Police And Their Effect On Prison Population Essays - Penology

Police And Their Effect On Prison Population Because of the increase in crime in America, the public has demanded an increase in the amount of protection received from police. This increase in police protection has increased the incarceration level by numerous amounts within the last ten years. The number of inmates incarcerated in America is a direct cause of the policing that is going on in the streets of American cities. The method of policing has a tremendous impact on the outcome of the situation, meaning the type of policing determines the amount of arrests mad and the amount of inmates incarcerated. The historical pattern of prison sentencing has always shown that the offenders almost always served a much shorter sentence than the amount of time they were given by the court. Prisoners have always had different methods available to assist in decreasing the amount of time they have to serve. Many were released on parole after serving possibly less than 40 percent of their sentence. There was also time suspended due to good behavior which put the criminals back on the street. Offenders could be allowed work credits which could go towards their early release. This was considered the normal practices of prison up until the end of the 20th century. Around this time the citizens of cities started complaining more and demanding more police intervention and less crime. In 1994 laws were implemented that made it harder and in some cases impossible to be released from prison without serving at least 85 percent of their original sentence assigned by the court. This new policy has been implemented at the state and federal levels. Though history has shown an extensive pattern of early release, this pattern has come to an end because of the new laws set forth in America. Before 1984 the laws mandating prisons were not very effective in keeping offenders incarcerated, which was considered intolerable by the community. Experiments done on the effectiveness of police during the 1970s showed that traditional methods of policing were not effective in decreasing the amount of crime on the streets. Until the early 1970s most states used the indeterminate sentencing method which allowed parole boards the authority to allow offenders to be released early. The idea of indeterminate sentencing came about in the mid-1800s and was preferred over determinate sentencing because determinate sentencing allowed no room for reform. Because of the dissatisfaction with indeterminate sentencing and the pressure for longer sentencing, there was a policy implemented in the 1980s which made it mandatory to have a guide for the minimum amount of time served as well as new sentencing guidelines. This method caused inmates to serve more time and because of this, there became a problem with overcrowding. To alleviate the overcrowding, inmates were then available to get sentence reduction because of good behavior and also with certain work programs they could be released early by the building up of earned time credit. In 1984 the first truth in sentencing laws were in acted. These laws required that prisoners serve a substantial portion of their sentence. To ensure that offenders served the majority of their sentence, the violent crime control and law enforcement act of 1994 were passed. This act allowed additional funding for state prisons and jails. It also restricted and in many instances eliminated release for good behavior and good time credits. The three strikes and youre out laws, in many states, require life imprisonment for third time a felony offenders. In some states offenders only have two strikes before being sentenced. The abolishment of parole in at least fourteen states has also made the percentage of inmates released less. By implementing s entencing requirements, the abolishment of parole, along with other sentencing restrictions and incentives, it has become nearly impossible for offenders to be released with out giving at least the majority of their due time to society. Because of the reform act of 1984 release practices in federal systems underwent a series of changes. There have been mandatory penalties established in federal sentencing most notably for drug offenses. In 1987, 26684 offenders entered the federal prison system. They were sentenced on average forty-two months but only served approximately twenty-three months.

The Challenge Report of Crocodile Tourism Wen Bing Essays

The Challenge Report of Crocodile Tourism Wen Bing Essays The Challenge Report of Crocodile Tourism Wen Binghuan ID:133 08453 James Cook University, Singapore BX3095 : Visitor Crowd Behavior Management 23 May 201 7 Attitude Crocodile tourism is one of the most famous adventure tourism in the world that attracts a lot of tourist s to visit Australia. The huge amount of tourists brings a lot of benefits to Australia, which includes a huge amount of revenue for local government and tourist operators and great reputation in tourist industry under the economic downturn environment. However, the most famous tourism also result in some negative impacts breaking the ecological equilibrium and threatening local people's life. Therefore, it is hard for people to judge whether crocodile tourism is positive or not. Some individuals and environmental organizations considered that the crocodi le tourism should be prohibited. On the other side, tourism operators will try their best to protect their profit as well. In order to retain the substantial income but reduce the negative impacts, negotiating and cooperation is the essential part that both sides need to attempt and put effort Beginning The most obvious and significant problem is the crocodiles becomes more aggressive and fearless to human, which is threatening people ' s life significantly. Due to the crocodile tourism, crocodiles are more familiar with boats and attracted by boats, further more, more humans were killed by crocodiles than before. According to the news, in 2014, saltwater crocodiles killed four Territorians in the Northern Territory, which is almost one-fifth of the total 21 people killed since 1974(NT News, 2014). The crocodile tourism has pushed not only natives closer to the dangerous but also backpackers. There were 31 victims on the list since 1990, all of them were k illed by crocodiles in Australia, and there were many tragedies have not been recorded(C. Garry, 2011). The reasons why crocodiles attack human are multiple, which include territory defense, nest defense, self-defense, food and by accident(C. Garry, 2011). To be more specific, the crocodile is ectothermic which means cold blood. They always become active when temperature increase, because they depend on solar energy. However, people also prefer to travel during the warm period. Thus, the season also could be summed as a factor(H. Melissa, 2015). Indeed, there are many factors result in crocodile attack, but , the core reason is the development of crocodile tourism and human ' s improper behaviors, overfeeding and habitat loss changed crocodile ' s habits. Meanwhile, with the development of crocodile tourism, there are more chances for human to approach crocodile which means the situation could be worse in the future. Consider again The crocodil e attack is not only threatening human ' s life but also itself. Revenge kills are common in any place. According to the news report, in 2014, an African man killed crocodile after one month when his family was killed by crocodiles (H. Melissa, 2015). Further more, crocodile attack makes crocodile get a really bad reputation, which makes many innocent crocodiles have been killed. In Australia, after a boy was missing, the authority in Australia issued a shoot-to-kill order on any crocodile bigger than two meters(H. Melissa, 2015). Thus, the bad reputation has put crocodile into a really dangerous edge.( Grisly , 2009) Some of the crocodiles are endangered species such as Philippine and Orinoco crocodile. However, most people do not have the knowledge of the crocodile, they will not consider them as Philippine and Orinoco, the only name of them is crocodile ' , the dangerous killer in the world. Therefore, the crocodile tourism has aggravated contradictions bet ween human and crocodile to some extent. Definition of Stakeholders In order to define the stakeholders, it is better to look through the whole benefit chain in the crocodile tourism. On one hand, as a profitable industry, the tourist industry is playing an essential role in Australia economy. According to the report, during the period from 2013 to 2014, tourism has brought $102 billion income to Australia(Tourism Australia, 2014), which is such big number. In the case, it also mentioned that in the declining trend of the tourism industry, crocodile tourism still can remain a successful number of visitors. So, we can find how much important is crocodile tourism for the

Kmart Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kmart Analysis - Essay Example Kmart deals in a wide range of retail products. The company principally provides the grocery items on its retail stores along with other consumer products such as women's and kids apparels, fashion clothing, gifts, toys, baby and kids beddings, furniture, nursery products, jewelry, electronics, home appliances, fragrances, personal care items and sports, leisure and fitness goods etc ("Kmart Home", n.d.) Kmart's business operations fall under discount retailing industry. It confronts with overwhelming competition in the industry from the significant retail giants such as Wal-Mart, Target stores, Kohl's and J.C. Penney etc. Kmart has shown a comeback in the industry after the bankruptcy with a vision to deliver value to its customers and shareholders in an identical manner. It aims for constant expansion with a view to advance in terms of sale and profitability records, to enhance the efficacy and alleviate the costs, to strengthen and elevate the utilization of assets towards increasing profits etc ("Corporate History", n.d.) The following chart depicts a snapshot of K-mart's financial ratios ("Kmart Corporation", n.d.) compared to the discount retailing industry average ("Retail (Department & Discount) Industry", n.d.) along with two of its competitors i.e., Wal-Mart ("Ratios for Wal-Mart", n.d.) and Target ("Ratios for Target", n.d.), so as to provide a better insight into the company's financial position and performance with respect to that of its industry and competitors: Kmart Industry Wal-Mart Target Quick Ratio 2.0 0.26 0.13 0.89 Current Ratio 3.6 1.17 0.89 1.50 Debt to Equity 0.93 0.55 0.54 0.70 Gross Margin 25.9% 27.50% 23.17% 32.15% Net Profit Margin 5.6% 3.80% 3.49% 4.58% Return On Assets 10.1% 7.43% 8.32% 7.30% Cash Conversion Cycle 67 days 39 days 14 days 39 days An examination of the above chart straightens out a fine line between Kmart, its major competitors and the whole discount retail industry. The further in-depth interpretation and analysis of the above presented ratios is provided below to compare Kmart's financial position and performance with its competitors and other companies in the same industry: Current Ratio: The current ratio reflects the liquidity position of a company in terms of a comparison of its current assets and current liabilities. Kmart's current ratio is 3.6:1, which means that the company keeps $3.6 worth of liquid assets against every $1 worth of current liabilities. The current ratio of Kmart is much higher than that of the discount retail industry as well as Wal-Mart and Target Corporation individually. Apart from showing a sound liquidity position of the company, it emphasizes the fact that much of the company's current assets are lying idle without being invested further. Quick Ratio: An investigation of the above ratio comparison reveals that the Kmart Corporation's quick ratio is much higher than that of its industry and competitors. Kmart's quick ratio is 2.0, which shows that Kmart is much capable to pay off its short-term debts and liabilities after keeping aside the inventory than all the other companies in the industry. The difference between the current and quick ratios explicit the quantity of stock held by company, which is about 55% of the total current assets for Kmart. Debt to

