Aida Model Essay Example for Free

Aida Model Essay Pick refer to design: APA MLA Harvard Chicago ASA IEEE AMA Haven't discovered the exposition you need? Get your custom example exposition for just $13.90/page ? Consistently we’re barraged with features like these that are intended to catch our eye. In a world loaded with promoting and data †conveyed in a wide range of media from print to sites, announcements to radio, and TV to instant messages †each message needs to make a solid effort to get took note. Furthermore, it’s not simply publicizing messages that need to buckle down; each report you compose, introduction you convey, or email you send is going after your audience’s consideration. As the universe of promoting turns out to be increasingly serious, publicizing turns out to be increasingly complex. However the essential standards behind publicizing duplicate remain †that it must stand out and convince somebody to make a move. Furthermore, this thought stays genuine just in light of the fact that human instinct doesn’t truly change. Indeed, we become progressively recognizing, however to convince individuals to accomplish something, you despite everything need to catch their eye, intrigue them in how your item or administration can support them, and afterward convince them to make the move you need them to take, for example, purchasing your item or visiting your site. The abbreviation AIDA is a helpful apparatus for guaranteeing that your duplicate, or other composition, catches eye. The abbreviation represents: Consideration (or Attract) Intrigue Want Activity. These are the four stages you have to take your crowd through on the off chance that you need them to purchase your item or visit your site, or in reality to accept the messages in your report. A somewhat increasingly advanced variant of this is AIDCA/AIDEA, which incorporates an extra advance of Conviction/Evidence among Desire and Action. Individuals are so critical about promoting messages that intelligible proof might be required in the event that anybody is going to act! Step by step instructions to Use the Tool: Utilize the AIDA approach when you compose a bit of text that has a definitive goal of getting others to make a move. The components of the abbreviation are as per the following: 1. Consideration/Attract In our media-filled world, you should be fast and direct to catch people’s eye. Utilize ground-breaking words, or an image that will get the reader’s attention and make them stop and read what you need to state straightaway. With most office laborers experiencing email over-burden, activity looking for messages need headlines that will urge beneficiaries to open them and read the substance. For instance, to urge individuals to go to an organization instructional meeting on giving input, the email feature, â€Å"How successful is YOUR feedback?† is bound to catch eye than the simply genuine one of, â€Å"This week’s class on feedback†. 2. Intrigue This would one say one is of the most testing stages: You’ve got the consideration of a piece of your intended interest group, however would you be able to draw in with them enough so that they’ll need to invest their valuable energy understanding your message in more detail? Picking up the reader’s intrigue is a more profound procedure than catching their eye. They will give you somewhat more an ideal opportunity to do it, however you should remain concentrated on their requirements. This implies helping them to select the messages that are applicable to them rapidly. So use projectiles and subheadings, and separate the content to come to your meaningful conclusions stick out. For more data on understanding your objective audience’s interests and desires, and the setting of your message, read our article on the Rhetorical Triangle. 3. Want The Interest and Desire portions of AIDA go inseparably: As you’re building the reader’s intrigue, you additionally need to assist them with seeing how what you’re offering can help them in a genuine manner. The principle method of doing this is by engaging their own needs and needs. In this way, as opposed to just saying â€Å"Our noon course will show you input skills†, disclose to the crowd what’s in it for them: â€Å"Get what you need from others, and spare time and disappointment, by figuring out how to give them great feedback.† Highlight and Benefits (FAB) A decent method of building the reader’s want for your contribution is to connect highlights and advantages. Ideally, the critical highlights of your contribution have been intended to give a particular advantage to individuals from your objective market. With regards to the promoting duplicate, it’s significant that you don’t overlook those advantages at this stage. At the point when you depict your contribution, don’t simply give the realities and includes, and anticipate that the crowd should work out the advantages for themselves: Tell them the advantages plainly to make that intrigue and want. Model: â€Å"This PC case is made of aluminum,† portrays a component, and leaves the crowd thinking â€Å"So what?† Persuade the crowd by including the benefits†.giving a trendy look, that’s kinder to your back and shoulders†. You might need to take this further by speaking to people’s more profound drives†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ giving easy movability and a smooth appearance and that will be the jealousy of your companions and coworkers.† 4. Conviction As solidified purchasers, we will in general be distrustful about promoting claims. It’s not, at this point enough essentially to state that a book is a success, for instance, however perusers will pay heed in the event that you state (precisely, obviously!), that the book has been in the New York Times Bestseller List for 10 weeks, for instance. So make a decent attempt information where it’s accessible. At the point when you haven’t got the hard information, yet the item offering is adequately significant, consider producing a few information, for instance, by charging a study. 5. Activity At long last, be exceptionally clear about what activity you need your perusers to take; for instance, â€Å"Visit www.mindtools.com now for more information† as opposed to simply forgetting about individuals to work what to accomplish for themselves. †See more at: record://C:/Users/GOPAL%20RATHORE/Downloads/AIDA%20%20Attention-Interest-Desire-Action%20-%20Communication%20Skills%20Training%20From%20MindTools.com.htm#sthash.nCxC0EZx.dpuf Aida Model. (2016, Apr 07).

Adjectives vs Adverbs in SAT Writing Practice + Tips

Descriptive words versus Adverbs in SAT Writing Practice + Tips SAT/ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You may review the great ol’ long periods of grade school when you found out about modifiers and intensifiers. On the off chance that you had understood that you would need to think about these grammatical features for the SAT, maybe you would have given better consideration as opposed to wandering off in fantasy land about Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. Don’t stress. In the event that you’ve overlooked or never found out about these grammatical forms, I’ll instruct you all that you have to think about them for the SAT Writing area. In this grammarguide, I'll do the accompanying: Characterize a descriptive word. Characterize a verb modifier. Survey the near and standout types of descriptive words. Clarify how descriptive words and modifiers are tried in SAT Writing. Give practice inquiries to test you on what you've realized. What is an Adjective? Descriptive words change things or pronouns. Here are some model sentences with descriptive words: He is sickening. The descriptive word is sickening in light of the fact that it adjusts he. I turned in my terrible report. The modifier is loathsome in light of the fact that it adjusts the report. My feline is quiet. The modifier is tame in light of the fact that it adjusts the feline. You can consider modifiers words that portray things. What is an Adverb? In this way, in grade school, you may have discovered that intensifiers change action words, however that’s not all. Modifiers adjust action words, descriptive words, or different qualifiers. This is a case of a modifier altering an action word: He composes gradually. The intensifier is gradually on the grounds that it adjusts the action word composes. The verb modifier is utilized to depict how he composes. Look at this case of a verb modifier adjusting a descriptive word: Her muscles are very huge. The verb modifier is very on the grounds that it changes the descriptor enormous. The verb modifier is utilized to depict the level of enormity of her muscles. Large is a descriptor since it alters the thing muscles. Here is a case of a verb modifier altering another intensifier: The government official talks quite well. Very is a verb modifier since it changes the qualifier well. Well is a modifier since it adjusts the action word expresses. From taking a gander at the model sentences, you may have seen that descriptive words and verb modifiers will in general have various developments. Intensifier Construction Intensifiers are normally framed by including ly to the modifier. For descriptors that end in y, the verb modifier is shaped by including ily. In this way, for instance, slow turns out to be gradually, calm turns out to be unobtrusively, cautious turns out to be cautiously, and uproarious turns out to be loudly. There are sporadically framed qualifiers, for example, great that turns out to be well in the verb modifier structure. Be that as it may, the SAT won't explicitly test you on unpredictable verb modifiers. All in all, in what capacity will descriptive words and qualifiers be tried on the SAT Writing area? Descriptors Vs. Qualifiers on the SAT On the SAT, intensifiers and modifiers are exchanged with each other. Regularly, a descriptor will be underlined when the wordshouldbe in the verb modifier structure. Less regularly, however once in a while, an intensifier will be underlined when the word ought to be in the modifier structure. This is a case of the kind of sentence that may show up on the SAT: At the point when I saw my PCP, he inspected me cautious. On the off chance that you aren't perusing intently, the model sentence may appear to be flawlessly fine to you. Be that as it may, cautious is working as a verb modifier in the sentence. Why? Careful changes the action word analyzed. Subsequently, cautious ought to be in the verb modifier structure. This is the adjusted form of the sentence: At the point when I saw my PCP, he analyzed me cautiously. This is a case of a descriptive word being erroneously utilized as a verb modifier: Since her exercise was unbearably, she could scarcely lift her fork to have her supper. Excruciatingly is changing the exercise. Since exercise is a thing, painfully is a descriptive word and ought not be in the verb modifier structure. This is the means by which the sentence should peruse: Since her exercise was agonizing, she could scarcely lift her fork to have her supper. Here are some straightforward methodologies to assist you with deciding if a word ought to be in the descriptive word or verb modifier structure. Technique Figure out what word a modifier/qualifier is adjusting. At that point, decide the grammatical form of the word that is being adjusted. On the off chance that a word adjusts a thing, utilize the modifier structure. In the event that a word alters an action word, descriptive word, or another modifier, utilize the qualifier structure. We should utilize what we've figured out how to handle some genuine SAT questions. Genuine SAT Writing Examples Attempt to decide whether there is a modifier/intensifier blunder in the accompanying sentence. Clarification: from the start, none of the underlined expressions may appear to be wrong to you. In any case, we should investigate answer decision C. Effective is in the descriptive word structure, however what is its capacity in the sentence? Effective is depicting how the impacts have been portrayed. Effective is adjusting the action word have depicted. In this way, successful ought to be in the intensifier structure, viably. Here's one more model from a genuine SAT. Explanation:So, this inquiry is somewhat progressively troublesome. Is there a mistake? Truly. Be that as it may, where? The appropriate response is A. In this way, â€Å"clever† is depicting how the repository was structured. In the sentence, â€Å"designed† is really a participle. A participle is a type of an action word that capacities as a descriptive word. Here, â€Å"designed† is adjusting the repository. Be that as it may, regardless of whether you thought â€Å"designed† was a normal action word, the word â€Å"clever† should at present be in the verb modifier structure. The repository was keenly structured. Likewise, shrewd is in the descriptor structure. The main thing astute might adjust is store. Would a supply be depicted as shrewd? No. The manner in which the repository was planned was cunning. It was shrewdly structured. An astutely structured store Fortunately you won't see a harder intensifier question than that one a your SAT. Presently, we should investigate another standard including descriptors. Comparatives Vs. Exemplifications (otherwise known as - er versus - est) Comparatives The near type of a descriptive word is made by including er to the descriptor or progressively in addition to the modifier. Instances of comparatives incorporate quicker, more grounded, and all the more elating. You can't utilize more and the er type of a word. You can't express increasingly more grounded or all the more quicker. Additionally, the relative structure must be utilized when you are looking at two things. Here is a case of the near structure being utilized inaccurately: Between Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Christina is the more better vocalist. Once more, you can't utilize more with the relative type of a word. Better is the similar type of good (better is sporadically shaped). This is the remedied adaptation of the sentence: Between Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Christina is the better vocalist. The relative structure is utilized when you're looking at two things. What is the best possible structure to utilize when you're contrasting at least three things? Exemplifications When contrasting at least three things, utilize the standout structure. A standout is shaped by including est to the descriptive word or by putting most before the descriptor. Instances of exemplifications incorporate quickest, most grounded, and generally elating. You can't utilize most and the est type of a word together. You can't state generally quickest or generally most grounded. Here is a case of a blunder with a standout: Of all the morning meal oats, Apple Jacks is the most delectable. Be keeping watch for sentences with most and the est standout structure. You can just utilize most in addition to the descriptive word or the standout est type of the modifier. You can never utilize both together. Apple Jacks are more delectable than Cheerios. Comparatives and Superlatives on SAT Writing In all probability, you will just observe a limit of a couple of inquiries on the SAT testing your insight into comparatives and exemplifications. You should simply remember legitimate development of the near and standout structures, and you have to know to utilize the similar structure when contrasting two things and the standout structure when looking at least three things. This is a case of the hardest kind of near/standout sentence I've seen on a SAT: Among Joe and his sibling, Joe is the more grounded and increasingly savvy. Regularly, understudies will be enticed to utilize the exemplifications most grounded or generally savvy in this sentence. Be that as it may, in light of the fact that we are just looking at two things, we need to utilize the near structure. The model sentence is right. System On the off chance that you see a relative, ensure just two things are being analyzed. Additionally, ensure that more and the relative er structure are not being utilized together. On the off chance that you notice a standout, ensure at least three things are being thought about. Likewise, ensure that most and the standout est structure are not being utilized together. Presently, how about we look at a model from a genuine SAT. Genuine SAT Writing Example Decide if there is a blunder in this sentence taken from a genuine SAT. Clarification: Do you see the blunder? Ideally. Discover the inaccurately framed relative. You can't express increasingly more grounded. More doesn't have a place with the near er type of the descriptor solid. The appropriate response is B. Now, we've secured all the particular kinds of inquiries including descriptive words and verb modifiers on the SAT Writing area. Here are a few hints to assist you with distinguishing and effectively answer all descriptor and verb modifier inquiries on the SAT. General Strategies for Adjectives and Adverbs on the SAT #1: If an Adjective or Adverb is Underlined, Make Sure the Word is Being Used Correctly In any of the subsections (sentence improvement, recognize the mistake, passage improvement), if a descriptive word/verb modifier is underlined, ensure the word is being utilized accurately. Generally descriptive word/verb modifier questions are found in the recognize the blunder subsection. By and large, botches on adje

