Building Effective Decision Making Skills - 1524 Words

Building Effective Decision-Making Skills When thinking about individuals that are highly successful, we usually associate their success, at least in part, to their effective decision making. Verman (2009) makes us understand that we use our decision-making skills to solve problems by choosing one plan of action from several possible alternatives. He went further and said decision making can be challenging, but nearly any decision involves some conflicts or dissatisfaction. The challenging part is to select one solution wherein the positive outcome can outweigh possible losses. Rank the four alternatives in terms of their potential success (make assumptions as appropriate) From the assignment questions, the following are several courses of†¦show more content†¦Identify other alternatives which are not already noted Although all the alternatives listed above are useful and could solve the present challenges with the hotel, but an additional alternative that is worth noting is evaluating the hotel. Both new employees, as well as the ones that have been part of the staff for a number of years, should be evaluated periodically. The ones that are underperforming should be removed and replaced. Regardless of any the hotel standard, once the staffs are incompetent in discharging their duty, the hotel will fail. Prepare a Plan with your decision-makings in reflection to the Hotel s situation and to your self-interests protection My decision-making plan for the hotel will be based on the first option among the possible alternatives. As a respected manager that has been managing one of the biggest hotels on the Island, I will not want to associate with failure instead I will do whatever it takes to take the hotel to the standard of the top resort. But this can only be done with the following plans. Exploring my various alternatives As soon as there is the complete satisfaction that my selected options among the alternatives can possibly be realistic, the next action for me will be to assess the risks, feasibility, and implications of each one. Apparently, every decision includes some level of risk. In other words,Show MoreRelatedBuilding Effective Decision Making Skills989 Words   |  4 PagesBuilding Effective Decision Making Skills ( pg 26) 1. Carefully examine each of your three options. In what ways night each option affect the other parts of the organization? Option A Opting for lower grade material in a competitive market will come with serious backlashes. This option could negatively affect the company’s image, and reputation in the market. This would, inevitably, lead to loss of our position in the market. Moreover, since we are a company based on producing outdoor materialsRead MoreManaging Time Effectively1205 Words   |  5 Pagesemployees to go through the decision making process before making an imperative decision. This will help to eliminate barriersthat are set up for failure. Teamwork and team building skills also play a major part in the workplace. Everyone should realize that there is a common goal for which each individual has a shared responsibility.` ` Effective time management is a systematicprocess that takes determination and a long-term commitment. Time management skills are your abilities toRead MoreThe Importance Of Management Courses On Corporate Training1014 Words   |  5 Pagesstructure and s tandardisation. Managers who are well trained are better at making decisions, more productive, and notably astute at enhancing their employees’ professional growth and development. Continuous training helps managers feel more equipped to do their jobs and more confident in their ability to carry out the company’s mission and values. Improve Self-Awareness Studies have found that self-awareness is a necessary skill for managers to succeed. Managers that are self-aware are more in-tune withRead MoreOrganizational Theory Of Team Building1428 Words   |  6 PagesTeam Building in the Workplace Kimberly Jones Southern Arkansas University Organizational Theory Behavior March 20, 2015 â€Æ' Team building is the â€Å"unification of varied individual energies, directed toward valued goals and outputs, which are linked with organizational results’ (DeVany, 1999). The aim of team building is to bring out the best in employees through activities designed to improve performance. Team building is significant in the current business environment as organizations are lookingRead MoreLeadership And How It Is Defined Or Recognised Varies Amongst Many1631 Words   |  7 Pagesand in this case a school (Quality Leadership in Australian Schools, 2007). Leadership identifies two vital aspects: What style of leadership is executed and how leadership is implemented effectively. Teachers have already committed to becoming effective leaders just by choosing to be teachers themselves (Collay, 2008, p.28). So they naturally develop leadership capacity within their everyday teaching. They support and guide their students through their educational journey and this is flourishedRead M oreInterpersonal Skills : Interpersonal And Social Skills1682 Words   |  7 PagesInterpersonal/Social Skills Sociability is the third most important skill for CEOs. People’s skills entail those skills, which help a leader work effectively with peers, superiors, and subordinates to achieve the goals of an organization (Adair, 2009). A leader must have the ability to relate well with followers. Effective leaders have self-awareness, as well as the awareness of those around them. The leader needs to be socially perceptive. A leader requires interpersonal skills to show emotional intelligenceRead MoreManagement : For Avoiding And Compromising Essay1326 Words   |  6 Pagesvery good at handling difficult situations or making decisions where high risks are involved. Based on the analysis of my personality through these personality tests, I need to build skills in areas of communication, risk management and decision making in difficult situations as well as in dealing with risk and with situations requiring me to lead. So, it becomes important for me to build better communication skills as well as collaboration skills. Conflicts can be avoided in a team by ensuringRead MoreLeadership Analysis : The American Organization Of Nurse Managers948 Words   |  4 PagesExecutive Leadership Analysis There are many skills, traits, and behaviors one must possess in order to be an effective leader. The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) has compiled a list of competencies and skills that nurse leaders should be proficient in. The five competency domains identified by AONE (2011) are â€Å"communication and relationship building, knowledge of health care environment, leadership skills, professionalism, and business skills† (p. 3). The competency domain I believeRead MoreEssay on Business Teams1140 Words   |  5 PagesBusiness Teams Effective coaching and team building skills are important in many contexts. Whether discussing a high school soccer team or a team of business executives, many of the same strategies and skills are needed to allow teams to succeed to their highest potential. In this paper I will discuss these strategies and skills and explain their importance. I have interviewed a former high school soccer player about her interpretations of effective coaching and team building skills, and will compareRead MoreWhat Makes A Great Man?920 Words   |  4 Pagesover and over again. Being in a leadership post does not automatically qualify a person to be a leader. One has to be an effective leader to be considered successful. This brings to mind the great nature versus nurture question. Is it possible for a leader to be made and not born? To answer this question, a study looked at the traits that are considered to make a leader effective and thus great (Kirkpatrick Locke, 1991). I read article twenty-five of chapter five of managing in the public

Fences Study Questions - 2080 Words

English 11 Spring 2014 Fences Study Guide Act I, Scene 1 1. What year is it? 1957 2. Describe Troy Maxson. Wants to be treated the way her treats others. Honest but bitter. Strong and resembles the time period. Not afraid to question society. Large man. No filter, says what he thinks, not afraid of offending others. Has some common sense. 3. Describe Bono. Good friend, loyal. Known Troy for about 30 years. Live close to each other. Loyal husband to Lucile. Treats Lucile w respect. 4. Why are people calling Troy a â€Å"troublemaker†? Went to his boss, asking why there were African Americans working there. He asks a lot of questions. 5. Describe Rose. Troy’s wife. She doesn’t take any crap, but not in the same way as†¦show more content†¦Explain. He doesn’t want his son to get hurt the same way he did w sports. Wants him to have a better life than he has. Wants him to find a girl like Rose. . No, bc people went straight into the work force back then, so going into college would put him in dept, and maybe even not work out in the long run. 3. How does Troy view fatherhood? His marriage to Rose? Says he basically only deals w him bc hes his son, otherwise he wouldn’t have anything to do w him. Veiws it as just providing for him. . He loves his wife, but also doesn’t as the same time. He goes to Taylor’s every Saturday and cheats on her. Treats her w as much respect as anyone. 4. Is Troy a man who finishes what he starts? Give examples from the play. No, bc he kept procrastinating the whole fence thing. Hasn’t finished anything, but has kept his job for a while. Didn’t finish thru on being in Lyon’s childhood. Act I, Scene 4 1. What happens to Troy at the commissioner’s office? They make him a driver. 2. What does the expression, â€Å"searching out the new land†, mean? 3. Do you think Troy is similar to his father? Explain. I think so bc he was saying how 4. When did Troy say he became a man? 5. How did Troy end up in prison? Was it a learning experience for Troy? Explain. 6. What does Troy say is â€Å"strike one† for Cory? This is an example of what figure of speech? 7. Do you believe that Troy ruined Cory’s â€Å"only chance†?Show MoreRelatedThe Border Fence Essay1339 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Brian Wagner Eng-1102-115 Essay #1- The Border Fence 9/16/13 In the essay â€Å"The Fence of Lies† the author Mario Vargas Llosa’s thesis is that the border fence between Mexico and the United States is a bad idea and a waste of taxpayer’s money. Some of the main points he uses to strengthen his argument are that it is purely a political ploy to get officials re-elected, that the fence is far too costly and the construction will never happen, and the money should be spent elsewhere. In additionRead MoreParenting Styles and Fences Essay669 Words   |  3 PagesProfessor Brown English 102 April 18, 2012 Parenting Styles and â€Å"Fences† Psychology is the study of the human mind and behavior. In psychology there are for parenting styles. They are Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive, and Uninvolved. I believe that the best parenting style is Authoritative. This parenting is more involved. They explain rules and punishment. They are open to conversations and questions. Inâ€Å"Fences† by August Wilson we learn that the type of parenting Troy Maxson exhibitedRead MoreGondola Case Analysis1129 Words   |  5 PagesIndividual Case study A: 4 BMA258 Services Marketing 2015 Simon Martin 077915 Individual Case study A: 4 BMA258 Services Marketing 2015 Simon Martin 077915 Contents Introduction 1 Body 2 Conclusion 4 References 5 Introduction This report will provide information obtained through a case study, regarding the revenue management of gondolas. The report, will pay particular attention to the capacity of gondolas, revenue impacts, revenue maximisation and the difficulties whilst tryingRead MoreRelationships: Wall and Tyger986 Words   |  4 Pagesour lives and not others? How do we know when we can trust someone? What is a true relationship? Why do we repair relationships? What is the value of putting up a fence (O’Brien)? All of these questions can be answered with the poems â€Å"Mending Wall† by Robert Frost and â€Å"The Tyger† by William Blake. In these poems both speakers question why to create or build something that is either destructive or will be destroyed. The â€Å"Mending Wall,† by Robert Frost, describes a story about two men who come togetherRead MoreThe Books Night, By Elie Wiesel1242 Words   |  5 Pagesit, how they reacted to it, and what their opinions were about it. These two books contain many similarities and differences, but they go so well together. Night starts out with the normal life of teenage Elie Wiesel, a Jew in Sighet, Hungary. He studies the Torah and the Kabbalah, two Jewish texts. Then the Nazis take over Hungary and enforce their anti-Semitic laws. The laws get more and more restrictive on the Jews. Eventually all the Jews in Sighet are forced into small and cramped ghettos. SoonRead MoreThe Tombstone Essay840 Words   |  4 Pagesscientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed. What better place to find an object of permanent value than a cemetery. I searched through four museums and could not find anything that peaked my interest into my study of humanities until at last it hit me, a cemetery I had passed countless times as a child that I had never truly thought of at all. At the corner of Cypresswood and I-45 I began to sift into a cemetery that I had no true interest in, or so I thoughtRead MoreThe United States Should Abstain From Fencing1522 Words   |  7 PagesTear Down This Wall How does a country go from Tear down this wall! to Build a fence to keep out all immigrants? An ongoing issue in American politics is whether or not to fence the southern border of the US and close it to immigration. States such as Arizona have taken action regarding this issue however, the federal government has not yet passed legislature or decided upon a course of action. The United States should abstain from fencing in the border due to the fact that, even though theyRead MoreTheme Of Women In Fences1739 Words   |  7 Pages Sergio Garcia English 2 Professor Spencer December 8, 2017 Sexuality and role of women in August Wilson’s Fences In the film Fences by August Wilson, the audience is presented with a country that is fast evolving, with oppression, prejudice, and poverty remaining a common factor. Most scholars argue that sexism is the dominant theme in Wilson’s plays due to the portrayal of female characters occupying the stereotypical, male-fantasized roles of the domestic, powerless, or submissive motherRead MoreThe Mending Wall by Robert Frost Essay1226 Words   |  5 Pagespoem began Frosts career as one of Americas great poets. Rugged New England farm life was the inspiration for many of his poems. Like much of Frosts poetry, The Mending Wall appears on the surface to be simple and plain. However, a closer study will reveal subtleties and depth. In the opening lines the speaker is true to this prosaic tone, Something there is that doesnt love a wall/That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it/And spills the upper boulders in the sun/And makes gaps evenRead MoreDiscrimination : Nature Or Nurture1399 Words   |  6 Pagesneed to research and receive more knowledge to prevent this from happening any longer. There are many different questions that come to mind while reading this book. These questions can range anywhere from how to stop discrimination to why did Hitler do the things he did. Even though all of these questions come to mind, only a few have the ability of being answered. The reason these questions cannot be answered is because there is no way of knowing why people do the things they do, because there is no