Leading Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leading Change - Case Study Example Other than the Chairman, the company is managed by a CEO and has four divisions: R&D, Production, Sales and Finance. A Vice President, followed by a Senior Manager who in turn oversees Team Managers, heads each division. (pg.7) The culture in the company seems to an open one. Peers and seniors interact with each other and take joint decisions. However, the marketing team is not very open to new ideas as it feels the same might require a lot of concept selling , which makes their task difficult.(pg 5).Similarly, the Production team had to be shown a prototype and working of the new product before they could be convinced that it was worth the efforts. They also had to be convinced that the product would not require any additional investment and could be manufactured with the existing machinery. The structure and culture of the company are related in many ways The decisions seem to follow a top-down approach. If the V.P is convinced about an idea, it is quite easy to pass it on to the Senior Managers and Team Managers who would actually execute the decisions. While each tam works independent of the other, unless the top brass is convinced, the teams are not ready to implement any new idea. The structure and culture of the company ... o Briefly describe the power structures and politics that you see in Good Sport. To what extent are these the result of the organizational structure and culture To what extent do they determine the culture As you navigated through the various power structures at Good Sport, what decisions do you feel could have been made that stemmed beyond the options provided to you within the simulation Power structures and politics are a part and parcel of any workplace. In Good Sport too, they are existent to some extent. As a Senior Manager, I had to make great efforts to convince the production and sales teams to go in for the new product XtendSport designed by Frazier O Donell. Not only did I have to facilitate the presentation by Frazier, I had to speak to Tamara Watkins, V.P R&D to put in a word to the CEO; invite Samuel Olsen, V.P. Sales, along with a few colleagues to discuss the new fitness equipment, XtendSport; and get an approval from the sales team. Also, I had to barter with support to one of the sales team's ideas if they supported the sales of the new product. Thus although the sales team initially felt that the product would require concept selling, which they felt was a tough task, after all the cajoling and ingratiation tactics, they were ready to take up the job and provide all support for the product. Thus, from a low position on the power graph, I had moved to a very high position. Similarly, the production team had to be convinced that production of XtendSport would not lead to higher costs. Initially, the production team opposed the design, thinking that it would lead to higher manufacturing costs. They had to be shown a prototype of the product and

Organizational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organizational Culture - Essay Example There are various perspectives that are used in interpreting the organisational culture. Each organisation has its stated approach in interpreting organisational culture. This explains the reason why there is a discrepancy in the performance of many organisations operating in the same field. For instance, some organisations fuse organisational culture with other aspects that enhance its performance. On the other hand, some organisations solely rely on the organisational culture to enhance their performance. As it is explicitly seen, some organisations will have an upper hand as compared to other organisations (Levinson, 2010:15). The first perspective in organisational culture is the scope of maintaining the organisational culture at all times. In this perspective, an organisation sticks to its intended organisational culture at all times. Though there may be changing times, the organisation will focus on its organisational culture through all times. This is mostly done in organisati ons that have strong organisational cultures that were implemented by the founding fathers. Some of these organisations were formed long time ago with strong organisational cultures that were influential in the success of the organisation. To ensure the organisation keeps improving, the organisation makes the decision that it will stick to the organisational culture as initially stated. To begin with, some organisations stick to their initial organisational culture to enhance uniformity. Uniformity explains the way people in the organisation interact, work and behave. This is a continuous process that does not change through different times. For instance, some organisations have a belief that their behaviour inside and outside the organisation will have direct effects on the... The researcher of this essay states that success in any organisation starts with understanding of an organisation’s culture. Workers and people that understand the culture of an organisation are well prepared to make effective changes when they are needed. For instance, the organisational culture explains the acceptable behaviour as required by the organisation. As such, workers will be observant as they do not want to let down the organisation. Collective assumption of such will enhance the performance of the organisation as all the workers are in unison. Secondly, organisational culture shows enhanced communication in an organisation. Thirdly, understanding organisational culture shows uniformity and organised working. The workers will be in constant communication in achieving the organisation’s goals and vision. As such they will be working in unison for the success of the organisation. Fourthly, understanding organisational culture ensures workers are focused on imp lementing positive attributes in the organisation. This includes success, service delivery, quality production and uplifting the name if the organisation that were discussed in the essay. Lastly, Understanding organisational culture ensures there is development of people’s experience. In conclusion, organisational culture is a vital aspect that should be given utter consideration. This will be vital in making the developments as required. However, when the organisational culture is not observed, the organisation is not likely to make positive change.

Is there a Link between Season of Birth and Depression?