Being Busy Can Make Your Grades Better

Being Busy Can Make Your Grades Better This semester, I have been doing four internships. They have all fulfilled me and kept me quite busy most of the time. While being busy can sometimes be fun, and other times maybe not so much, I found that the level of productivity that four internships requires has helped me academically. Because I spend much time and energy on internships, I am already in the habit of doing a lot of work when I approach homework. My internships are all related to advertising and social media, so it is a smooth transition from my internships to my homework. It seems that being involved in so much has offered a flow that I didnt know existed in college. Although four internships in one semester might not be for everyone, I have enjoyed the experience of being busy. I have learned that being in work mode for most of the semester can add to your ability to take on bigger and more challenging assignments. I understand that my next two semesters may not be quite as active as my current semester, but I hope to take my new approach to homework into my future semesters. I encourage everyone to get involved in internships and opportunities as they see fit. Keep an open mind to the possibility of learning new approaches to your schoolwork when taking on any extra projects. At the end of the day, finding new ways to be successful with your grades will translate into any project you will be a part of after college as well. Jacob Class of 2019 I’m an Advertising student within the College of Media. My hometown is a place called Fairmount, Illinois, which is about 30 minutes from campus. I began my Illinois journey in the Division of General Studies.

King Lear The Tragic Hero - 957 Words

There are many â€Å"tragic heroes† in literature in many different genres. The aspects of a tragic hero include a good man who has royalty in his blood, one tragic flaw, suffer, and then overcome their flaw once they finally open their eyes to what is really going on. Not only do tragic heroes suffer, but they cause others to suffer as well, but this can play a huge role in a work as a whole. King Lear is the tragic hero in, of course, King Lear. King Lear suffers from not knowing who he truly is, and this brings a major downfall on not only him, but the downfall on many others, including his family. The fatal flaw that every tragic hero has is the cause of their suffering. King Lear’s flaw is that he still has no idea who he truly is.†¦show more content†¦King Lear doesn’t really care about the deaths of these daughters, but cares more about the death of his youngest, Cordelia. King Lear’s favorite daughter suffered greatly due to her father’s actions. She was his only true loving daughter, but he was too blind to see that, and so he casts her out. King Lear even tells her, â€Å"Better thou Hadst not been born than not to have pleased me better?† (1.1) She has been so faithful to her father, but he basically disowned her just because she didn’t compare her love for him to her sisters. Later on, her and her father get taken to be imprisoned, but Edmund sentenced them to death, telling the Captain, â€Å"Come hither, captain; hark. Take thou this note: go follow them to prison: One step I have advanced thee; if thou dost As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To noble fortunes.† (5.3) Cordelia dies, but Lear then kills the man that hung her. Later on, Lear enters the castle with Cordelia in his arms yelling at the men, â€Å"Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones: Had I your tongues and eyes, Iâ₠¬â„¢ld use them so That heaven’s vault should crack.† (5.3) Lear is so mad at himself for what Edmud did. He has this hint of hope in the end that maybe Cordelia is possibly alive. He tries putting a glass up to her mouth, a feather to her lips, and even just seeing her breathe. Even though it was hopeless, Lear was losingShow MoreRelatedKing Lear: Lear the Tragic Hero1662 Words   |  7 PagesKing Lear: Lear The Tragic Hero The definition of tragedy in the Oxford dictionary is, drama of elevated theme and diction and with unhappy ending; sad event, serious accident, calamity. However, the application of this terminology in Shakespearean Tragedy is more expressive. Tragedy does not only mean death or calamity, but in fact, it refers to a series of steps which leads to the downfall of the tragic hero and eventually to his tragic death. Lear, the main character in King Lear was affirmedRead MoreKing Lear as a Tragic Hero997 Words   |  4 PagesThe play of King Lear is a tragedy like many of Shakespeare’s plays, and many of them deal with the tragic hero that end up meeting their demise thanks to their tragic flaw. The tragic hero of this play is King Lear, and he is a man that is a ruler of the kingdom of Britain in the 8th century B.C. He is a very old man surrounded by grave responsibilities, which are taking care of the land and taking care of the citizens of the kingdom. Lear the tragic hero must feel suffering and contrast those goodRead MoreThe Tragic Hero Of King Lear1310 Words   |  6 PagesKing Lear, one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, depicts a society in uninviting circumstances. Tragedy is depicted by the downfall of a noble hero, usually through a combination of arrogance and fate. The tragic hero s wish to achieve a goal encounters limits, those of human inability, the gods, or nature. As with all t ragedies, there exists a tragic hero, one who possesses a calamitous flaw that establishes the tragedy and all the sufferings that follow. In this play, the tragic heroRead MoreThe Tragic Hero Of King Lear1277 Words   |  6 Pagesthere is no salvation for the tragic hero or any sign of optimism in the conclusion. This bleak portrayal of King Lear, through his losses, makes him the ultimate tragic hero, and the play an ultimate tragedy. In every tragedy, of course, there is a tragic hero. A person who has good intentions, but leads the story to ruin through a fatal, and uncontrollable, flaw. The plot of the book centers around the consequences of King Lear’s flaw. Throughout the play, King Lear loses his land, his honorRead More King Lear: Lear The Tragic Hero Essay1617 Words   |  7 Pages King Lear: Lear The Tragic Hero nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The definition of tragedy in the Oxford dictionary is, quot;drama of elevated theme and diction and with unhappy ending; sad event, serious accident, calamity.quot; However, the application of this terminology in Shakespearean Tragedy is more expressive. Tragedy does not only mean death or calamity, but in fact, it refers to a series of steps which leads to the downfall of the tragic hero and eventually to his tragic death. Lear,Read MoreIs King Lear A Tragic Hero Essay1358 Words   |  6 PagesKing Lear, one of William Shakespeare s greatest tragedies, depicts a society in grim circumstances. As with all tragedies, there exists a tragic hero [1] , one who possesses a fatal flaw that initiates the tragedy and all the sufferings that follow. In this play, the tragic hero is undoubtedly the title character, King Lear. The plot is driven by the power and consequence of losses, more specifically, the losses of Lear. In the course the play, King Lear, because of his flaws, loses his authorityRead MoreKing Lear and Antigone as Tragic Hero Essay1626 Words   |  7 PagesBecause Lear is capable of change, he becomes a tragic hero; because Antigone is incapable of change, she never becomes a tragic heroine. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as someone, usually a male, who â€Å"falls from a high place mainly due to their fatal flaw.† During the highest point of the tragic hero’s life, something is revealed to the protagonist causing a reversal in their fortune. This reversal of fortune is caused by the flaw in their character. Tragedy evokes catharsis, a feeling ofRead More traglear Tragic Hero in King Lear Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pagesa series of steps that leads to the downfall of the tragic hero and eventually to his tragic death.nbsp; Lear, the main character in King Lear was affirmed as the tragic hero because the play meets all the requirements of a tragedy.nbsp;nbsp; In order for a character to be qualified as a tragic hero, he must be in a high status on the social chain and the hero also possesses a tragic flaw that initiates the tragedy.nbsp; The fall of the hero is not felt by him alone but creates a chain reactionRead MoreSuperheroes, Despite Their Differe nt Powers, All Possess1581 Words   |  7 Pagesmaintenance of strong morals. Similarly, King Lear, the tragic hero in William Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, possesses characteristics that define him as a tragic hero, as stated by Aristotle in Poetics via A.C. Bradley’s The Shakespearean Tragic Hero. King Lear is a character of high social status, and he possesses exceptional qualities that make him a well-respected king; however, throughout the play’s events, he suffers tremendously in an unusual manner. In addition, Lear, despite being a â€Å"good† characterRead MoreThe Tragedy Of King Lear By William Shakespeare1671 Words   |  7 Pagestragedy. Within his theory of tragedy is the concept of the tragic hero, whose great, ironic flaw leads to his own downfall. The tragic hero is of an elevated position in society but should, all the same, be a character with whom the audience can relate. The hero undergoes a massive revelation and experiences dramati c enlightenment. The tragedy of King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, illustrates the story of a proud and self-centered king, whose obtuse judgement shapes his demise. Lear’s impulsive