Blindness In King Lear Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Blindness In King Lear Essay, Research Paper Relevance of Blindness in King Lear One of the repeating subjects in Shakespeare s calamity King Lear is that of sight and the relevancy of clear vision. Through different types of characters, Shakespeare points out that neither the deficiency or the ownership of clear vision can protect anybody from anything. Shakespeare makes usage of several characters to convey across his point. The five characters I find to be the most of import to the subject include two characters that were ab initio unsighted and three characters with clear vision. The two blind characters are King Lear himself and the Earl of Gloucester. The three of import characters who have clear vision through the full drama include Lear s advisor, the Earl of Kent, Lear s girl, Cordelia and the illicit boy of Gloucester, Edmund. The capableness or incapableness of each of these characters to see doesn Ts needfully make him or her good or evil. We will write a custom essay sample on Blindness In King Lear Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Granted, the sightlessness of King Lear and Gloucester are the eventual cause of the deceases in the drama, but Shakespeare neer portrays either Lear nor Gloucester as peculiarly nefarious characters. King Lear remains blind for the bulk of the drama. His deficiency of perceptual experience, understanding and way cause him to do several hapless picks, one of which is ostracizing his lone honest girl, Cordelia, from his land. Lear s sightlessness besides makes him susceptible to use by his two eldest girls, Goneril and Regan. While Lear can physically see, his inability to judge character demonstrates his nonliteral inability to see. In contrast, Gloucester becomes physically unsighted, but acquires the type of vision that Lear deficiencies. Like Lear, Gloucester s blindness makes him vulnerable to use. Gloucester s bastard boy, Edmund, convinces him that his legitimate boy, Edgar, is plotting his ain male parent s slaying. Although untrue, Gloucester instantly accepts it as fact. Ironically, Gloucester s sightlessness costs him his physical seeing. Upon Gloucester s consciousness of his former errors, he cries, I stumbled when I saw ( Act IV, Scene I, Lines 20-21 ) . I think Shakespeare was seeking to show throug H Lear and Gloucester that 1 who has eyes can still be blind, while one without eyes can still see. In add-on, I think Shakespeare wanted to indicate out that perceptual experience is non a quality that merely honest people possess. The clear scoundrel in the drama, Edmund, is able to utilize his judgement of character for his evil intents. He can see that his male parent is fleeceable and, motivated by greed, deceives his male parent, his brother and anyone willing to listen. Among those about neer deceived throughout the drama are Cordelia and Kent. Cordelia can see that her sisters are delusory and greedy, and she wants no portion in flim-flaming her darling male parent. She wrestles with herself in the beginning about how she should depict her love for her male parent. Finally, her honestness prevails. Her description of her love as Harmonizing to my bond, no more nor less enrages the male monarch. By merely lying, she could hold easy avoided her fortunes. Despite her consciousness and apprehension of the universe around her, her male parent s sightlessness causes her decease in the terminal of the drama. In add-on, Kent is cognizant of Lear s mistake in ostracizing Cordelia from England. Kent sees Cordelia s true, honorable nature and efforts to convert Lear of his error. Rather than take this as friendly advice, Lear blindly mistakes it for a personal onslaught and responds with a stubborn, Out of my sight! to which Kent responds, See better, Lear, and allow me still remain ( Act I, Scene I, Line 160 ) . By utilizing the obvious mention to spy, Kent demonstrates his consciousness of Lear s sightlessness. In another dry turn, both Cordelia and Kent, the lone two honest people cognizant of King Lear s fatal defect, are banished from the state. I think they are important because despite their honestness, neither ends up happy in the terminal. Cordelia dies in the terminal. I think the predominating position of the universe in Shakespeare s King Lear is that the universe can non be seen with the oculus, but with the bosom. The material universe the oculus detects can conceal its immoralities with physical properties, and therefore the oculus can non accomplish clear vision. If Lear had been able to look with more than merely his eyes, he may hold avoided this great calamity. 334

Macbeth Essays (774 words) - Characters In Macbeth,

Macbeth During Shakespearean times, women were regarded as delicate little creatures who were there to give birth and look pretty. They were not thought to be smart or equal to men. Though in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth serves as the main influence in Macbeth's life. He trusts her with everything he has. She is, after all, his "dearest partner of greatness." (I, v, 13) The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is different from others of Shakespearean time. Though he is the man, he often consults his wife before he does anything. In the beginning of the play, when the witches tell Macbeth of his promising future, Lady Macbeth is the first person he writes to. Upon hearing the witch's prophecy, Lady Macbeth wishes it to be true in hopes that she will become queen. Immediately, the audience realizes the evils of Lady Macbeth. She asks the spirits to "unsex [her] here and fill [her] from the toe top-full of Direst Cruelty!" (I, v, 41-43) Lady Macbeth wants to become bold enough to persuade her husband to kill Duncan. Once Lady Macbeth puts the idea of murdering the King in Macbeth's head, she begins to plan the murder. Lady Macbeth is very direct and intelligent. She plans what looks like a perfect murder. Even though she appears to be rather bold, it is obvious to the audience that she is not very brave. She wants to be crowned just as much as Macbeth, if not more, but she doesn't have the guts to stab the King. Once the King arrives at Macbeth's castle, Lady Macbeth does what she tells her husband to do. She is a terrific actress and "Look[s] like th'innocent flower but be the serpent under ?t." (I, v, 65-66) This also shows Lady Macbeth's intelligence. When Macbeth thinks further about killing the King, he decides that he has too many reasons not to do it. Macbeth believes that the only good reason to murder the King is his ambition. Ambition is also Lady Macbeth's only reason for wanting to become queen. When Macbeth tells the Lady of the change in plans, she immediately launches and attack on his manhood. She calls him a coward and says that she would murder her own baby if she had promised to do so. Lady Macbeth uses a very smart tactic here in trying to persuade Macbeth. She goes for the one thing she knows men have trouble proving: their manhood. When Macbeth does as little as question her plan, she attacks him again, telling him to "screw [his] courage to the sticking place..." (I, vii, 61) This method was successful in persuading Macbeth to murder the king. This scene shows that Lady Macbeth is very powerful in this relationship. She is able to change the thane's mind even when he clearly stated "We will proceed no further in this business." (I, vii, 32) In the scene after the killing is done, the audience sees how calm and clear Lady Macbeth is. This event doesn't seem to affect her very much. Her husband, on the other hand, is the total opposite. He forgot to place the daggers in the drunken guards hands and refused to go back. Lady Macbeth fearlessly grabs the daggers and returns them. He says strange things about his bloody hands and doesn't think rationally. Lady Macbeth calmly tells Macbeth to wash his hands and tells him to put on their nightgowns and go to bed. Lady Macbeth also shows how responsible she is in the banquet scene after the murder of Banquo. She calmly tells the lords that Macbeth is simply ill and tells them to leave when she sees that things may be getting out of hand. After this scene, Lady Macbeth doesn't seem to have much to do with the play anymore. This is because of the change in the relationship of her and her husband. Macbeth is acting on his own accord now. He decides on his own to kill Banquo. When Lady Macbeth asks about this, he replies simply, "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck..." (III, ii, 48) Macbeth also doesn't consider her when he decides to return to the witches and to kill Macduff's household. From what has happened in the play so far, the audience doesn't see any good in Lady Macbeth. Later in the play, however, the murders do appear to have an affect on Lady Macbeth. The murders having an affect on her may not count as goodness, but that is as close