Is there a Link between Season of Birth and Depression? Jaanki-Radha Patel Lay Abstract There have been a number of studies conducted to find causes for, and reasons behind depression, and why it affects so many people around the world. One suggestible cause is season of birth. Some studies have shown that the environment can affect ones risk of developing depression, as humans grow a great deal during their first year of life, and the environment varies greatly depending on the season. This literature review will gather together these studies, discuss their findings and analyse their reliability in order to discern the possibility of a link. Scientific Abstract Introduction Mental illness has increasingly become a more prominent aspect of health in the past decade, and with this, investigative research into its origins and causes has surged. A single consideration of this is season of birth, as it has been recorded a number of times that varying factors, both during pregnancy, and postnatally, have significant impacts upon the brain, in both structure and function. Depression is known as the worlds largest leading cause of disability, affecting 350 million people worldwide.[1] This, in itself, is enough reason to consider research into the causes behind depression as vastly important to both medicine and society. Further investigation into mental health and its causation can provide better care to patients, as well as improving and increasing awareness of the devastating effects of depression worldwide. Whilst there are number of theories surrounding the causes of depression, it has become evident that no single factor is necessarily causative; furthermore, a correlation does not necessarily determine causation. This literature review will discuss season of birth and the hand it may play in mental illness, and more specifically, depression. Studies over the years have suggested a relationship between a birth in the autumn and winter months with an increased risk of developing mental illness, particularly in those with a genetic predisposition. These studies will also be appraised with regards to their approach to research, and the relative accuracy and reliability of their results; thus providing us with a more conclusive view on how season of birth could link to depression. There are a number of suggestions of how season of birth could affect ones health, some of which are more established within the scientific community; as example of such is that of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is defined as recurring episodes of major depression during certain times of the year, more specifically, in winter. The pathological mechanisms behind SAD are believed to be changes in exposure to light; this notion is fortified by the resounding success of light therapy, which has been the focus of seasonal affective disorder treatment since the 1980s.[2][3] Research has found that patients with seasonal affective disorder were more frequently born in the autumn or winter, and less often in the spring or summer, compared with atypical depression. It was therefore concluded that when genetic factors were accounted for, season of birth could play a part in the development of SAD. However, more   research was required to observe the underlying mechanisms for this correlation. Further investigation into season of birth and its potential relationship with mental health has since been performed, and there are various suggestions as to how season of birth can affect exposure of light, infection and nutrients to a developing foetus, and a newborn child. These studies have found a correlation between changes in exposure to environmental factors to specific diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In fact, it was found that risk of developing schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder later in life followed a seasonal distribution; hence directing towards an environmental factor as being potentially causative in disease. Vitamin D As the seasons change, the climate in which a foetus or young child develops, also changes; there are alterations in diet, sunlight, and infection. Researchers also found evidence that suggests that vitamin D deficiency could be causative in the development of psychiatric conditions.      Ã‚   Vitamin D has previously shown itself as pivotal in healthy neurodevelopment of the foetus.[4] The role of vitamin D was only found to have a significant impact on the risk of schizophrenia; whilst links were found to bipolar affective disorder, they were not as significant, and some factors, such as increasing latitude,[5] are believed to have much a much greater impact upon the risk of developing psychiatric conditions.[6] Nevertheless, as vitamin D is crucial in healthy neurodevelopment, it is of note that patients with mental illnesses are shown to have differences in brain structure, more specifically, structural differences in the left superior temporal gyrus.[7] The variations in brain development and structure were observed to have produced marked differences in personality traits and neurobehavioural disorders. An example of this was that males born in the autumn and winter exhibited a larger volume of the superior temporal gyrus; this area of the brain contains the auditory cortex, responsible for interpretation of human language and social interactions.[8] It is fundamentally through the effects of both genetic expression environmental factors, such as perinatal photoperiod, that there are morphological variations in this region, resulting in differences in social interactions and behaviour.[9] It is through these findings that the following question arises; could treatment of vitamin D deficiency during gestation, and during the first few years of life have a significant enough effect upon neurodevelopment, so as to prevent the acquisition of psychiatric conditions? Neurodevelopmental Effects There are many ways in which cranial structure varies as a result of season of birth. A number of studies have displayed changes in brain structure linked to season of birth, with visible differences seen on MRI.9 There are also a number of changes to the brain on a physiological level. Patients with depression have been found to have reduced volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala, as well as changes in brain physiology; more extreme responses to the stress hormone, cortisol, and upregulation of the HPA axis. It is widely established that patients with psychiatric conditions have variations in brain structure relative to the normal population, most characterised by the HPA axis, a feedback interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the   adrenal cortex. This interaction is initiated through the release of corticotropic-releasing-hormone (CRH), into the blood of portal circulation by the parvocellular neurosecretory neurones in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. In response to this, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is released by the anterior pituitary gland. This results in an excessive release of glucocorticoids (cortisol) into the blood. The increased concentrations of cortisol results a release of proinflammatory cytokines in the brain, and dysregulation of the amygdala. The dysregulation of the HPA axis frequently is a result of stress, which can be defined as any environmental factor that induces stress on the body. Such stresses can include imbalances in nutrition or exposure to infection, both of which could affect the developing foetus or neonate in a profound way. As patients born in the autumn and winter are found to have an increase in exposure to infection, reduced exposure to sunlight (in the northern hemisphere) and a poorer diet relative to those born in the warmer months, a link between season of birth and the increased activity of the HPA axis, and by proxy, depression, becomes evident. The hippocampus and amygdala, two crucial parts of the brain, are components of the limbic system, responsible for emotions and social interactions. It is through their reduced volumes that feelings such as despair and distress remain unregulated, fundamentally resulting in depression. Is it believed that the reduced volume of these parts of the brain are a consequence of a lack of neuroplasticity in patients with depression, as it is disrupted. It is through this that the hippocampus and amygdala are markedly smaller in patients with depression than the normal population. Neuroplasticity allows pruning of synaptic connections that are used less often, and the strengthening of connections used most often. It is believed that under stress, a patient with depression fails to make these adaptations to stressful stimuli, and instead, cell atrophy occurs the reduction or shrinkage in cell size; resulting in a reduced volume of the hippocampus and amygdala. It is through this that the hippocampus and amygdala are markedly smaller in patients with depression than the normal population, thus preventing any recovery, as negative feelings begin to dominate the psyche. The changes in brain structure have multiple causes; it has been found that patients with a reduced volume of the hippocampus and amygdala have so due to modified behavioural expression of dopaminergic interactions. Due to the presence of proinflammatory cytokines, there is an increase in the activity of the monoamine oxidase enzyme (MAO), resulting in reduced levels of serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine. The cytokines also reduce levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), responsible for neuronal growth; this leads to a reduction in neurogenesis, and hence a reduction in hippocampal volume. The dyregulated hippocampus and amygdala maintain abnormal levels of glucocorticoids, neurotrophic factors, and cytokines, thus creating a vicious cycle in which patients develop a depressive state from which it is difficult to recover. As brain structure has such a profound effect upon a patients likelihood to develop depression, and the structure of the brain is intricately linked with season of birth, it could be argued that season of birth would indirectly alter the risk of developing depression, with a birth in the winter months causing an increase. It has been found that treatments for depression and other psychiatric conditions also contribute towards cranial structure. Antidepressants, such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), have been shown to improve the neuroplasticity of the brain in patients with depression, thus preventing the dysregulation of the limbic system, relieving symptoms such as anhedonia and avolition. SSRIs inhibit the 5HT reuptake transporter (5HTT, SERT), which would normally allow for the breakdown of serotonin, in the synaptic terminals of neurones in the brain. Through this,   there is a sustained increase in extracellular serotonin, and increased action of serotonin within the synaptic cleft. Long-term use of antidepressants has been shown to causes changes in the volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala, as BDNF levels rise to allow for neurogenesis. This allows for the restoration of normal action of serotonin.These changes in brain structure further fortify the belief that cran ial structure has a powerful impact upon the likelihood of depression; as season of birth itself can affect the development of the brain in utero, it can be argued that a patients season of birth could potentially increase or reduce their likelihood of developing depression. The Circadian System The regulation of circadian rhythms can be altered in those with mental illnesses; studies have shown that patients with major depressive disorder and SAD have altered function of the circadian clock. There are a number of genes responsible for biological rhythms and light sensitivity, and those for melanopsin have been found to have variations in their expression. The circadian clock is the means of which allow humans to follow a routine; located in the hypothalamus, it is a key component of homeostasis, allowing organisms to maintain their sleep cycle, body temperature, blood pressure, and other important functions. Circadian periodicity is dictated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the anterior hypothalamus. The suprachiasmatic nucleus evokes responses in neurons synapsing in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), also in the hypothalamus.   These neurones modulate other neurones in the superior cervical ganglia (SCG), those axons project to the pineal gland. This mechanism ultimately results in the secretion of melatonin into the bloodstream. Melatonin levels increases as the light in the environment decreases, peaking in the early hours of the night. Melanopsin is a photopigment found in intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells (ipRGCs) in the retina, and is involved in responses to light in the environment, more specifically, circadian photoentrainment and the pupillary reflex.   (Hattar et al., 2003; Lucas et al., 2003; Panda et al., 2002, 2003). It has been found that variations in melanopsin function could be connected to differences in light sensitivity between individuals. Variations in circadian photoentrainment can occur as a result of sequence variations in genes mediating expression of melanopsin.   (Hatori Panda, 2010) Studies have found that in humans, short wavelength light (blue light) during the dark phase acutely causes alertness, even in humans who are blind.   Zaidi et al. (2007) The effect was significantly more profound in light of shorter wavelengths relative to longer wavelengths.This potentially suggests that ganglion cells in the eye that express melanopsin mediate alertness through projections to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and other centres in the brain responsible for sleep and alertness, such as the ventral lateral preoptic nuclei (VLPO). Both the SCN and VLPO receive direct input from the ganglion cells expressing melanopsin, and the VLPO is more specifically involved in the regulation of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.   (Lu et al., 2000) It can hence be stated that the connection from melanopsin-expressing cells to regulatory nuclei in the brain is the cause for the significant impact of light upon the circadian regulation of sleep. Variations in melanopsin function could lead to decreased alertness during periods of less environmental light such as during the winter. Furthermore, differences in melanopsin function could lead to seasonal variations in circadian timings and sleep. These factors compound and may, in turn, contribute to SAD. ( Melanopsin Gene Variations Interact With Season to Predict Sleep Onset and Chronotype) It was found that SAD patients had reduced behavioural engagement during times when days were shorter. It was interpreted that the change could be attributed to a delay in phase or slowing of homeostatic drive ( Melanopsin Gene Variations Interact With Season to Predict Sleep Onset and Chronotype) However, it was also argued that a change in chronotype across seasons could be a consequence, rat her than a cause, of reduced mood. ( Murray and colleagues (2003)) Thus, it is certainly probable that environmental light levels combined with genetic variation in the expression of photopigments such as melanopsin could affect both sleep cycles and mood, and therefore ones season of birth could impact the risk of developing depression. However, this brings into question whether this would apply to major depressive disorder itself, or more specific to seasonal disorders. Further research into the r ole of melanopsin and the effects of environmental light levels could shed some light on potential links to depression and mental health. Questions for Further Studies and Conclusions Much research has been done to investigate the possible effects of season of birth on the risk of developing depression. From these studies one could conclude that a birth during autumn or winter increases the risk of developing depression as a consequence of alteration in both brain structure, and circadian physiology. This is due to the lower light levels a neonate is exposed to, resulting in alterations in melanopsin expression and reduced levels of vitamin D. However, as these factors primarily come into play after birth, the question of environmental effects upon the mother during gestation come into play; travel, for example, from one hemisphere to the other, could result in a summer rather than a winter birth. This seems advantageous at first, seemingly providing a lower risk of developing depression, however, the stress of travel during gestation could potentially have impacts upon the developing foetus. Further to this, one could question the effects of travel shortly after birth, as the environmental factors that a child is exposed to, such as diet, infection, and light levels, drastically change; this is in combination with the stressor that is traveling itself. There are also some current limitations when conducting studies; as patients birth dates are protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the accuracy of results and conclusions made is reduced. It would hence be advantageous if birth date could be used in this research as results would be significantly more accurate. Thus, it must be noted that the current investigations into season of birth and its links to depression are subject to unreliability. Taking the above factors into consideration, it can be concluded that there is potentially a link between of season of birth and depression, as some links to other psychiatric conditions have already been somewhat established. We have found that season of birth has marked effects upon the cranial structure of neonates, which then result in alterations in risk of illness. We see that the changes in structure are inherently linked to variations in the environment, which renders a link between season of birth and depression highly probable. The changes in brain structure and their physiological effects should be researched further, particularly due to the role that the circadian clock plays in depression, as an alteration in the structure of its components would further explain its effects upon risk. Circadian rhythms have been established to be intricately related to ones mental health; however, it remains unconfirmed whether changes in sleep homeostasis are causative or a consequence of psychiatric conditions. Therefore, more research should be conducted in order to understand the exact effects of environmental factors on depression and how they can alter risk; fundamentally, no steadfast conclusion can be given as of yet, but the door for further research remains open. Work Cited [1] World Health Organisation, Depression Fact sheet, Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/ [Accessed 1st March 2017] [2] Lurie SJ1, Gawinski B, Pierce D, Rousseau SJ, Seasonal Affective Disorder. 2006 Nov 1;74(9):1521-4 [3] National Institute of Mental Health, Seasonal Affective Disorder. Available from: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/seasonal-affective-disorder/index.shtml [Accessed 1st March 2017] [4] McGrath JJ, Burne TH, Feron F, Mackay-Sim A, Eyles DW (2010) Developmental vitamin D deficiency and risk of schizophrenia: a 10-year update. Schizophr Bull 36(6): 1073-1078. [5]   Davies G, Welham J, Chant D, Torrey EF, McGrath J (2003) A systematic review and meta-analysis of Northern Hemisphere season of birth studies in schizophrenia.Schizophrenia Bulletin,29(3), 587-593.. [6] Disanto, G., Morahan, J., Lacey, M., DeLuca, G., Giovannoni, G., Ebers, George C ; Ramagopalan, Sreeram V Gravenor, Mike B. (2012). Seasonal Distribution of Psychiatric Births in England (Season of Birth and Psychiatric Disease). PLoS ONE, 7(4), E34866. [7] Pantazatos, S. (2014). Prediction of individual season of birth using MRI. NeuroImage, 88, 61-68. [8] Bigler, E., Mortensen, S., Neeley, E., Ozonoff, S., Krasny, L., Johnson, M Lu, J., Provencal, S.L., McMahon, W. Lainhart, J. (2007). Superior Temporal Gyrus, Language Function, and Autism. Developmental Neuropsychology, 31(2), 217-238. [9] Christopher M Ciarleglio, John C Axley, Benjamin R Strauss, Karen L Gamble, Douglas G Mcmahon. (2010). Perinatal photoperiod imprints the circadian clock. Nature Neuroscience,14(1), 25. Case Study of Entrepreneur: Prakash Bang Case Study of Entrepreneur: Prakash Bang EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Entrepreneurship is important in the daily business environment and is plays a crucial role in the world economy. Entrepreneurship is an interesting topic as it deals with the behaviour of the firm entrepreneur and the entrepreneurs main competencies. The author seeks to find the reasons for the successes and failures of entrepreneurs in India by a special case study focus. The author seeks to find the factors essential from the set up phase to the growth phase of a firm. The author has taken a case study of an entrepreneur from India, operating in a small business environment. Entrepreneurship has played an important role in the success of the firms as well as the entire nation. Factors like the opportunity discovery realisation, the importance of networking, impact of government policies and the personality of an entrepreneur has a direct relation with the entrepreneurial process. India is a growing economy and especially after the liberalization period of 1991, there has been a ma ssive change in the outlook of the entrepreneurial and globalization motives. The legendary Indian business tycoons are now world famous and show a promising future for India. The opportunity for the growth of entrepreneurship in India is massive and the concept of entrepreneurship is considered to take off soon. Indian government has now realised the true potential of entrepreneurs and many doors are opened for driving entrepreneurship in India. Factors responsible for the success and failures will be explored in relation to the life story of an entrepreneur. Successes and Failures of Entrepreneurs- A case study focus on India Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background The word entrepreneur has Latin roots à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" entre means to enter, pre means before and neur means nerve center. Entrepreneurs are individuals who enter any business and change that businesses nerve center (Shefsky, 1994). Another book says that the word entrepreneur originates from the French and the exact meaning is the one who takes between. An entrepreneur is known as the co-ordinator of different factors of production, the risk taker, the capitalist employer, the owner- manager etc. Many writers have contributed towards the roles and concepts of an entrepreneur. Richard Cantillon and Jean Baptiste Say are considered as the most important economist writers to have contributed on the role of an entrepreneur. Other famous writers to observe the role of entrepreneurs are Kirzner, Schumpeter, Knight, Casson and Shackle. This is how the approach to entrepreneurship was developed. The entrepreneurial personality consists of the key characteristics like need for achievement, high internal locus of control, visionary, innovative etc. However, the personality criticisms observed are the ignorance of the learning, preparation, serendipity and environment factors that may be more important than a personality. Entrepreneurship is hugely influenced by the environment in which a person is developed and the culture of an individual (Deakins and Freel, 2006). Entrepreneurship is not a single concept and is defined in many different ways. In the modern usage an entrepreneur is a person who undertakes a commercial enterprise at a personal financial risk. Continuous change is essential and the development is expected in the technical, social and economical areas. This concept is dissimilar to the ancient and the medieval world where the philosophers failed to give attention to the economic matters. Historically, it is observed that the conceptions of the entrepreneur have evolved over time. The craftsman, the small scale trader, the new technologies and industries founder are all seen as entrepreneurs. As per Schumpeter, the entrepreneurs view of innovation is revolutionary and discontinuous than small scale, marginal, gradual and cumulative. Gradually this develops into large firms which become the powerhouses of innovation. This leads to a depersonalized and automatized economic progress. On a macro scale, the success of entrepreneurs is a force that prevents the economic system running down and continuously resists the approach of the classical stationary state (Casson, et al., 2008) Every economist understands that an entrepreneur is important and has a huge impact. Economists consider entrepreneurship as a meta- economic event and profoundly shape an economy. Economists not only have any explanations for the emergence of entrepreneurship which took place during the late nineteenth century but also as why entrepreneurship is not related to a particular culture or a country. However, the main reasons are rooted in the values, perceptions and attitudes in institutions (Drucker, 2006). Many economists have agreed that entrepreneurship plays the key role in developing any economy as the entrepreneurs generate jobs, create new businesses and increase productivity. It is interesting to note that almost 75% of the new jobs added to the American economy every year lead to over 99% of all the United States employers. The 2006 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) observed that entrepreneurial behaviour is very important for innovation and growth of an economy and the com panies need to take their attention towards the unexploited opportunities (America, 2008). Another entrepreneurship research paper prepared for the first GEM research conference which analysed the GDP for 36 countries, found that entrepreneurship plays a different role in countries in different stages of the economic growth and hugely affects the growth of an economy (GEM database, 2004). Therefore, it is essential to understand the main reasons involved in the successes and failures of entrepreneurs as there is a direct relation between the entrepreneurs and the economy. Entrepreneurship system evolved in the advanced economy (US) and is successful. Whereas in a developing economy like India, the entrepreneurship system needs modification as the public policies need to support the role of entrepreneurship. After analysing 100 entrepreneurs from the US and Bangalore city of India, it was observed that the Bangalore entrepreneurs started with high capital which also resulted in lower profits and they competed against the large companies in India, whereas the US entrepreneurs started with less capital, competed against the other small business owners and also resulted in higher profits. This study summarised that the failure of Indian entrepreneurs was because of unfavourable tax system, harsh rules, bad restrictions and relatively low efficiency as compared to the favourable conditions enjoyed by the US entrepreneurs (Bhidenet, 2004). However there are many critical issues as why the entrepreneurs/ businesses fail like entrepreneurial weakness, poor le adership and commitment, weak marketing and finance debt, etc (management paradise, 2007) Thus from the above arguments, we clearly understand the evolution of entrepreneurship, successful entrepreneurship leads to economic development and that many factors are involved in the overall success and failures of entrepreneurs. 