Renewable and Nonrewable Energy Resources Essay - 1505 Words

Renewable and Nonrewable Energy Resources Energy is used as part of everyday lives and can be used in one form or another. Energy is about doing work and it is all around us. Animals need energy to live and machines need energy to work. Energy exists in many forms, such as: - Light - Heat - Electrical - Mechanical - Atomic - Chemical-etc. There are different types of energy resources. They go into two groups, which are Non-renewable and Renewable. NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES ============================== Once non-renewable resources (natural resources) are consumed they cannot be replaced. The main energy sources used by humans are non-renewable†¦show more content†¦It comes from tiny plants and animals remains that used to live in oceans over a million of years ago. As their remains built up on the ocean floor, layers of sediment were formed and gas was produced by heat and pressure. Gas is cleaned and processed after it has been taken from the ground to get rid of impurities. After this it is pumped into storage tanks and carried around the country. Natural gas really has no smell but the distinctive smell has been added as a warning of leaks. The advantages of gas are: - Shrinks when cooled - Turned into liquid, when put under pressure. - Easily portable in liquid form. The production platform of gas to homes: 1) Gas is pumped to processing plants on shore. 2) Sent to compressor station. 3) Into storage tanks. 4) Gas companies supply it. 5) Into peoples homes. 6) Gas metres record how much gas is used. Oil Oil is a very important fuel and is used for many mostly to make them run smoothly. Oil is used as one third of the energy we use today. There are many types and in many forms; one form is crude oil, which comes straight out of the ground. It can be used in many different ways, like: v In power stations- oil is burnt for the heat energy it can provide. v In engines- that convert heat energy

Heroism Free Essays

We need heroes in our society, or in any society, because they give us someone to model ourselves after. The average human being, however pushed around or caged in they may be is unwilling to brave the dangers inherent to resolving the problems that plague them. Crime may overwhelm a city, but we do not care until it affects us personally; and even then we only usually worry about whatever facet of it has impact on our own life. We will write a custom essay sample on Heroism or any similar topic only for you Order Now We are inherently selfish creatures, and are possessed of a vile need to protect our own before, or even at the cost of, others. ? However, in the image of a superhero we see somebody who is willing to sacrifice themselves in order to improve our lot. Whether this is a fictional superhero like Batman or Spiderman, or a real life hero such as a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save those around him does not matter. What matters instead is that we are given role models that exemplify what we know we should morally do, but what we often cannot make ourselves do. We see somebody take the initiative and right the wrongs, despite the dangers to themselves. A society without superheroes is a society without hope, where the human condition inflicts despair and misery alone. Without somebody, real or fiction, to model our behavior after, we will only continue to behave as selfishly as we can. Every religion is based on this ideal, from Christianity to Buddhism to Islam; we follow the example of someone who sacrificed him or herself for a greater cause, and in doing so we improve the lives of those around us. These religious heroes serve just as important a purpose of any other role model; they give us somebody to pattern ourselves after. We have all had a role model at some point in our lives, and many of us still do. They are what we cling to when we face hardship or a difficult decision. They are the people we think of in dark times, and consider â€Å"What would Jesus, or Abe Lincoln, or Jackie Robinson, or even Superman do? † And the answer is the idealized moral choice, one that we see exemplified in another. It is that action, which we see another take, which gives us hope that there can be a choice other than the selfish one, that there is a reason to take the hard path. The mass media influences our society today in what many should look up and follow their steps to. They create role models for the youth to base their decisions in life so they follow their role model’s actions. â€Å"Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts† says Anderson, (Anderson, The Influence of Media Violence on the Youth). This generation lacks leaders that positively impact the youth into doing virtuous and productive actions. The media should expose role models that demonstration good qualities to influence the individuals into following them. Instead they show bad role models for people to follow or for the youth to look up to. Quality a modern day leader should possess, Inspiring words, actions and emotions that propel others to go beyond their preconceived limits. The motives of a successful leader should be genuine and not just for show. Good examples of genuine motives to do good deeds are saints, who fit in the classification of respectable role models to follow. If people were exposed to the saint’s actions by the media today, they might be influenced positively than what the mass media shows presently. Whether if it is what we should wear, act, eat, or believe in, the media today dubs a certain â€Å"normal† to it. Rayuso explains, â€Å"Young people are in a stage of life where they want to be accepted by their peers, they want to be loved and be successful. The media creates the ideal image of a beautiful men and women and tells you what the characteristics of a successful person are; you can see it in movies and TV† (Mass Media Influence on Society). Young people look up to celebrities and their identity is reflected on them. Sometimes it’s a good thing and other times it is a bad thing. Celebrities need to function as a role model to their audience because the society today is greatly influenced by them. The media is everywhere and it is difficult for society to ignore. The ideal modern day role model should possess different positive qualities. They should possess characteristics of being model for children by displaying a general care and concern for everyone, openness to communication, and executing good examples of how to deal with certain situations. An admirable leader should inspire someone to mimic their good deeds for the community and bring out the best in them. I think the ideal leader for the 21st century will be one who creates an environment that encourages everyone to stretch his or her capabilities. A role model provides inspiration and motivation to pursue accomplishments. One should treat other how him or her would want to be treated. Treating others with respect no matter where they came from and taking full responsibility for their actions are other qualities. â€Å"You’ve got to have the highest ethical standards to be an effective role model, and have to lead, and create an atmosphere of ethical behavior in the society. Having good morals is the main key in being an ideal role model for those looking up to you. Being a role model goes hand in hand with leadership skills and standing up for your beliefs and taking action. Making poor choices on whom you want to admire and be like, many of the youth go through a rough path because of their role model’s choices in life that they choose to follow too. Good successful leaders are needed to transfer people into choosing decent choices while also respecting them. For example, Successful leaders improved the performance of people by not being forceful or intimidating. Good leaders bring out the best in people through trust, respect, and inspiration. The youth should consider looking up to someone who has heroic like qualities instead of what the mass media is feeding to them. Forbes defines heroes, â€Å"Heroes are people who perform extraordinary deeds or provide selfless examples. They go beyond what is expected. We live in an age that does not want to acknowledge the hero. Rather, we want to look for people’s flaws. The media focusing on the celebrities poor choices and display it for the youth to see, making it common for them to be exposed to bad choices. The motives of the leader are important, and should be for pure intentions such as helping others, and not for the public recognition. Many people just desire to look good and do not really work hard to gain the rightful attention they deserve. he media today display celebrities that don’t have the best ethics or choices for the society to absorb from. The mass media tend to show celebrities partying, drinking, and using drugs, which if anything, influence the youth into following the celebs’ choices instead of encouraging them to do productive activities. They also do not hold up certain qualities needed to make an ideal role model, leader, or hero unlike saints. John water explains, â€Å"The young do not really have models, except perhaps from the television. They do not even know themselves. It is true because courage is an essential quality in heroism. Heroes have courage to be true to themselves. They are celebrated for their courage, nobility, or exploits. Our choice of hero / role model reveal what we value, and what is important to us therefore; we should base our choices on good examples seen in righteous models who have a vision and show their beliefs through their How to cite Heroism, Essay examples

Psychotherapy Matrix free essay sample

Select three approaches to summarize. Include examples of the types of psychological disorders appropriate for each therapy. {Insert type of therapy approach}{Insert type of therapy approach}{Insert type of therapy approach} Summary of Approach The psychodynamic approach to therapy seeks to bring unresolved and past conflicts from the unconscious to the conscious, meaning childhood memories and past memories that are buried deep in your memory or ones that you wanted to forget, are brought to the fore front to be discussed. Indivduals use repression to push threatening conflicts into the unconsciousness. This approach explores brakes down the unconsciousness for the therapist and the patient. The behavioral approach therapy build on the basic processes of learning such as reinforcement and extinction, and assume that normal and abnormal are both learned meaning that you will learn things to modify behavior using some sort of conditioning which is classical or adverse. These types of conditioning involve some sort of action that reduces the frequency of undesired behavior by pairing an unpleasant stimulus with the undesired behavior to teach or learn lessons. We will write a custom essay sample on Psychotherapy Matrix or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The cognitive approach to therapy teaches people to think in more adaptive ways by changing their dysfunctional cognitions about the world and themselves meaning the cognitive approach helps people understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors. People learn how to change their thinking and behavior. Disorders appropriate for this therapyAnxiety disorders that are appropriate for this type of therapy such as obsessive-compulsion disorder, bi-polar disorder, and phobic disorders. Disorders that are appropriate for this type of therapy include anorexia, phobic disorders, ADHD, autism. Disorders that are appropriate for this type of therapy include phobic disorders, depression and anxiety disorders.