Free Essays on Annotation Paragraph Assignment

In today’s society, over-eating is definitely on a rise. Even in this day and age of fitness, where living a healthy and active lifestyle is much more highly promoted than it was twenty years ago. Everywhere one may look; there is a new diet fad, weight loss formula, drug, or system. But yet, there is a vast percentage of Americans whose health is at risk do to obesity. So regardless of whether one is worrying about weight, either to gain or to lose, typically when a person is asked how they feel about the way they look, for the most part, people will answer by wishing they could change at least one thing, sometimes more. One thing is for sure: this is a society that is obsessive about food. As Marcel Danesi points out in his article entitled â€Å"Food as Myth†, the mere act of eating in public reflects a ritualistic code. While people may be inclined to simply have a salad when out at a luncheon, they may be more inclined to go by McDonalds for a super sized Big Mac meal for a late night dinner on their way home from school. Food is also glorified on several different holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. This is how society gives itself permission to engorge them in a public setting. A sort of loop-hole to what Dansesi referred to as an â€Å"eating code†. There is a definite conflict between society’s encouragement of a healthy lifestyle and people wanting to just eat whatever they want and enjoy their meals, the fact that people will eat will remain a constant as long as mankind inhabits the Earth.... Free Essays on Annotation Paragraph Assignment Free Essays on Annotation Paragraph Assignment In today’s society, over-eating is definitely on a rise. Even in this day and age of fitness, where living a healthy and active lifestyle is much more highly promoted than it was twenty years ago. Everywhere one may look; there is a new diet fad, weight loss formula, drug, or system. But yet, there is a vast percentage of Americans whose health is at risk do to obesity. So regardless of whether one is worrying about weight, either to gain or to lose, typically when a person is asked how they feel about the way they look, for the most part, people will answer by wishing they could change at least one thing, sometimes more. One thing is for sure: this is a society that is obsessive about food. As Marcel Danesi points out in his article entitled â€Å"Food as Myth†, the mere act of eating in public reflects a ritualistic code. While people may be inclined to simply have a salad when out at a luncheon, they may be more inclined to go by McDonalds for a super sized Big Mac meal for a late night dinner on their way home from school. Food is also glorified on several different holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. This is how society gives itself permission to engorge them in a public setting. A sort of loop-hole to what Dansesi referred to as an â€Å"eating code†. There is a definite conflict between society’s encouragement of a healthy lifestyle and people wanting to just eat whatever they want and enjoy their meals, the fact that people will eat will remain a constant as long as mankind inhabits the Earth....

German Economy essays

German Economy essays Germany has mostly small farms. They are about 20-25 acres big. These farmers grow about 75% of the food the Germans need. The farmers grow wheat, oats, vegetables, sugar beets, apples, and grapes for wine. Farmers also raise beef and dairy cows, pigs, horse, sheep and chickens. Usually farmers have other jobs and farming is done on the side. Fishing is a big industry for the northern part of the country. The fisherman catch a lot of cod and herring. Germany's most important exports are cars (like Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen cars), machine and machine tools, chemicals, agricultural products and fuels. Major imports that Germany needs are food, manufactured items and fuel. Germany does over half of its trade with other European Nations and some with other countries around the world. Natural resources of Germany are potash and rock salt, which it has a lot of. Other resources are coal, lignite (which is a low quality of coal), copper, lead, timber, uranium and natural gas. Germany has arable land (about 33%) and forests are about 31% of the country. The rest are rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. Germany is a big country for manufacturing goods. Manufactured products of Germany that are made of steel are cars and trucks (third in the world, behind Japan and the U.S.), machinery (farming and industrial equipment) and ships. Germany also makes cement, clothing (I have a pair of German shoes), medical drugs, plastic, cameras, computers, toys and paper to name a few. The money in Germany is similar to ours. Our penny is 1 cent and for them it is called a pfennige. 100 pfennige equal 1 Deutsche mark. Also 100 pfennige equal a Euro. The Euro is a new currency that all of Europe is trying to make as the main money so that each country doesn't have to have its own currency. ...

Black Elk Speaks by John Gneisenau Niehardt Essay

Black Elk Speaks by John Gneisenau Niehardt - Essay Example The power of the play is not simply that it's superbly written drama but that it's all true (Dramatic Publishing Online Catalog)". Theatrical performance of the book has many significant features which determine the character of the play, and these features play rather important role for spectators' perception of the performance. I will discuss the theme and the main concept of the play by Niehardt's book Black Elk, the costumes of main characters and the lighting of the stage in different parts of the play, as well as its some significant moments. I will also access possible participation of some Hollywood actors in this play. 2. The theme of the play is the mix of some important themes of the book. So, it can be a mix of autobiographical theme and elegy, as it tells about tragic destiny of one of the most famous Indian tribes, and American Indians in general. The play should show the most important moments of the novel and to uncover the nature of the narration. The book consists of twenty-five chapters, and it is impossible to show the whole plot of the novel. The main concept of the play is to show the tragedy of Native Americans and to make spectators think of their historical legacy. Naturalism in some moments and symbolism of the whole play will influence spectators' perception of the performance. ... cter of the play is autobiographic narration of the main character, Black Elk, about his life, mystical visions which took place in his mind and performance reflection of these visions on the stage. The play will show a transition of the Indian tribe to reservation culture and reflect the influence of historical events on personal world perception. This transition will be displayed through the voice and views of Black Elk, as the main character of the play, as Glen Vanderbilt, professor of theater noted, "That voice reminds us of tradition and culture and asks for peace, justice and hope. Our stage production seeks to join that voice and remind our audience not only what was lost, but also what may still be" (At Ohio Wesleyan University Online). In addition to that, the play will show great life experience of Black Elk until the end of independence of American Indians, personal tragedy and tragedy of the whole world of Native Americans faced European invasion. 3. Costumes take one of the first places in the performance. They play one of the most important roles in historical period features reflection. A costume is the integral part of any play, especially that of historical character. So, a costumer must use all the features of a costume to show colours of that historical epoch. The director of the play will show all the variety of costumes features concerning particular play and time the action takes place, especially if it can help to underline the plot and the color of the time. I think that the characters will dress costumes which would resemble Indians' attire of that time, including important difference signs of some tribe members. So, Black Elk's costume will underline his status of a holy man, Whirlwind Chaser's costume will tell spectators that he is a

Sexuality and identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sexuality and identity - Essay Example There is need to provide them with useful learning materials, services and the opportunity to feel part of the society. The lack of appropriate sex education in Jake’s past life is the main undoing of the education system that he has gone through. By contrast the presence of only heterosexual lessons which attempt to address the needs of the community has resulted in gay people like Jake being labelled as ‘abnormal’. As Hoshall (2013) has argued, the procrastination to include sex education for the gay community (the absence) has triggered the ‘presence’ of labels, hatred and relegation of the likes of Jake as semi-human in society. Proponents of sex education argue that the incorporation of gay issues into such programs would limit homophobic intimidation, improve the welfare of gay community, and limit cases of seclusion that affect gay students (Williams, Prior and Wegner, 2013). Jake’s relegation from the social spheres of life, which is to blame for loss of self-confidence would have been resolved through tolerance programs for gays at school (Yip et al, 2013). Nonetheless, his suffering could have been the result of the ‘superiority’ of heterosexuals and sex education programs for the community as opposed to gays. According to Byrd (2011), the ‘weird’ programs for gays may have been shelved to avoid a political perception on learners that could deviate their thinking from supposedly moral ways of life. Gay sex education is as of now not included in many learning programs. This situation has cast Jake in bad light. Studies have also indicated that affected students usually do not find current sex education programs for gays to be appropriate (Woodford et al, 2012). Jake is one such case; he has pointed out that the whole learning environment including instructors, fellow students, and the immediate community have had conflicting perceptions on the

