interesting to perform. In my team, the main purpose of the team is to shift the library and arrange the books according to subject index, so that it could be available to each student as soon as possible and it's become easier to search the books immediately. We are the team of 15 self motivated enthusiastic students having zeal to perform the job. This self managed work team is capable of performing highly related or interdependent jobs and ready to take many of the responsibilities. Our team is ready to take the planning and scheduling of work, assigning task to members, collective control over the pace of work making operating decision, taking action on problems. Being the fully self managed team, we have the autonomy to select our team members and ev aluate each other performances objectively. Due to these specific characteristics, team leader position within the team decreases and it is almost vanished. We as a team have liberty to express our views and could set our schedules, which has been decided collectively. We have the choice of selecting new members, and disciplines members who creates problems. As a result our response to job assigned to our team has increased and implementation process becomes fast. Once we selected our team members we have different kind of person's having different abilities. In our team we have four members with technical expertise in library sciences. Another four members are from the computer sciences department who are capable of computerizing the library so that book could be found more easily and be issued to students without any problem. Apart from these members of technical expertise our team has 2 members having excellent problems solving skills. These problems solvers and decision makers a ctually been able to identify problems, generates alternatives, evaluates those alternatives and can make competent choices. The remaining 5 members are from management stream in which one member is form supply and logistic management stream. Apart from being in different streams and backgrounds all the members are good listeners as well as are able to provide objective feedbacks and have the ability of conflict resolution; all the members of my team have good interpersonal skills (Stevens and Campion, 1994). But having members with specific skills also require proper mixture of all the qualities. My team has higher mean levels of conscientiousness. The whole team always tries to maintain higher level of conscientiousness because if a single team members who lacks minimal level of say agreeableness, can negatively affect the whole team's performance so we all members of the team always try to motivate each other and try to create an informal atmosphere within the team. We have a job in our hand i.e., to shift the

International Corporation Essay Example for Free

International Corporation Essay Hard Rock Cafe International founded in 1971, as one of the worldwide entertainment and dining brands, internationally- highly praised music. It has a network of 122 signature Hard Rock Cafes in 41 countries and owns the worlds greatest collection of music memorabilia. Founded by two Americans, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, they are enterprising and music loving. Peter brought a real understanding of the restaurant business, and Isaac brought many creative attributes and together they made the Hard Rock Cafe (â€Å"The Hard Rock Cafe Story†, 2005). Hard Rock Cafe was an instant classic, entertain and attracting customers with its first-rate, but fairly priced casual American charge, warm service and ever-present rock n roll music and sensibility. They offer quality, classic American food in their unique, high-energy, music memorabilia-packed atmosphere. Hard Rock Cafe has finally become the worlds leading collector and exhibitors of rock n roll memorabilia (â€Å"The Hard Rock Cafe Story†, 2005). Known for its collectible and fashion merchandise, live concerts, Hard Rock Live performance venues, www. hardrock. com and Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos, Hard Rock Cafe International, Inc. is a totally owned subsidiary of London-based The Rank Group Plc. Hard Rock Cafe International provides visitors around the world with a unique experience that combines food and merchandise with the largest collection of rock memorabilia on the world. Hard Rock Cafe has become a global phenomenon. (Adelstein, 1999) People should keep their eye out as Hard Rock Cafe continues to take music into the next millennium, because at Hard Rock, music is truly the universal language. In latest years, Hard Rock has expanded its cafe limitations by reinforcing its music connection through music-related products and programs such as collectible and fashionable Hard Rock Cafe merchandise, the Hard Rock Records music label, www. hardrock. com, Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos, and Hard Rock Live music venues. Not only they can rock hard, they know how to throw a party. Opening celebrations for each new Hard Rock Cafe all around the world are started by live musical performances (â€Å"About Hard Rock cafe†, 2005). Hard Rock Cafe has been governed by a guiding service with law talent and honest philosophy, Love All Serve All. Means a place where all have always been welcome, in spite of age, sex or class. Hard Rock Cafe remains amazingly faithful to its original intentions. Its rock n roll sensibility a Hard Rock Cafe legacy- remains at the very center of all Hard Rock restaurants and every development hard work undertaken by Hard Rock Cafe. Classic American food, served up by a skilled, caring and helpful wait staff, is still the order of the day at Hard Rock