Hawksbill Sea Turtle Facts

Hawksbill Sea Turtle Facts The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate) has a beautiful carapace, which caused this turtle to be hunted nearly to extinction. Here you can learn about the natural history of this species.   Hawksbill Turtle Identification The hawksbill turtle grows to lengths of 3.5 feet long and weights of up to 180 pounds. Hawksbill turtles were named for the shape of their beak, which looks similar to the beak of a raptor. The hawksbill was prized for its shell, which was used in combs, brushes, fans and even furniture. In Japan, hawksbill shell is referred to as bekko. Now the hawksbill is listed under Appendix I in CITES, which means that trade for commercial purposes is banned. In addition to its beautiful shell and hawklike beak, other identifying features of the hawksbill turtle include overlapping scutes, and 4 lateral scutes on each side of its carapace, a narrow, pointed head, and two visible claws on their flippers.   Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ReptiliaOrder: TestudinesFamily: CheloniidaeGenus: EretmochelysSpecies: imbricate Habitat and Distribution Hawksbill turtles occupy a large range that stretches throughout all but the worlds coldest waters. They travel hundreds of miles between feeding and nesting grounds. Major nesting grounds are in the Indian Ocean (e.g., Seychelles, Oman), Caribbean (e.g., Cuba, Mexico), Australia, and Indonesia. Hawsbills  forage around  coral reefs,  seagrass beds, near  mangroves  and in muddy lagoons. Feeding A study by Dr. Anne Meylan of the Florida Marine Research Institute showed that 95% of a hawksbills diet is made up of sponges (read more about hawksbill diet). In the Caribbean, these turtles feed on more than 300 sponge species. This is an interesting food choice - sponges have a skeleton made of needle-shaped spicules (made of silica, which is glass, calcium or protein), which essentially means, as James R. Spotila said in his book Sea Turtles, a hawkbills stomach is filled with small glass shards. Reproduction Female hawksbills nest on beaches, often under trees and other vegetation. They lay about 130 eggs at a time, and this process takes 1-1.5 hours. They will go back out to sea for 13-16 days before laying another nest. Hatchlings weigh .5 ounce when they hatch, and then spend their first 1-3 years at sea, where they may live on rafts of Sargassum. During this time they eat algae, barnacles, fish eggs, tunicates and crustaceans. When they reach 8-15 inches, they move closer to shore, where they eat primarily sponges as they grow larger. Conservation Hawksbill turtles are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Redlist. The list of threats to hawsbills is similar to that of the other 6 turtle species. They are threatened by harvesting (for their shell, meat and eggs), although trade bans seem to be helping the population. Other threats include habitat destruction, pollution, and bycatch in fishing gear. Sources CITES. Status of Trade in Hawksbill Turtles (Online). CITES Web Site. Accessed February 20, 2011, as of August 2015, no longer accessible.Mortimer, J.A Donnelly, M. 2008. Eretmochelys imbricata (Online) IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Accessed on February 20, 2011.NOAA Fisheries. Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Accessed August 10, 2015.Spotila, James R. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior and Conservation 2004. The Johns Hopkins University Press.Turtles.org The Atlantic Green Turtle (Online). Accessed February 16, 2011.Waller, Geoffrey, ed. SeaLife: A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C. 1996.

Which High School Classes Do Ivy League Schools Require

Which High School Classes Do Ivy League Schools Require SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips College admissions can seem like a giant puzzle, especially if you’re hoping to attend an Ivy League or other extremely selective school. Planning your high school schedule carefully is definitely important, but these schools' expectations aren’t as inflexible as you might think they are. In this article, I’ll provide a conciseoverview of what Ivy League admission requirements are forhigh school transcripts and give you some tips on how to map out your classes so you have the best shot at being accepted. What Are Ivy League Schools Looking For in Your Transcript? Ivy League schools want to see students who have consistently challenged themselves throughout high schoolby taking progressively more advanced courses and earning high grades. Here area few examples of Ivy League admission requirements from the school websites so you can see exactly what they say about their expectations for applicants' transcripts. All bold emphasis is mine. Yale â€Å"It is very important that we see a high level (or an improving degree) of rigor and success throughout your high school years.† â€Å"When the admissions committee looks at your transcript, it will not focus on whether you have taken any specific course. It will be far more interested to see that you have challenged yourself with difficult coursework and have done well.† Columbia â€Å"We hope to see that a student is challenging herself or himself with a rigorous course load.† â€Å"The admissions process at Columbia is a 'holistic' one, taking many factors into careful consideration. We do not rely on standardized testing and grades alone and instead look at all parts of every application to help inform our judgment.† Dartmouth â€Å"The majority of applicants have taken the following courses: 4 years of English 4 years of mathematics (often through calculus, if available) 4 years of social science 4 years of laboratory science 4 years of a foreign language† â€Å"Here’s what we want to know: Given the courses that your school offers, have you enrolled in a challenging curriculum? Have you had academic success that suggests that you'll thrive in the classroom at Dartmouth? If we answer YES to these two questions, then we look deeper into your application to better understand your particular areas of academic strength and weakness, subjects that interest you most, and your motivation for learning.† Based on these statements, you can expect a comprehensive review of your application by admissions officers at Ivy League schools, with an eye toward overall course rigor combined with impressive grades. If you’re taking the most challenging courses available at your high school and earning high grades, you’re on your way to a strong application.In the next section, I’ll talk more specifically about which classes you should take if you’re hoping to attend an Ivy League school. Start strong and stay on track. Keep running in circles until you realize that you have homework to do and this was just a metaphor. Which Classes Should You Actually Take? If you want to get into an Ivy League school, you’ll need to take the highest level classes that are available to you (usually Honors and AP courses) in most subjects.These schools expect you to challenge yourself more and more throughout high school and earn high grades up through your senior year. That being said, you don’t have to go crazy with a million APs senior yearto show how much you’ve grown.If you have a strong interest in math and science, for example, and aren't such a fan of English and foreign languages, you might be able to get by without taking the most difficult classes in your weaker subject areas. As long as you show that you are an extremely strong student in your specific area of interest (and have relevant extracurricular achievements to back it up), you will have a solid chance at Ivy League colleges. We saw in the section above that the majority of Dartmouth applicants have taken four classes in each core subject,which isn't too out of the ordinary.To give an even less demanding example of curriculum requirements for applicants, Princeton expects students to take four years of math (with calculus for students interested in engineering), English, and foreign language, and at least two years each of history and lab science.This is a perfectly reasonable expectation for almost any high school student. The mentality of â€Å"the more classes the better† can be very harmful.Don't overload yourself with extra courses in which you could end up dropping the ball.A failing grade is not something you want on your transcript, no matter how many hard classes you take! If you’re looking to fill out your schedule beyond the core curriculum, decide which subject areas are of special interest to you, and then take the most challenging classes or electivesavailable in those areas. Don't put yourself in a situation in which you're doing the academic equivalent of one-handed no-legged (?) pushups and trying desperately not to fumble. I'll give you a sample of what your core course record might look like in high school if you’re hoping to attend an Ivy League school. This isn't the be-all and end-all of schedules, so don't feel as though you have to copy it. It's just helpful to see everything laid out: Freshman Year Honors French 2 Honors Geometry Honors English Honors World History Honors Science and Engineering Sophomore Year Honors French 3 Honors Algebra 2 Honors English AP US History AP Biology Junior Year Honors French 4 Honors Pre-Calculus Honors English AP Government AP Chemistry Senior Year AP French AP Calculus AP Literature AP Psychology Honors Physics I modeled this loosely after my own high school schedule (which I can verify did get me into Dartmouth), and as you can see, it’s not an insane number of classes. Keep in mind that this is just a sample. Your school might offer more or fewerAP classes, or structure course tracks differently.For example, some schools have AP World History or Economics classes, which were not an option at my high school.Other schools might offer only a few AP classes or none at all, in which case you'd just take all Honors classes (or IB classes, if that’s an option).Colleges are aware of these limitations and will take them into account when reviewing your application. If you're an advanced student, you might finish the course track at your high school for a subject before your senior year. This happens especially with math and language classes. If you're done with AP Calculus after your sophomore or junior year, don't worry about being penalized if you decide not to take another math class in high school; you've already reached the level in math that Ivy League schools expect from most students. In this case, you might double up on science classes or classes in other academic areas that interest you during your last one or two years of high school. Try to maintain a relatively even balance of courses in different core subject areas as a baseline, while also taking care to emphasize your strengths. Not too interested in languages but love social studies classes? Even if you haven't finished the entire language course track, you can make the choice to take two social studies classes and lose the language.This shouldn’t hurt your chances as long as you’ve taken a language for three years already and are enrolled in the most challenging social studies classes. Make your passions apparent so your transcript gives colleges a sense of the unique qualities you’ll bring to the school. If you don't like studying languages, this might as well say "Welcome ... to your nightmares (a sus pesadillas)!" What’s More Important: Good Grades or Course Difficulty? Overall, selective colleges value a rigorous course load over perfect grades.An Ivy League school might accept a student who had all As and one or two Bs in the highest-level classes, but it probably wouldn’t accept a student who had flawless grades in mid- or low-level classes. These schools are looking for students who are up for an intellectual challenge and genuinely enjoy learning.If you’re in lower-level classes and earning straight As, you might not be challenging yourself enough.Taking the easy route to a good grade won't win you any points on your application. On the flip side, be careful about enrolling in a course schedule that's too intense for you.If your schedule becomes overwhelming, you might end up tanking your GPA (and your mental health!). It’s a delicate balance to strike between earning high grades and taking hard classes. Just know that you don’t have to take eight AP classes your senior year to get into an Ivy League school. If your schedule gets too intense, your hair could start turning gray, and in severe cases you might even be driven to purchase shutter shades. How Should You Go About Actually Choosing Your Classes? If you're the planning type (which you probably are since you're reading this article), you can map out your entire high school schedule early on in your freshman year. Structure your schedule so that you end up taking courses that are relevant to your strengths as a student while also fulfilling core curricular requirements.Your school shouldhave a course directory that you can look through for this purpose. Leave some spots in your schedule open to more than one option in case your goals change as you progress through high school. For example, if you're interested in both AP Psychology and AP Government but only have room for one, you can give yourself the option to pick between them later on. It's also smart to consult with your guidance counselor in the process of choosing which classes you'll take. If you have a specific college in mind, look at the application requirements toverify you'll fulfill them.Since your guidance counselor will know how other students with certain course schedules fared in the college application process, he or she might be able to give you advice based on the experiences of past students who were admitted to the school that interests you. Talking to your guidance counselor can be helpful, but make sure they're always holding an official-looking folder. That's the only way you know you can trust them. Stock photos never lie. What Else Should You Do If You Hope to Attend an Ivy League School? Apart from your grades and course schedule, your test scores will also be important to these colleges. On the SAT, you should score above 1500 for a solid chance of admission.On the ACT, you should score at least 33.Expectations might even be a bit higher depending on which Ivy League school you're targeting. If you want a good chance of attending one of these schools, especially the most selective Ivies, you'll also need to develop your application apart from test scores and grades. If you can accomplish something in high school that goes above and beyond what most students have done, you'll stand out from the crowd.This could be anything from winning an artistic competition to designing an app to making a breakthrough scientific discovery.These are just random suggestions, and everyone is different. But if you show that you're passionate about something and capable of acting on that passion to produce something unique, you'll have a leg up on the competition. For more details, read our comprehensive guide on how to get into an Ivy League school! Become one with the yellow flower. What's Next? If you're hoping to attend a very competitive college, you may be interested in your high school class rank. Read this article to find out what a good class rank might mean for you. Think you might be interested in branching out on your own academically in high school? Learn more about how to take an independent study class. If you've already completed a semester (or a few semesters) of high school, you can use the information in this article to calculate your current GPA and see how you measure up. 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:

STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN - Coursework Example The strategy is to become the ‘preferred destination by providing food that is up to one week fresher than the supermarkets’. The operations of Sunripe are affected by the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. These factors influence the operations and decisions of Sunripe in varying degrees. The influence of economic, social and environmental factors on Sunripe appears to be more pronounced than the other factors of macro environment. 2.1.1 (c) The set up of the Ontario Food Terminal (OFT), where food items received from more than 100 countries are sold under one roof indicates that the government enjoys good diplomatic relations with other countries and has adopted a liberalised trade policy. 2.1.2 (b) The target market of Sunripe consists of people with ‘above-average’ incomes. Thus most of the economic factors, predominantly the income levels of the consumers, will affect Sunripe’s revenue. 2.1.6 (b) The case study only refers to the minimum hourly wage of $7.45 to be paid to part-time employees. Sunripe is not really affected by this aspect since it employs mostly full-time employees. 2.2.3 (b) Customers wait for retailers to roll out discounts and promotional offers. 2.2.3 (c) Sunripe makes price redundant since it competes on the plank of differentiation; fresh, high quality food at reasonable prices. Will Willemsen, the founder of Sunripe, is the single most important force behind Sunripe’s success. He painstakingly sourced the merchandise for his stores. Willemsen did not mind paying a premium to procure high quality, fresh food. Sunripe employed 90, mostly full-time employees, to manage the operations of its two stores. Sunripe is an entrepreneurial set up and therefore has limited capital. The retailer has managed to obtain steady cash inflows due to its operational efficacy. Sunripe had a sound financial position with the

Reader's Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reader's Response - Essay Example Her new house is in a squalid neighborhood that she is embarrassed of. Because of her house, her race and culture are more defined and the more she is shameful of it. However, Esperanza realizes that her identity is her own doing. After being raped, she resolves to free herself from her house, but not completely enough to forget its role in shaping her identity. â€Å"Everyday Use† uses the quilt as a symbol of the interconnectedness of traditions through the people who believe in its validity through lived experiences. The quilt stands for rural tradition that only Maggie understands. Like the quilt, Maggie and Mama have not changed at all, and they are happy with their simple rural life. Dee rejects this everyday use of their cultural artifacts: â€Å"[Maggie] probably be backward enough to put [the quilts] to everyday use† (Walker). Mama believes that she knows better, when she gives the quilts to Maggie. To use it every day is what their traditions are. Traditions are meant to be experienced and not hidden in a museum. Nathaniel Hawthorne studies the loss of innocence in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† through the symbol of pink ribbons. These pink ribbons stand for the innocence of his wife and the purity of the church. Because of his dreams in the woods, the pink ribbons have turned into tools of deception. His dreams shook his faith and destroyed its pink ribbons that he once believed in. These symbols show how objects can be related to human issues and beliefs. A house can mean isolation and redemption. A pink ribbon reflects both innocence and delusion. A quilt stands for interconnection and traditions. Thus, these symbols acquire significance because these authors embedded meaning into their purposes and

Tesco Plc Management and Success

Tesco Plc Management and Success A large amount of literature is available on the management methods and policies of Tesco, the culture change it has adapted in its past, its workforce and its retailing success. This has been compared to the management theories and criteria of change management, and discussed to find out how closely do Tescos employee management mechanisms link with the actual theory. A brief overview of the history of Tesco with detailed step by step progress made by the company the strategies, values and policies, stakeholders and customers of Tesco are also precisely discussed. The future plans and a comparative analysis of Tesco with other top retailers is also presented. Tesco PLC: Based in United Kingdom ever since 1920, Tesco has to date expanded itself into several countries across the European Union as well as in Asia (EMMC, 2007). Such success of Tesco has been possible due to its focus on growth strategy, and its core competencies which are basically its brand reputation and the value-added services it provides through the brand experience. In addition, Tesco has shown a wide potential to capture foreign markets with variable environmental, cultural and political factors. It is highly sensitive to external environment, and adjusts on a need basis. It is also important to consider the factors of Tescos internal environment which add to its competencies (Clark, 2008). Tesco has gained its current position as one of the major retailers of the United Kingdom by adapting to the needs of its customers. One of the major shifts of the organization culture and strategy came in 1990 when the organization transformed itself by focusing on its human resource management. This was done by a process of strategic and cultural change (Clark, 2008). Retail industry and Tesco: Retail refers to sale in small quantities, the retail industry is an important sector of the economy; it comprises of individuals and companies which are engaged in the selling of finished products to end users. The retailer buys the products in large quantities from the manufacturers either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail is usually classified according to the type of product; divided mainly in three categories that are; food products, soft goods ,which includes clothing accessories etc and hard goods, which includes electric appliances, electronic items, sports goods, furniture et cetra (Akehurst and Alexander, 1997). Tesco PLC is a United Kingdom based global departmental store, it is the third largest retailer in the world. Tesco started as a food retailer but after the success in food business the company expanded its business activities by retailing a variety of products, targeting different markets and creating intere st in customers of different sectors. At present with over 2,500 stores worldwide and more than 450,000 peoples employed, Tesco is ruling all around the world with its business which covers retailing, distribution, logistics, telecommunication and financial services (Tesco case study, 2011). Tesco PLC History Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen; he started off by selling surplus groceries on a stall at the East End of London. The companys name was penned from the initials of T.E. Stockwell, who was at that time a partner, and CO from Cohens name. Cohens motto was pile it high, sell it cheap, it referred to the fact that customers wanted inexpensive products at a convenient location and an optimum volume that would be profitable. After initial ten years of foundation finally the first store was opened by Cohen in 1929 at Burnt Oak, Edgware, North London. Jack Cohen introduced a new concept of food ware house when, in 1934, he built a new headquarters and a warehouse for central stock control. The success story of Tesco PLC continued and as a result by 1965, Tesco owned a chain of 212 stores in North of England and by 1965, the count was increased to 356 stores. By this time, Tesco was becoming a prominent retailer in all of Europe and this fact was highlighted when the name of Tesco wa s entered in Guinness Book of World Records as the largest store in Europe (Tesco PLC, 2011). Tesco initiatives over the years: Tesco started off as a retailer for foods but expanded its spectrum to other products; in 1975 Tesco broadened the concept by opening petrol stations at different major sites. The idea behind this launch was to provide customers everything that they need, in one location. They initially started selling branded petrol but in the late 80s their own brand fuel went on sale. To attract customers, a price cutting campaign under the banner of Checkout at Tesco was enunciated by the company in 1977. Tesco introduced yet another new concept and became the first major retailer to emphasize the nutritional value of its own-brand products by launching its Healthy Eating initiative, Healthy Eating was launched to show commitment of the company in providing customers not just healthy good quality food but also to promote a healthy life style. The year 1992, was a very happening year at Tesco, as many new products were launched this year, these launches included a whole organic range and computers for schools. Other than this, the campaign of Every Little Helps was also launched this year, this campaign basically developed the companys philosophy, Tesco refers to Every Little Helps as an expression of their values, and the values are that no one tries harder for customers than Tesco and the company treats its customers as they would like to be treated (Tesco PLC, 2011). Tesco PLC was prospering at an accelerated rate, and to ensure this, the Tesco team was making every possible effort to engage the customers and maintain the consumers loyalty with the company, for this purpose Tesco launched another initiative by the name Would I Buy It; the purpose of this campaign was to guarantee that the products offered to the customers were always of the highest quality. Tescos club-card was also launched this year. The club-card was UKs first customer loyalty program; the sole purpose was to give something back to the loyal customers. According to Lord MacLaurin, former chairman of Tesco, customer loyalty is not how customers demonstrate their loyalty to the company; it is about how the company demonstrates their loyalty to their customers. By this time Tesco was not only the largest retailers, but was also the market leader of food retailers and dominated the English market in food retailing, and thus, started expanding the business beyond the boundary acros s the world (Tesco PLC, 2011). Tescos international markets reach: Globally, Tesco PLC was first introduced in Hungary and later entered Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and also Ireland. The business was also launched in Asian countries Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. Parallel to all these across border business growth, 24 hours trading was also introduced In the year 1998, Tesco launched its Finest premium brand of foods; the Finest included fresh and prepared food ranging over 100 products which change with the season. In 1999, Tesco took another initiative and published supermarket prices comparison on the internet and also launched an on-line bookstore and on-line banking. By 2000 tesco.com was launched (Tesco PLC, 2011). The success of Tesco was mainly because of its customer satisfaction strategy and in order to continue this journey the emphasis was always on customer care, and so in 2001 Tesco launched Customer Champions in many stores which implemented a new labor schedule to further improve services to the customers, the company also followed a continuous replenishment of policy to ensure at least 99% of stock availability. The very same year Tesco also achieved the landmark of becoming the leading organic retailer in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Tesco steps into the business world of Malaysia, Japan and Turkey. In the same year, Tesco started a new offering Free-From product; these products were especially designed for customers having special dietary needs. Peoples who are susceptible to any kind of allergies or food intolerance were able to entertain themselves with this new developed food range and restricted diets was not any more an obstacle to enjoy food of respective interest. All the Te scos Free from products are made gluten free, wheat free and in some cases milk free; all the ingredients that usually are the most common causes of food allergies. The free from product range included over 150 products (Tesco PLC, 2011). Tesco entered United States of America business in 2007, by opening Fresh and Easy a chain of local grocery stores whose focus was on fresh foods. Tesco introduced own-label products rather than the usual vast range of US brands of heat and eat meals. This local food chain used a straightforward everyday low price strategy and offered cheaper rates to the American customers (Tesco PLC, 2011). Tesco PLC Strategies and Policies Tesco entered the world of retailing business and gradually ranked highest among the largest and best retailers in United Kingdom, now by twentieth century the concept of retailing has became increasingly popular and therefore, the competition among the retailers has immensely increased. Customer focused strategy of Tesco: Every company is working on developing new strategies and business policies in order to attract new customers and keep old customers loyal to the company. At the present situation when business is so customer oriented, the key to remain in business is customer satisfaction and this stabilizes the companys economy (Ma and Ding, 2010). Tesco has always paid considerate attention to its customer and this is the biggest reason of their success, the core purpose of the company is to create value for customers and earn their lifetime loyalty. Tesco has achieved its goal and the business of Tesco PLC has flourished throughout its journey because the company has religiously focused on its four strategies and strictly implemented upon them. The first key strategy is to grow the core United Kingdom business by establishing Extras, Superstore, Metro and Express. The second strategy is to expand the business internationally, while the third strategy emphasizes on become equally strong in its non -food retailing business as it is in its food retailing business (Tesco CSR, 2005). Retail services offered by Tesco: The final strategy is to provide new retailing services in response to changing customer demand, the retailing services includes online shopping, Tesco Personal Finance(TPF) and telecom industry. The team of Tesco has tirelessly worked upon its strategies and that is the reason they are on top not only in food retailing but also in other retail businesses. Tesco understands and anticipates the needs and requirements of the customer and this is why it has always been successfully responding to changing lifestyles and demand of the customer and this has become the key drive of the company ever since it was established (Tesco PLC, 2011). Products offered by Tesco: In order to make its mark in the non-food retailing business Tesco has developed and introduced a wide range of products in different varieties making its business as versatile as possible. From food stuff to all soft goods such as clothes, footwear, accessories, jewelries, beauty products, household item, kitchen items etc, and also hard goods such as sports goods furniture, appliances and electronic items, are made accessible to the customer under the roof of Tesco PLC, this has provided the customer not just with ease but also with a good shopping experience to take home with. Providing with a variety of goods is not the only objective it is essential to maintain the quality to ensure brand loyalty with the customers. Constant innovations of ideas and development of products and services is required to keep competitors on their toes, that is the reason that Tesco keeps launching new campaigns, product and services ideas (Tesco CSR, 2005). The marketing department has made the understanding of customers better than anyone. The management of Tesco reports that the reason as to why it is necessary to understand customers is because championing the customer voice in the business helps in guiding and measuring the business, that is why any new product, service, campaign or business idea is launched after extensive site research which determines and obliges to meet customer needs by matching the store format to the location. Market research is done to monitor and track the healthy business, identify changing customer needs, understand current customer issues, and ensure initiatives that the company has taken are right for customers, moreover strategic insight is developed which guides business strategy through customer perceptions and concerned people views. Analysis on the insight is done to get feedback from customers and keep a check and balance of the companys performance. Further research is done on customer lifestyles and the shopping experience that is being offered by the company in order to guarantee that the business is reflecting the needs of customers. According to the management team going through these five steps enables them to fully understand the scenario and this makes them achieve a competitive advantage (Tesco PLC, 2011). Tesco and its Stakeholders Suppliers Tesco has managed to flourish a stabilized relationship with its suppliers. Tesco supports the British Farm Assurance Mark; this is because of the Tesco Farming Initiative taken by Tesco with the suppliers and farmer organizations. In 2001, during the crisis of foot and mouth, Tesco donated a large amount for the British farmers that were affected by the disease. Also through Tesco Codes of Practice, the company takes interest in the welfare of the animals; these codes specify the kind of husbandry expected by the farmers and suppliers from the company. The company also takes part in researches regarding the problems and issues of husbandry (Tesco PLC, 2011). Employees The prospect of expanding business has enabled Tesco to entertain people with proper job offers all around the world. Tesco has around 200,000 employees in United Kingdom and about 65,000 in Ireland, South-East Asia and Europe. Employees enjoy benefits such as pensions, profit share schemes, shopping discounts and other save money schemes. Tesco launched a career site which helped a great number of graduates and other workers in finding suitable jobs within the organization. A large number of employees are share holders in the company (Tesco PLC, 2011). Customers Tesco PLC has a huge range of customers that belong to entirely different sectors and cultures. The wide spectrum of the goods whether food or non-food items offered by the company makes customers from every age of life. The good quality of the products and the continuous innovations of the products, have made the brand loyalty of customers possible (Tesco PLC, 2011). Strategic and cultural change in retail sector: Strategic change refers to using strategy in order to successfully implement change, to achieve the long-term goals and objectives of the organization. Culture change is a link between organization culture and key company performance variables such as return-on-investment (ROI), sales growth, innovation, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Thus, the strategic change may be viewed as a mechanism of bringing about change in the company, be it a culture change, empowerment or total quality (Balugan, 2001). In order to bring about the change at Tesco, it is crucial to see that this change is properly managed and administered throughout the organization. According to Kennen (2007), organizations can induce culture change by uncovering the core values and beliefs of the employees, by discussing and communicating the process of change, and by establishing new behavioral norms. There are two views to any type of organization change: the managers top-down view (that is how the change impacts the managers) and the employee bottom-up view (that is how the change impacts employees). The latter can be termed as individual change management, using techniques to help employees transition through the change. This is important because employees are the people that ultimately implement the change at its very basic level (Hiatt and Creasy, 2003). Also, when change is initially introduced employees tend to feel doubtful about their ability to change which results in decreased confidence and performance, inducing resistance (Balugan, 2001). Change management can thus become a significant crucial issue, which if not implemented properly can result in loss of employee trust in management. Successful organizations inspire a strong organization culture into their employees. Change management also depends on the incorporation of several factors in the change model, including timing of change, scope of change, diversity capacity of employees, and readiness of employees to change (Balogun, 2001). Bedingham (2000) has described how strategic change was implemented by Tesco in 1987. According to the article, Tesco came across the performance lapse of the organization in a research done by Verax for Coca Cola to study retail buying (Cummings, 2011). The research findings revealed that the performance of the retail store managers at Tesco was very low compared to the competitors. In response, Tesco decided to review its management practices to improve customer satisfaction. In this process, it took retail lessons of training and transforming its front-line staff that come in direct contact with the customers every day. The need for training Tesco employees had also emerged due to the diverse ethnic, racial, social and economic backgrounds of its employees. All these employees have different skills and shortcomings, and hence require training specifically customized to their different personalities. Another need for employing these training programs is due to the fact that recruit ing new employees is much more costly to any organization than retaining the same employees (The Times 100) The growth and transformation of the retail industry itself and the concept of retailing are also responsible for the growing need of bringing about a change in employees at Tesco. Factors affecting this include changing needs of the customers and the society, as well as from the changes in supply of labor. Another factor leading to this management change is the transformation of the retail structures over the years. The layouts are now professionally developed, with vast amount of support systems and skilled staff required to handle them. Previously, employees in a retail store were meant simply for assisting the customer, however today with the presence of modern technology, databases and finger-tip market knowledge, employees are expected to serve the customers with all the tools for decision making. Social changes brought about the need of extending business hours, and hiring employees more on a flex-time basis to accommodate the employees varying lifestyles. Whilst decades ago, retail employees were hired on a permanent basis, having a specialty in retail service, today employees are drawn from a pool of part-time workers, such as students, who take up jobs to earn some extra money. This has decreased the element of specialty and skill, which is in contrast with the fact that more expertise is now demanded by customers from the retail staff (Akehurst and Alexander, 1996) With respect to Tesco and its strategic change, individual change management has even a greater role, as its employees are the front-line staff, playing a major role in the image and success of the retail organization. According to Akehurst and Alexander (1996), in retail companies it is not the managerial staff, or external marketing activity that determines the image of a retail company in a consumers mind. Instead, it is the way customers are treated and the behavior of the retail store staff that determines this element. Even in outlets which are made for self-service, retail staff can affect customer satisfaction by their role in assistance, giving advices and greeting customers. One example of an employee-oriented retail company is Umpqua Bank in California, which has been able to provide excellent customer service due to its employee focus. At Umpqua, employees are empowered to fully satisfy a customer rather than perform specific tasks. This means that every employee learns every task regarding customer service, and can satisfy customer to his or her full potential. Employees are free to do whatever they can to provide customer satisfaction even without the consent of the supervisor. Hence, many branches keep dog bowls for the clients dogs, arrange yoga lessons and movie nights to retain customers (Berman, 2007). Thus, this shows that employee empowerment can lead to innovation even at the retail staffing levels. This becomes important when considering the possible implications that such culture changes can bring in a retail environment such as Tesco. Spurlock is another organization which induced organizational change by altering work standards, procedures and culture. The organization brought about a change in the way resources and time is managed, reallocating everything from staff to plant timings. One important lesson from their change management was the inclusion of staff in the process. The change process coupled with the employee training to meet the needs of the new system, eventually led to an entire work culture change. In the end, there was more teamwork and collaboration increased through the organization due to the shifting and reallocation of employees (Vonderhaar et al, 2010). However, despite the fact that the employees have such crucial significance, employee management is a considerably under-searched area in retail management (Akehurst and Alexander, 1996). In the book Value-based human resource strategy: developing your consultancy role, Grundy and Brown (2003) assert that in 1990, Tesco decided to undergo a culture change to enhance its responsiveness throughout the organization. However, this change came on quite gradually rather than abruptly. This is because when the organization hired an HR consultant, it discovered that the term culture change had an inherent risk of failing. It was too overwhelming a concept, indicating a huge change in the organizations function which made it incomprehensible for its stakeholders. Hence Tesco underwent change in the name of customer service instead, because the term described exactly what kind of change was going to be targeted. Similarly, when BP introduced its cultural change, it put an economic value that came from the change to motivate the employees to adopt it. Thus, organization culture change can be adopted in several steps, namely value change which lead to behavioral change in employe es. Recruitment: According to the report of Datamonitor (2003) Tesco Plc is recruiting almost three million employees for the product manufacturing and services. It is the biggest private employer of UK. (EFILWC, 2007) Tesco is a heavily customer oriented organization, with a focus on its external environment. Since its cultural shift in 1990s Tesco has been able to empower its staff and provide them with benefits and motivational tools that have positively impacted overall employee satisfaction. It has even extended its gradual cultural shift on to managerial and corporate level (Bedingham, 2000). Training for employees: Tesco has established six or seven levels of store employees, and provides training to whoever desires it (Garry, 2010). The training program is not simply an adaptation for the internal organization; it also provides an external qualification and a degree to employees for working at Tesco. Since the program is so significant from the aspect of employees themselves, they are more closely involved with the organization and develop a bond with the company. The training program has become a huge aspect of the organizations culture and vision itself. It has left the employees feeling more connected, confident and customer-oriented. Moreover, the personal development results in homogenous values of employees throughout the organization (Garry, 2010). Training program at Tesco involves several different types of trainings such as Introduction training, First class serve, Hygiene Training, Multi skills training et cetra. Introduction training is given the very first day, and involves introduction, discussing the organizations history, values and functioning. The First Class serve teaches how to interact with the customer and properly greet him or her. Hygiene training as the name indicates refers to training about the employee hygiene practices as required in the store. Multi skill tasking prepares employees for job rotations (Gulyas, 2007). According to Gulyas (2007) there is a significant difference between training and management development, though the terms are often used in same context. Training is the process by which people are taught skills to perform specific tasks, whereas management development refers to giving people knowledge and skills to enable them to undertake greater responsibility. Also, culture change at an organization is not merely a question of skills development of employees (Gerber and Lankshear, 2000). Organizations have a tendency to view skills of employees as end in themselves whilst skills in fact induce only surface level change, which does not translate into the deeper level of culture change (Lokshin, Gils, and Bauer, 2009). However, at Tesco, there is training of employees and management development for the managers. Therefore, employee training at Tesco is not merely a question of skill development, but also has the entire 360-degree personality development of its employees as its foc us. Employees are constantly expected to improve their behavior, to bring about personality changes that get reflected in their overall performance, and to develop themselves into empowered, inquisitive individuals who can take greater responsibility. Tesco enhances three major aspects of the employee behavior which are customer focus, ability to work with others and personal behavior. For this purpose, Tesco also arranges leadership workshops for its employees (The times 100). Tesco regularly evaluates the characteristics and performance of its employees to keep identifying skill shortages and new job demands. Based on the results, it adds on to its Personal Development program so that it is catered to meet the upcoming needs of training (The Times 100) Tesco also gives employees a steering wheel which shows them how their performance is creating a difference in the organization, by providing specific measures for employees, managers, country and the entire organization (Garry, 2010). In the current era, core Human Resource practices tend to encourage an innovation-oriented team based environment where employees are empowered. This is based on theories of motivation in management such as Hierarchy of Needs theory by Maslow (1943) and Hygiene Theory by Herzberg (1959). According to Abraham Maslow, human beings have varying levels of needs that have to be satisfied in a given order from basic physiological need of food and clothing, to higher level needs, such as drive for self-esteem and self-actualization. Hence, good working conditions, general praise and appreciation and an empowered working environment are essential features when it comes to fulfilling the needs of employee. Also, according to Herzberg (1959), there are certain factors the absence of which leads to an overall dissatisfaction of employees with their work. These are different from the factors that increase satisfaction and include company policy, supervision, working conditions etc. These are kno wn as Hygiene factors. In order to keep employees motivated, maintaining good working standards and conditions are essential. The Times 100 research has shown that, keeping in view the Maslows Hierarchy Model of Needs, Tesco seeks to fulfill all the level of needs, from basic to the highest through its various employee motivation programs. It provides basic pay and locker room facilities and health security and pension. In addition it addresses the higher needs of the individuals by empowering them in a team based environment, providing them feedbacks and appraisals, and motivating them through encouragement and respect (Bent and Freathy, 1997). According to Parish (2007) Tesco PLC managers listen to their staff, spend time with them and build direct one-to-one relationships which boost the overall employee motivation. The management found through surveys that one of the basic needs of their employees were to be listened to with respect. Therefore, at the organization, employees are treated with trust and respect and included in the decision making of the store, their voice and opinions are given due considerations and the problems they face in dealing with the customers are reflected upon and solved. In fact, the technique has been so successful that it is being replicated by a nursing hospital for the management of nursing staff. One of the benefits of training at Tesco was the greater teamwork and improved customer service. The major reason behind this improvement was the visible change in the confidence level of Tesco employees that has come from the training activities. The challenges in training employees came from the initial unwillingness of employees to enroll, because they were reluctant or shy (Garry, 2010). According to European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2007), Tesco seeks employees from different cultures, background through different sources, including government programs and campaigns. Its recruitment system allows the employers to consider people from diverse cultural and local groups, and fit them into particular jobs depending on capabilities and tendencies. It also participates in the government regeneration programs which look for employees amongst those that have been chronically unemployed. It also makes sure that its managers work shoulder-to-shoulder with its workforce, and are aware of the technical aspects of the work. Tesco provides its employees salaries based on the nature of work, and additional benefits, both monetary and personal in the form of flexible work hours. As of 2003, Tesco has a 94% employee retention rate with its socially inclusive policies. Tescos management of employees plays both roles of a company facilitator and corporate social responsibility. Through employee training and personal development, Tesco has enabled people unemployed for several years to be successfully employed (Gateway, 2003). Ma and Ding (2010) have also described the customer-orientation of Tesco.com, by asserting that customer value and customer satisfaction are amongst the core values of the organization. They have a clearly defined purpose, and they fulfill it through their excellent customer and delivery service. According to the work, 67% of the people take Tesco as their favorite supermarket. Thus, we see that in the past, Tesco employed tools and techniques of strategic change management in order to successfully bring behavioral change in its employees. The change however was more focused on the behavioral aspects such as employee professionalism rather than employee values, however Tesco ensured that both training and development were used as mechanisms for this change to make it long-term and effective.