Principles Of human Resources Management Essay Example for Free

Principles Of human Resources Management Essay INTRODUCTION The management of organization human resource to make them attain the organizational goals and work effectively towards contributing to the growth of the organization in contemporary times has taken a new dimension from the traditional way of personnel management. Human resource is considered as the most valuable resources in the organization; without which other resources cannot be coordinated and utilized to the optimal sue of the organization. The formation of effective relationship with workers and enabling a working environment where there is informal relationship goes a long way to motivating workers to performance. According to Farrazzi Gatti (2007), â€Å"†¦developing deep, genuine relationships- both internally among co-workers †¦is one of the most important skills need for performance in workplace† Thus, Human Resource Development (HRD) is a vital process used in contemporary times to make an organization Human resource inapt and adequately equipped to face the challenges of the time. According to Wilson (1999:27), â€Å"An alignment between strategy and training and development is now commonly regarded as a good business sense in all corners of the globe†. This is more adduced to the limited resources and finance to aid an organization in the attainment of its goal. Thus, HR development will go a long way in the organization to attain effectively set goals in the most efficient way. For Colours R Us (CRU) company to effectively get the best in its human resource management , the management of the organization need to put in place conducive working environment; one that would motivate workers to want to remain long in the organization. This is obtainable through formation of deep relationship among workers. Getting the right people at the right place is a function of human resource planning. Motivation of workers plays a significant role in maintaining and making the positioned ‘right people’ stay and build up a long career in an organization. IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE HRM IN CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS Effective Human Resource Management practices are recognises as to enhance an organisation’s competitive advantage by creating both cost leadership and differentiation. Today’s competitive global environment has made organisation maintaining a competitive advantage puts a premium on having a committed and competent workforce. Low-cost, high- quality products and services are a result of committed employees all working hard to produce the best products and provide the best services that they can at the lowest possible cost. Thus, it is important that the Human Resource Managers are made to get in touch and be included in the organisation’s strategic plan, since they have the wealth of experience in the motivation of the organisational workforce into putting their best in the attainment of the strategic goals of the organisation. Furthermore, the possession of information about human resource planning put the Human Resource Manager in a good position to partake in the strategic planning of the organisation. For example, with the available information on human resource planning, this along side with the organisation strategy would bring about the hiring of the best human resource that would be in a better position to efficiently meet the organisation’s goals. In this view, Sims (2002), has it that, As effective partners in helping organisations successfully achieve their goals, Human Resource Management managers need to have a clear understanding of exactly what are the organisation’s strategies, and then they must ensure that their own efforts are consistent with provide support for those strategies. To the extent that the Human Resource Management function is seen as a strategic partner and/or a centre of expertise, of course, its manager should also be actively involved in the formulation of corporate and business strategies as well as other functional strategies. A closer integration between top management goals and Human Resource Management practices helps to elicit and reward the types of behaviour necessary for achieving an organisation’s strategy. According to Matanmi (2001:7), â€Å"as a concept HRM has relatively recently, developed as a generic (i.e. broad, all-embracing), and yet specialised management field that particularly draws its strengths from such multi-disciplinary sources of knowledge that include (but) not exclusively restricted to) personnel management, organisation behaviour   (OB), industrial and labour relations, economics, law, psychology and sociology†. In the process of HRM, there is an increasing emphasis on the personal needs of the organisation and its members. Thus, how effectively an organisation’s employee contribute successfully to the attainment of the organisational goals depends to a larger extent upon the ability of its HRM staff. Hence, the challenges of the HRM are to create an organisational environment in which each employee can grow and develop to his or her fullest extent (Sims, 2002:4). Furthermore, Rowden (1999) have it that Human Resource Professional need to master global operating skills. They should learn to do business in non-native environments, with individual of different backgrounds and perspectives and with products and services used in different ways. Human Resource Professionals should also be masters of the business environment. They need to understand financial reports, business goals, and consumer and investor important. â€Å"Also they must have the business acumen necessary to understand and support the business function. This will make Human Resource Professionals and indispensable part of a team assigned the task of charting a business’s future†. (Hussey 1995). Thus, it is seen that for the Human Resource source professionals to actively partake in the strategic planning of an organisation they need to be vast with skills that cut across financial planning, critical visioning and thinking, analytical skill and be informed with the ever changing technological development and better utilisation of modern information technology packages. This will make them be equipped to put the organisation a head of its competitors. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF COLOURS R US (CRU) HRM PROBLEMS The workers in Colours R Us (CRU) are not motivated enough to make their stay and build up a career in the organization. The working environment is not conducive; as workers find it difficult to meet their personal needs in the locality where CRU is located. These include restaurants services, baby day care services, security of workers who engages in night shifts. The necessary amenities are not there to aid the worker abide in their work and stay long in the company. Another major issue that is making CRU not to attract the best workers and to retain those it has is the level of remuneration available to the company’s staffers. However, CRU gives an average remuneration, the locality where the company operates from there is higher level of payment. The software companies and communication call centers are well positioned to pay more. This alone, would be an obstacle in motivating the right workers to want to be employed and build up a career with CRU. This is also a cause to make already employed workers in CRU to wanting to move out. Furthermore, the statistical number of workers in the organization shows that women are more than male permanent workers are. Women workers usually leave within short period of assuming their post as workers in the company. There is the problem of getting more workers to operate the company’s diversification operation in the production of ‘Magnificence in Miniature’ RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MANAGING THE COLOURS R US (CRU) HRM PROBLEMS As a Consultant with ‘Right People Right Place’, my recommendations for CRU Company, to solve its HRM problems, include the following: MOTIVATIONAL IMPROVEMENT FOR THE COMPANY’S HR CPU as an organization has not done very well in the motivations of its staffers. Though the company pays its staffers the average pay in the industry, the workers put in much time. Motivation would keep the staffers to contribute meaningfully in the organization and they will be interested and prepare to build up a lasting career with the company. Lindner (1998), argues, â€Å"Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive. Motivated employees are more productive. Monetary incentive is not only the channel of motivating workers. The sense of belonging and appreciation of workers contribution to the organization goes a long way to motivating workers. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all the functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. This is due, in part, to the fact that what motivates employee changes constantly†. The CPU management should adapt different ways for motivating employees who serve long hours and permanent from short- term workers. Motivating short-term worker, this should be done differently from those workers who are overworked or who put in lengthy work performance in the organization (University of Chicago Newsletter for Supervisor and Managers, 2004). In motivating a short-term worker the management of CPU, need to adopt the following strategic approach: Reinforce the significance of short-term employees work by explaining their importance and how they contribute to the organization’s growth. Introduce short-term employees to the people who use their work to demonstrate the effect the quality of their work has on others. Counter assumptions that someone else will do the work if short-term employees do not come through. Discuss the role short-terms workers play in the CPU manufacturing and working process. They should be made to understand that their work is as important as that of other employees. The Management of CPU should demonstrate interest in their long-term plans for HRM for short –term workers. Plans should be devised to identify those areas where skilled short-term workers may have value elsewhere in the organization. The management should help short-term workers to identify other opportunities before their assignment in your department is over. On the other hand, to motivate those workers who have work lengthy period and over work for the organization, the CPU management can motivate this group by adopting a strategy that follows the sequence of: The CPU management should let the lengthy period and over worked employees know that the company value their stay in the organization and appreciate their contribution to the growth of the organization. They should be made to know they stand to be adequately rewarded. The management of CPU should display the quality of a team player by requesting from this category of workers what they require to made them comfortable and keep the work going. The management of CPU should provide a feedback to workers that put in lengthy work hours, stay, and make them fell appreciated for their contribution in the organization. ADOPTING A MUTUAL EXCHANGE MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGY Mutual exchange is another strategy the management of CPU can adopt in motivating their workers. Here, where a worker has accomplish an assigned task he or she should be given something in return based on   earlier promise made by the supervisor; this may come in form of   a day off, or early closure for the   day’s work etc. According the Moore (1991), the negative effect of this appraoch is that it is not the most effective approach for motivating   workers; as the workers and supervisor may not reach a balance on what should be exchanged for the accomplishment of an assigned task.   RECRUITING MORE MALE WORKER The management of CPU should engage in recruiting more males than females. The environment where the company is situated is not conducive for female worker to work adequately. There is absence of day care for nursing mothers and those women with little children; the vicinity is not safe enough for night female worker. Considering these facts, the male worker will do more to cope in the environment than their female counterparts will. STRATEGIC ALLIANCE FORMATION WITH OTHER INTENSIVE CARE AND FACILITY PROVIDING ORGANIZATION The major reason for the workers leaving the CPU Company within short period is adduced to the lack of amenities to contribute to workers convenience in working for the company. The locality where the company is situated lacks these basic amenities. The management of CPU can enter into strategic alliance by inviting and forming strategic partners with small organizations to provide basic services that the workers lack, such as children day-care services, security, inter-alia. REFERENCES Ferrazzi, Keith Gatti, Lisa (2007), â€Å"The Human Element of Successful Training† June Volume 61, 6c ABI/ INFORM Global P. 68 Hussey, D. (1995), â€Å"Human Resources: Strategic Audit† In International Review of Strategic Management Vol. 6 Pp 157-195. Lindner, James R. (1998), â€Å"Understanding Employee Motivation† in Journal of Extension. June 1998 Volume 36 Number 3 Matanmi, Segun (2001) Strategic Management of the Human Resources in Nigeria for the next Millennium: some notes   (unpublished article) Lagos State University. Moore, Dianne-Jo (1991), â€Å"7 Motivational Strategies Managers Motivation Of Workers† Modern Machine Shop http://findarticles.com/p/search?tb=artqt=%22Dianne-Jo+Moore%22 (2/11/06) Rowden, R.W (1999), â€Å"Potential Roles of the Human Resource Management Professional in the Strategic Planning Process† in SAM Advanced Management Journal. Vol. 64, Issue 3. Pp 22 Sims, Ronald R. (2002), Organisational Success Through Effective Human Resources Management West Port, CT: Quorum Books. Pp. 1-5, 8, 9, 20, 23. University of Chicago Newsletter for Supervisor and Managers’ (2004), â€Å"Strategies and Tactics Methods to Manage Your Work, Your Staff, and Your Results† Volume VI Issue 9 September http://hr.uchicago.edu/newsletter/itk20040901/toc.html (1/11/06). Wilson, John P. (1999), Human Resource Development: Learning and Training for Individuals and Organizations London: Kagan Page

Feminism And Gender Equality In The 1990s :: essays papers

Feminism And Gender Equality In The 1990's Overall, the rights and status of women have improved considerably in the last century; however, gender equality has recently been threatened within the last decade. Blatantly sexist laws and practices are slowly being eliminated while social perceptions of "women's roles" continue to stagnate and even degrade back to traditional ideals. It is these social perceptions that challenge the evolution of women as equal on all levels. In this study, I will argue that subtle and blatant sexism continues to exist throughout educational, economic, professional and legal arenas. Women who carefully follow their expected roles may never recognize sexism as an oppressive force in their life. I find many parallels between women's experiences in the nineties with Betty Friedan's, in her essay: The Way We Were - 1949. She dealt with a society that expected women to fulfill certain roles. Those roles completely disregarded the needs of educated and motivated business women and scientific women. Actually, the subtle message that society gave was that the educated woman was actually selfish and evil. I remember in particular the searing effect on me, who once intended to be a psychologist, of a story in McCall's in December 1949 called "A Weekend with Daddy." A little girl who lives a lonely life with her mother, divorced, an intellectual know-it-all psychologist, goes to the country to spend a weekend with her father and his new wife, who is wholesome, happy, and a good cook and gardener. And there is love and laughter and growing flowers and hot clams and a gourmet cheese omelet and square dancing, and she doesn't want to go home. But, pitying her poor mother typing away all by herself in the lonesome apartment, she keeps her guilty secret that from now on she will be living for the moments when she can escape to that dream home in the country where they know "what life is all about." (See Endnote #1) I have often consulted my grandparents about their experiences, and I find their historical perspective enlightening. My grandmother was pregnant with her third child in 1949. Her work experience included: interior design and modeling women's clothes for the Sears catalog. I asked her to read the Friedan essay and let me know if she felt as moved as I was, and to share with me her experiences of sexism. Her immediate reaction