Cafe. And a their commitment to widespread humanitarian causes under the banner Save the Planet- has helped make Hard Rock a legitimate cultural force, from coast to coast, continent to continent (â€Å"The Hard Rock Cafe Story†, 2005). Nowadays, Hard Rock Cafe International, with Hard Rock Cafe at its center, is an entertainment and leisure company that continues to successfully expand the Hard Rock Brand through limitless music-related ventures. Hard Rock Cafe is innovating on a system wide modernization program for the 21st century and adding a new day part, a nightclub with live music. Hard Rock is best known not for its food but for its atmosphere. The cafes ask for donations of music memorabilia and have the worlds largest collection of such. Time after time, their guests have told them that they are looking for an opportunity to make a personal, physical and sometimes even spiritual connection to the music and artists of their time. Then Hard Rock Cafe offer a entertaining, unique and educational look at the evolution of music, that can effects on world events and the emotional appeal and timeless energy as told through priceless memorabilia, interactive displays, educated guides and self-guided tours (â€Å"Hard Rock Cafe Announces Plans†, 2002). For Hard Rock Cafe the biggest challenge facing reputable restaurant chains like theirs is losing their customer. In addition, there have been many new competitors, paying attention by a low cost of livelihood and rising people, offering a comparable dining experience. Moreover, employee turnover has continued to increase. Fighting this situation, Hard Rock Cafe wanted to take improvement of their well-built brand image, combined with excellent customer service and constantly high food quality and to attract more customers from the close region (â€Å"Hard Rock Cafe sets new dining trends†, 2004). At Hard Rock Restaurant, to serves their customer they do not applied manual POS (Point of Sales) systems. The reason why The Hard Rock restaurant is do not make use of manual POS solution because it was based on manual processes, it was inefficient and costly to train new staff— and tracking lost revenue was nearly impossible. Before a new employee was ready to work on the restaurant floor, they have to follow the intensive classroom education for a week. From this activity expected, deliver the new wait-staff and cashiers that enable to memorize extensive information, from standard menu items and services options, to preparation alternatives, pricing details and corporate service policies (â€Å"Hard Rock Cafe sets new dining trends†, 2004). To be confident for the long term, The Hard Rock Cafe management needed to find a way to enhance customer service and reduce the amount of time that customers had to wait for their orders. Moreover, they had to decrease on training costs, as well as organization more-effective profits controls and a process for tracking customer preferences and sales trends to advance productivity. To face a great deal disturbance in the technology industry lately, the restaurant’s major concern in selecting a new POS resolution was dependability. Not just of the restaurant’s new systems, but also of the technology source delivering them. Then they use the new IBM technology-based solution (â€Å"Hard Rock Cafe sets new dining trends†, 2004). Hard Rock Cafe expects a full return on investment (ROI) for the new IBM technology-based solution. ROI expected can reduce the cashier headcount and staff training costs. Hard Rock Cafe wait-staff and cashiers can trust in rapid access to concurrent menu and pricing information to respond quickly to diners, by leveraging new functionality. Besides, human error during the order-entry process has been reduced to nearly nothing, resulting in better consistency, efficiency, and customer satisfaction (â€Å"Hard Rock Cafe sets new dining trends†, 2004). To constrain decision making about promotions, pricing and staffing, Hard Rock Cafe managers can track member of staff and customer activities, enabling the company to collect precious business data. By that method, they can rapidly identify popular items, advantage information to cross-sell extra menu items and track the preferences of common. The customers have seen the new technology and they often comment on the new modern system and Hard Rock Cafe innovative approach to reform the dining experience. This will affect customer faithfulness over the long term by enabling Hard Rock Cafe to leverage unforgettable, first-rate service and the strong brand image to attract a bigger base of both visitor and local customers (â€Å"Hard Rock Cafe sets new dining trends†, 2004). To build financial system work well, strategy for the Hard Rock Cafe are: ? They should fix the infrastructure and the existing corporate systems, ? They must invest in customer-facing programs ? They supposed to provide technologies that will drive traffic to Hard Rocks website (www. hardrock. com) and from there to the restaurants

Walt Disney :: essays research papers

Walt Disney   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walt Disney was one of the famous motion-picture producers in history. He first became known in the 1920's and 1930's for creating such cartoon film characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He later produced feature length cartoon films, movies about wild animals in their natural surroundings, and films starring human actors. Disney won 32 Academy Awards for his movies and for scientific and technical contributions to filmmaking. He also gained fame for his development of theme parks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walter Elias Disney was born on Dec. 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to Missouri, and he spent much of his boyhood on a farm near Marceline. At the age of 16, Disney studied art in Chicago. In 1920, he joined the Kansas City Film Ad Company, where he helped make cartoon advertisements to be shown in movie theaters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1923, Disney moved to Los Angeles to become a film producer or director. When he failed to find a job, he returned to producing cartoons. He set up his first studio in the back half of a real estate office. For several years, Disney stuggled to pay his expenses. He gained success in 1928, when he released the first short cartoons that featured Mickey Mouse. Earlier filmmakers had found that animals were easier to animate than people. Mickey Mouse, drawn with a series of circles, proved ideal for animation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1927, sound that had been added to motion pictures, and a process for making movies in color was developed a few years later. Disney and his staff made imaginative use of sound and color. Disney himself provided Mickey Mouse's voice for Steamboat Willie (1928), the first cartoon to use synchronized sound. His cartoon Flowers and Trees (1932) was the first cartoon in full Technicolor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From 1929 to 1939, Disney produced a cartoon series called Silly Symphonies, which played in theaters along with other animated films featuring Mickey Mouse and other characters, like Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. After 1924, Disney actually did more of the drawing necessary for his animated films. His genius lay in creating, organizing, and directing the films.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1937, Disney issued the first full-length animated feature film to be produced by a studio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It became one of the most popular movies in history. Disney's later full-length animated films included Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942), Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), 101 Dalmations (1961), and the Jungle Book (released in 1967, after his death). In 1950, Disney released Treasure Island, his first full-length movie to use only human actors.

Managing Food Allergies and Intolerances in the Hospitality Sector Essay

A food allergy is the response of the body to a food or protein the body perceives as injurious and therefore produces antibodies (Eigenmann, 2009). Highly popular are allergies towards nuts, eggs or seafood. The symptoms can vary from swelling of the throat or mouth, skin reactions, noxious feeling, breathing difficulties or even collapse (Busky, 2012). Intolerance on the other hand is the reaction when the body is not able to deal or digest a kind of food because the body misses or cannot produce certain enzymes. Most commonly known are lactose and gluten intolerances which are coeliac disorders. Triggering a malabsorption of several nutritional ingredients the sufferer has to deal with indigestion, mild abdominal (stomach) pain, bloating, occasional changes in bowel habit, such as episodes of mild diarrhoea or constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss or even vomiting (National Health Services). All these symptoms give high restrictions during daily life and require careful attention. Further the term of anaphylaxis appears quite often in the context of food allergy. Anaphylaxis describes an extreme form of imunsystem reaction to a chemical contact with of a substance of the sufferer within the environment. It impinges on the whole body and can in worst cases lead to an anaphylactic shock which often causes death (National Health Services). The British Allergy Foundation stated that in 2012 up to 21 million people in the UK are affected by food allergies and that almost 10 million of them are suffering from more than one allergy. They further estimated that by the year 2015 almost 50 per cent of the Europeans will suffer from an allergy. These facts are already allowing an insight into the importance of the topic in the hospitality industry and its uprising as a contemporary issue of increasing significance. In the following section some general information and research and three food allergy organizations will be presented more in detail. The topic will be presented with a detailed view on the approach in restaurants. The key findings will be evaluated and summarized in the conclusion. Discussion General Information Allergens in food are not always labelled and indicated on product or menu items. Further as per the findings of Pratten and Towers (2003) there is high education and training for hospitality workers in terms of food hygiene and preparation but with no deeper focus on handling food allergies. Eating out therefore becomes a difficult challenge especially for families. Especially, after reviewing a study of Cathy A. Enz on behalf of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly in 2004. Her findings show that for restaurant managers and owners the level of concerns regarding food allergies lays only with 3,3 % (out of 100%) and is ranked on the sixed position out of eight criteria (see appendix, exhibit 1). As per Allergykids. com four in ten UK school children have an allergic condition. Hence the parents have to control and watch after their children much more to ensure their well-being. The founder and CEO of Allergyeats. com, Paul Antico states â€Å"First and foremost, I’m a dad of kids who have food allergies. I understand the concerns of parents and know what it’s like to be constantly on guard. † Adding to this statement, seven out of ten sufferers say their allergy has an adverse effect on their lives (Allergykids. com, 2012). This is clearly showing the impact on the hospitality and the need for adaption in the service offer. Within the issue of Food Allergies there have been several approaches to ease and make the topic more valid and accessible on the consumer as well as on the service providers ‘point of view. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act One step was the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of the second of August of 2004 which came into effect on the first of August 2006. It obliges manufacturers to label and indicate common allergens like nuts or milk on their product on a clear and comprehensible way (Food and Drug Administration, 2004). Whereas it is questionable if the consumer can be assured by this with correct labeling. The Food and Drug Administration is randomly inspecting different food packaging for the allergen label but it is shady if some products might just slip through and give wrong indications for the consumer. Nevertheless nowadays there is a wide range of products (for example in a supermarket with an average of 50,000 products (Google Answeres)) and most of them are food items. Therefore the control of all packaging becomes a heavy challenge. However the first step is the mplementation of such a law. Regarding the fact that the Act is in effect since 2006 it can be estimated that products have been relabeled over the years and especially new products introduced the allergen label by entering the market. The Gluten Free and Allergy Free Passport The Gluten Free and Allergy Free Passport organization are â€Å"Educating the World about Food & Travel since 2005† (GFPassport, 2012). The below graph is showing their approach to necessary communication between restaurant and allergy sufferer: Fig. 1 Gluten & Allergy Free Passport, 2012 On both sides, on the guest perspective and the restaurant perspective there should be previous education. The Guest, in this case the allergy sufferer needs to assess his comfort level by for example talking to the wait staff. After identifying the eating options the guest conducts the pre planning and starts the interaction with the restaurant. Communication the guest? s needs and specifications are crucial and the first step in the interaction. Ordering the meal and receiving it, the guest should provide feedback about his experience. At the same time not only the guest has to be cautious, the wait staff and the cooks have to understand the guest needs and facilitate the specification ordered by fully ensuring safety for the guest. After the meal is delivered the staff should follow-up not only for the well-being of the guest but also to apply critical feedback. The Chef? s Card To ease this communication between the customer and the restaurant some organisation like the Allergy Free Table LLC company introduced a useful tool. The company is trying to educate and provide information in that area. But not only the provision of important information about allergies and intolerances, facts and figures, problems and risks is their aim but they also giving solutions to make daily life for allergy sufferers easier. One of their approaches is the Chef? s card. It is similar to a business card indicating the allergy of the consumer, the degree of the allergy and the actions to be taken in case of an allergic reaction. Example of Layout of Chef? s Card: Fig. 2: Allergy Chef? s Card (Allergy Free Table, LLC, 2012) The Allergy Free Table LLC.  Co provides sample cards and individual adjusted templates which are provided for free download and print out on their website. This approach is widely spread and having a look through the World Wide Web a lot of positive comments regarding this idea can be found. On the forum for Food Allergy Support, members are commenting â€Å"We go out eat a lot and we use the Chef? s Card [†¦]†, â€Å"[†¦] the cards are useful [†¦]† or â€Å"[†¦] I’m all for chef cards! [†¦]†. Further there can be services found other online services as SelectWisely. com which is providing Chef? Card with the focus on people travelling and therefore translating them in the respective language. From the customer and the restaurants perspective the Chef? s Card is an effective approach to this serious issue. The customer receives the feeling to be taken more serious with the special demand. Further for example the wait staff have something to hold in the hands, which can be handed over to the kitchen staff and results in more security as the level of miscommunications is narrowed. Particularly while travelling the Chef? Card is relieving the customer from feeling stressed eating out as well the restaurant obtains a clear guideline to handle the guest conveniently and most important safely. To sum up the approach of the Chef? s Card is an innovative approach which eases the concern of food allergy issues in restaurant for both parties. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Despite many online communities (e. g. the Allergy Free Table LLC. Co) are providing information the most popular one might be the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) are calling themselves the â€Å"most trusted source of information† and can record over 22,000 memberships in the year 2012 (FAAN, 2012). The network is funded by the annual membership fees, donations and charity events like the yearly FAAN Walk for Food Allergy. They are committed to increase the awareness of the impact and implications of Food Allergies, the provision of education for young and old, advocate further research into the topic. The FAAN offers programs like the â€Å"Safe@School† program which is a package including nformation material as well as implementation and management strategies for schools (FAAN, 2012). Moreover they understood that â€Å"Eating away from home can pose a significant risk to people affected by food allergy. Research suggests that close to half of fatal food allergy reactions are triggered by food served by a restaurant or other food service establishment† (FAAN, 2012). So they are approaching restaurateurs directly and are calling up on more training for hospitality staff: â€Å"Education, cooperation, and teamwork are the keys to safely serving a guest who has food allergies. All food service staff – including restaurant managers, servers, and kitchen staff – must become familiar with the issues surrounding food allergies and the proper way to answer guests’ questions. Further, they must know what to do if an allergic reaction occurs. † The network emphasises on cooperation between the restaurants and customers to ease the barriers and to diminish the risks for allergy sufferers while eating out. The handbook for training of hospitality staff is only one of the collections of information which is provided for free on the FAAN? s homepage. Reviewing the amount of information which is available especially online restaurateurs should no longer hesitate to implement the handling of food allergies as an inherent part of their standards and policies. Much information is available for free and some managerial strategies and ,of course training sessions, will cost some money. Nevertheless this undertaking is not too difficult as food safety and hygiene procedures are already applied in gastronomic enterprises. As shown above the need for an extension to allergy concerns from the customers? side is omnipresent. Although that the adaption of this issue will cost time and money in return target markets and customer acquisition will be promoted. The Trend of Labelling Menu Items Food labelling is only mandatory for products coming from the manufacturer, so those which are e. g. bought in supermarkets and grocery shops. This labelling format has been improved by the Codex Alimentarius by the Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization in 2003 also adapted by the European Parliament and one year later in the USA. It regulated that foods triggering ensitive reactions have to be labelled. Current discussions about having restaurants to label their menu items are on-going but â€Å"[†¦] the restaurant industry argued that mandatory labeling would be a significant burden on most restaurants, the majority of which are small businesses that do not have the technical ability and/or knowledge to provide and publish such data† (Pizam, 2011). Restaurants mostly object menu labeling. Small businesses only produce in small amounts and menu items change frequently which would imply additional financial expenditures on the menu design. Further restaurants are arguing that the demand for labeled menus is not high enough. Attempts with calorie and fat indications mostly failed in past years. The demand for low calorie and low fat items in comparison to the conventional products was not high enough (Din, Zahari, Otham, Abas, 2012). It is questionable if this failure of menu indications is significant in the debate about labeling menus for allergy sufferers (Pizam, 2011). The quoted arguments are comprehensible but the extreme defensive attitude should be dropped. The request for menu labeling must not be a generalized demand but a compromise could be formed. Restaurants could have some additional menus indicating a detailed description of the menu ingredients. Other than that the restaurant might be able to guarantee that the cook on shift knows all its products and ingredients. This could be done by narrowing the amount of suppliers, brands and by maintaining the supplier for basic products. Maintaining loyal to a supplier as a plus would reduce purchase costs as restaurants receive better prices with long-term contracts. Conclusion Concluding from the findings the issue of food allergies in restaurants will be of increasing concern in the following years. Therefore there is every indication to find common approaches and standards to build up a convenient interrelation between customers and restaurants. The customer, most of all, needs to develop the trust to the restaurateur of being served in a serious and safe manner. The presented concept of the Chef? s Card is a recommendable and effective way to ease the communication for the special requirements of an allergy sufferer. Further the restaurant can handle the conveyed responsibility with more secureness and assurance. As the research has shown labelling the menu to needs of allergy sufferers is still in heavy discussion. Nevertheless a common standard should be introduced in order for the restaurant to clearly follow any special requests. To conclude in the future an overall standard is required in restaurants. Procedures should be extended and the implementation of allergy handling should be a standard for all gastronomy venues. The load of information is immense and the accessibility is there. Hence restaurants have little excuse too not implement some new strategies in their procedures. Although staff turnover is very high in the hospitality sector which is complicating the demand for additional training, hygiene and food safety instructions are mandatory for all hospitality staff. So why not extend and cover the issue of food allergies at the same time. Consequently restaurants could be labelled as being trained in allergy concerns and customers can easily choose to eat out.