1.2 Aims and objectives 1.2a Aim: To understand the reasons for the successes and failures of the entrepreneurs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A case study focus of an entrepreneurs in India. 1.2b Objectives The research seeks to study the life story of Mr. Prakash Bang, an entrepreneur based in India with relation to the following points: To understand as how the business opportunity is discovered in the entrepreneurial process To analyse the impact of networking on entrepreneurship and the influence of the social network on the set up and expansion of business. To know as how the ideas or the links for exports are developed and the effect of the governments role for internationalization. The role model inspiration and the vision of the business. The successes and failures of an entrepreneur. 1.3 Value and Contribution The study will provide an understanding about the different stages involved in the entrepreneurs life, i.e. from the start up to the growth of a firm. The research will provide insights about the various challenges faced by a small business entrepreneur. It will also serve as a guideline to the present entrepreneurs and the individuals who wish to become entrepreneurs in future. 1.4 Structure of the study CHAPTER CONTENT Chapter 1 Introduction This first chapter gives an idea about the project. The evolution and importance of Entrepreneurship. Then, the motivation for research is specified which is based on the successes and failures of the entrepreneurs. The last part shows the aims and objectives for the research. Chapter 2 Literature Review The literature review highlights and examines the previous studies in the entrepreneurship area and relevant theories, which form the background of this study. This includes economic importance of entrepreneurship, opportunity realisation and effects, the role of bank loans, entrepreneurial personality factors, role of government policies and entrepreneurial failures. There are different views observed on the factors responsible for entrepreneurship. This chapter presents information on the issues which are related to the entrepreneurship stages. Chapter 3 Methodology The chapter describes the research methodology adopted for the study and provides justifications for the approach. Qualitative research is used to analyse the case and the primary data is collected. Finally this chapter analyses the methodology and identifies the various challenges encountered during the research. Chapter 4 Discussion of Findings This chapter discusses the findings, considering the relevant current literature. It tries to identify the reasons related to the research and findings. Chapter5 Conclusions This chapter concludes the findings of the study and states the contribution of the research. It also identifies areas required for the future research by understanding the past failures of entrepreneurs. Finally this chapter provides recommendations on which will prove useful to the successes of entrepreneurs. Chapter 2. Literature Review 2.1 Meaning and importance of entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is linked with the economic growth. An interesting study by Hicks in study of Texas sales receipts said that the highest failure rates had the highest employment growth and highest wages. It can be noted that entrepreneurship has at least a part on such benefits. It is also found that in case of failure of the entrepreneurs the consumer still get a higher valued offerings (Knott, 2008). Entrepreneurship is believed to be risky as it is highly innovative and high tech. Entrepreneurs shifts the resources from the areas of lower production to the areas of higher production. Entrepreneurship is implied to evolution and revolution. Different authors have different opinions on entrepreneurs. As per Drucker, Entrepreneurs are designers of new realities, i.e. as the introducers of a new product or process. Krizner (1973) suggested that entrepreneurs create new ways of organising economic activities. Mintzberg (1973) in line with the Schumpeterian said that the strategy of en trepreneurs is a discontinuous and radical change, which is guided by a tunnel of a vision. However, Lessem (1984) argued that entrepreneurs are experimental learners. The above views of different authors show that Entrepreneurship brings evolution as well as revolution (Klandt 1993). Entrepreneurs are the creators and leaders of the society who change the way people live, work, play and lead. Entrepreneurship evolved in America before 35 years and had a stunning impact on the cultural and the economic landscape of America. Americas entrepreneurship is now a global movement and has become a model for the business people and policymakers. It is noteworthy that EUs action plan in 2000 to be the most competitive economy by 2010 by fuelling entrepreneurial minds, encouraging more people to start their own businesses and forming more entrepreneurial friendly regulatory as well as administrative environment. Entrepreneurship has also exploded in the countries like India and China leading to a positive social and economic change (Timmons and Spinelli, 2007) 2.2 Entrepreneurship in India If we consider the example of India, it is known as the land of the successful world famous entrepreneurs like Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal, who are currently at the top 8th and 9th position in the world as per the American magazine à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Forbes (edubook, 2009) Besides these legendary family business players many new firms are also emerging in the growing economy India. Many of the business are funded with the infusion of private equity or venture capital. However, as per the statistics from Brain and Company the venture capital market in India, has declined from US $ 17 billion in 2007 to US$ 14 billion in 2008. In spite these s many entrepreneurs like the CEO of hotmail.com are still bullish on the new ventures and assure that India for entrepreneurship still remains advantageous (Wharton, 2009) If we consider GEM 2003 statistics for India, it showed that 12.5% of the Indian population is involved in the opportunity based ventures whereas in China it was just 5.5%. The dominance of India is because of the strong entrepreneurship environment and more iconic entrepreneurs. However with the emergence of the Chinese companies like alibaba.com in which yahoo took 40% stake, China has started producing role models. In near future Indian entrepreneurs are likely to fail as compared to the Chinese entrepreneurs (insead, 2008) At this moment, India needs to have a right environment, capital access and should enable networking and exchange as well. Presently, India is a land of technologists and the businesses can survive for much longer time than any other countries (narendra, 2009) Another point to be noted is that the Indian technology firms can add value to the countrys growth because a technology product company adds faster and quicker money using small power. The main challenge here is that these firms need to be competitive in future (sramanamitra, 2007) Although the present scenario is completely different in India; during the period of 1980s to 1990s, the entrepreneurs had to face tough times as they had to obtain multiple licences and the government officers who were involved in the licence aspects were underpaid and ultimately resorted in bribery and corruption. Then the situations changed after 1990s. The main reason for the change is because the Indian business practices started changing in 1991 after extensive economic reforms. Indian economy has sustained average GDP around 9% from 2006 to 2007. In the past decade, Indias GDP has increased from 21% to 33% and the foreign exchange reserves have reached over $200 billion. In todays scenario entrepreneurship has taken off and is truly a promising market for the entrepreneurial firms. (go4funding, 2009) The growth of Indian Small Scale Industries (SSI) post liberalization, during 1994 to 2002 was over 4.1% annually and also the employment grew by 4% annually. (small sector growth in india, 2006) 2.3 Discovery of entrepreneurship opportunity and its effects In Entrepreneurship, it is necessary to understand as how the opportunities are realised by the entrepreneurs. The concept of opportunity generation is a largely overlooked aspect but is central and an important part of entrepreneurship. Opportunity generation is defined as a situation in which a person creates new means to yield profits. It is crucial to understand the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities in the life of an entrepreneur, as the characteristics of the entrepreneurial opportunities manipulate the entire entrepreneurial process. Authors like Schumpeter and Kirznerian have different view points on the role of opportunities which is represented in the table below: Schumpeterian Opportunities Disequilibrating Requires new information Very Innovative Rare Involves Creation Kirznerian Opportunities Equilibrating Does not require new information Less innovative Common Limited to discovery Table 1(Shane, 2003) Also, certain individual differences are observed in the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunity: Access to information Life experiences Social networks Search processes Opportunity Recognition Absorptive capacity Intelligence Cognitive properties Table 2 (Shane, 2003) It is important to understand the Timmons model in entrepreneurship as the opportunity is considered at the heart of the business and is driven by the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurs team. As per the Timmons model, the shape, size and the depth of the opportunity structures the necessary shape, size and the depth of the resources and the team. It is well explained in the following diagram: Many activities function in the social, economical, political and family spheres that are categorized under Entrepreneurship. Such entrepreneurial activities require a lot of effort, negotiation and are a chain of activities in relation to something that are gone before. The first stage in the entrepreneurship process is known as the opportunity formation stage, which is a commonly observed phenomenon in entrepreneurship and the business venturing process. The formation of opportunity is relationally and communally constituted. However, this argument is not fully considered in descriptive or linear process models of opportunity recognition. As per the studies of some authors, an opportunity is discovered due to a persons cognitive skills, organizational learning process and networking skills or career choices. These frame works formulate opportunity recognition process. The problem in such frameworks is that they fail to take a wider picture of societal, economic or cultural structur es and patterns that shape entrepreneurship (Fletcher, 2006). Although, the opportunity generation strategies are important in entrepreneurship, the effects of such strategies are neglected in the entrepreneurship area. It is interesting to note that the performance of a venture is strongly influenced by the opportunity discovery strategies. An observation on three entrepreneurial firms showed that the growth of an entrepreneurial firm is affected positively by proactive search approach of entrepreneurs. We can easily understand the effect of proactive search on the performance of new ventures in the diagram