Film Essay – the Hours

The Hours Mellissa Krause 02/08/13 Production: Paramount Pictures/ Miramax Films, January 2003 Producer: Robert Fox; Scott Rudin; Mark Huffman Director: Stephen Daldry Screenplay: David Hare (screenplay); Michael Cunningham (novel) Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey Editing: Peter Boyle Music: Philip Glass Principal Characters: Clarissa Vaughan Meryl Streep Laura Brown Julianne Moore Virginia WoolfNicole Kidman Richard Brown Ed Harris KittyToni Collette Julia Vaughan Claire Danes Louis WatersJeff Daniels Leonard WoolfStephen DillaneSally LesterAllison Lester Dan Brown John C. Riley Vanessa BellMiranda Richardson The pacing in the film The Hours reinforces the mood greatly throughout the film . The film is about three women in three different time periods who all experience suicidal thoughts and homosexual feelings. Although a slower pace, the film has a definite tempo to it, moving between the three main characters smoothly through parallel cuts in a cross-cutting fashion. Most of the p acing is slow, suggesting a thoughtful approach to the movie for the viewer.At times, the film’s pacing mocks the classical music playing in the background, therefore very little contrast in pacing exists. The editing helps to portray a very smooth, almost choreographed feeling to the film. That said, the music in the film, almost a constant, speeds up and slows down during more exciting scenes. An example is during the scene when an adult Richard Brown falls to his death. The music is very calm as he is speaking to his close friend Clarissa Vaughan and then as he falls from the window, the piano in the background gains a much quicker tempo.In one of the opening sequences of the film, the use of jump cuts (all straight cuts) between the characters of Virginia Woolf and Clarissa Vaughan both doing the same tasks, getting ready for the day, shows Clarissa starting to put her hair in a bun and then cuts to Virginia Woolf doing the same. This use of narrative advancement between two time periods begins the task of tying the characters together. This technique is used again shortly thereafter in a montage where all three women, Clarissa Vaughan, Laura Brown, and Virginia Woolf all speak of flowers.Virginia Woolf speaks of her main character â€Å"getting the flowers herself†, then in the next scene cut to Laura Brown starting to read the book Mrs. Woolf is writing in the prior scene and speaks aloud the first line â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway buys the flowers herself† which Mrs. Woolf referenced in the prior scene, and in the last scene Clarissa Vaughan (often referred to as Mrs. Dalloway such as in Virginia Woolf’s novel referenced throughout the film) says â€Å" Sally, I think I will buy the flowers myself†. This successfully ties all three timeframes together along with the characters while supplying the viewer with their common thread.In one of the most poignant sequences when Laura Brown is driving a young Richard Brown back home aft er she almost kills herself at a hotel. She looks at him and tells him, â€Å"Your my guy† and the child smiles the brightest smile of the whole film, very faint slow motion is used at this point to portray the intensity of the situation. This technique also helps with the transition to another time period. Jump cut to another very intense scene where an adult Richard Brown is remembering this and weeping. Another great transition which rakes place is through the use of inside/out editing.While most the film is editing is done from the outside/in perspective, one scene where Virginia Woolf is at the train station, we are jolted from the home of Clarissa Vaughan to a view of a moving train and eventually the details are revealed that the viewer has been transported back to England with Mrs. Woolf as the camera pans back. Works Cited The Hours. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Paramount Pictures/Miramax Films. 2003. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Hours_(film) http://www. imdb. com/titl e/tt0274558/fullcredits? ref_=tt_ov_st_sm#cast

Point of Sale System Essay

Technology nowadays is fast changing and new machines are developed in order to make job faster and convenient. Technologies often have an important role to play and the key to success in competing the world. Automation is designed to maximize efficiency, convenience and quality service offered. It is undeniable that automation is a lot faster compared to the traditional way of doing a job that requires much effort. Computer Base Testing /Exam is a method of administering the test in which the responses are electronically recorded and assessed. Today we are living in a modern world, leading businesses or any other type of company institutions use system that would help benefit their business. Having a system in a business/ institutions proves to be helpful in many ways. In the field of education, implementation of computerized based system that stored, process allows a user to manipulate data easily and its speed of performance incomparable that affected our way of working is seldom applied by school here in Philippines. Technologies have become widespread that even simple tasks are resorted to be done with the aid of these powerful scientific inventions. Through the innovativeness and technical knowledge possessed by men, computers are making revolutionary changes in the way people live, play and work. The contribution of computers in the business fields has been undeniably strong and effective. To perform a complex and tedious work in a very effective manner could be attributed to a computer because of its usefulness like storing, retrieving, and clever of processing information. The microcomputer and development of various software are not just for scientific and engineering use as well as for business purposes made a significant impact on the computer industry. The demand for them grew rapidly when people realized that to make better decision or solve problem, it could be found at the tip of one’s fingers at the quickest time possible. Without us noticing it, our world has been innovated by technology in all possible ways this millennium. People have been replaced by robots, tasks have been made easier by different software, and newly developed technologies have been updated even before it has been introduced to most of the world, and much more, faster than our imagination  could catch. These innovations aim to better utilize the existing resources and maximize their uses to be able to bring out new or better products or results. Different institutions have been seeking different form of innovations to their current system for better service to their customers since customer’s satisfaction should always be placed as first priority in whatever business. This strategy is also to maintain their competence in the market, considering the growing number of businesses, establishments and institutions seeking for trust and patronage from customers. Academic institution is of the many organizations which greatly adopts and embraced technological innovation. Many schools have come up with their unique websites in order to create a projection of being competent as an institution, considering that competency nowadays is based on technology. The projection that this innovation brings is simply a greater chance of having more applicants for enrollment year-in and year-out. Computerization is synonymous to the word automation which is the act of implementing the control with equipment with advanced technology, which usually involves using electronic hardware. It also implies the replacement of human workers with machines. (FARL, 2012) An information system describe how the people and information technology communicates and interacts with each oth er in the sense that users used this for their every transaction, to support business processes and the top managers decisions making. Traditionally organizations in our country manage access communicates and share information in a manual manner. Academic establishment like schools use various paper materials and pens to process the manual entrance examinations. In this new era, there are institutions using automated entrance examinations system while other still depend on the manual procedures. A database –management system is a collection of interrelated data that and a set of programs to access those data. The collection of data, usually refers to as the database, contains information relevant to an enterprise. Database systems are designed to manage large bodies of information. Management of data involves both defining structures for storage of information and providing mechanism for the manipulation of information. In  addition, the database system must ensure the safety of the information stored, despite system crashes or attempts at unauthorized access. If data are to be shared among several users, the system must avoid possible anomalous results. Because information is so important in most organizations, computer scientist have developed a large body concepts and techniques for managing data. Entrance examination is commonly used in universities enable for the university to accept the examinees as a student to the course chosen by the examinee. By the use of entrance examinations, examinees are being tested to the fullest by answering the exam within a limit. With regards to the entrance examinations in University of Batangas – Lipa Campus uses a traditional way of implementing on entrance exam normally examinees are given a questionnaire sheet and an answer sheet followed by answering the exam manually by using a pencil and an answer sheet. Basically delay of enrollment of new students in school is caused by the deferment of entrance examination results. The manual checking of papers is time  consuming. However the proposed Computerized Examination System allows for fast relieve of exam results. The exam results are electronically calculated for accuracy. In order to solve the problem, the researchers propose a system that will minimize all paper works and manual checking, therefore allowing the freshman students wait for fast exam result. This result was calculated after submitting the exam. The group wants to create a computerized entrance examination to accelerate the process of checking for the result and to save the records of examinees either passed or failed. It helps the guidance officer to minimize their work and upgrade their system rather than their old and manual system. As Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) students, the researchers chose the topic for they are interested in developing a database for the computerized entrance examination that will improve the way of giving the freshmen student an accurate and fast result of their exams. The researchers are also capable in doing the system, to enable them to apply the learning that they have learned in the previous courses and utilized their skills in developing and designing a system.