Internal

In this essay I am notifying how we as humans except reality as which it's presented. As a child I always looked forward to loosing plethora of teeth, because that meant the tooth fairy was coming to see me. For any child, it's easy to believe, because your mind is still developing new things. â€Å"For Instance, growing up believing in fairy tales that only existed to me, since it was always easy to dream.Everyday as my life continued, â€Å"l felt as if it was a replete with interpretation that never made me want to question reality. † Until one day reality came to my actualization, tooth fairies were never real it was all a dream. It wasn't until I was 1 1 years old my whole perception had begun to change. Every late night I went to bed on time after loosing a tooth. It was as if it was all a daily routine to go to sleep wake up and find a tooth right under your pillow.The money under the pillow didn't last for long, till I woke and saw my parents placing twenty-five cents there. So many times as a kid, I would always believe everything I heard, if my dad said Santa was real, of course I was good every Christmas and year. The reason I never questioned or asked myself these little things that mattered so much to me, it all came natural. Finally, growing up realizing how important my initial perception was I felt as if I should have known earlier.

Does pecking order hypothesis explain capital structure - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2475 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? THE PECKING ORDER HYPOTHESIS Determining the optimum capital structure which an organisation should have is a major financial decision, and the importance of decisions regarding capital structure have become even more apparent due to economic events such as the global financial crisis (Baker and Martin, 2011). Hossain and Ali (2012) state that all firms are highly susceptible to decisions regarding capital structure, owing to their internal and external effects on organisations. They further point out that capital structure policies are significant because of their impact on the level of risk and return of a firm. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Does pecking order hypothesis explain capital structure" essay for you Create order As such, a number of theories have been proposed to explain the capital structure of organisations. One of such is the Pecking order hypothesis. This essay shall examine this hypothesis and how it explains capital structure. Subsequently, it shall be compared to another theory of capital structure, the static trade-off theory, in order to find out how it differs from this theory. Studies testing both theories shall also be examined. According to Chen and Chen (2011, p. 92), the Pecking order hypothesis is one of the most influential theories of corporate financeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Frank and Goyal (2003) further note that much of its influence is drawn from a view that logically fits with facts on how external finance is used by companies. This hypothesis suggests that in making a choice among alternative forms of finance, organisations have a certain order of priorities. In the first instance, firms prefer to make use of internal finance generated by their operating cash flow. When t hese internal sources are used up, they prefer to borrow. The third option, which is used as a last resort, is the sale of new shares of the company (Pike and Neal, 2009). The rationale for this preference order is the information asymmetry problem, i.e. the disparity between the information managers and potential investors have regarding the financial state of the firm and its prospects. As such, managers are less inclined to issue shares when they believe these shares to be undervalued, and more likely to issue them when it is believed that they are overvalued (Chen and Chen, 2011; Pike and Neale, 2009). As a result of this, shareholders, mindful of their relative ignorance of the firms financial state and of this possible behaviour by managers, will view a decision not to issue shares is a signal of good news, while the issuing of shares will be seen as bad, or relatively less good (Myers and Majluf, 1984). These signals are noisy signals (Chen and Chen, 2011), and viewing issued shares as overvalued or less good affect the price investors will be willing to pay for those shares, and they may consequently mark them down. This could therefore increase the cost of equity for firms (Pike and Neale, 2009). Transaction costs, as Chen and Chen (2011) point out, play a significant role in decisions regarding the firms capital structure. This is because the costs involved in obtaining finance internally are less than the transaction costs involved in securing new external financing, as internal funds do not incur transaction costs. As such, it is expected by investors that firms would first finance company investments using internal resources first, then by borrowing till the firm has a suitable debt to equity ratio, and finally, by issuing equity (Myers and Majluf, 1984; Pike and Neale, 2009). Frank and Goyal (2003, p. 218) note that the financing deficit should normally be matched dollar for dollar by a change in corporate debtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , and as such, if the pecking order is followed by firms, then a slope coefficient of one results from a regression of net debt issues on financing debt. This prediction was strongly supported by results from a study by Shyam-Sunder and Myers (1999), using a sample of 157 which had traded continually from 1971 to 1989. However, it should be noted that this sample was relatively small, and consisted mainly of mature, public firms. Chen and Chen (2011) note that an assumption of the Pecking order theory is that there is no target capital structure. The pecking order theory has been used widely to explain the financing decisions of organisations. One of its main advantages is that it correctly predicts the effects profits have (Frank and Goyal, 2009; Shyam-Sunder and Myers, 1999). However, there are some problems with this hypothesis. As Frank and Goyal (2003, 2009) observe, firm operations and their accounting structures are more complex than what is represented in the standard pecking order. Furthermo re, contrary to what is usually suggested, Frank and Goyal (2003) report that internal financing is usually not enough to cover the average investment spending, and there is a heavy use of external financing among firms. They also note that the magnitude of debt financing does not overshadow equity financing. Additionally, while there is wide support for the pecking order theory among larger firms and in earlier years, with the increase in the number of small firms trading publicly, there has been a decline in the support for the pecking order hypothesis, as small firms tend not to follow the pecking order, leading to a shift in the overall average away from the pecking order (Frank and Goyal, 2003). Nevertheless, the pecking order hypothesis still offers a useful explanation for the financing model followed by firms, especially larger firms. Some studies of the pecking order hypothesis will be discussed in the next section. A COMPARISON OF THE PECKING ORDER HYPOTHESIS AND THE STATIC TRADE-OFF THEORY Having discussed the Pecking order theory in detail, the static trade-off theory will be briefly discussed in this section, and a comparison made to show the differences between both. The static-trade off theory acknowledges that firms aim to take advantage of the lower cost benefits borrowing offers, particularly the tax shield. However, at the same time, they are also hesitant to increase the financial risks which committing to contracts and making ongoing interest and capital repayments would involve. As such, the returns and cost benefits are traded off against the risks of financial distress from excess borrowing, and firms which have higher and more stable profits would likely operate at higher debt levels, as there would be a greater opportunity to shelter their profits from tax (Pike and Neale, 2009; Shyam-Sunder and Myers, 1999). Figure 1 below illustrates the static trade off theory of optimal capital structure. FIGURE 1: THE STATIC TRADE OFF THEORY OF OPTIMAL CAPIT AL STRUCTURE Source: Shyam-Sunder and Myers (1999, p. 220) For a value maximising-firm, benefits and costs would be equated at the margin, and it would operate at the highest point of the curve. For profitable, safe firms, which have higher taxes to shield and assets which would avoid relatively major damage to their asset values, the curve would top out at comparatively high debt ratios (Shyam-Sunder and Myers, 1999). Shyam-Sunder and Myers (1999, p. 220) note that this static trade off theory translates quickly to empirical hypothesis, it predicts that the actual debt ratio will reverse to an optimum or target level, and also predicts a cross-sectional relation between average debt ratios and asset risk, profitability, tax status and asset typeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . As noted earlier, in the Pecking order theory, there is no target capital structure. However, from the explanation above, it can be observed that this is not the case with the static trade off theory, as it supp oses an optimum/target capital structure. This is a key difference between the Pecking order hypothesis and the static-trade off theory. Myers (1984) observes that while in the static trade off there is a debt to value ratio target set by the firm, which it steadily works towards attaining, for the pecking order theory, there is no well-defined ratio of target debt to value, but instead, internal financing is used first, before debt, and then issuing equity, due to signalling issues associated with external funding and asymmetric information (Shyam-Sunder and Myers, 1999). Hackbarth, Hennessy and Leland (2007) note that there is a debt pecking order within the trade-off theory, with a preference for bank debt over market debt, as lower bankruptcy costs are implied. As such, small firms tend towards issuing privately placed debt, while larger firms are more prone to issuing market debt (Blackwell and Kidwell, 1988; Hackbarth et al, 2007). While the static trade off theory place s strong considerable emphasis on taxes and bankruptcy costs (Frank and Goyal, 2007), and the tax shield advantage of debt, the pecking order hypothesis does not really focus on this. However, this shield advantage is quite important, and as Chen and Chen (2011) report, based on their study of 305 Taiwanese electronic listed firms in 2009, large firms tend to take advantage of the tax shield which debt offers. They also point out that due to their lower information asymmetry and lower and more diversified risk, they tend to have relative advantages when raising finance from formal institutions. However, they note that firms still use internal capital to finance new projects, and turn to debt when internal capital is insufficient, in line with the pecking order hypothesis. This is also supported by Graham and Harveys (2001) survey of 392 chief financial officers. The results of the survey showed that the tax advantage of debt is seen as moderately important in making capital structur e decisions, and for large companies in particular, this tax advantage was cited as most important. A key point to note is that profitability, growth opportunities, asset structure and risk are key variables that influence the capital structure a firm adopts (Cassar and Holmes, 2003; Chen and Chen, 2011), and this could also possibly influence the model of capital structure firms appear to follow. The key variables influencing capital structure highlight another difference between both models, which is that while with the trade-off model, variances in an organisations leverage are driven by the costs and benefits of debt, with the pecking order theory, these are driven by the net cash flows of the firm (i.e. its cash earnings minus investment expenditures) (Fama and French, 2002). A test of the static trade off theory and the pecking order hypothesis by Shyam-Sunder and Myers (1999) revealed that the pecking order model has a higher time-series explanatory power than the stati c trade-off theory. They note that it explains far more of the time-series variance in real debt ratios, rather than the static trade off theorys target adjustment model. However, they also note that if a firms actual mode of financing adheres to the static trade off theory, then the pecking order hypothesis can be rejected, while in contrast, the static trade off theory appears to work when the financing model follows the pecking order as described earlier. Shyam-Sunder and Myers (1999) therefore state that while the pecking order offers a better initial explanation of firms decisions regarding debt-equity (particularly for mature, public firms as used in the sample of their study), the evidence for a definite optimum debt ratio as predicted by the trade-off theory is questionable. In a test of the pecking order hypothesis and the trade-off theory using a cross-section of the largest listed firms in China, using three models: the determinants of leverage, the relationship betwee n leverage and dividends, and the determinants of corporate investment, Tong and Green (2005) reported the following results: For the relationship between leverage and profitability, a significant negative correlation was observed, and a significant positive correlation was found for the relationship between current leverage and past dividends, both of which showed more support for the pecking order hypothesis over the trade-off theory. However, the results of the third model, corporate investment determinants, were not conclusive. Nevertheless, their conclusion was that the results tentatively supported the pecking order hypothesis in explaining how Chinese companies make their financing decisions. Studies by Myers (1984) and Fama and French (2002) show a lack of a positive correlation between profits and debt, and the researchers view this as a problem with the trade-off theory. Fama and French (2002) note that while the dividend pay-outs for firms which have higher profit levels and firms with fewer investments is higher, in line with predictions of both models, they note that firms which are more profitable are less levered. This is in line with the pecking order hypothesis, but contradicts the trade-off model. They further note that in line with the predictions of the pecking order model, short-term variances in investment and earnings are mainly covered by debt. CONCLUSION This essay has examined the pecking order hypothesis and how it explains the capital structure of firms. Its advantages and some of its drawbacks were also highlighted. It was subsequently compared with the static trade off theory, and the differences between both were pointed out, such as the proposition of an optimum/target capital structure, the focus on taxes and bankruptcy costs, and the factors which drive an organisations leverage. Tests of both theories highlight some of their strengths as well as their weaknesses, and it was noted that certain other factors, such as firm size, profitability etc. can also determine the explanatory powers of both models. REFERENCES Baker, K.H. and Martin, G.S. (2011) Capital Structure: An Overview, in Baker, K.H. and Martin, G.S. (Eds.), Capital structure and corporate financing decisions: Theory, evidence and practice. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons. Blackwell, D. W., Kidwell, D. S. (1988). An investigation of cost differences between public sales and private placements of debt. Journal of Financial Economics, 22(2), 253-278 Cassar, G., Holmes, S. (2003). Capital structure and financing of SMEs: Australian evidence. Accounting Finance, 43(2), 123-147 Chen, L.J. and Chen, S.Y. (2011). How the Pecking Order Theory Explains the Capital Structure, Journal of International Management Studies, 6(3), 92-100. Fama, E. F., French, K. R. (2002). Testing tradeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ off and pecking order predictions about dividends and debt. Review of financial studies, 15(1), 1-33 Frank, M. Z., Goyal, V. K. (2003). Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure. Journal of financial economics, 67(2), 217-248 Frank, M. Z., Goyal, V. K. (2007). Trade-off and pecking order theories of debt. Available at SSRN 670543 Frank, M. Z., Goyal, V. K. (2009). Capital structure decisions: which factors are reliably important?. Financial management, 38(1), 1-37 Graham, J. R., Harvey, C. R. (2001). The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field. Journal of financial economics, 60(2), 187-243 Hackbarth, D., Hennessy, C. A., Leland, H. E. (2007). Can the trade-off theory explain debt structure?. Review of Financial Studies, 20(5), 1389-1428 Hossain, F. and Ali, A. (2012) Impact of Firm Specific Factors on Capital Structure Decisions: An Empirical Study of Bangladeshi Companies. International Journal of Business Research and Management, 3(4), 163-182 Myers, S. C. (1984). The capital structure puzzle. The journal of finance, 39(3), 574-592 Myers, S. C., Majluf, N. S. (1984). Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have. Journal of financial economics, 13(2), 187-221 Pike, R. and Neale, B. (2009). Corporate finance and investment: Decisions and strategies. 6th edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Shyam-Sunder, L., Myers, S. C. (1999). Testing static tradeoff against pecking order models of capital structure. Journal of financial economics, 51(2), 219-244 Tong, G., Green, C. J. (2005). Pecking order or trade-off hypothesis? Evidence on the capital structure of Chinese companies. Applied Economics, 37(19), 2179-2189