Phillips Food: King Crab

Phillips Foods, Inc. – Introducing King Crab to the Trade Executive Summary: The Phillips Foods, Inc. , case discusses target marketing for specialty seafood. Phillips Foods, Inc. was founded in 1914 by Augustus Phillips on Hoopers Island, Maryland. Phillips had developed a reputation for fresh seafood caught and sold locally. By 2006, Phillips Foods had three business units that were generating profits and became one of the largest seafood businesses in the United States. The restaurant division operates 8 full-service restaurants as well as fast food restaurants, mainly in airports.The food service division services restaurants and foodservice institutions. The retail products division services grocers and retail food merchants. The three division generated $160M in revenue in 2006. Brand image and production were keys in building the Phillips brand name. Phillips was renowned for its close associations to Maryland. Production was also a key in reinforcing the Phillips image and brand. The company decided early on to own and operate its own plants, this was important for preserve quality and safety.The Phillips brand was able to expand its production and keep its image as a local brand. By 2006, Phillips operated 13 plants overseas and 1 plant in Baltimore. Analysis of Problem: As the case opens two key decision makers are having a dialog regarding the success of the first phase of marketing and potential plans for phase two. Cherry Stockworth, vice-president of marketing, and Ron Birch, product manager of a new king crab product are discussing Ron’s use of the remaining budget for the king crab product line.Ron has successfully launched phase one of king crab in foodservice trade magazines and as 2007 approached the opportunity of participating in a tradeshow had become available. The International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS) presented the opportunity for Ron to market to a grocery stores and retail food merchants. IBSS was one of the largest se afood shows in the country and the attendees were generally serious merchandisers and industry heavy weights. Phillips king crab products were revolutionary in the seafood industry and were also consistent with consumer demands.The target market was evolving from food service institutions to inclusiveness of retail establishments. Phillips had discovered and perfected a process by which blue king crab (large Alaskan/Russian crab) could be fished, gutted, pasteurized, and packaged for immediate consumption through their production facilities. The product could be stored for up to 18 months as a result of effective pasteurization. The king crab introduction couldn’t come at a more opportune time for Phillips Foods as consumers purchasing habits were changing to more health conscious products.Consumers were averse to purchasing seafood from the market because of their inability to cook the products effectively, and the amount of time it took to clean and prepare the product. Kin g crab was a healthy ready to eat product, and Ron’s task was to get king crab into the prime real estate of grocery store refrigerators. Cherry Stockworth was convinced that the tradeshow would capitalize on the effects of removing king crab from the commodity seafood counters. Phillips had good success with its phase one marketing and was going to have the opportunity to attend IBSS for phase two.In her excitement Cherry offers to cover half the cost of the trade show if Ron were to agree on attending and using the balance of his marketing budget on the campaign. Ron was happy with the results of the first phase, but was not closed to the idea of attending the tradeshow. He would have to crunch some numbers and asses the return on investing in the tradeshow. Recommendations: My recommendation for Phillips Foods is for them to take the king crab product to the IBSS. In doing some analysis with the provided numbers in this case, I have concluded the feasibility of the trade s how to be high.Ron has spent roughly $80K (half) of his budget on the first phase of marketing King crab through trade publications. Ron can easily spend phase two on the same publications or he can take up Cherry on her offer. Appendix A, shows that Ron will need approximately 19 people to effectively manage the tradeshow and its volume. Based on this headcount, it will cost Phillips $164,700, of which Ron will be responsible for $82,350. Ron and Cherry are both understand the importance of spreading the word of their brand, since they have made progress in the food service industry.The tastes of consumers and purchasing habits in grocery stores is changing it would be a great opportunity to display their product. According to the case, tradeshows are an avenue to display products, set up tastings, and catch the eye of potential retailers and grocery store merchandisers. Appendix A further analyses the potential draw at the IBSS show and affirms that 8% capture will provide signifi cant traction in acquiring the attention of a new audience that actually shows interest and is looking for new products for their chain.Continuing to advertise in trade publications seems to have been effective in only two of the three advertisements that Ron has chosen thus far. The problem that seems to be existent in this strategy is that it limits the audience that Phillips is going to be able to attract. Unless the foodservice institutions began to advertise Phillips Foods direct to consumers it doesn’t seem plausible that consumers can be targeted through this avenue. The restaurant division is not going to be a good source of advertising to new consumers either. Restaurants are a great way to maintain the brand name and maintain the high quality food standards.Conclusion: According to my calculations in Appendix A, the tradeshow is a great value with the offer from Cherry on the board to cover half the cost. Management support seems to be in the tradeshow as well, and this will be part of Ron’s decision as he must please the organization. At this point Ron needs to make a decision that will have an immediate impact on the king crab product line. He stands to lose a lot more if he misses out on the tradeshow and places advertisements with only a decent response. In addition, Ron is looking to reach a new audience and doesn’t seem to have a plan set for reaching the retail and grocery customers.The tradeshow provides visibility in both target markets and is in line with the changing customer preferences. Phillips Foods, Inc. has placed itself in a position to succeed with its pasteurization process and its branding strategy. The king crab product line is a perfect complement to the Phillips Foods product portfolio by way of high quality and high margin. Moving a commodity into retail ready-to-eat space has created a value added product and the potential to help seafood consumers find quick, safe, and healthy cooking solutions at the s eafood counter. Appendix A

Comparing Two Computer Advertisements Two Computer advertisements Essay

Whether you like it or not, the media, to a large extent, defines your life and the way you think. It includes television, cinema, radio, video, magazines, books , the internet and newspapers. In this essay I will be taking an analytical look at two computer advertisements that caught my attention in two different newspapers, namely The Guardian, and The Sun. What is amazing is the amount of space taken up by both advertisements. Both adverts can be categorized as advertorials as the companies they represent are describing and promoting their respective products. As the Guardian is a broadsheet and The Sun a tabloid, it goes without saying that each will target a different audience. The content in text A features a computer and tells the reader about the software and hardware that they are trying to sell. The article is written in quite a persuasive style. The Macintosh Performa in text A is advertised in The Sun and makes use of an attention-grabbing heading that is also ambiguous: â€Å"Difficult. Temperamental. Hard to understand.† On a quick glance at the text and looking at the picture of a sullen-looking boy, one is ready to make the association about a boy who is possibly throwing a tantrum. And it is in the ambiguity where the punch-line lies. Unlike the boy who will be tantrumming from time to time, â€Å"with the Macintosh Performa, there’s no frustrating, baffling patience-trying set-up procedures†. The layout is really spectacular. The article takes up an entire page. The main text is set out in three columns, relatively densely printed with early paragraphs playing on the implication that both computers and children can be â€Å"Difficult. Temperamental. Hard to understand.† The rest of the text stresses that the Performa is a â€Å"well-behaved† and versatile computer. The text is broken up by the use of two line drawings of the computer and the software. The tone of the text is reassuring, helpful, and stresses accessibility of the Performa’s functions. The price of the computer is tactically delayed until the third column: † The price of the computer start at just à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1,099.† The reader or prospective buyer will at this point feel that it is worth every penny with all its functions. There is also a constitutional reference to the model featured and appears in very small print at the foot of the page. And a list of dealers is also in very small print at the foot of the page. Advertisement B shows a weak distant view of the front of an Aptiva computer. The company that promotes this product is IBM and their logo is located in the right hand corner at the bottom of the page. The complete system is there for the reader to see. I also think that they are trying to tempt the reader as they use a cluster of adjectives: † Loud, colourful, fast-moving, enjoyable, stuff† The immediate contrast between the two texts is the layout. Unlike text A, that has three columns, text B has no columns, only paragraphs with sub-headings. And this makes the advert appear dull and unattractive to the readers. But then again, the audience in this case is different to that of text A. As this advertisement appears in the broadsheet newspaper, its readers are usually keen business people and the emphasis is not so much on entertainment but on efficiency and cutting edge technology. Therefore, when the price â€Å"1,799† is quoted the reader will not be surprised at all. However, a touch of humor is added when â€Å"OK, maybe not for dogs.† appears in very small print next to the price. This humorous note may have been included to discourage readers from dwelling on the price. Reference to the model featured appears in a very small print at the foot of the page. The heading is fairly conventional, using bold, white lettering against a black background. The main text is set out in paragraphs and the word â€Å"Stuff† is repeated in the large 5 sub-headings. The tone of the text is light-hearted, whimsical, with a joke in each of the first two sections. You can also see the TOYS â€Å"R† US logo under the photo of the computer which tells you they are the outlets for the new Aptiva. Both advertisements use persuasive techniques for example, repetition in text B – the word â€Å"stuff.† The word â€Å"stuff† gives it a more colloquial style. Of the two advertisements I liked the Performa more as it appears to be very user friendly: â€Å"As soon as you plug it in, the Performa can run,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  However, it needs to be said, that when you buy an Aptiva, you buy into a new lifestyle.