Individual Case Google Incorporation

Individual Case Google Incorporation Introduction Google Incorporation is one of the largest internet-based companies in the world. The company’s headquarters is in California. The company deals in areas such as software vending, search engine, and internet marketing. In the recent past, the company has added cloud computing to its products line. The company has grown through product differentiation, acquisitions, and merges in the last ten years.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Individual Case: Google Incorporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main competitors of Google are Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn, which have the ability to offer alternative perfect substitute to customers who may be unsatisfied with products offered by Google. The company successfully used flexible sourcing, retail distribution, and product focused differentiation to survive the impact of these competitors. As at the end of the year 2013, Google had th e largest market share of 66.7% which was growth by 4% from 63.7% in the year 2010 (Gamble, Peteraf and Thompson, 2015). Google utilized retail distribution (software vending and internet marketing) in the recent past to further expand its presence in markets like Japan, China, and Europe. It applied product differentiation strategy to expand and position itself as search engine. Google’s scope of operations was characterized by online retailing of different internet based products targeting individuals, corporate, and government institutions across the globe market segments. For instance, Google created renowned brands for a number of products within its software vending service. Google applied a series of grand strategies such as concentration, market development, product development, vertical integration, market penetration, and online retail distribution strategies to expose its numerous products across the globe as the most competitive brand. For instance, Google managed to expand its markets outside North America within the first two years of inceptions besides launching a series of new products such as internet marketing and software vending across the globe.Advertising Looking for book review on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strategic Issue Analysis of Google Incorporation Strategic Capabilities Google has a number of resources that have contributed to its success in the global market over the years. In order to ensure business sustainability, Google has concentrated the focused strategy through clear definition and targeting of specific market segment for its online based products. The strategies are achieved through provision of high quality and unique internet based products, effective distribution and secure network, individual internet user segment, and variety of the internet based products. Despite the success of these strategies, Google is threatene d by its competitors with more or less similar approach in doing business within the Internet Information Providers industry. For instance, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn threaten to reverse the gains that Google has made in the Internet Information Providers industry. Strategic issue As a prerequisite for sustainable organization performance, the strategic issues that Google is currently facing pivot around the most appropriate market that the company should focus on or neglect in order to survive competition. Under this strategic issue, Google currently faces the dilemmas of critical focus on the most reachable software market, potentials and threats of entering the stratified software market, potential of re-branding its current software and internet marketing brands, and the best strategies of increasing visibility without appearing as a copy cat of the main competitors. Therefore, what are the best strategies that Google should focus on to survive competition in the dynami c Internet Information Providers industry? In order to respond to this question, the following sub questions will be answered. Should Google re-brand or introduce more brands to its current product line? What strategy will be necessary to properly differentiate the Google’s brand? External Environment Analysis Porter’s five forces analysis is necessary for Google as it assists in comprehension of the market strengths and weaknesses. Although Google has been a household name in the global internet information providers industry, there are several players that have limited its competitive advantage in the industry. The five forces determining the competitive advantage of companies operating within the industry are discussed below.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Individual Case: Google Incorporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Industry competitiveness analysis using Porter’s 5 forces model Threat of entry It is very difficult for a new entrant in the Internet Information Providers industry to successfully create a strong brand that can challenge dominance of Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn among others. It would require massive capital for an aspiring investor to outperform their business prowess. Therefore, a new entrant may face difficulty in increasing brand visibility and cutting a piece of the market share. Since the Internet Information Providers industry is characterized by the ability to create high quality brands, a new entrant will have to build a following from scratch. This requires a lot of resources. Threat of substitutes In the internet marketing and software vending segments within the Internet Information Providers industry, threat of possible substitutes is very strong since most of the products are customized to perform specific functions, thus, rarely have substitutes. Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn have the ability to offer an alternative perfect substitute to customers who may be unsatisfied with products offered at Google Incorporation. Unsatisfied customers, therefore have other alternatives from where they can get the products traded by Google. However, imitations may threaten the market of new or current players. When the counterfeits softwares make it into the mainstream market, the revenues of genuine companies will decline. In order to remain relevant, the Google Incorporation has established a unique market for its customer through tailored optometry internet marketing and software products that are customized. Suppliers’ bargaining power In the Internet Information Providers industry, the influence of the suppliers is highest when large volumes of softwares are purchased by a service provider. When the influence is high, profitability of the establishments in this industry is low since the cost of creating and licensing some of the products is very high. Since suppliers within the Inte rnet Information Providers industry operate at local and international levels, their influence differs. For instance, China, India, and Japan suppliers the largest volume of softwares that Google integrates in its business platform to offer fast and reliable search engine. Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft and other industry players have more than 1000 suppliers each.Advertising Looking for book review on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The partnerships between independent manufacturers and vendors of softwares reduce the power of the suppliers in this industry. Google Incorporation has endeavored to use its deep reservoirs as a strategy for balancing the supply forces in the fragile software vending and internet marketing sectors of the US and across the globe. Buyers’ bargaining power There is strong power in the fragmented internet marketing and software vending segments which are indirect and direct to customers. Despite the fact that these search engine businesses have very strong brand names; the buyers in this sector have the power to influence the prices for the products since there are a variety of services to choose from. The power of the buyers is high since this industry is characterized by high competition. Therefore, each company considers the perception of their customers before setting prices in order to survive competition. Fortunately, Google has been consistent in maintaining their prices at half of the average prices of other brands due to global coverage and high economies of scale. Rivalry There are several brands operating in the same industry with virtually all of them dealing with a variety of search engine products and services. Players in the industry must be careful to survive any aggressive move by a competitor through creating a flexible brand name and constant product diversification. For instance, Yahoo provides the biggest competition to Google due to its big market share and expanded network standing at 30%. With many customers looking for good value for their money, quality in service delivery has remained the main basis upon which customers are making their final decision to purchase products in the volatile Internet Information Providers industry of the US and across the globe. All the players in the industry are putting measures in place to ensure they attract more customers and therefore expand their market share through creation of a smooth suppl y chain, diversification, and brand positioning. In line with this, Google has created multiple brands from its internet marketing and software vending products. Key Success Factors Within the External Environment Strong brand Google has established a brand image that enables it to attract customers with less effort as opposed to most of its less established rivals. The entrants have to invest heavily in promotion and advertising for them to attract new customers and maintain their customers. The established brand image has enabled the company to cut on its cost and get increased levels of profitability. Steady commitment to quality Strong commitment to quality and product innovation enables the company to get the right experience for their customers. This has been possible through the recruitment of employees with the right skills and knowledge. These employees are further trained to understand the company production strategies. Moreover, the company conducts more market research t o ascertain customer thoughts and changing demands. Expanded market Google has an active presence in all over America with an expanding presence in all other continents. In the past five years, revenues from sales doubled annually and the company expanded steadily. Market experience Having been in the Internet Information Providers industry for over 10 years, Google has acquired enough experience to compete favorably in the industry. It has had sufficient time to learn from its weaknesses and develop long-term strategies that will anchor it through the future of the market. Industry Analysis Industry Profile and Attractiveness The Internet Information Providers industry has experienced steady growth as more customers embrace renowned brands such as Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn. The global Internet Information Providers industry has an estimated market value of over $200 billion. The US, Asia, and Europe represent 76% of the market share. Despite the economic swing of 2007-200 8 financial years, the players in this industry managed to recover and are currently experiencing an average growth of 20% annually. At present, the Internet Information Providers industry command 18% of the total market value of the consumer internet purchases across the globe. The market share is anticipated to expand further to 22% by the year 2020 (Gamble et al., 2015). The search industry at present is controlled by Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn, who have managed to establish a household name for their brands. Moreover, promotional services adopted by these companies have spurred the growth of internet service market across the globe. In addition, adoption of efficient and reliable technology in the marketing of these products positively skewed the market to the advantage of these internet based giants. Based on the annual growth and market share, the incumbents are positioned to benefit in the future because the industry is highly attractive, especially in the em erging markets in Asia and Africa. Industry structure The Internet Information Providers industry is fragmented because there is no single enterprise with large enough shares to determine the industry’s direction. There are about ten major companies in the industry and the four major players have about 85% share combined and the rest of the industry is made up of small private-owned companies. The largest, most important player in the industry is Google who currently holds 67.5% of the market share on its own. The second largest player in the Microsoft Company with an estimated 18% market share, followed by Yahoo with a 16% global market share (Gamble et al., 2015). The industry is very competitive because these companies offer similar products and trade within the same platform. Because of this, the basis for competition in the industry is price followed by product design. There are five success factors that are the most important to this industry, which include contacts wit hin key markets, guaranteed supply of key inputs, ability to alter goods and services in favor of market conditions, production of services currently favored by the market and a highly trained workforce. The industry is heavily influenced by the state of the economy and consumer’s disposable income. Growth over the past 5 years has come from a post recession increase in consumer’s disposable income. The recent recession is also a good example of this industrys sensitivity to disposable income as 2011 saw a 27.9% decrease in revenue as compared to 2010 (Gamble et al., 2015). Google and other competitors operate in the oligopolistic market structure. The industry has unique operational strategies which can be equated to the ideals of oligopolistic market, characterized by few competitors dominating the global search engine, internet marketing, and software vending markets. Strong commitment to quality and product innovation has enabled these companies to get the right ex perience for their customers. Moreover, the companies conduct more market research to ascertain customer thoughts and changing demands. For instance, Google has consistently increased its production modification and diversification of products in the market instead of reducing output with intent of increasing prices. There are few competitors who dominate the industry such as Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and LinkedIn among others. These companies control the industry. The Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide Incorporation has the largest market control of 24% with the other companies sharing the rest of the market (Gamble et al., 2015). Since the industry is dominated be few global brands, it is very difficult for a new company to enter in this market and breakeven since the competitors benefit from economies of scale. Besides, the capital requirement for entry is very enormous for a new entrant. Most of products and services offered by Google and its competitors are perfect su bstitutes and tend to have similar price ranges due to standardized operational costing and targeting strategies. Since these companies target similar customer segment, they have limited alternatives in terms of multiple pricing. The companies use self advertisement and other forms of media to market different products. The self advertisement is possible due to their global brand image and active presences in the major markets across the globe. The industry structure affects the strategies used by Google and its competitors in terms of pricing of products and customer segmentation. Since the main competitors offer perfect substitute products, Google has to ensure that its prices remain competitive to avoid losing customers to some of the competitors. Besides, the