below. The high beta value (.67) shows that the proactive search approach of an entrepreneur is the most important catalyst for the growth of a new venture. It should be also noted that in a similar way, the competitive scanning affects the newness values of a firm (Puhakka, 2007) 2.4 Factors for successful entrepreneurship and its effects Many successful business entrepreneurs like the Bill Gates and Richard Branson manage to expand their firms very quickly and with gigantic success. The reasons for their high growth success are: a) They had an entrepreneurial character within themselves. Moreover, the adapted to the change as per the growth of their business. b) They had an effective business culture which is considered as very important influential leadership tool in a firm. Their enterprise cultures had thorough foundations to grow and were obsessed with the aim of being successful in the long run. c) Also, they had an expert management team and sound financial control systems. The interesting point to note is that these firms knew as why the customers buy from them and not from their competitors. d) Lastly they had very strong strategies which helped their firms to lead towards the successes and growth stages (Burns 2006). Also, other reasons to be successful as an entrepreneurial management are as follows: a) It should be focussed on the market. b) It requires a financial prudence and specially planning for the cash flow and the future needs for capital. c) It needs a well constructed top management team, before the new ventures requirement and before it can afford one. d) The founder or the entrepreneur should have a decision in respect to his own role, area of work and relationships. (Drucker,2008) Success of a venture also depends on the leadership attributes of an entrepreneur and it is said that the successful business is a reflection of the leader (Advancing women, 2006) However, the business success does not always depend on the leaders vision. This is because a creative entrepreneur develops a product which is in great demand and also produces a product which is efficient and profitable. (Business management, 2008) There are different views of entrepreneurs on the success of a business venture. Example: It is interesting to note the view of the young entrepreneur Jasdeep Singh Bhatia whose article was selected for the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Enterprising British Summit 05. He said that a real entrepreneur has drive and motivation within him and knows his vision (news bbc, 2005) Another example is of the Successful entrepreneur Andy McLoughlin, who believes in his vision and has always followed his father as a role model who inspired him to start his own business (Make your mark, 2009). However; in case of Scarlet, who was nominated for Barclays Inspire award said that she was determined and believed in herself to set up business in spite of the difficulties in her life (Ne business, 2009). The above views of different entrepreneurs show that entrepreneurs define success in many different ways and the concept of entrepreneurship is a complex issue. Although the concept of entrepreneurship is difficult to understand, it plays an important role in the success of a nation. Entrepreneurship leads to the economic growth in many ways. Entrepreneurs enter and expand the existing markets leading to increased competition and economic efficiency. Also, new markets are often explored by offering innovative products. Statistics have shown that 14% of the entrepreneurs starting a business declared that their product had no direct competition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a clear indication of the creation of new markets. Lets consider US as an example: The last fifteen years have been robust in the set up of new ventures. Many statistics have shown that in the last ten years new business start ups approached nearly 600, 000 per year. Today, the numbers of businesses in the US have soared more than 20 million and the growth rate is at 2 percent. As per the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), more than half of all businesses employ less than five people and almost 90% of the firms have fewer than 20 people. The s mentioned in the table below give us a better idea in terms of the new jobs created and the size of business in the US from the years 1980 to 1995 (Kuratko and Hodgetts,2007). (SIZE OF BUSINESS) Years New Jobs (000s) 20-499Employees 500+ Employees 1990 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1995 6,853 49% 27.5% 23.5% 1988 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1990 2,666 153.8 -31.9 -18.8 1986 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1988 6,169 24.1 20.8 55.1 1984 1986 4,611 35.5 16.8 47.7 1982 1984 4,318 48.8 27.9 23.3 1980 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1982 1,542 97.9 -2.4 4.5 Table 3 Source: NFIB Small Business Policy Guide (Washington, D>C., November 2000), 31 From the above statistics we can conclude that the small businesses entrepreneurs have successfully created new jobs leading to the strong economic conditions in the US. However, it is interesting to note that as per the report of Missouri Economic Research and Information Centre (MERIC) the Small Businesses and the Entrepreneurial Growth Companies (EGC) are two different concepts. As per the MERIC report, the owners of EGCs have significant economic effects on a community by accounting for a large creation of new job growth whereas Small Businesses target controlled growth and continuous profitability (MERIC, 2009). In reference to the US job creation statistics mentioned earlier, one of the reasons for the success of entrepreneurship in the US is due to the strong support of the US Small Business Administration (SBA) to its entrepreneurs. SBA was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal state government and has a vast network of partnership of public and private companies. Also, SBA has many loan assistant programmes and recently, President Obama came up with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help the small business owners with tax relief plans to overcome the losses (SBA, 2009). Whereas, if we compare support of Indian government to its entrepreneurs, not only there are very few loan programmes available but also no serious initiative was taken in the crisis situation to help entrepreneurs (Business gov, 2009) This is one of the main reasons for the success of the American entrepreneurs and the failure of Indian entrepreneurs. 2.5 Entrepreneurship scenario in growing economies and role of banks If situations mentioned above continue in India, the entrepreneurs may highly fail due to less support available. Also, it is also observed that the Indian government shows very low interest to the ideas of individuals. A very good example to support the above statement: An individual from India shifted to a small south Asian country as he did not get support from Venture Capital funds in India. As a result, this entrepreneur is now moving his company base and will offer employment to the locals of another country (Trak, 2009). From the above points it is clear that the role of government is very important for the success of entrepreneurs and the country. Support from the banks is also very essential especially in the growing economies for successful entrepreneurship because the bank loans are a source of external funding for small and medium size business. Another interesting point is that many entrepreneurship studies involved in the research of emerging economies have suggested that personal relationships and networks with other entrepreneurs, bankers, government, friends and relatives may play an important role for the lending institutions as well as the borrower. A case study of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam showed that different networks accomplish different purposes and therefore it is necessary to align the networks as per the requirements in the various stages of business. As per the research paper, networking with customers and government officials helps (use of bank loan) to improve business performance whereas networking with suppliers and society reduces the need for a bank loan (shown in the below) (Le, N. T. B . Nguyen, T. V. 2009) Bank loan is important for the venture set up. In India, statistics have shown that 41% of the business owners seek for sources of finance. However, the criticism to the bank loan is that a forum of Private Business found that taking a bank loan is not an attractive option because only 26% of the people found the charges of bank are good value for money (Deakins and Freel, 2005). Also, there is a problem for the high technology firms to get loan from the banks because the banks require collateral or a good track record with business propositions. Most of the fast growing businesses grow due to retained profits (Bhide 2000- p 364- Oxford). If we consider another option of investment, i.e. venture capital with reference to India, venture capitalists firms do not fund for the start up enterprises, unless an IT business. The venture capitalists firm think that IT businesses have good growth prospects in India and therefore are a safe funding option (Silicon India, 2009) Previously we have seen that networking is a crucial element in the success of entrepreneurship. However, another study concluded that if we consider the importance of networking and the three areas network relationships, governance and structure, then the focus of network development process over the venture gestation, formation and the growth life cycle of a firm receives less attention 2.6 Entrepreneurial personality factors and its importance In entrepreneurship, there are several factors that can be controlled besides the personality traits and parents (Knott, 2008). In entrepreneurship it important to understand the personality factors of an entrepreneur. Some studies have concluded that 20% of variance in the intentions of entrepreneur origin can be seen by the personality origin of an entrepreneur. However, this ratio drops down to zero while explaining business success. It is found that the personality factors depend on the start up intentions of an entrepreneur. A group of researchers on the basis of configuration- theory approach observed that the personality characteristics of an entrepreneur gradually decrease from the start up phase to the business growth stage. (Refer 5) Also for the development of the business intentions, correct measures need to be taken in schools and university in order to foster the personality characteristics of an entrepreneur. (Refer 6) (Frank, 2007) In todays world, entrepreneurship besides the start up intentions and the personality characteristics of an entrepreneur is also influenced by the global economy. Trading in the global economy or the international market requires understanding of different cultures, risk taking and economic production methods. The process of internationalisation is a progression of stages and a gradual process which begins from an established domestic market. Traditionally, a small firm enters overseas markets through agents to gain knowledge for opening its own subsidiary firm. Then in the final stage overseas production is started. This is well explained in the diagram below: The entrepreneurship concept though interesting has many challenges or problems. In 1971, author Frank Knight said that entrepreneurship judgement is a natural complement to the theory of the firm. However the challenge is whether the entrepreneurs insight is incorporated or not, as there are problems related to the modelling issues like the judgement and entrepreneurial experimentation (Muzumdar, 2008) 2.7 Internationalization of a firm and international entrepreneurship The internationalization process is also influenced by the networks of the entrepreneurs. The knowledge of internationalization can be gained through partnerships or in relation to the business networks. The importance of networks is that they are good source of information, linked to opportunities and vision. Social networks have crucial contribution in making a big difference towards the success. It is noteworthy that the entrepreneurs and the managers understand that firms cannot perform alone and social networks are an important element in a firms international success. Therefore firms should involve in the networking process by taking part in specialized conferences to promote their credibility in the international market. The diagram below shows the three roles of social networks related to the firm, entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial team and the High Tech Small Medium Enterprises (HTSME). In this it is shown that the information is received from the external sources, mainly through the networks. Then the information is used by the lead entrepreneur and his / her team, based on the prior knowledge, experience and thoughts. During this time the information is also gained from t