Abstract Is a Deceptive Form of Explanation for Pictures Painted

How His Emotional World Influences His Paintings? Abstract is a deceptive form of explanation for the pictures painted by Zao Wou-ki, it would be perfect to say that the images painted by Zao Wou-ki hovers between abstract and nature. Zao,s maximum painting is based on the representation of the Chinese landscape. The career of Zao Wou-ki is definite by way through which Zao reinterpreted Eastern rudiments from 16 th hundred century of Yuan Dynasty and Sung landscape paintings[1]. Zao intermingled the natural essences these works in combination with the Western oil paints. The prints and paintings of an artist have apparently avoided schema of forms from a landscape, expressing in a way of abstract emotion of the reflections, colors, land harmony, energy, sky, sea and earth. In an International auction Zao received the highest price for his work in the month of April 2013, due its beautiful and splendid use of blue oil painting of the imaginary landscape. He was one of the most traditional Chinese painter in the 20 th century and 21 st century. The painting sold for nearly around USD 4 million at Hong Kong in the month of April, 2013. Though the blue colour was one of the favourite colours used by Zao Wou-Ki, his blue paintings are very famous, and the paintings are also very rare. The famous painter used this blue colour to signify llakes and river in his paintings. Zao Wou-Ki passed away after three days of his best sale. In current period of time, the demand of Zao's lithographs and art in the secondary and primary market is to increasing among collectors irrespective or East or West. Zao Wou-Ki paintings is about the worldly and emotional experiences in which Zao himself is concerned. The world Zao summons up is not entirely detached or different from him. For this cause, Zao's paintings most of the time be read in dual directions, either as an environment of evocation macrocosmic of experience or as expressions of a sincerely personal topography. The last measurement is an abstract aspect about which modern painters in West incline to be different, perhaps dreading the charge of a romanticism of carrier grade[2]. The obligation to the abstract paintings monitored his stay in U.S, where Zou encountered expressionism of abstracts first-hand at the peak of his career. Grasped by it to promise himself physically more to the landscape. Zou worked on a painting in an apparent gestural performance and was careful in constructing fact comparison with the first wife's pictures. Until around 1972 he explored the several possibilities of his tactic, in painting which were latter done a larger scale. On the one side, Zou pushed his previous mood to the final effect of drama, nearly as if looking to encourage himself which it could grip his attention forever. But alongside he has taken the ink painting once more[3]. He had educated to grasp the Chinese brush in his childhood with tremendous achievement and with a certain recurrent influence on his training of oil painting. [1] Russell, Heather. 2013. "Nature And The Art Of Zao Wou-Ki". Art World. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/nature-and-the-art-of-zao-wou-ki-49681. [2] Hay, Jonathan. 2003. "Zao Wao-Ki". https://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/people/faculty/hay_PDFs/contemporary/Zao-Wou-ki.pdf. [3] Hay, Jonathan. 2003. "Zao Wao-Ki". https://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/people/faculty/hay_PDFs/contemporary/Zao-Wou-ki.pdf.

Case study of family involvement in a school or childcare center Essay

Case study of family involvement in a school or childcare center - Essay Example Despite of several remarks about Dev’s performance in the school diary from the class teacher Miss Melina, there was no sign of any response from Dev’s parent. Dev’s parent had always been in a row which is intolerable for him. Most of the time, Dev runs away from home to a lonely place to avoid his parents piercing quarreling sound. He hates the masculinity of his father torturing his mother whom he loves the most in this world. Dev’s teachers are also not aware that how the boy got to such a critical stage. Mostly, he remains in despair, fearful to the authority and unable to cope with his friend’s reaction. He is lacking confidence day by day. Resultantly, Dev is not even able to do his homework properly; along with that, he is ashamed of presenting his degrading handwriting to anyone. Besides their disparities, Dev’s parents are worried about Dev’s increasing critical personality. As they were noticing Dev’s declining mental condition, which resulted in worst annual assessment of Dev in the 3rd standard. The issue came to the focus of the administration when Dev’s parents reported the school administration. When asked, they blame for the carelessness of teachers and administration. Now we discuss the case of inferior complexion in Dev in a categorical pattern. 1. Background Information At the age of seven, children are usually preparing themselves towards facing the situations around them; and try to be more responsible. In Dev’s case, he is going through an immense psychological torment which nobody is aware of. Being a boy he thinks of shaping himself as his masculine father and thinks to save his mother from pain she is facing. Dev is embarrassed with his mother, for his incapability to rescue her and he has no guts to tell his father not to be so barbarous. All his feelings are unexpressed; they are blocked inside his mind like the air in a soccer ball. So far in his life, Dev has nev er been close to his parents, and has not felt affectionate ever, which are the most important factor for a child to develop both physically and mentally. Dev felt himself as a deprived child, with no one to support him in his studies. His psychological pain has now started showing up symptoms in his physical health too. Dev’s psychic father’s inherited behaviors, from his grandfather have also come to Dev hereditarily in form of intolerable weakening of his mind, which resulted as an inferiority complexion. It is usually said, 70% of education of a child is accomplished from their parents and 30% at the school whereas in case of Dev, it is null at home. And in the other hand, has an adverse affect of it in school too. Other than Home and school, society and environment also play key role in development of a child’s personality. As learned from Dev’s neighbor Mr Amit Singh, due to the non-social and inhuman nature of Dev’s father their family is is olated in the society, as a result Dev never got chance to socialize in public, e.g. in parties and ceremonies etc. So far he has confined himself at his house only. He lived a very critical and isolated life. Every one has shadow side of which he is more or less ashamed. When it goes up to extreme, and if he is confined with idea, that he is the only victim of this kind than it becomes a serious problem. (Douglas) 2. Description of the Presenting Problem Now we discuss about Dev’s present problem which is most crucial and difficult for him to overcome. Normally children are playful. They remain happy even with a small piece of

Movie Review of Julie and Julia(2009, Ephron, USA) Coursework

Movie Review of Julie and Julia(2009, Ephron, USA) - Coursework Example She thus develops a simple story line that touches on themes that typically everyone is familiar of. She makes the humorous natures of her story line appear more natural and free flowing. The planning and the design of the comedy drama are simple but funny in its own right. The lead character, Adam, is obsessed by food and cooking. She sets out to cook over five hundred recipes in the three hundred and sixty days in a year which is logically impossible. Adams is employed in a very busy firm where she serves at the call center; possibly she is free on the weekends. This is coupled to the fact that some of the recipes she intends to prepare are very complex and will require a lot of time to complete (Penz and Andong 210). This way, Ephron easily develops a conflict from things that people have and still consider hobbies. Adam gets literally torn apart by the amounting pressure. The recipes are expensive and eat into her finances. The pressure from work coupled with her funny social lif e does not let her settle down to follow the recipes properly. She thus ends up spoiling most of them which is really a waste given the fact that she invested in them. She wines and complains most of the time, a feature that Ephron further uses to create humor. She is a fully-grown adult but the voice she posses can easily pass for a twelve year old. Ephron further uses the structure of the society to add to the humor; marriage is a very sacred institution in which religious adherents believe is ordained by God. Everyone is therefore aware of the institution’ existence and understands how basic it is in the creation of a peaceful and cohesive unity in the society. However, despite the peace that the bible and other holy books preach, families have structural problems some of which are humorous. The play addresses some of the rib cracking decisions that people make in life and how they are later humorously solved. Adam’s obsession with her cookery irritates her husband who tries so much to appear supportive. In a show of love and unity within their marriage, Adam and her husband visit a book fair in Paris where she meets food enthusiasts. The two shares a number of things which makes them develop quite a strong bond. The friendship between the women goes to the men who could have otherwise never noticed each other and they too became close. When Adam’s love for cooking turns into what her husbands calls an obsession, he leaves her. This has been the trend in very many families; when one partner irritates the other, the easiest way is normally to avoid them by possibly walking out of the marriage. Very few people sit down and address the issues in their marriages because boredom sets in among the married very fast. Powell’s husbands considers himself very enduring for the time he spends with Her despite her wining attitude and her little obsessions that deny them time together. Left alone, the lady concentrates on her cooking and her new friend, they write books and try out new recipes and before long, they receive recognition and are about to become famous. In a very interesting twist, the husband who had deliberately left shows up again and Adam accepts him. The society is structured funnily and nobody takes notice of these every quite often. This is the rationale of

Business Communication Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business Communication - Coursework Example The message represents the actual information to be passed to the recipient. It is usually dependent on the source idea and is designed to meet the desires of the audience. Encoding is a process that involves the conversion of the message into an appropriate transmission form. The form of communication is dependent on the transmission medium. The channel is the means through which communication transpires (Verderber, 2010). It is the path through which a message is sent to the recipient from the sender without making alterations on it. The channel may vary from a paper to a radio or an email. The receiver is the party for which the message is intended. The recipient employs the channel to receive communication from a transmitter. Decoding refers to the process of interpreting the message passed. The recipient analyzes the message to facilitate internalization. Feedback refers to the relay of a response to the sender of a message by a recipient (Verderber, 2010). Communication is an unending process. Interruption of the process may cause emptiness in the system. Interpersonal communication has to be continued. In the circular interaction, an invariable response is made which provokes a reaction. The message relayed through communication channels is usually irreversible. It cannot be changed once transmitted. Effective communication may be deterred by various barriers to communication. First, lack of eye contact hinders effective communication. John stuck glued to the computer while conversing with Yum. This hindered the efficiency of communication. John employed an unfamiliar term to Yum while passing his message. This contributed immensely to ineffective communication since Yum could not interpret the message. John showed disinterest in what Yumi was trying to put across.