company has to constantly remodel and integrate its products to maintain its current top position, which can easily be taken by the few giant competitors. Since the market structure is oligopolistic, the financial performan ce of Google has been stable and predictable since it has been able to earn very high profits since the barriers to entry such as large capital and logistic support blocks new entrants from penetrating the market. Besides, the company has been able to use product differentiation strategy by offering series of brands from similar product category to ensure that the revenues of the company are above that of its major competitors. Company Situation Financial Standing The financial standing of the Google Inc. has fluctuated significantly between 2008 and 2012. From the balance sheet, it can be observed that the total assets grew from $2.467.12 million in 2010 to $3,663.10 million in 2013. Further, the liabilities rose from $961.82 million in 2010 to $1,242.50 million in 2013. Also, it can be noted that the value of equity followed a similar trend. It increased from $1,505,293 million in 2010 to $2,420.70 million in 2013. The highest growth rate was attained in 2008 where sales grew by 2 1.75%. The least growth rate was attained in 2012 where sales decreased by 5.30%. During the global financial crisis that is in 2009 sales grew by 1.56% only (Gamble et al., 2015). Financial analysis Profitability Return on assets The return on assets improved from 29.79% in 2010 to 33.43% in 2011. It declined to 21.33% in 2012. This implies that the amount of profit generated from a unit of asset decreased over the period. This shows that the profitability and the efficiency in the utilization of the assets of the company declined over the period. This could also be a signal that the property of the company have dilapidated, thus, they cannot engender a considerable amount of returns. Return on equity The values of return on equity were high and they improved from 48.82% in 2010 to 54.62% in 2011. However, in 2012, the value dropped to 32.28%. The high values promises the shareholders high returns for their investments. The declining amount of return on equity can also be caused by the increasing amount of long term debt. An increase in debt results in an increase in interest expense. Liquidity Current ratio The current ratio was fairly stable during the period. The value of the ratio was 2.56 in 2010 and 2.54 in 2012. Thus, it can be observed that the company can adequately pay the short term obligations using current assets. This shows that the company has a sound financial standing. Working capital The working capital rose from $773,605 million in 2010 to $859,371 million in 2011. The value rose further to $1,042 million in 2012. It implies that the value of current assets exceeds the current liabilities. The two liquidity ratios were stable during the period. It shows that the company is effective in liquidity and working capital management. This gives confidence to the debt and capital providers. Leverage Debt to assets The value of debt to total assets was stable during the period. The ratio was 0.3899 in 2010 and 0.3880 in 2011. The fractions imply tha t the percentage of assets that are funded using liability remained stable during the period. The ratios also show that the company maintained a low leverage level during the period. Debt to equity The debt to equity ratio was also stable during the period. The value of the ratio was 0.639 in 2010 and 0.6341 in 2011. It is a suggestion that about 63% of the assets of the company are proactively funded through the debt option. The two leverage ratios show that the Google Company has a low debt proportion in the capital configuration. This gives the company room to take more debt that can be used or growth and expansion. Thus, the company has not fully exploited its potential. The growth prospects will translate to better performance in the future. SWOT Analysis Strengths The stable and management team comprising of directors and several managers is instrumental towards providing necessary support and guidance in provision of software vending, internet marketing, and search engine pro ducts to customers and reviewing current operational strategies in line with the demands of their clients at Google. For instance, the management team introduced the internet marketing service in response to the demands of the clients. This has enabled Google to fund different business project initiatives at affordable loan repayment interest rates. Google also enjoys a wide network and subsidiaries in the US and several representative offices in different regions outside the US. This is important in attracting more customers in those regions where the company is yet to reach full potential. Besides, the numerous branches have improved its products visibility and accessibility. Google has increased own software vending and internet marketing business in the last few years, particularly in Western Europe and North America. Company owned software vending and internet marketing products have become growth drivers and important distribution points for the company. The vivid presentation of Google brands supports differentiated perception by consumers beyond their product experiences, further strengthening the brand image. Moreover, the establishment of a strong and reliable internet marketing product by Google represents a major growth for the company. The other strength of Google is efficient customer relationship management strategy. Weaknesses Google has more presence in the US than other parts of the globe. Specifically, unlike its main competitor Yahoo, Google has limited presence in Asia. Thus, the company does not enjoy the substantive demand in the global market as its customer catchment area is restricted outside the expansive Asian market. Besides, the focus of Google is more on customized internet based brands and products. This is counterproductive in terms of revenue generation since the majority of its customers are small businesses and private individuals who cannot operate in the customized platform. Besides, Google has high inventory cost since it software development is very expensive to create and maintain. Managing some of the research and development projects may not be sustainable in the long run if the annual turnover reduces at Google. As a result of these weaknesses, Google has not been able to efficiently penetrate the small business segment within its Business-to-Business model of operation. Google focus on quality products has compromised its ability to incorporate views of a section of its consumers, such as addition of more search languages. Opportunities Google has an opportunity to expand its scope to cater for expanded product and service lines since its asset base is strong enough to sustain any growth in the market. This opportunity will help in boosting Google’s revenues and leadership position in the global Internet Information Providers industry. As a result, Google will be in a position to double its current revenues and increase the customer base. The company’s global presence and strong performance in most regions demonstrate that it can be successful in nearly all countries of the world. It is on this ground that Google plans entry into the regions where its presence is not yet felt. Secondly, working in collaboration with subsidiary companies may enable ease of entry into new markets. Threats The main threat to the survival of Google is the competition from counterfeit products that may act as direct substitute to its brands. Thus, the expansion and market penetration strategies that Google proposes are likely to face opposition if these fake products are expanding their market share. Google is faced with fierce competition from its rivals, which requires adoption of more vigilant strategies. The soaring demand for software and integrated internet marketing applications across the world may prompt suppliers and independent producers to increase the prices, resulting in high costs of production and lower levels of profitability. Political issues in different marke ts, such as control of internet accessibility in some countries in Asia and Africa may threaten the company from achieving its profitability objectives in the market. Generic and Grand Strategy Recommendations In order to remain competitive, the company should implement focused product differentiation strategy by applying concentration, market development, product development, vertical integration, market penetration, and retail distribution as grand strategies as summarized in appendix 3. Product concentration Google should ponder concentration to its products in countries which do not have strict laws that protect the business, when expanding further to other foreign markets, especially in software vending and internet marketing product segments. Countries like China do not have strict rules which protect business entities from being copied by competitors. Objectives This will help in safeguarding its products’ brands and making sure that it targets specific market segment s. In the process, the company will gain a fair share of the current market controlled by Chinese search engine companies. It will also ensure that Google introduces measures in its operative process that would make it distinct in the market from any firm. Application and justification The introduction of product concentration should be applied while ensuring that the targeted markets, especially in Asia, have customized products that are unique to that region. The key performance indicator will be increased revenue in the Asian market by 6% in the first year of implementation and 10% thereafter. Therefore, product concentration will position Google as a strong incumbent brand in the global Internet Information Providers industry. Vertical integration Google may partner which medium businesses retailing products similar to those of its competitors. For instance, the company may partner with private programmers and software developers to boost its current product brands. Objective The objective of this recommendation is to expand Google’s market and make it easy for customers to access the products. Application and justification This objective can be achieved through created on in-house production, supply chain, and marketing strategies for the software vending through partnerships with private software developers. When properly implemented, the company is likely to counter the strategy of its competitors, such as Yahoo, of reaching the customers through proxy business platforms. The key performance indicator will be reduced inventory cost by 10% in the first year of application since costs related to running the business are expected to drop. This strategy takes some initial costs to develop the integration concept but the advantages are ability to legally protect the product, creation of some barriers to competition, and general promotion of customer loyalty. Innovation Cost leadership strategy is vital in business management, especially in an indus try with stiff competition, such as Google. The company may penetrate the African and Asian markets further through introduction of customized products that target different market segments such as direct customers through an innovative approach. The objective of this recommendation is to adopt the market leadership strategy to improve Google’s product quality and appearance. Objective This objective is achievable through creation of different high quality products and distinctive brands. Application and justification As a result, this venture will develop a cumulative experience, optimal performance, and product availability through application of alternative technology and human skills. The key performance indicator for this strategy is the ability to create a new product, thus increased number of customer ratings by 3% after the first year of implementation. An improved approach to product management through diversification will improve the visibility of Google brands. T he buyer will make an effort to learn the Google’s values, vision, challenges, and operating environment. Such cooperation will turn new brands into a competitive advantage instead of a cost. Operational efficiency Operational efficiency and market niche provide an indication of how well the company manages its resources, that is, how well it employs its assets to generate sales and income. It also shows the level of activity of the corporation as indicated by the turnover ratios. The level of activity for Google has remained relatively stable despite threat of competition, constant change of taste, and varying preference. Objective To ensure that the company streamlines its operational costs. Application and justification Through implementing this proposal, the company will reduce its wage bill and seal cost loop holes. Consumer Centricity Properly designed online marketing and product distribution management facilitate the success and sustainability in online marketing. T o increase credibility and maintain professionalism, the current channels of reaching the consumers at Google should be tailored to encompass processes and features that flawlessly facilitate a healthy and a lifetime relationship between the business and its clients. Objective The new development elements that the company should incorporate include trust, liability acceptance, distribution, fair retribution process, and passing accurate information to target audience in order to restore confidence within these networks. Application and justification Essentially, the success of e-marketing depends on proper alignment of a functional team that is responsible for the creation of flexible and quantifiable measurement tracking tools for periodically reviewing results. This strategy will ensure that the business is sustainable. Strategic justification The above recommendations may become the new blueprint for sustainable expansion, cost management, and product development for Google sin ce the company already has a global appeal and deep capital reservoir. Through implementation of the recommendations, the company will be able to expand its current market share through competitive pricing, innovation, and multiple-branding of its product. As a result, Google will increase its competitive advantage over Microsoft, Yahoo, and other competitors. Conclusion Generally, Google has been largely successful in the market, and bears ability to competently survive in the market. Incorporation of the Porters market forces in the management of this successful US based search engine giant is directly linked to its consistency, profitability, and efficiency. Successful execution solely functions of inclusiveness, creation of quantifiable tracking devices for results, and recruiting an informed support team. Generally, the above recommendations should be practiced flexibly since Google’s operation environment is characterized by constant dynamics that may make previous desi gns irrelevant. Appendices Appendix 1 – Summary of the Five-Force Analysis Appendix 2 –SWOT Summary Strengths Weaknesses Clear product differentiation Strong global brand image Positive urban influence Established online store Failure to focus on the low-end market High inventory costs Opportunities Threats Strong global presence depicts the ease of entry into new regions Better collaboration with subsidiary companies Fierce competition High supplier power reduces profits The threat of counterfeiting products of Google is very high Appendix 3: Summary of industry ratio RATIOS SUB-RATIOS Google Ratio Industry Average (Approx) Profitability Ratios Return of Assets 0.34 Return of Equity 0.29 Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio 2.54 1.60 to 2.30 Quick Ratio 1.36 1.30 to 1.80 Leverage Ratios Debt-Equity Ratio 0.29 Interest Coverage Ratio Efficiency Ratios Assets Turnover Ratio 1.45 1.20 Inventory Turnover Ratio 3.19 Refere nce Gamble, J., Peteraf, M., Thompson, A. (2015). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