City-States in Lower Mesopotamia :: Ancient Egypt Egyptian History

City-states in Lower Mesopotamia Factors that contributed to the emergence of city-states in Lower Mesopotamia and the influence the landscape played in the formation of the civilization which emerged. For this essay I considered the question of what factors contributed to the emergence of city-states in Lower Mesopotamia and the influence the landscape played in the formation of the civilization which emerged. Through my research on this topic I found that there is much evidence to support the claim that landscape was a very large influence on the emergence of civilization and that most of the contributing factors were, in some way, linked to geography. In order to fully understand the topic, I first explored what the definition of civilization is. The first criterion for civilization, that I could think of, is domestication and an agricultural economy capable of producing a stored surplus. From this, I felt the need to examine the origins of Mesopotamian agriculture. With the glacial retreat after the last ice-age (roughly 10000 BC) the Mesopotamian climate improved and many modern plants and animals began to become concentrated in specific areas. Around 9000 BC the vast majority of Mesopotamian peoples were hunter-gatherers. With the concentrations of plants and animals being in specific areas these hunter-gatherers soon began to domesticate those plants and animals and a sedentary village farming pattern arose. This became the predominant way of life around 6000 BC. This change from food collecting to food producing was one of the major transformations in human history. Early peoples no longer had to live the nomadic life of hunter-gatherers but could settle down in permanent housing and produce their own food. It also began an economic change that altered social and political institutions, religion, etc. Domestication is the process of altering plants and animals so that they are no longer bound to the natural habitats of their wild ancestors. In essence they become more productive and useful to people. This process sometimes even includes changes in the genetics of the domesticated plant or animal. In Mesopotamia the major domesticated species of plants were wheat, barley, chickpeas, peas, grapes, olives, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, apricots, dates, and figs. The major domesticated species of animals were cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Some of the genetic changes brought about through domestication and the careful breeding of plants and animals include plants that were bred to have more and bigger useful parts and animals that were initially bred to be smaller and less aggressive, and only later to have more of their useful parts.

Jacob Kounin Essay

Who Is Jacob Kounin? * Jacob Kounin is a classroom behaviorist theorist. He first started as a psychologist at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. * He is best known for two studies he did in 1970 that was based on classroom management. * He began his studies in 1970 by writing Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms. He wrote the book to discuss the effective and ineffective behaviors in the classroom. The process began by observing teachers in an everyday classroom setting to see how they handled misbehaving. He found that no matter how the teacher’s handled the given situation, the outcome was always the same. His conclusion was basically to prevent misbehavior before it even happens. This brought on his idea of having main points to follow to have successful classroom management. Ripple Effect * The ripple effect came about while Kounin was teaching during Mental Hygiene class. A student of his was in the back reading a newspaper. The paper was completely open and covering the student’s face. Kounin asked the student to put the paper away and follow along. This brought on other students to follow the same directions. Therefore, if you â€Å"call out† one student in front of the class, it will cause other students to get refocused. â€Å"Withitness† * Withitness is not a teachable concept. This is basically a natural instinct in education. Being â€Å"with it† involves many concepts. Teachers have to constantly knowing what is going on in their classroom at all times. There are many ways to maintain â€Å"withitness† is being alert, circulating the classroom, asking numerous questions, redirecting students and knowing students on a personal level. Overlapping * Overlapping is basically a teacher’s way of multi-tasking. Teachers should constantly keep their students focused and engaged in the learning taking place. This key point ties back to having â€Å"Withitness†. Momentum * A teacher that has a manageable classroom must have momentum. In the classroom, there are unexpected changes that may occur that were not planned for. A teacher has to be able to maintain control of his or her classroom during these unplanned events and just â€Å"Roll with the punches†. Momentum occurs when students are involved and interested in the learning that is taking place. Momentum is also a learning tool for teachers. After completing a lesson and the students are just not getting it, the teacher can reevaluate how he or she wrote it. Smoothness * Smoothness basically boils down to having daily routines and procedures. If you explain to students what you expect out of them at the beginning of the year, your classroom will run a lot smoother. Smoothness can occur in a classroom starting with morning routines, to transitioning lessons to even how students ask to get out of their seat by using signals with their hands. If a teacher has a structured classroom, it can also run smoother throughout the day. Group Alerting * This is a way to keep all students’ attention and behavior on task. There are several strategies teachers can go about using group alerting. Some examples of group alerts may be completed with the help of students by using songs, the clap system and sayings, while others can be used solely by the teacher. For example, calling on students at random by asking a question only after scanning the room to make sure students are paying attention. Advantages –vs. – Disadvantages of Kounin’s Theory * Advantages * Promotes learning in not only regular education students, but also with special education students * Effective ways to manage a classroom * Shows respect for all students * Helps prevent discipline problems * Disadvantages * Does not address behavior problems * Teachers wanted effective strategies to stopping misbehavior quickly and they did not find it in Kounin’s work. Work Cited Charles, C.M. Building Classroom Discipline. 10th. N.A.: Pearson, 2011. 66-68. Print. â€Å"Discipline Theorist.† n. page. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. http://www.elearnportal.com/courses/education/classroom-management-and-discipline/classroom-management-and-discipline-discipline-theorists. Evertson, C.M, and E.T. Emmer. Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers. 8th. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2009. 108-112. Print. Gulliver, L. â€Å"Jacob Kounin.† 01/2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. http://lynneg.edu.glogster.com/lynne-gullivers-jacob-kounin-glog/

Five Key Steps to Working with Editors

Five Key Steps to Working with Editors For those writing a series, you’ll need to describe where the book fits into the series.  There are different ways to create lists; however Excel works well for me when preparing a timeline. I head the first three columns Character, Purpose, and Relationship to Protagonist. The fourth is labeled Chapter One, subheaded with the time and date. Below Character, I list primary and secondary characters as they appear in the book, then note something about their purpose under the chapter they appear in. The great thing about Excel is that it’s user friendly. You can easily manipulate rows and columns to insert or delete material.  You writers out there are probably groaning

The Puritan Story Essays

The Puritan Story Essays The Puritan Story Paper The Puritan Story Paper The puritan story was a story of many things; from the landing of the first group of puritans in New England, to the formation and trouble of the bay colony bible commonwealth, to the puritans versus Indians, ending with the New England family. This story wouldn’t be anything without the help of the one and only King Henry VIII. It was King’s, tie breaking with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530’s that launch the reformation of the protestant church. The reformation of the church led to a group people to seek the purification of the English church, theses people were known as the â€Å"puritans†. The puritans later broke down into two groups when the reformation of the church wasn’t making any progress. One of these groups was the separatist also known as pilgrims; a tiny group of puritan who vowed to break entirely away from the England church. Losing their English identity, these separatist departed for Holland in 1608 to flee royal wrath back in England. While in Holland, the separatist endured hard work and poverty for 12 years but it was the â€Å"dutchification† of their children that made them leave Holland and sail to New England to live and die as English men and women and as purified protestant. Securing rights with the Virginia Company to settle under its jurisdiction, the pilgrims sailed to America but missed their destination and finally chose to land at Plymouth bay in 1620 without the legal permission of the Virginia Company to land or establish government. Before disembarking the pilgrims leaders created and signed the brief mayflower compact; a simple agreement to form a crude government and to submit to the will of the majority under the regulations agreed upon. This pact was a promising step towards genuine self-government. The start of life in Plymouth rock wasn’t a bed rose for the pilgrims, especially during their first winter at the rock were they had it hard and only 44 out of 102 survived. Even though the winter was harsh not a single one of the pilgrims left when the mayflower was heading back to England in the spring. The pilgrims stayed around longer and being fortune with having men like William Bradford to help lead, the pilgrims saw a bountiful harvest by time the next autumn hit in 1621 creating the first thanksgiving in New England. This small settlement of pilgrims were still charter less and even though they were big morally and spiritually they did not succeed to become big economically and numerically until it merged with its neighbor; The Massachusetts Colony. This colony was home to the second group of puritans who came to America; the â€Å"non-separatist†. The non-separatist, were the puritans who didn’t leave England but stayed to try and purify the protestant church. The purification of the church still made no progress and in 1629 the non-separatist left England fearing for their faith and England’s future. The separatist secured a royal charter to form the Massachusetts Bay colony; they used the charter for many years as a constitution until they decided one day that they wanted to separate themselves from the England church only from its impurities. The non-separatist established a sizable settlement in the infertile Massachusetts area and was bless with a well-equipped expedition of 1630. It was also during the 1630’s when about 70,000 refugees left England for America creating what’s known today as â€Å"the great migration†, only a few of theses refugees made it to the bay colony while the rest settled in the West Indies especially in the Barbados. Many fairly well-to-do educated immigrates immigrated to the bay colony, including john Winthrop the bays first governor who served 19 years. The bay colony prospered as fur trading, fishing and shipbuilding industries with the resources and skills of talented people like Winthrop, he also help the colonist build a holy society that would be model for humankind. The bay franchise was extended to all freeman; adult males who belonged to the puritan congregation which in time came to be called the congregational church. Although the government was liberal by the standards of the time it was not a democracy, Governor Winthrop feared and distrusted the â€Å"commons† and thought that democracy was the meanest and worst of all forms of government. Winthrop felt that if the people were governors then who shall be governed he thought that only puritans, the visible saints who alone were eligible for church membership could be freemen. As time went on the bay colony continued to grow and enjoyed a high a degree of social harmony stemming from common beliefs but running into dissension. It was few a people that did not agreed with the bay’s â€Å"bible commonwealth†, people such as Anne Hutchinson; a woman who was banish from the puritan church when she claimed that a holy life was no sure sign of salvation and that the truly saved need not bother to obey the law of either god or man. Along with Hutchison was a young man name roger Williams who also challenged the English church. Williams was condemned for expropriating the land from the Indians without fair compensation he also went on to deny the authority of civil government to regulate religious behavior. This was seditious blow at the puritan’s idea of government’s very purpose. With the few troubles they had with those who disagreed with the idea of government the puritans faced another problem; they face troubles with Indians. Back when the first set of pilgrim settlers arrived, local Wampanoag Indians at first befriended the settlers. The Wampanoag chieftains massasoit signed a treaty with the Plymouth pilgrims in 1621 and helped them celebrate the first thanksgiving after the autumn harvest that year but things changed after that. In 1637, hostilities exploded between the English settlers and a powerful Indian tribe known as the Pequot tribe. The English militiamen and their Narragansett Indian allies annihilated the Pequot tribe and in 1675 massoits son, metacom (nicknamed king Phillip by the English) launched a series of attacks and raids against the colonist towns. The war ended in 1676. In 1643 four colonies banded together to form the New England confederation. The primary purpose of the confederation was defense against foes or potential foes like the Indians, the French and the Dutch. The confederation was essentially an exclusive puritan club, and although it was weak the confederation was the first notable milestone on the long and rocky road toward colonial unity. As New England grew over the period of time they social scale were great planters, small planters, landless whites and black slaves. New Englanders tended to migrate in families as opposed to single individuals and family always came first to the new Englanders. Along with families in southern colonies because men died frequently the widows were allowed to inherit the property and married women were allowed to retain separate title to their property but because the puritan worried that recognizing women’s separate property rights would undercut the unity of married persons they decided that the when a man died the church inherit the property not the wife. New England towns were legally chartered by the colonial authorities and the distribution of land was entrusted to proprietors every family received several parcels of land. Towns of more than 50 families had to have an elementary school and just after 8 years of the formation of the bay colony in 1636, the Harvard College was established. The puritans ran their own churches and democracy in congregational church government led logically to democracy in political overnment. As life in the new England towns continued to prosper the church started to decline losing many of its members because of its strict policies. In 1662 troubled ministers announced a new formula for church memberships known as the â€Å"half-way covenant†. The new arrangement modified the covenant between the church and its adherents, to admit to baptism but not â€Å"full communion†. This new formula helped boost the churches membership and help the church gain money. In 1692 a group girls in Salem, Massachusetts were claimed to bewitched and put on trialed, by 1693 the governor of Massachusetts ended the witchcraft hysteria and prohibited any further trials and pardoned those already convicted. As the years continued on the New England way of life steadily grew making New England a place for energy, purposefulness, sternness, stubbornness, self-reliance and resourcefulness ending â€Å"the puritan story† and starting the America we know today as home. .

What Do Artists Do Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What Do Artists Do - Essay Example This essay discusses that the nation was bitterly divided that the returning veterans got almost no recognition for their efforts. In this environment of an ongoing debate, the role of Lin was to build a memorial, honoring the human sacrifice of the war while at the same time neither praising nor criticizing the war itself.Ass the report stresses at the center of the memorial is a long, tightening, V-shaped wall of black granite, engraved with the names of the missing, the captured as well as the dead-totaling to 58,000 names. This memorial suggests a modern entrance to an old burial mound even though it lacks entrance. Thus, the extremely polished surface serves as a mirror providing a reflection of the nearby trees, Washington Memorial as well as the visitors passing by.  As they enter along the walkway from either side, visitors are not aware at first of the low wall at their feet. The monument starts, unnoticed just as the war itself did; a few support troops sent to a distant and small country, a few deaths in the nightly news. As visitors descend along the downward-sloping path, the wall becomes taller and taller, towering overhead, and so do the names increase. People oftenly reach out and touch the letters, touching their own reflections. A corner turns at the lowest point of the walkway, with the wall at its highest. The path climbs upwards, and the wall falls away. Drawn from both the Washington Memorial and Lincoln Memorial, visitors leave the war behind.

Team Evaluation Tool Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Team Evaluation Tool - Assignment Example Various tools can be used to help in achieving quality based team performance. One of the tools that prove to be more useful is brainstorming. Every team has both strengths and weaknesses, which highly influence the direction of the organization. Brainstorming in the team will help identify strengths and areas that need improvement (Glasman, 1986). Brainstorming helps to come up with proper suggestions on better ways for improving team performance. In connection to the above, brainstorming improves leadership performance, as a leader will identify the areas that need more concentration. When the deficiencies have been identified, then the team and the manager will proceed in implementing them hence quality and strong leadership and team performance (Parry, 1997). Performance appraisal is another useful tool that can be utilized to help in evaluating the team as well as the leadership performance. The performance evaluation allows both the management and the individual team players identify their strengths and weaknesses. The method gives space for better and quality team performance and leadership performance (Narayan-Parker, 1993). Barksdale, S., Lund, T., & American Society for Training and Development. (2001). Rapid evaluation: Tools, worksheets, and job aids to help you: develop an evaluation strategy, use the right evaluation approach, understand, and analyze evaluation data. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training &