Why Have the 1980s been described as a 'lost decade' in terms of Essay

Why Have the 1980s been described as a 'lost decade' in terms of development - Essay Example Most of the set development policies did not work especially in developing and poor countries (United Nations 2006, p.941). Moreover, despite of the existence of some of the most powers economic policies such as education policy, infrastructure policy, fertility policy and health policies, the decade is one of the poorest development stages in the world’s development history. During the 1980s period, the economic developed in developing countries grew by 0 % compared to the previous decade which witnessed over 2.5 % economic growth (David 1985, p.789). However, most economists and scholars have attributed the decrease in the economic, political as well as social development in the 1980s to a number of factors such as the high world interests’ rates, elevated debt especially in developing countries, reduced global industrial growth as well as significant transformation on skill-based techniques. The decrease in economic growth is as well accredited to poor implementation of the existing policies. To get an in-depth insight on the economic development in the 1980s the essay below will seek to analyse why the 1980s is describe as lost decade. In most instances, global growth is defined by examining and analysing the implementation of growth and development plans and projects (Birdsall and Fukuyama 2011, p. 79). Therefore, a part from the experienced development downfall in numerous parts of the world, the 1980s encountered considerable level of development in others development facets such as development in infrastructures, rise in fertility rate, financial development, real overvaluations as well as raise in the level of education. However, as opposed to the previous decades which did not have many development policies, the 1980’s adopted an all inclusive policies that were intended at bringing about global consistent and

Publick Speaking and Me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Publick Speaking and Me - Essay Example well thought-out, purposeful way in order to inform, influence, or entertain the audience and it requires the effective use of language, voice, volume, eye contact, gestures, conversational style, and visual aids. As public speaking has become a very important activity in the contemporary social contexts, the formal training of the various techniques of public speaking is essential. One can be effectively trained in the use of voice, volume, gestures, posture, conversational style, nonverbal communication, projection, eye contact etc. The technical training in establishing the tone, vocal flexibility, the formation of words, making the point, indicating values and relations, expressing feelings, showing the picture, and expression by action etc can help one in effectively making a public speaking and the training of these technical elements has influenced my skill in public speaking. The utility of gestures, postures, and nonverbal communication is fundamental in expression by action and proper training is required. Similarly, presenting the theme of the speech effectively to the audience is one of the basic elements determining the success of public speaking. For this, the speaker requires proper preplanning and research about the topic to be dealt with. Organization of the content in a logical order is also important to convey the message effectively to the audience. Therefore, the speaker should be well prepared with his topic and be confident to present it in a logical manner. One of the basic intension of every speech is persuasion and the speaker should be able to convey his ideas through the effective use of language, vocal flexibility with good tone and volume, nonverbal communication, posture, gesture, conversational style etc. An audience-centered attitude is also essential for the speaker to be effective and the feelings of the audience should be given great priority. The speaker’s eye-contact with the audience is fundamental to establish

Building Successful Brands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Building Successful Brands - Essay Example Primarily, the products of a company should not be poor and have great branding since the branding of poor products will realize losses for the company (Schatte, 2009, p.25). However, companies that do the best of branding also face obstacles in the global market. The main challenge is competition from other companies, since every company tries to be the best in the market. This scenario makes companies to be always on the rush to innovate better and greater branding skills to overcome competition from rivals in the market (Okonkwo, 2007, p10). There are always cultures that people associate with relating to global brands. Consumers have a tendency to stick to commodities that have particular qualities and models. There are dimensions that research show, which consumers use in the buying of products from different transnational companies (Wimmers, 2009, p.45). The first dimension is quality signal, where consumers buy the products of the transnational company that emerges a victor in the competition of branding. The companies that manufacture the best quality of goods and services get the highest number of customers. It implies that the companies that manage to produce commodities of the best quality and have the most captivating branding aspect fetch the largest number of consumers in the global market. ... It means that the products with quality branding have a wider market than the poorly branded products that only sell in the local markets. The second dimension is global myth, where consumers use a particular product to create an image culturally (Mooij, 2010, p.14). The consumers always seek for identity in the society and thus using the product earns them that identity. This is the reason some consumers use products that have a global brand to feel that they belong to the entire of the world. Such goods consist of clothes labels like Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton (Glynn & Woodside, 2009, p.22). The third dimension that people use to buy products with global brand is social responsibility. Consumers believe that products and services can serve to create a morals impression in the society. This makes consumers to buy certain brands of commodities since they believe that the society will realize the benefit that comes with that specific product (Haig, 2011, p.27). In this case, Waitr ose used these dimensions in the improvement of their brand that fetched many consumers in the global market. Since it is also involves an online grocery, it was essential for the company to brand itself well to ensure that it attracts many customers. Waitrose is a market chain of British supermarkets that forms the largest portion of retailers in the country. The company rebranded itself in 2003, which consequently led to increased sales for the company (Hatch & Schultz, 2008, p.32). The website was given a new facelift that give a great view of the supermarket’s structure and proper arrangement of the interior decor. Importantly, the supermarket changed the packaging of the products by wrapping some of the products

Theories Of Leadership Essay Example for Free

Theories Of Leadership Essay Introduction Managers and leaders in any organization are expected to influence the actions of their employees through several channels. Some of these include communicating with staff members, stimulating subordinates to work hard and ensuring that all the resources within the company are allocated well. These expectations can either be met successfully or unsuccessfully. Numerous researchers felt the need to come up with theories that govern successful leadership. One of these theories is known as the contingency theory. An analysis of the contingency theory Fielder (1964) came up with this approach to leadership after realizing that leaders could function well if they changed their styles to suit the situation at hand. This is where the name contingency originates. Fielder conducted several studies of effective and ineffective leaders. Thereafter he concluded that the most successful approach would be to match organizational settings with leadership styles. These two parameters form the basis of the contingency theory of leadership. According to Fiedler, leadership style may be defined as the way leaders and employees interact with one another. One cannot claim that a manager’s leadership style changes from time to time. On the contrary, this is a fixed parameter since every leader has a different personality. The latter term largely affects the nature of the leadership style. Since this trait is important, Fielder came up with a method for categorizing leadership styles. He used the Least Preferred Coworker Scale (LPC). The Scale is applied only to leaders; the latter are asked to rate the person they feel has worked very poorly with them. The scale starts from one to eight and may be a classification of a co-worker from the past or the present depending on which worker was the worst. Examples of personality traits that guide the scaling process include; Unfriendly versus friendly workers Hostile versus supportive Guarded versus open Uncooperative versus cooperative (Fiedler, 1964) All the latter traits are in ascending order with number 1 representing the character trait on the left while number 8 represents the character trait on the right. The LPC   scale’s main purpose is to determine whether a particular form of leadership style is task oriented or people oriented. Leaders who score high marks in the scale favor interpersonal relationships. Consequently, those leaders who rate their co-workers in a negative light may be more interested in the task at hand. This also implies that such leaders have poor interpersonal relationships. However, critics have asserted that such traits may not necessarily be accurate. Some individuals may portray their co-workers in a negative light but still be keen on interpersonal relationships. Fielder (1964) felt that those leaders who managed to match the requirements of the task with a dominant personality trait tended to be more successful.   Dominant personality traits largely determine the approach chosen by leaders i.e. either people oriented or task oriented approach. The LPC scale indicates whether or not a certain individual values interpersonal relationships. In case leaders score highly, then they normally consider interpersonal relationships as a crucial part of implementing tasks. However, those who score low marks in the scale value task completion more than anything else does. Consequently, most of them may not bother creating close relationships with their employees. Fielder (1964) was also concerned with the organizational environment or what is also called the situational variable. According to him, the situational variable can be defined as that aspect within the organization that can allow leaders to exert influence within their team. He divided the situational variables as follows; -Task structure -Position power -Leader to member relationships The leader-member structure is defined as the level of acceptance team players have towards their leader. Task structures may be defined as the level of job specificity among subordinates. Lastly, position power is described as the level of authority attributed to a leader as result of his position within the organization. (Fiedler, 1964) In the Leader-member situation, a leader would be more successful if he establishes strong links between himself and the other people within the organization; this is through trusting and respecting members of his organization. Additionally, successful leaders in the task structure situation are those ones that specify job detail well. Powerful leaders in the position power situation are those ones that exercise their right to fire and hire or to reward individuals within the organization. All the latter three situations create eight leadership styles. These are then divided into two important groups known as the relationship or task oriented leaders. Five of the leadership styles fall under the latter category. Fielder (1964) felt that task oriented approach were more appropriate in disasters or extreme situations. In cases where a fire strikes an organization, then leaders would be more efficient if they applied the task oriented approach. At this time, the issue of position power is not very relevant and neither are the relationships of the co-workers. In extreme cases or in disasters, the individuals who direct tasks most efficiently become the leaders. The opposite is true for leaders who try applying a people oriented approach. This would mean considering what people think and this would eventually delay outcomes. Such cases require only the fastest responses for survival. Task oriented relationships are also important in blue collar jobs. This is because such workers normally require direction and job specificity. Therefore, this leadership approach would be most appropriate. On the other hand, such scenarios may still be characterized by strong leader member relationships. The latter situation can be effected when leaders reward worker well for their efforts. Relationship oriented leadership styles may be more favorable in situations where the organizational environment is highly predictable. Some of the most appropriate environments include research institutes. In such circumstances, subordinates would not like it if their leaders interfered with the nature of their task. Here, it would be more appropriate to work on building relationships with subordinates. It should be noted that Fielder’s theory does not cover all the possible factors affecting leadership. Some leaders may be more effective if they undergo training or gain experience on the job. Such factors have not been accounted for by the contingency theory. Conclusion Overly, Fielder was trying to say that leaders are not just successful or unsuccessful. Leaders can either be effective in certain situations and not all of them. Therefore, all individuals can become leaders if they choose the most appropriate situation to apply their leadership styles. Additionally, it is possible to make a leader more effective by altering the following; position power, task structure and leader member relationships. It should also be noted that Fielder’s scale can be quite appropriate in determining leadership styles. Reference: Fiedler, E. (1964): A Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness; Journal for Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Academic Press 1, 12, 149-190

The Topic Of Spanking Children

The Topic Of Spanking Children One day last summer, I hung out with my friends Elizabeth and Kisha. Elizabeth is a young mother with a 3-year-old son named Raine. Elizabeth did not know how to control her son; on that day, the three of us went to a strip mall to shop for clothes, and Raine was with us. While we were shopping, Raine wandered off many times from his mother, and she rarely told him anything. Then, he threw huge tantrums whenever he saw something he could not have. I bit my tongue so much that day because despite how I felt about his behavior, it was not my place to tell anyone else how to raise his or her children. He was very bratty; he made a scene in a convenience store we all walked into, becoming disobedient and defiant with Elizabeth and screaming at her. Still, I said nothing out of good taste. Finally, the topic of whether or not I would make a good father came up because I saw a couple with children who were behaving well; I enjoy children when they are well-behaved. I was making no attempt to attack Elizabeths parenting even though her son was horrible. I was merely conjecturing my own capabilities at parenthood. I could no longer bite my tongue. The girl with the out-of-control child, of all people, had the audacity to imply that I may not be a good parent. Before I realized it, I told her, Well at least my children will know how to conduct themselves in public and will not talk to me any kind of way. He is clearing acting up and disrespecting you, but you refuse to spank him. Because of this, Elizabeth and I do not talk much anymore. I suggested that she spank Raine. She obviously did not believe in spanking bad children. I thought it was very foolish of her to have this mindset because she never employed any other disciplinary technique that was successful in altering his behavior. She, along with others, believes that spanking is wrong. I do not think that it is absolutely right, but I do believe that the positive outweighs the negative; parents should be allowed to spank their children when it is necessary. There is an appropriate way for parents to do this without abusing their children. Though, it is not absolute, spanking can still be very effective. Children are not perfect beings who do not make mistakes. Children need to be taught respect and appropriate behavior. They need to know that there are consequences for not following the rules. What exactly is spanking? Kazdin and Benjet define spanking as the act of hitting a child with an open palm on the buttocks or the extremities (hands and legs) with the intent to discipline without leaving any bruises or injuries (Kazdin Benjet, 100). Larry Winget, a father and also the author of Your Kids are Your Own Fault: A Guide for Raising Responsible, Productive, Young Adults, agrees with this definition and believes that spanking should be used to alter undesirable behavior in children, not to hurt them (Winget, 88). What is discipline? Any attempt to change or control a childs behavior is discipline (Brown, 69). Discipline can be divided into two sub-categories: autonomy-granting techniques and restrictive techniques. Autonomy -granting techniques allow a child to correct his or her behavior on his or her own accord. These techniques are generally non-punitive and include lecturing and oral disapproval. U. Bronfenbrenner affirms that middle class parents tend to use these t echniques which include reasoning, isolation, and guilt (Brown, 68). Research shows that families with higher socioeconomic statuses (SESs) tend to have punishments that are very lenient in correcting misbehavior. Restrictive techniques force a child to alter his or her behavior by incentive: punishment (Brown, 68-9). And obviously, spanking is a form of punishment, and therefore is included with time-outs, grounding, privilege revocation, and all other restrictive techniques. Whether or not parents should be able to spank their children, and to what extent, is a very controversial debate. Like any debate, there are contenders of the idea. These contenders make some valid, however flawed, statements against spanking. One is that spanking instills fear into children, and children who will comply with the rules via spanking will not do so out of respect; they will succumb out of fear (Davis, 141). Another argument is that spanking is abusive and condones violence as an acceptable way to solve a problem (Davis, 143). These claims are true only when the spanking turns into abuse. Davis included a question from a parent answered by M. Senn, an opponent of spanking. He asked: Q: Should I hit my child back when he hits me? A: No, you should not. If you strike him back, you are teaching him that the only way to respond in anger is by physical blows, and it may turn into a fist fight (Davis, 141). There is so much wrong with this all together. For one, if a child is audacious enough to hit his own parents in a non-life-threatening scenario, the ones who conceived him, then he deserves to be punished. He or she should also realize that if he or she has enough moxie to hit anyone, parent or not, then he or she should be brave enough to get beat down if it escalates to something more serious. In others words, do not throw a punch if you cannot take one. A child is headed in the wrong direction if he or she thinks that he or she can be violent without suffering any consequences. And, one can certainly not hit a random person out on the streets and expect not to be retaliated against. We live in a society where skirmishes turn into bloodbaths because people think that they can handle them with their fists. Ideally, fighting is not the answer, but parents should certainly not condone abuse by their own children. That is crazy. And if parents have to spank their children to convey th at message to them, then I support it one hundred percent. Tibbetts affirms that spanking is but a single act among many that supports civilized behavior against the natural barbarism of the American brat (Davis, 144). Leaving children undisciplined is like leaving people to anarchy; it just will not work. There are many adults who lack the judgment and reasoning capabilities needed to function in society. And, children are still developing mentally and physically in order to be able to cope as adults. Why would one assume that children, non-adults, will be fine if left to their own devices? Opponents of spanking believe that it encourages the development of bad character in kids; children who do not want spankings become very deviant by lying to avoid them (Davis, 140). However, one parent with an 8-year-old named George chose not to spank him and found that it permitted George to be dishonest and defiant. The father saw an improvement in Georges behavior after he decided to span k him and noted that he only had to spank his son a few times by the time George turned thirteen (Davis, 137). Opponents argue that the people who support spanking are religious fundamentalists who base their reasons to justify it on the Bible, a book that some, depending on their own particular beliefs, view as unsubstantial (Davis, 139). Proverbs 13:24 reads that he who spares the rod does not love his child, and that he who loves his child will discipline him or her promptly. Despite how one may feel about Christianity and the Bible, the practicality and cogency of this statement cannot be disputed. Only a negligent parent and fool will let his or her children run amok and not discipline them. And, one final belief that opponents share is that spanking is addictive because of its easiness to execute and gives parents the satisfaction of getting out anger (Davis, 142). Spanking should not be about seeking a thrill, getting revenge, or relieving stress on behalf of the parent. It s hould be simply to discipline the child and nothing more. Anything else and spanking is at risk of becoming abuse. Kazdin and Benjet agree that spanking isnt necessarily positive nor negative, but can be depending on other conditions. Spanking is negative only when it becomes abuse. Physical abuse is punishment that is severe, excessive, and physically harmful and dangerous to the child. Physical abuse can involve the use of objects. It is also noted to be directed at parts of the body that are not included in the proper definition of spanking: the buttocks or extremities (Kazdin Benjet, 100). Slapping a child in the face is considered physical abuse. Punching a child is definitely a form of abuse. Allow us to examine the movie Mommie Dearest. The film told the story of Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of the late actress Joan Crawford. In the film, Christina and her brother were subjected to the harsh abuse and strictness of their mother. There was a scene in the movie when Joan was upset with Christina for hanging her own clothes with a wire hanger. Because of this, Joan beat Christina with the same wire hanger to teach her a lesson: do not hang your clothes with wire hangers. How preposterous does that sound? If that is not a clear image of physical abuse, then I do not know what is. There was no reasoning behind it. To say that the punishment was excessive would be an understatement; it was uncalled for, period. Joan Crawford must have had mental issues because responsible, mentally fit parents do not act this way. Another film depicting child abuse is Precious. The film depicted the life of a 16-year-old, African-American girl named Claireece Precious Jones who was obese, illiterate, and suffered severe forms of mental, physical, and sexual abuse from her parents. In one scene, Preciouss mother Mary attempted to hit her in the head with a cooking pot. This was because she thought Precious told an adult from her school to come to the house to discuss the benefits of education and alternative schooling with Mary in regards to Precious. Discussing education is a justifiable reason to try to give ones own child a concussion. The reality was that the adult came to Precious and Marys home of her own accord; Precious even warned the adult to not come because she knew Mary would react this way. In another scene, Mary forced Precious to eat a huge plate of pigs feet Precious made for Mary because it was not of her liking. She glared at Precious coldly, making sure that Precious ate every bit of it befo re she would make Precious cook dinner again, right this time. This was why Precious was morbidly obese. In yet another scene, Mary attacked Precious and her newborn when they finally came home after leaving the hospital. Mary did this because she was angry with Precious for coming clean to a social worker about the abuse she suffered. Mary was also jealous of Precious because Marys boyfriend (who was also Preciouss father) preferred to sleep with Precious and not her; both of Preciouss children, the newborn included, were products of rape from her father. In this scene, Mary waited for Precious to come home with the baby and asked Precious if she could hold him. Then, she told Precious to get her something to drink. While Preciouss back was turned, Mary tossed the baby to the ground and then threw a flower pot at the back of Preciouss head, causing it to shatter. She hurled more objects at Precious and cursed at her. She then charged at Precious, and a violent scuffle ensued. Lucki ly, Precious and her baby able to leave the apartment with minor injuries. Precious ran down the staircase with the baby and fell down; they both were miraculously fine. Fortunately, she moved herself and her child out of the way before a television came falling down the stair well from the floor of her mothers apartment; Mary, out of hate, tried to kill her own daughter and grandson. Although the Precious movie depicted an overly extreme case of physical abuse among other abuses, it defined it nonetheless. With that being said, proper spanking done from a responsible parent should never be mistaken for abuse. Spanking, when done properly, is actually a great tool for discipline. Studies show that 74% of American parents of children age seventeen and younger use spanking as a disciplinary technique while 94% of parents with children age three to four spank (Kazdin Benjet, 100). Spanking cannot be as bad as some people make it seem if virtually all parents do it. E.T. Gershoff concluded with an analysis of 88 studies that spanking had negative effects only when it was abusive (Kazdin Benjet, 100-01). Sweden passed a law in 1979 banning spanking to prevent child abuse. However, child abuse cases increased six-fold from 1981 to 1994 (Larzelere, 5). Spanking is not that issue that people should worry about; abuse is the issue. One father concurs that spanking prepares children for the real world; in the real world, people are punished for breaking the rules. He states, To have rules for behavior without the threat of physical punishment is like having laws without jails (Davis, 138). To the people who argue that spanking promotes fear in children, is fear really a bad thing? Is it not that same fear that prevents many children from getting in trouble in the first place? Is it not fear that scares adults from committing crimes that will otherwise put them in jail or prison? Is it not fear that promotes safety and good judgment in people anyway? People argue about deviant behavior to avoid punishment. If people, children included, are doing the right thing to begin with, then they should not have to worry about being punished. It is as simple as that. Let us consider the story of the little boy who burned himself after playing with the stove after his mother told him not to. She understood that the fire looked cool but advised him not to touch it because it will burn him. Out of his own defiance and curiosity, he touched the fire anyway and so forth. Analogously, spanking is the fire. He did not listen to his mother and had to suffer the consequences: being burnt. And ho pefully, he learned first-hand that fire burns and that he should not touch it if he does not want to get burnt again. Analogously, children should behave accordingly if they do not want any spankings. And, that is the practicality that makes spanking effective; it presents the child with an unfavorable outcome if he or she decides to be disobedient. Larry Winget agrees that children who are effectively and appropriately punished have more love and respect for their parents because their parents are showing that they care enough to correct potentially self-destructive behaviors in their children (Winget, 86); Janis Cambell believes that people tend to raise their children the way that their parents raised them (Cambell, 199). If this is true, then it is safe to say that Larry Winget respects and loves his parents, and they spanked him whenever it was necessary; he does the same to his children, and they love and respect him. Properly spanking a child when it is necessary can aid in ensuring that the child in question is not going down the wrong path and getting into trouble. Dianne is contemplating spanking her child. How does she go about it properly? Dr. Diana Braumrind states that Parents should first use verbal disciplinary reasoning to correct misbehavior. If that fails, then use non-physical punishments such as time-outs. If the problem persists, then use non-abusive spanking to correct the behavior (Larzelere, 4). Larry Wingets approach to discipline involves mak[ing] the punishment about the behavior and not about the person. With his experience as a father, he believes that parents should stress that they are spanking their children to alter their behavior, not because the children are bad people. He urges parents not to attack their childrens personalities (93). Doing so could potentially harm their mental developments. Winget continues by stating that parents need to make the punishment fit the crime (92). Do not spank a child if he or she forgets not to smack at the dinner table. Do not spank him when the both of you are at the grocery store and he asks for Skittles despite you telling him that you were not buying any candy prior to walking in. If you say no and he throws a massive tantrum and knocks items off the shelves, then spank him. Only spank a child when it is absolutely necessary. Winget affirms that anger is an appropriate response to [an] offense, and that a parent should wait to administer punishment because he or she may lose his or her temper and do something he or she may regret: seriously injuring the child (91, 92). Most of all, Winget stresses that a good parent will talk with his or her child so the child can have a better understanding of why he or she is being punished. Talking allows the parent to exercise judgment when listening to the child and figure out why the child did what he or she did so that the parent can determine how to punish the child. This can also help the parent to decide whether or not a spanking is even necessary (92-93). Good parents who spank their children are not the vicious , evil monsters that people believe them to be. The procedures mentioned by Braumrind and Winget show sympathy to the child. Although spanking can be a great means of discipline, it is not the most perfect method. No discipline is. However, it can be very effective. The first flaw with spanking is that it may not work on every child. Winget agrees that different kids require different punishments, and that spanking is an effective tool with some kids. Wingets son Tyler responded better to discussions and lectures while his other son Patrick responded better to being spanked (87; 88). The second imperfection with spanking is that its efficacy is subjected to severity and frequency (Kazdin Benjet, 100). Spanking loses its effectiveness when it is overused and is the only method of discipline, and it is very easy for parents to exhaust this method (Winget, 88). I can recall children from my childhood who were spanked almost everyday by their mothers and were still problematic. I remember these mothers spanking their kids and nothing else; they never asked them why did you do it? Rather, they found the neares t belt, or switch (long twig from a tree), or loafer and began whipping with the deepest frustration. In a study, Kazdin and Benjet found that occasional, mild spanking accompanied with other disciplinary techniques showed to be the most positive, effective form of punishment (101). One study states that parents from lower SESs tend to spank their children more while middle-class parents favored reasoning, isolation, guilt, and the threat of loss of love over spanking (Brown, 68). Researchers concluded that the parents of the lower SESs had higher levels of stress; stress is linked to physical abuse (Giles-Sims, Straus Sugarman, 171). However, M.L. Kahn did a study stating that working-class (lower SES) parents tended to spank when their childrens behavior was most extreme, but held back whenever they sensed that spanking was not the appropriate course of action (Brown, 68); These parents displayed good judgment while chastising their children. Though spanking is not the utmost, ab solute way of effective discipline, it can still be an effective tool when coupled with other methods and used with proper judgment. Despite all the benefits of spanking and the preponderance of parents who support it, society still frowns upon it. There are many people, doctors and others with merits, who consider proper, mild, non-abusive spanking still abuse. It has become a secretive thing for parents because of the taboo surrounding it despite it being legal; critics have been known to rebuff its legality by comparing it to cigarettes, saying that both are legal, harmful, and habitual (Davis, 142). This argument does not serve good parents who only seek to eliminate bad behavior any justice. Non-abusive spanking is not harmful, and the parents who are successful at correcting misbehavior do not have to spank frequently in order for it to become a habitual thing (Davis 137). With spanking becoming more, and more secretive, parents have been very conscious of how they discipline their children in public places. Parents who suffer the unfortunate circumstance of their children misbehaving in places like the groc ery store face a catch-22: being considered as unfit if they ignore it, or being viewed as abusive if they attempt to correct the misbehavior (Brown, 70). These parents worry about the nosy, meddlesome, old women who believe in all children being cherubs incapable of mischief. They worry about being scrutinized and ultimately reported to authorities for simply trying to raise children to the best of their abilities. Whenever a child is knowingly misbehaving the way children do from time to time, these old women tend to pardon it by saying, Oh, he is just being a kid. Dont punish him. But, whenever a child is extremely offensive, they have the temerity to question and challenge the parenting skills of the adult. Parents are embarrassed when their children act up in public and view it as an emergency situation because of three beliefs concerning parenthood in American society: that children turn out well with good parents, that contemporary parents are not as good as their predecessor s, and that there is no such thing as bad kids only bad parents (Brown, 70). Parents feel judged by these beliefs. With parents judgments conflicting with the mores, it is no wondering why there is so much controversy surrounding the right of parents to spank. While researching, I stumbled across some interesting facts. Studies show that fathers tend to spank their children more than mothers despite mothers being the main disciplinarians who also spend the most time with the children; mothers tend to yell at their children more (Cambell; 199, 202). I remember being spanked by my father more so than by my mom in my childhood. And I also remember her lecturing me more so than my father. Another fact is that younger parents are more likely to spank their children more than older parents (Giles-Sims, Straus Sugarman, 171). That caught my attention because I thought it would be the older group that favored spanking; the old people I grew up around where staunch advocates of spanking problematic children. Boys tend to be spanked more than girls (Giles-Sims, Straus Sugarman, 171). I can see this as being true because the boys I grew up with tended to misbehave more so than the girls. Parents who spank their children more than once often forget how many times they have had to so (Giles-Sims, Straus Sugarman, 171). Losing count is only expected for things that have been done with a sufficient amount of frequency. The final fact that I learned was that Caucasian parents are more likely to spank their children, despite other ethnic groups general acceptance it, particularly African-Americans (Giles-Sims, Straus Sugarman, 171). That, too, was interesting because I always thought Caucasians generally disagreed with spanking. There has been quite a handful of research done on spanking. The issue of spanking is one containing opposing view points. One side of the argument is in dissent about the issue, claiming that it is abuse while the other side supports it as an effective tool. Fact of the matter is, spanking definitely works and is very popular among American parents despite societal tendencies to discourage it. Ideally, if all children did not misbehave, then parents would not need to spank them. A mother in her right mind does not even want to think about spanking her child, let alone having to do it. It becomes a conflict for her because she will see her child misbehaving and know that she will have to spank him. I remember my own mother telling me that spanking will hurt her more than it will hurt me because I would eventually understand my wrong along with the consequences that entail. I would get over it; she, on the other hand, would bear the burden of her conscience because she would be placed in a position to where she would have to spank the child she loves so that he would learn to do better, not because she is angry. Non-abusive spanking should never become synonymous with abuse because abuse is detrimental; proper spanking is the opposite. Non-abusive spanking is not always the best solution, nor is it the only option to every crime committed by the child, but is very effective when done correctly; there is a proper way parents must go about executing it. And finally, there has been extensive research done on the topic. Parents should be allowed to spank their children so that they will become responsible adults with a great understanding of appropriate behavior to have in American society, or any society for that matter.

King Lear Essay -- essays research papers

King Lear Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play, â€Å"King Lear† by William Shakespeare, starts with noblemen Kent and Gloucester having a conversation and the audience finds out that Gloucester has two sons. Edgar who is his heir, and Edmund his unimportant son. This info. leads to the mini-plot. Then, Lear enters to say that he is going to end his life’s tasks and problems. He then points to the map, he tells the people there that he will split his land into three parts. They are going to be given to his three daughters. The two oldest, Goneril and Regan, tell their father that their love for him goes beyond expectations. The youngest one, Cordelia, tells him that she loves him, but only as she should love her father. He is then angered and disappointed at the lack of love by her. Then splits his land evenly between Goneril and Regan, and then banishes Cordelia. Then France decides to marry the now banished Cordelia. When Kent tries to defend Cordelia, he banishes him too.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meanwhile, Goneril and Regan decide that if Lear becomes too much of a nuisance, they will have to decide what disciplinary actions to take. In the developing subplot, Edmund complains of his unhappiness at being an illegitimate—and thus, disinherited—son. As part of his plot to claim what is not his, Edmund gives a false letter to his father, Gloucester, declaring that Edgar is proposing that they kill their father and split the wealth between them. The cunning Edmu...

The Microraptor Gui: Link Between Bird and Dinosaur Essay -- Explorato

The Microraptor Gui: Link Between Bird and Dinosaur The Debate: For years paleontologists have debated intensely about the origin of birds. How did air-borne birds evolve? How did they learn to take flight? Are they linked to dinosaurs? If they are, which species of these reptiles are the birds closest related to? The Find: From 2001 and 2002, six new basal dromaeosaurid specimens from the Lower Cretaceaous Jehol Group in Chaoyang Basin in western Liaoning, China, were found. These six specimens of the Microraptor gui, previously known genus Microraptor, were discovered by Xing Xu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Microraptor gui gets its name in honor of Gu Zhiwei, a renowned paleontologist who contributed greatly to the study of Jehol biota. So far over 60 species of fossil plants, 1000 species of fossil invertebrates, and 70 species of fossil vertebrates have been found in these rocks, dating back to the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous periods. Recently there has been much media attention to these rocks that yield such vital information in the evolution of birds, and origins of feathers. The Microraptor gui is 77 cm in length. It is believed to have lived between 124 and 145 million years ago. The Microraptor Gui has four wings in total. Interestingly, it has a w ing on each hind-limb. The Microraptor gui is a bird: Some will argue that the Microraptor gui was a bird. Feathers cover its entire body. It has forelimbs much like the wings of modern birds, and modified for flight. The pelvis characteristics derived from basal birds. The Microraptor gui had a vane on one side of the feather’s spine that was wider than the other. â€Å"This nuance of design strongly suggests these fe... ... and theropauds has also been illustrated in popular modern movies such as Jurassic Park III. Here Steven Spielberg accurately depicts the newly found details of the raptors. Contrary to the first two editions of the movie, this time the raptors have feathers at the top of their heads. In order to allow the audience to easily recognize these fierce carnivores from the prequels of the movie the change was not drastic, but it was a positive step in accurately depicting dinosaurs in movies. To solve the whole question of linking birds and dinosaurs one would need to find a feathered dromaeosaur adapted to life in the trees as opposed to on the ground, and the Microraptor gui seems to be just this. Through the discovery of Microraptor gui it is clear that birds share a common ancestry with small carnivorous dinosaurs called dromaesaurs found in the theropod group.

Comparison of Anthem for Doomed Youth and An Irish Airman Foresees His

Comparison of Anthem for Doomed Youth and An Irish Airman Foresees His Death William Butler Yeats has written many pieces of literature, mainly about Ireland as that is his passion and cause of writing. However his poem â€Å"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death† is not solely about Ireland and even though it includes that theme it is rather a criticism of apathetic people who have no reason for going to war. The form of Yeats’ poem is very structured and regular. The rhyme scheme is ABAB the whole way through the poem and has an unstressed, stressed beat every time. The poem is made up of one sixteen-lined stanza and has a straight forward structure. Yeats has used this format for emphasis to get his point across. He has made the poem using paired lines which balance with one another neutralising any feeling that there may have been. Yeats has also made the layout of the poem very simple and uncomplicated to make Robert Gregory’s reason for going to war stand out which is also simple and uncomplicated-He just wants to fly a plane. Wilfred Owen’s poem was influenced by another war poet Siegfried Sassoon. Their conversations about the horrors of war together provided the framework to many of the poems that Owen wrote. As a soldier at war, Owen was affected by the traumatising horrors of the trenches that he saw while he was out there. He was so badly affected that he was diagnosed with shell shock and sent to hospital in Edinburgh. These horrific scenes caused Owen to write such gruesome yet realistic compositions. Like Yeats’ poem, â€Å"Anthem for doomed youth† is also a criticism only this time it is a criticism of how the young soldiers who die at war do not get the recognition or heroic funeral that they so... ... a more realistic tone. Like Yeats, Owen uses rhyme, rhythm and imagery only he makes his more varied, frequent and complexed. To do this, Owen has used an assortment of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, onomatopoeia and alliteration. This helps Owen to elaborate his poem in more serious, gruesome detail which he often does, even in other literature and a good example of this would be another poem called â€Å"Dulce et docormest.† He has seen the horror and futility of war first hand and this is reflected through his use of emotive language. The two poems are diverse to one another as Owen uses numerous amounts of imagery and has a lack of structure which results in an abundance of emotion where as Yeats is the complete opposite and comprehends constant structure and image deficiency which consequently leads to a lack of emotion.

My favourite holiday destination Essay

The President of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The President is the formal head of the executive, legislature and judiciary of India and is the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President is indirectly elected by the people through elected members of the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) as well as of the Legislative Assemblies in States of India (Vidhan Sabha) and serves for a term of five years. Historically, ruling party (majority in the Lok Sabha) nominees (for example, United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee) have been elected or largely elected unanimously. Incumbent presidents are permitted to stand for re-election. A formula is used to allocate votes so there is a balance between the population of each state and the number of votes assembly members from a state can cast, and to give an equal balance between State Assembly members and the members of the Parliament of India. If no candidate receives a majority o f votes, then there is a system by which losing candidates are eliminated from the contest and their votes are transferred to other candidates, until one gains a majority. Although Article 53 of the Constitution of India states that the President can exercise his or her powers directly or by subordinate authority, with few exceptions, all of the executive authority vested in the President are, in practice, exercised by the popularly elected Government of India, headed by the Prime Minister. This Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister with the help of the Council of Ministers. The President of India resides in an estate in New Delhi known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan (which roughly translates asPresident’s Palace). The presidential retreat is The Retreat in Chharabra, Shimla and Rashtrapati Nilayam (President’s Place) in Hyderabad. The 13th and current President is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected on 22 July 2012, and sworn-in on 25 July 2012. He is also the first Bengali to be elected as President. He took over the position from Pratibha Patil, who was the first woman to serve in the office. ORIGIN—-India achieved independence from British Rule on 15 August 1947, initially as aDominion within the Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as the King of India, represented in the country by a Governor-General. Still, following this, the Constituent Assembly of  India, under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, undertook the process of drafting a completely new constitution for the country. The Constitution of India was eventually enacted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950,:26making India a republic.:9 The offices of monarch and governor-general were replaced by the new office of President of India, with Rajendra Prasad as the first incumbent.:1 Legislative Legislative power is constitutionally vested in the Parliament of India of which the president is the titular head. The President summons both the Houses (the Lok Sabhaand the Rajya Sabha) of the Parliament and prorogues them. He can dissolve the Lok Sabha. :147 These powers are formal and by convention, the President uses these powers according to the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The President inaugurates the Parliament by addressing it after the general elections and also at the beginning of the first session each year. Presidential address on these occasions is generally meant to outline the new policies of the government. :145 All bills passed by the Parliament can become laws only after receiving the assent of the President. The President can return a bill to the Parliament, if it is not a money bill or a constitutional amendment bill, for reconsideration. When, after reconsideration, the bill is passed and presented to the President, with or without amendments, the President is obliged to assent it. The President can also withhold his assent to a bill when it is initially presented to him (rather than return it to the Parliament) thereby exercising a pocket veto.[11] When either of the two Houses of the Parliament of India is not in session, and if government feels the need for immediate procedure, the President can promulgate ordinances which have the same force and effect as laws passed by Parliament. These are in the nature of interim or temporary legislation and their continuance is subject to parliamentary approval. Ordinances remain valid for no more than six weeks from the date the Parliament is convened unless approved by it earlier. Appointment powers The President appoints, as Prime Minister, the person most likely to command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha(usually the leader of the  majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister. 72 The Council of Ministers remains in power during the ‘pleasure’ of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:72 Governors of States The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India The Attorney General The Comptroller and Auditor General The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission Vice Chancellor of central university and academic staff of central university through his nominee Directors of IITs and NITs Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries Financial powers All money bills originate in Parliament, but only if the President recommends them. He or she presents the Annual Budgetand supplementary Budget before Parliament. No money bill can be introduced in Parliament without his or her assent. The President appoints a finance commission every five years. Withdrawal from the contingency fund of India is done after the permission of the President. :48 The Contingency Fund of India is at the disposal of the President. Judicial powers The President appoints the Chief Justice of the Union Judiciary and other judges on the advice of the Chief Justice. He or she dismisses the judges if and only if the two Houses of the Parliament pass resolutions to that effect by a two-thirds majority of the members present. According to Article  143 of Indian Constitution, if the President considers a question of law or a matter of public importance has arisen, he or she can ask for the advisory opinion of the Supreme Court. Military powers The President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India. The President can declare war or conclude peace, subject to the approval of parliament only under the decision of the Council of the Armed Forces Chief staffs,Military Secretary and President’s Officer (Deputy Military Secretary). All important treaties and contracts are made in the President’s name. He also appoints the heads of the armed forces. Emergency powers The President can declare three types of emergencies: national, state, financial. :12 National emergency See also: The Emergency (India) National emergency can be declared in the whole of India or a part of its territory on causes of war or armed rebellion or an external aggression. Such an emergency was declared in India in 1962 (Indo-China war), 1971 (Indo-Pakistan war), 1975 to 1977 (declared by Indira Gandhi on account of â€Å"internal disturbance†) Under Article 352 of the India Constitution, the President can declare such an emergency only on the basis of a written request by the Cabinet Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Such a proclamation must be approved by the Parliament within one month. Such an emergency can be imposed for six months. It can be extended by six months by repeated parliamentary approval, there’s no maximum duration.[18][page needed] In such an emergency, Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens can be suspended.[7]:33 The six freedoms under Right to Freedom are automatically suspended. However, the Right to Life and Personal Liberty cannot be suspended.(Article 21):20.6 The President can make laws on the 66 subjects of the State List (which contains subjects on which the state governments can make laws). Also, all money bills are referred to the President for its approval.[16]:88 The term of the Lok Sabha can be extended by a period of up to one year, but not so as to extend the term of Parliament beyond six months after the end of the declared  emergency. :223 State emergency If the President is satisfied, on the basis of the report of the Governor of the concerned state or from other sources that the governance in a state cannot be carried out according to the provisions in the Constitution, he/she can declare a state of emergency in the state. Such an emergency must be approved by the Parliament within a period of 2 months. Under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution, it can be imposed from six months to a maximum period of three years with repeated parliamentary approval every six months. If the emergency needs to be extended for more than three years, this can be achieved by a constitutional amendment, as has happened in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. During such an emergency, the President can take over the entire work of the executive, and the Governor administers the state in the name of the President. The Legislative Assembly can be dissolved or may remain in suspended animation. The Parliament makes laws on the 66 subjects of the state list (see National emergency for explanation). A State Emergency can be imposed via the following: 1. By Article 356 – If that state failed to run constitutionally i.e. constitutional machinery has failed[25]:159 2. By Article 365 – If that state is not working according to the given direction of the Union Government.[26] This type of emergency needs the approval of the parliament within 2 months. It can last up to a maximum of three years via extensions after each 6-month period. However, after one year it can be extended only if 1. A state of National Emergency has been declared in the country or in the particular state. 2. The Election Commission finds it difficult to organise an election in that state. On 19 January 2013, President’s rule was imposed on the Indian State of Jharkhand, making it the latest state where this kind of emergency has been imposed. Financial emergency[edit] If the President is satisfied that there is an economic situation in which the financial stability or credit of India is threatened, he/she can then proclaim a financial emergency, as per the Article 360. :159 Such an emergency must be approved by the Parliament within two months. It has never been declared. :604 A state of financial emergency remains in force  indefinitely until revoked by the President.[13]:195 The President can reduce the salaries of all government officials, including judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, in case of a financial emergency. All money bills passed by the State legislatures are submitted to the President for approval. He can direct the state to observe certain principles (economy measures) relating to financial matters. Eligibility Article 58 of the Constitution sets the principle qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of the President. A President must be: A citizen of India Of 35 years of age or above Qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments. Certain office-holders, however, are permitted to stand as Presidential candidates. These are: The current Vice President. The Governor of any State. A Minister of the Union or of any State (Including Prime Minister and Chief Ministers). :72 In the event that the Vice President, a State Governor or a Minister is elected President, they are considered to have vacated their previous office on the date they begin serving as President. Under The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952,[31] a candidate, to be nominated for the office of president needs 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders for his or her name to appear on ballot. Conditions for Presidency Main article: Electoral College (India) Certain conditions, as per Article 59 of the Constitution, debar any eligible citizen from contesting the presidential elections. The conditions are: The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State be elected  President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as President. The President shall not hold any other office of profit. The President shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residences and shall be also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by Parliament by law and until provision in that behalf is so made, such emoluments, allowances and privileges as are specified in the Second Schedule. The emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished during his term of office.

Group Practice Manager on Administrative Applications

Group Practice Manager on Administrative Applications Group Practice Manager on Administrative Applications An Air Force (AF) military treatment facility (MTF) will normally have two or more group practice managers (GPM). The facility where this interview takes place has three; they are co-located at LakenheathHospital with duties equally divided between in and outpatient care areas. The duties of a GPM consist of assessing clinical business practices, forecasting demands on medical services, and determine how well the MTF is meeting the business plan. They are responsible for the evaluation of each provider regarding relative value unit (RVU) and relative weighted unit (RWU). Additionally, they are evolved in budgeting, marketing, strategic planning and lead facility initiatives addressing patient satisfaction of in and outpatient medical services (AFMS Kx, n. d. ). The GPMs interact with numerous administrative applications to achievesuccess at their job. This paper will discuss three key applications; Management Analysis and Reporting Tool (M2), United States Armed Forces Europe (USAFE) Decision Support System (DSS) and Air Force Surgeon General’s Executive Global Look (SG EGL) utilized by the GPM in assess data. M2 is a Business Objects query tool GPMs use to aid decision makers in overseeing military health system(MHS) operations. The benefits of M2, provides a detailed summary of population, clinical and financial data from all MHSworldwide. Data includes, purchased care, eligibility and enrollment data (Executive Information Decision Support, n. . ). GPMs use M2 to evaluate encounters, business practices, perform trend analyses, conduct patient, and provider profiling studies. This application also identifies areas of healthcare services paid to the private sector that are available at the MTF and transfers those services back to MTF. Disadvantages of this system identified by the GPM include, complicated excel spreadsheet s requiring extensive data cleanup and performing multiple pivots to present reportable data. Data lag time is forty to sixty days, so today the GPM can only assess data as recent as the end of February. This system is preferred to the Composite Health Care System (CHCS I), a Virtual Memory System (VMS) where ad-hoc reports are built, requiring clean up, then pasted in to Excel for more data clean-up and pivoting (Beyster & Economy, 2007). Another administrative application favored by GPMs is the Air Force Surgeon General’s Executive Global Look (SG EGL). SG EGL assesses MTF effectiveness of meeting measures in customer satisfaction, provider availability, appointment booking, business plan and the command’s overall performance. One innovation all three GPMs agree upon is SG EGL, this administrative application provides â€Å"Push Report,† which pre-builds graphics of the aforementioned data that they do not have to pivot down. The SG EGL website allows requested reports to be sent directly to e-mail inbox monthly (Air Force Surgeon General’s Executive Global Look, n. d. ). Reports received have the same information contained on the website, so the user receives information in a dashboard format that is easily copied into PowerPoint for presentation tothe hospital leadership. One limitations of SG EGL noted by the GPM is the same data lag time as M2. Another problem with this application is the website frequently is inoperative and if updates are implemented you may not be able to see data until the Pentagon figures out the issue. One of the strengths of the website regardless up or down the â€Å"Push Reports† are always sent and contain viable data. Another tool for analyzing data used by the GPM is DSS. DSS is located in Ramstein, Germany and supports USAFESG on data regarding medical services provided throughout USAFE. DSS is a team of informatics specialists that generate custom reports, create and manage web-based applications (USAFE DSS, n. d. ). GPMs find DSS a favorite place to request custom built reports not covered in other applications such as M2 or SG EGL. Additionally, the informatics experts have the ability to mined data and perform clean-up, the GPM would normally have to accomplish. The report is still received in excel format,but data is specific to the request. The negatives of DSS, if a requested report needs additional data fields added, the report has to be rebuilt to include the new fields. Furthermore, extensive directions must be given to guide the informatics section on building the report. Once the report is built to specifications the potential for assessment of data is tremendous. The administrative application discussed in this paper address just a few currently used by GPMs. There are additional unique databases at major commands (MAJCOM), developed to assess unique data requiring evaluation by the command. The development of unique databases occurs due tothe demand for quick acquisition of data â€Å"in real time. Unfortunately, development at the DoD level takes years for implementation and the user want current data, not data forty to sixty days out of date. GPMs at this facility greatly desire one administrative application to obtain tables, graphs and reports, but such an application is years in the making. References Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) Knowledge Exchange (Kx). (n. d). Group practice manager’s position description. Retrieved from https ://kx. afms. mil/kxweb/home. doAFAF (Air Force Surgeon General’s Executive Global Look n. d. SG EGL)Air Force Surgeon General’s Executive Global Look. (n. d. . SG EGL. Retrieved from https://egl. afms. mil/ (Beyster R J Economy P 2007 SAIC Solution: How We Built an $8 Billion Employee-Owned Technology Comapny)Beyster, R. J. , & Economy, P. (2007). The SAIC solution: How we built an $8 billion employee-owned technology company. John Wiley & Sons, 88. (Executive Information Decision Support n. d. EIDS)Executive Information Decision Support. (n. d. ). EIDS. Retrieved from http://www. ha. osd. mil/peo/59810_Axiom_Bro_EIDS. pdf United States Armed Forces Europe (USAFE) Decision Support System (DSS). (n. d. ). Retrieved from https://sg2. usafe. af. mil/DSS/

Western Art

In the Paris suburb, about 80 km from the city, there stands the one of the most exquisite samples of the French cathedrals of Gothic style, the Chartres. Numerous works on this subject someway mention that â€Å"Gothic architecture began with the quantum leap of Chartres Cathedral, France† (Vickers, 1999). To be more specific about the interior architecture of this building, let us come inside. There are several unique architectural features, ‘cutting-edge’ for the 12th century, introduced in the edifice. First and the most outstanding of them, the flying buttresses, have greatly contributed in the whole architectural solution represented by higher ceiling and thinner walls, which later became typical for Gothic structures. The buttresses allowed redistributing of the roof load outw?rds, and helped to avoid the old practice of thick, heavy walls. Generally, the Cathedral was built in Latin-crossed configuration, as we can see on the plan: As we enter the cathedral, our attention is primarily drawn by multiple arches (another peculiarity of cathedral’s architecture), the stained-glass windows composed of the hundreds of geometric?lly sh?ped glass pieces, and the sculptures illustrating Old Testament scenes. By moving on between the two towers, we are walking over the famous labyrinth, and can see numerous arcades on the both North and South Naves, with clerestory and stained glass above. As we look back to the entrance, we notice one of the three rose windows on the west front. Passing the aspiring aisles leads us to the Crossing, the central part of the building, wider and more spacious. On the left transept our glance is immediately grabbed by the wall painting of Saints fronting the ‘Virgin and Child’ painting on the opposite transept. At the same time we are enjoying the view of cross-type vaulting and upper north and south walls including more rose windows. After the Crossing, we are finally reaching the Choir section and the Ambulatory. The apse of the cathedral is represented with 5 Radiating Chapels. The Chartres Cathedral that we have nowadays, despite fire damages and further restoration, is one of the finest examples of the French Gothic architecture.

Men and Women are Made Not Born Essay

In this essay I will write about how women and men are made not born. I will beintroducing different cultures and their views on men and women, how women at onestage in time did not have any rights to become what they wanted, I will give my ideas onthe subject and I will also research other authors work to get a different variety about whywomen and men are made not born. Firstly I will start by researching different cultures and their ways of life. This reallyinterests me because it is good to see how different people and their countries really andfrom each other. In Australia men and women are equal,they both can work in any job they desire, they both have the right to vote and go to war. It was not always like this though in Australia, it was a long time until women got equalright to men. It was the nineteenth century when women were given the right to vote andto stand for election into parliament. Although it was not until the 1960’s to the 1970’swhen women gained equality with men with work, the law and general social standing. Ifwe take a look into a totally different country like Afghanistan, women are ‘made’ bytheir fathers and husbands. Marriage for women is chosen by their families, women mustbe completely covered by a long veil and accompanied by a male relative when theyleave the house and women must do what they are told by their fathers and husbands. Soas we can see, it is hard for women in Afghanistan to become what they want and be whothey want to be. Another culture I want to look at is how women became men in the mountains ofNorthern Albania. A girl or her parents could decide to make them a male, circumstanceswhich would arise in order to do so would be that their husbands or fathers died at war orhad died from other reasons, so the wives or daughters would take on the lead role for thehousehold. They would become men if they wanted to work and build their communitiesinto something better, for example, working in the Communist Party Action Group, youcould only be a male to be a member. In order to get out of an arranged marriage orprotection against the kidnapping and trafficking of young women, it was easier for girlsto become men. What I am trying to say with researching different cultures is that in some countries menand women can choose how they want their lives to turn out and make a future forthemselves unlike other countries where people’s lives are made up for them. Another way we could look at the topic ‘Men and Women are Made Not Born’ is thatmen and women have to earn what they want to achieve, they are not just born with theirtalents. For example, if a person does a good job for someone then they are going torecommend them to other people, thus achieving a good reputation. As ( Mead, G 2007,p. 29) quotes ‘the self is something which has a development: it is not initially there abirth, but arises in the process of social experience and activity.’ This means that whenchildren are born they do not immediately have the social skills they require in life to dowell for themselves. The child has to go through a development which slowly teachesthem their life skills. It is up to the individual to decide what they want to achieve in life,they have the choice to carry on their education in what ever field they choose to bettertheir chances in the work force. The same in the work force, people have to betterthemselves to do better than others, to compete with the competition in order to get thejob. With an individual improving themselves in all kind of aspects, they are likely to geta good reputation and make something of themselves. This proves the heading ‘Men andWomen are Made Not Born’. In Australia it is a free country, everybody has the right to do or become what they wantto become. I believe the term men and women are made not born, to mean that it is up toboth men and women to make their lives and achieve what they want in life. Everybodyis their own unique person. Whether they are Australian, Chinese, Asian, American andso on, with their own personal beliefs. I guess the main reason I have focused on culturesis because I believe that an individual’s culture has a massive effect on the lifestyles theylive which develops an individual into their own unique, special person. References:’ Factors that brought about the women’s movement’, www.skwirk.com.auAlessandro Monsutti, ‘Culture of AFGHANISTAN’, www.everyculture.comBessant, J. Watts, R. (2007) Sociology Australia, Allen & Unwin. NSW. Gardner, J. (1987) Atlas of the World, Australia: Reader’s Digest. McWhirter, N. (1999) Book of Millennium Records, Virgin Publishing’s: Great Britain. Young, A. 2007, ‘Once Were Women’, Good Weekend, 20st October, 47-48. Mead, G 2007, ‘The Self’ in Classic Readings in Sociology’, Mind, Self and Society, pp25-32

Merger Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Merger Control - Essay Example In order to ensure free competition in the Single Market, agreements which not only have a significant effect on the trade between the Member States but also prevent, restrict or distort competition in the Single Market are prohibited by Article 81. Prohibition of behaviour which discourages competition is described in Article 81 (1) of the EC Treaty. In respect of investigations relating to mergers, to determine whether Article 81 EC will be applcable and to justify exceptions to the rule that there exists a distinction between merger control and the general competition law, a casual link must be established between the merger and the restriction of competition. In the absence of such a link, "the relevant coordination of the participants must be assessed in a separate proceeding under Article 81 (1) EC rather than as part of the merger control investigation under the E.C.M.R." An assessment under Article 81 of the EC, leads to the stoppage of the merger from going through and this constitutes an early attack on the parties. Investigation under Article 81 EC results in leaving the concentration untouched and this necessitates the intervention of the European Commission to correct this behaviour. ... The European Commission, while analyzing a merger under Article 81 (1) of the EC, considers in particular whether "two or more participating companies retain to a significant extent activities in the same market as the joint venture, or in a market which is downstream or upstream from that of the joint venture, or in a neighbouring market closely related to the relevant market." The final issue to be decided is whether the coordination, resulting from the creation of the joint venture, enables the participants to eliminate competition in respect of a major portion of the products or services being dealt with. The interstate clause defines the boundary in-between the areas respectively covered by the law of the Member States and the Community law. Agreements which do not affect trade between member states are not covered by Article 81 EC. These agreements are the exclusive domain of the national authorities. This basic test of whether or not interstate trade was affected or not was dealt with by the E.C.J. in Socit Technique Minire v. Maschinenbau Ulm1, the E.C.J. held that "it must be possible to foresee with a sufficient degree of probability on the basis of a set of objective factors of law or of fact that the agreement in question may have an influence, direct or indirect, actual or potential, on the pattern of trade between Member States." In respect of B2Bs, the test developed in Socit Technique Minire v. Maschinenbau Ulm, is apparently cleared without much difficulty, because of the type of the platforms, which function by utilizing the Internet. It is required by Article 81 (1) EC for every agreement to have as its objective or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of fair competition. "The E.C.J. has held that these