When Should You Start Studying for Your AP Exams

When Should You Start Studying for Your AP Exams SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips So you’re taking a couple AP classes, they’re going well, and you feel pretty good about most of the material. The exam in May seems a long way off. Do you need to start studying?The answer is, that depends! Every student and every exam is different. However, my general advice is to start studying no later than the midpoint of the school year. (That would be after winter break for most of you.)Why the midpoint of the year? Keep reading to find out! I’ll also discuss how many hours you should plan to prep based on how the course is going and what score you are aiming for. Then I’ll present some strategies for determining how you should balance general conceptual review of the material and dedicated exam prep like taking practice exams. Finally, I’ll make suggestions as to when and how you should study based on overall course subject (math, science, foreign language, and so on.) Note that in this article I’m going to generally assume that you are taking the class for which you are going to take the AP exam. For self-study, see my article onstudying for AP exams without taking the class. 3 ReasonsYou Should Start Studying for Your AP Exams by the Midpoint of the Year The way I see it, there are three reasons why you should start studying for you AP exams in earnest by the midpoint of the school year. Reason 1: You’ll Know a Good Amount of Course Material By the middle of the school year, you will have covered enough material in class that you will be able to answer a decent amount of practice questions and problems without wanting to tear your hair out in frustration. If you start looking at AP practice exams in October, you will have only learned a fraction of the course material, so they will be of limited use to you. Reason 2: Avoiding the Cram! The midpoint of the year is also still early enough that you won’t have to cram for the exam. You’ll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the exam format and make sure you understand all of the course content. A major danger of waiting too late to prep is you might find that there’s a segment of the course material that you really don’t understand or a section on the test that is very foreign to you, so if you start in the middle of the year, you can be confident you’ll have enough time to fully prepare. The only cramming you should be doing is these delicious cookies into your mouth. Reason 3: Pacing Yourself Another advantage to starting early is that you won’t necessarily have to spend hours and hours a week studying to hit your target amount of study-hours, which will help you later in the semester when things are busy and you may not be able to devote entire weekends to cramming for an AP exam. If you’re in a particularly content-heavy course, you should probably review class material throughout the first semester so that it stays fresh. In general, though, the midpoint of the year will give you enough time to brush up on the material, identify any gaps in your knowledge, and prepare for the exam format. What If You’re in a Semester-Long Course? Some schools offer semester-long AP courses. If you’re in one of these, should you still start studying at the midpoint of the year?This depends on when you take the class. If you take the class during the first semester,keep the midpoint of the year as your prep start point. You'll basically start prepping as soon as the class is over. This is for two reasons: first, you will know all the material before you start studying for the exam, so you can take practice tests and write essays without being concerned that there may be questions about material you haven’t studied yet. Secondly, prepping throughout the second half of the yearwill help you remember the material. Keeping it fresh in your mind will be much easier than trying to play catch-up in the few weeks leading up to the exam. If it’s a second-semester only AP course, you’re in less danger of forgetting the material, but you also have less time to study. This is fine. Semester long APs don’t cover as much material as full-year ones, so just so long as you are doing well in the class, you can afford to wait until four to six weeks before the exam to put your studying in full gear. That said, if there are any concepts you aren’t clear about or that seem fuzzy, try to learn them as soon as you realize there’s an issue. This will save you a lot of heartache during the studying process. Not this kind of fuzzy. How Many Hours Should I Study for My AP Exam? There is no magic number of hours you need to study for an AP exam to get a certain score. There are, though, two main factors that together should give you a rough idea of how many hours you should plan to study. Factor 1: How You’re Doing in the Course If you’re acing exams and the material clicks with you at an A+ level, you can probably get away with studying around 15 hours for the exam and walking away with a 5 in the bag (Remember, you’re spreading the prep out over a semester, so 15 hours total would only be about an hour and a half a week for ten weeks). If, though, you’re scraping by with a C+ or B- (which is perfectly respectable- these courses are hard!) you may well need to devote 40+ hours to get the same score. (An added bonus is that all of that extra studying will probably raise your course grade.) Factor 2: How Well You Want to Score Obviously the higher you want to score, the more you need to study relative to how you are doing in the course. If you’re aiming for a 3 and you’ve got a B, you may well only need to study for 15 hours to pull it off. If you want a 5, that may be more like 35 hours. See my handy table below, where you can cross-reference the letter grade you have with the score you want on the AP exam and the absolute minimum hours you should plan to study. (I assumed no one is aiming for a grade lower than a 3, the general minimum accepted for college credit.) The more demanding the course is overall, and the more content it covers, the more you should plan to study. Ultimately, only you can truly gauge how much time you need to spend preparing to feel comfortable with your chances of getting your target score. Mimimum Study Time Based on Letter Grade and Target Score 5 4 3 A 15+ 10+ 10+ B 25+ 20+ 15+ C 40+ 30+ 20+ D 60+ 45+ 30+ F 80+ 60+ 40+ As you can see, how many hours you need to study depends on a lot of things- how well you're doing in class, how much material there is, and your skill level in the given components of the test. If you’re great at timed essays, you won’t need to spend as much time studying for AP Lit and Comp as someone who struggles with them. In general,it’s better to spread your prep out over time- a couple months at least- as opposed to doing massive cramming. Cramming will stress you out, especially in May when you are probably also trying to wrap up projects and study for exams in other classes. Once you have an idea of how many hours you will need to study for the exam, how should you spend those hours? Read on for my recommendations on balancing general review of the course material with dedicated exam prep. Study slow and steady like a snail. Say that five times fast. General Review vs. Dedicated Exam Prep: How Much of Each? Once you determine how much time you’re going to spend studying, you need to decide how you’re going to spend that time. There are, generally speaking, two kinds of studying you can do for the AP. You can review the material the course is based on, or you can prepare specifically for the exam by taking practice questions, writing practice essays, and so on. Obviously, to do well on the exam, you need to have a good grasp on the material. But understanding the material is not always enough to ace the exam. Many AP exams have portions that test special skills, like the DBQ on the history exams, so it’s good to prep for the actual format of the exam as well. Understanding the material is like the foundation, and doing well on the exam is like building a strong house on that foundation. So how should you split your exam prep time? What should you focus on? In general, I would focus more on reviewing the material when you first start studying, especially if you decide to do any studying during the first semester. Before you know a decent amount of material, taking practice tests etc will just be frustrating, because there will be a lot of questions you have no idea how to answer. As you pass the midpoint of the class, you can start to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Familiarity with the format will become more critical as time goes on. So the closer you get to the day of the exam, the more the balance will shift from material review to exam prep. That way you’ll know you’ve got a strong foundation before you start trying to build a house on it! You might also (politely!) ask your teacher what you will be doing in the course to prep for the AP specifically. If you are going to be doing a lot of dedicated exam prep exercises during class time, you may not need to do quite as much outside. If you are just trying to race headlong through the material so you aren’t still learning on WWI material on exam day, you’ll know it will be pretty much up to you to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Remember, regardless of what you learn in the classroom, it will be you taking that exam on test day, so you are ultimately responsible for your own prep. Now that we’ve discussed balancing conceptual reviews and dedicated prep, I have some more specific recommendations based on the exam’s general subject matter. You are as majestic as this crane, and better-prepared for the AP exam. When and How To Start Studying for AP Exams Based on Course Content The general guidelines I’ve given so far will hold for most, if not all, AP exams. Still, it is worth calling out that the best way to use your study time, and when you should ideally think about preparation, will vary quite a lot among exams. In the following section I give my study recommendations based on the general subject matter of the course. When and How to Start Studying for Math AP Tests In general, math coursework is cumulative- everything you learn builds on what you learned before. So the single most important thing you can do for prepping for an exam like AP Calculus is to make sure you learn concepts as soon as it is clear you are struggling with them. If you do poorly on a test in class, the time to try to learn that material is decidedly not in the two weeks leading up to the AP exam, it’s right after you realize you don’t get it. There is no shame in this! There are some hard, hard concepts in these classes.Overall, making sure you really learn the material as you go along is the best thing you can do for your AP exam score. So basically, the time to start studying for a Math AP is immediately, by making sure you know the material backwards and forwards as it is being presented to you. When and How to Start Studying for Science AP Tests Most of the science APs- Chemistry, Physics, and Biology- cover a lot of material and have reputations for being fairly difficult. This is another category where studying right from the get-go is quite important, and where content is probably more important than test format. Don’t get me wrong- it will still help you to be familiar with the general format of the exam- but most of your energy should be focused on making sure you understand all of the huge swathes of material throughout the year. Focus on content throughout the year, and format after the midpoint. Space: the final frontier that's not your AP exam. When and How to Start Studying for Foreign Language AP Tests To build a strong foundation in a foreign language, constant practice is the name of the game. If your high school class is pretty intensive, you may not have to study quite as much outside, although brushing up on vocab and grammar rules occasionally to stay sharp is a good idea. It will also help you to do things like watch TV or movies in the language you are studying, and to read books. It will definitely help you to do dedicated AP test prep, but the most important thing is bringing your language skills as close to fluency as you can, and you can work throughout the year to do this. It’s also fairly common to take a foreign language AP in a language that you grew up speaking at home. This means you probably already have a phenomenal foundation in the language, but you should still prepare. For one thing, you should brush up on all those pesky grammar rules; it can be surprisingly difficult to remember the specific grammar rules for a language you have mastered. You should also practice writing timed essays.Fluency won’t carry you all the way if you can’t give the AP graders what they want. When and How to Start Studying for English AP Tests The most important thing you can do to practice for the two English AP exams is timed essay practice. You should hone your timed essay skills for all of the different kinds of essays that appear on a given exam, and carefully study the rubric. This is an exam area where general subject mastery of English is certainly helpful, but developing AP-rubric-specific timed essay-writing skills will make a huge difference in ultimate success. So when should you start writing practice essays? I would advise getting your start fairly early in the year- around or even before the midpoint- so you can gauge how much additional practice you should put in throughout the year. If things are going well, you’ll know you won’t need as many outside-of-class prep hours. When and How to Start Studying for History AP Tests A main challenge with learning historical material is that it can be fairly siloed: you learn about the Civil War and then don’t come back to it, you learn the French Revolution inside and out and then won’t be tested again until the AP, and so on. This is why keeping historical information fresh is essential, and you should be doing it throughout the year. You may need to do more dedicated content review for AP History exams, and start reviewing old content earlier than for any other AP, simply because so much of the exam relies on your ability to recall historical facts and details. Obviously, a sense of overall historical trends is very important, but an occasional dip back into your textbook will go a long way towards helping you remember the peskier little details. Pesky details like whoever this lady is. When to Start Studying for AP Exams - Conclusions So as you can see, when exactly you need to start studying for your AP exam depends on several factors.In general, the latest you should start studying for the exam is during the midpoint of the school year. The number of hours you should plan to devote to studying depends both on how you are doing in the course and what your target score is. Reviewing conceptual material is more important earlier in the year, while specific AP exam prep becomes more salient later on.How much to weigh one or the other depends on the specific exam and your own knowledge and skill level. It’s a lot to consider. But if you study as you go and balance content review with dedicated test prep, you can go into the test with confidence. What's Next? Need help registering for your upcoming AP exams? Check out our article on registering for AP tests and classes. Still considering which AP classes to take next year? Let us help you with our AP class schedule planning guide. If you're taking the SAT this year, be sure to check out our guide to the new SAT, which was offered for the first time on March 5th of this year! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: