Nonverbal communication in Crash Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nonverbal communication in Crash - Term Paper Example From the movie, we are able to clearly see the communication difference that exists between people of different cultures (Knapp). The lives of people from diverse cultures in the movie seem to be at stake due to inaccurate perception and ineffective verbal communication. This movie portrays behind the scenes that all humans are good in nature and if they add a little of the good aspects of communication then most of the problems in the society are likely to be solved (Crash. Dir. Robert Lantos). It is clear that the movie under review and analysis is the movie ‘Crash’ by Paul Haggis and the concept under analysis is nonverbal communication and their general impacts in the society. Effective communication is very important not only to the society but also in an individual’s life for the sake of their personal, professional and civic interactions and development. Therefore, it is wise to always create or look for room to develop and learn so that we are better communicators (Wood). From the movie, we are able to see this fact openly manifested and goes further to show us the consequences of not being able to communicate effectively (Crash. Dir. Robert Lantos). Through the characters of the movie, we are able to see the impacts of communication to ourselves. To other people or the public, organization and most importantly we are able to pinpoint the drawbacks of the inability to perform effective intercultural communication as witnessed in most of the movie characters. The movie shows us the clash that exists between the law and ethics due to mishap in communication (Wood). It is ethical for the police or corps to pull the vehicle over yet against ethics to harass and abuse the people in the vehicle. This has come about because of the poor communication exhibited by the police a perception that sets prototypes about some members of the society hence a motivation to act differently in handling issues. Therefore the

Role of the Entrepreneur in Setting Up a Business Essay Example for Free

Role of the Entrepreneur in Setting Up a Business Essay Entrepreneurs are the individuals who start new businesses in the economic marketplace. These individuals may start businesses for a variety of reasons, including working for their own self-interest, making more money, improving their local community or enhancing their quality of life. While entrepreneurs may face a number of issues when starting a business, they usually have the psychological resolve and positive outlook to overcome these issues. Other People Are Reading * Help With Setting up a New Business * How to Start an Entrepreneur Cosmetic Business 1. Facts * Entrepreneurs usually offer the vision, goals and objectives for their start-up companies. Goals and objectives oftentimes are simple during the early stages of the company; goals typically include building a strong customer base and making enough money to break even. As entrepreneurs continue to establish their businesses, the importance of goals and objectives typically increases. Once employees are hired to work in the business, an entrepreneur must be able to translate the company’s vision and objectives to new employees. Function * Start-up companies usually require a business plan to begin its operations. Entrepreneurs are usually the individuals responsible for writing the business plan and developing specific information related to the start-up company. The business plan is often used to secure external financing for starting the company and expanding its operations during the early stages of operation. Entrepreneurs may also use the business plan as a road map to direct the business as it continues to grow and expand in the business environment. * Sponsored Links * Trademark Registration Worldwide Trademark Registration Protect your brand internationally! www.MARCARIA.com Considerations * Entrepreneurs may choose to hire individuals during the early stages of business to complete specific technical business responsibilities. Accounting, production techniques, corporate finance or payroll may be positions entrepreneurs need to fill when starting the company. Individuals with these technical skills help the entrepreneur to create a solid foundation for the new business. Because entrepreneurs often are responsible for building the customer base or attracting new clients to the business, they may not have time for these internal business functions. Misconceptions * Setting up a new business is not always an easy task. Depending on the type of business or the current economic environment, entrepreneurs may need to spend copious amounts of time or money when starting businesses. Entrepreneurs also may not be successful in every business they attempt to start. However, their internal resolve and desire to succeed often leads them to new and better business opportunities. Expert Insight * The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a government agency entrepreneurs may use to research important economic and demographic information. The SBA provides start-up companies with various amounts of business, financial and economic information for starting new companies. The SBA also operates local business offices to help entrepreneurs obtain specific information relating to local markets. The SBA usually operates the local offices in conjunction with local community or state colleges and universities.

Life Changes During the Industrial Revolution :: History

Life Changes During the Industrial Revolution In Britain about two hundred years ago, great changes took place in making goods and transport, which has moulded the way our world works today. These changes made big differences to many people’s lives and work methods; and put together these are called the Industrial Revolution. They started in Britain and spead to Europe and on to the United States. A lot of the Industrial Revolution’s changes helped the lives of people as transport was more secure and faster, but also mass production was brought in. Before the Industrial Revolution people made goods on a small-scale from their own homes, or in workshops beside their house, The whole family would be involed in producing and selling the product (This can be called by the ‘Domestic System’). It was safe to work at home as they only used hand tools and simple machinery, these worked by hand or foot. In some situations a few bigger machines were used and water wheels were used as a power source. The Domestic System moved aside for more complex machines and new methods were invented in the eighteenth century which were powered by steam and gathered together in factories to produce more goods. It meant that people would work regular hours and not when they wanted too. Before the invention of steam engines, wind mills and water wheels were used for powering big machinary. The first steam engine in the early seventeen hundreds was mainly used in the mines for pumping out water. James Watt in 1782 developed a new steam engine that was able to power factory machines. By that time factories had built up, particually in the cotton industry, which took over from wool. In 1733 John Kay, a workman from Bury (Landcashire), invented his â€Å"flying† shuttle, which made the making of cloth (weaving) much faster. To keep the weavers busy, more spub thead (yarn) was needed, But James Hargreaves with his ‘spinning jenny’, Samuel Crompton with his ‘mule’ and Sir Richard Arkwright, who was more of an organiser than a inventer, made it possible to increase the yarn supply. Further improvements came later to weaving. Edmund Cartwright invented the powered loom in 1785, but it was not efficient until thirty years later. They were use d in the cotton industry and also in the older woollen industry as well. More machines were built and some were not in factories, since farmers were also using machinary for faster and more efficient methods of growing crops. Life Changes During the Industrial Revolution :: History Life Changes During the Industrial Revolution In Britain about two hundred years ago, great changes took place in making goods and transport, which has moulded the way our world works today. These changes made big differences to many people’s lives and work methods; and put together these are called the Industrial Revolution. They started in Britain and spead to Europe and on to the United States. A lot of the Industrial Revolution’s changes helped the lives of people as transport was more secure and faster, but also mass production was brought in. Before the Industrial Revolution people made goods on a small-scale from their own homes, or in workshops beside their house, The whole family would be involed in producing and selling the product (This can be called by the ‘Domestic System’). It was safe to work at home as they only used hand tools and simple machinery, these worked by hand or foot. In some situations a few bigger machines were used and water wheels were used as a power source. The Domestic System moved aside for more complex machines and new methods were invented in the eighteenth century which were powered by steam and gathered together in factories to produce more goods. It meant that people would work regular hours and not when they wanted too. Before the invention of steam engines, wind mills and water wheels were used for powering big machinary. The first steam engine in the early seventeen hundreds was mainly used in the mines for pumping out water. James Watt in 1782 developed a new steam engine that was able to power factory machines. By that time factories had built up, particually in the cotton industry, which took over from wool. In 1733 John Kay, a workman from Bury (Landcashire), invented his â€Å"flying† shuttle, which made the making of cloth (weaving) much faster. To keep the weavers busy, more spub thead (yarn) was needed, But James Hargreaves with his ‘spinning jenny’, Samuel Crompton with his ‘mule’ and Sir Richard Arkwright, who was more of an organiser than a inventer, made it possible to increase the yarn supply. Further improvements came later to weaving. Edmund Cartwright invented the powered loom in 1785, but it was not efficient until thirty years later. They were use d in the cotton industry and also in the older woollen industry as well. More machines were built and some were not in factories, since farmers were also using machinary for faster and more efficient methods of growing crops.

City X’s investigative plan Essay

As the Police Chief, I have noted with concern the rising number of daylight robberies within the precincts of the city. Over the past couple of days I have gathered and analyzed various reports from both the police and investigation department on the same. Armed with intelligence, my team and I have come up with robust and feasible strategies not only to curb this type of crime but to nail those who are accountable for it. It is absolutely true that those who engage in these robberies are living among us; our relatives, friends and neighbors. I would like the public to volunteer any helpful information to help us carry out duties more effectively. Besides that, the following are some of the actions that we are going to make use of to tackle the problem. First, we are going to amplify the use of intelligence in assembling and acting on useful information about imminent robberies. That is, we are to engage in a policing type which is guided by analyzed information and data. From the studies we have made, the most useful information comes from the undercover police, the public, through top secret informants as well as from those suspects we have in custody. With such information, we will scientifically analyze it, determine and predict when such incidents are likely to happen. From then, we will act swiftly (Palmiotto, 2004). Secondly, we will map out some entities, felony groups and systems which offenders use to cause mayhem. In this case, our work will be to focus on specific people who are well known, their ilk and the connections they use. This is a critical group that will make our investigation procedures easy. Thirdly, we are going to classify and deal with places which report most incidences. These areas are well known to us and therefore, an increase of our undercover personnel will be the next logical step. Fourthly, from now onwards the police will thoroughly categorize and examine the crime cycles from the records that are in their possession. This will help us to be acquainted with the patterns of robberies common in our city. Fifthly, we will implement a variety of precautionary guiding principles which may include revamping the police administration as well as establish a unit dedicated to robberies. This means that a re-structuring of the administration may be in the offing. In addition to that, we will re-engage the community to, alongside our personnel, keep watch over itself. In essence, we will equip the community with the know-how to effectively collect information on likely robberies and notify the police. Local observatory groups ought to be formed to that effect. Furthermore, with the help of the city council, we will be increasing the number of closed circuit television cameras in our streets and residential areas. Undercover, cameras will be discreetly installed in particular places. Similarly, our tour of duty operations will be more objective and directed towards the areas with widespread robberies. The police therefore will be resourced with more patrol cars, special clothing and guns to handle the most violent locations. On top of that, the police will be watching closely monitoring released convicts and repeat offenders in order to thwart them from. Besides that imprisoned robbers will be a vital source of information to our investigations. This because they are relatively knowledgeable on how the friends outside operate, how they are connected to them and the times they pounce on businesses and homes (Palmiotto, 2004). Computer based software for crime analysis is being installed in our stations and experts have already been hired to start working on the available data. What they will provide us with is premises which will inform our decisions regarding robbery and other types of crime. In this regard we would like to appeal for more funding from the federal government and the city council to enable the police division to procure the state-of-the-art communication equipments and systems. This will facilitate our forces to be more effective in their lines of duty. We are in the process of drafting proposals to other organizations pursuant to the same effect. Thank you.

Literal Intelligence Collection

Literal Intelligence Collection: National Intelligence and the NSA wireless intercept program Intelligence Collection: Sources and Challenges February 13, 2012 In the aftermath of 9/11 the intelligence community (IC) felt pressure from all directions. Employees of the IC, Congress, and the general public wanted questions answered as to why our nation didn’t know an attack was imminent. This â€Å"failure† of intelligence caused a shake up within the entire IC, leading to many future changes. One such change was in communications intelligence (COMINT) collection.According to Cummings (2006), â€Å"President George W. Bush said that he authorized NSA to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks† (p. 6). The President’s decision had many repercussions. I will discuss the parameters of the decision, the management issues assoc iated with it that lead to such controversy, and the impact it had on national intelligence and the NSA.What led to this drastic decision by the U. S. President? The United States was blind-sighted in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack which resulted in the death of 2,977 innocent Americans. This was the largest attack in the history of the U. S. on our soil and although the signs were there for the intelligence community to see, it was mistakenly not put together. Much of the attack stemmed from communications between terrorist or those connected and working with terrorist within our Country, and this was unacceptable.In order to defend against such communications, according to Lichtblau & Risen (2005), â€Å"Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an ef fort to track possible ‘dirty numbers’ linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications†.The sole purpose of the NSA program was to safeguard our national security in a more expansive, efficient manner. The center on law and security (2007) states â€Å"†¦this requirement to demonstrate all of the substantive and procedural elements of FISA to the Attorney General's satisfaction before any surveillance can begin, would fatally impair the President's ability to carry out his constitutional responsibility to collect foreign intelligence to protect our Nation from attack† (p. 9).Any implementation involving citizen’s privacy is assured to draw controversy, and the root of the problem with this program was a management issue. The President, DCI, and the Director of the NSA should have informed the head of the Senate Select and Congressional oversight committees with a mor e in depth understanding of the changes and the secrecy. A plan should have been in place to deal with leaks to the public of the changes, and a more detailed description of the amendment to the policy should have been created and kept under lock and key.Intelligence collection involves many activities that citizens (lacking all of the facts), may deem unconstitutional. The problem with this is most of the time the facts are not available to the general population, media, and even certain members of the Congressional oversight committees, for fear of an operation leak. Much of what the IC does must remain secret, at least until the aftermath (which could be years later). In regards to the topic at hand, authorization of warrantless wireless intercept by the NSA, the main problem arose due to management failures in the implementation of such a controversial topic.The center on law and security (2007) states, â€Å"Critics of the NSA program do not necessarily object to the type of s urveillance, but rather to the way in which it has been authorized, and to the absence of any oversight† (p. 10). The Congressional oversight committees serve as a checks and balance to the IC and the President informed the heads of the committees (Gang of Eight) of his plan to authorize wireless intercepts on Americans. Cummings (2006) states, â€Å"†¦the executive branch had limited its briefings of the legislative branch to the Gang of Eight.They further asserted that the executive branch had prohibited them from sharing any information about the program with congressional colleagues† (p. 7). In the aftermath, it seems the Gang of Eight did not understand the necessity of secrecy behind this information. The President should have explained the reasoning behind the secrecy and why the information was limited to the Gang of Eight. If the Gang of Eight understood the parameters and restrictions in place, they could better defend the plan when future problems arose. Preparations hould have been in place for dealing with the public if and when the time came that the media caught wind of the wireless intercept. At some point the President should expect that the public would have to be addressed with some details defending his actions. There should have been regulations in place, describing the limits the NSA still had to endure when it came to U. S. citizens. When reports came out in 2005, there was much confusion as to what exactly the President had authorized, and if there were limits in place for the NSA. A failure to properly address the issue allowed the media to run wild with stories, further outraging critics.Silence and secrecy only added to the problem of distrust of the IC. In preparation, President Bush should have had a detailed description of the amendment to the policy, with restrictions still in place for the NSA. This policy should have been dated at the time it went into effect, signed by the President, the DCI, the Director of NSA and the Gang of Eight and kept in the possession of the Director of the NSA. Having a signed document would serve the future purpose of showing there was knowledge of the parameters of the amended policy.If this policy had to become public (open source) at some point, it would hopefully show that Management had made an organized effort of implementing change and involved as many officials as possible under the current circumstances. The National Security Agency (NSA) has the task of protecting U. S. national security systems through the use of signal intelligence (SIGINT), to include COMINT. Prior to the President giving authorization to warrantless domestic eavesdropping following 9/11, the NSA had to obtain a court approved warrant in order to eavesdrop on a U.S. citizen’s communications, otherwise known as a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant. According to the center on law and security (2007) â€Å"FISA warrants require ‘probable cause’ to suspect that an individual is acting either for a ‘foreign power’ (including terrorist organizations) or as an ‘agent of a foreign power,’ a target (a cell phone, a computer, a BlackBerry, or a landline phone, for example), and that foreign intelligence be a ‘significant purpose’ of the warrant† (p. ). NSA is no stranger to negative public perception regarding their unconstitutional practices. This wireless intercept program put the agency’s reputation at stake once again. Reports of the NSA having access to most American’s phone records detailing their calls and communications is cause for concern for critics. Due to a lack of proper implementation, notifications and opportunity for oversight, the NSA and the IC has to climb another uphill battle to win back the trust of Americans.Dilanian (2011) states, â€Å"U. S. intelligence officials insist that the new surveillance powers have been crucial to stopping terrorist p lots†. Hopefully, some of the more recent successes in the community can erase the impact of failures and the intelligence community can improve their reputation once again. References Cummings, Alfred (2006). Statutory procedures under which Congress is to be informed of U. S. intelligence activities, including covert actions: NSA domestic surveillance.Congressional Research Service Dilanian, Ken (2011). 9/11, ten years after, more surveillance; A legacy of watchful eyes; The government eavesdrops on U. S. citizens as never before. Los Angeles Times Aug 30, 2011. Tuesday Home Edition. Lichtblau, E. & Risen, J. (2005). Bush lets U. S. spy on callers without courts. The New York Times, Dec 16, 2005. doi: 942423341 The Center on Law and Security at the NYU school of Law (2007). The NSA wiretapping program. For The Record, 1(Jan) 1-16.

World Regional Geography Arab World and Islamic World

World Regional Geography Arab World and Islamic World Definition of the realm The realm can be described as a dry world containing the expansive Sahara and Arabian deserts. The inhabitants of the region are known to live near water sources. They live along the Mediterranean coastal strip of north-west Africa, eastern Asia and north eastern shores of Mediterranean sea, Nile Delta,Tigris-Euphraites basin, oases and along the mountain slopes of Iran(south of the Caspian sea) and northeast of Turkestan. The people in this region lead a nomadic lifestyle and some carryout sedentary farming along the oases and trade.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on World Regional Geography: â€Å"Arab World† and â€Å"Islamic World† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Generally the realm covers North Africa and Southwest Asia regions. It is believed to be a center of the ancient civilization that thrived from its river valleys and basins. Out of the â€Å"realms culture, he arths diffused ideas, innovations, technologies that changed the world and also resulted into three world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam† (Schaefer 289). The natural â€Å"environment of the realm is majorly comprised of drought and unreliable precipitation† (Schaefer 290). Population settlement is â€Å"characterized by clusters around where water supply is adequate to marginal† (Schaefer 290). Some of the countries in this realm have enormous oil reserves that have created wealth for some and on the other hand doing little to raise the living standards for the majority. The boundaries of North Africa and Southwest Asia realm is composed of volatile transition zones with conflicts over the scarce resources. Religious, â€Å"ethnic and cultural differences cause disharmony in the region and especially in the Middle East region where Israel lies at the center of the conflict within the region† (Schaefer 291). An â€Å"Arab world† This ref ers to North Africa and south west Asia regions. This term is used to refer to a uniformity that is not in existence. The name Arab is used to refer to the people who speak Arabic and other related languages though some ethnologists associate it to the Arabian Peninsula. The Turks are not Arabs in any case and are neither Iranians nor Israelis. It is a fact that Arabic is spoken across Mauritania in North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, Syria and Iraq but not spoken some parts of the realm. For instance, in Turkey, Turkish is the language and has Ural-Altaic other than Arabic, Semitic or Hermitic roots. On the other hand, the Iranian languages belong to the Indo-European linguistic family. The Tuareg, the Jews. Berbers and the people living in the transition zone between the North and South Africa speak different languages though they all belong in the Arab world (MacLeod and Jones 705). An â€Å"Islamic world† The realm is also called the World of Islam. This is mainly attr ibuted to the expansive spread of Islam into Africa, Asia and Europe during the Arab conquest and expansion age after the death of Prophet Mohammed in 632. However, it is worth to note that today Islam as a faith extends beyond this realm. Moreover other faiths such as Christianity (Egypt and Lebanon), Judaism and others exist in this region.Advertising Looking for assessment on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Middle-East This is the commonly used name to refer to the realm. It is a name that might sound strange to someone in India who would rather go for Middle West. The Western world which was the source of the name was extremely biased because to them it was a Near East in Turkey, Middle East in Egypt, Arabia and Iraq and finally a Far East in China and Japan. In realty, the name can only be applicable in one region of this expansive realm and not the entire region covered by the realm (Kimble 614). Ki mble, Hebert. â€Å"The Inadequacy of the Regional Concept.† London Essays in Geography 2.17 (1951): 601-617. Print. MacLeod, George and Jones Mother. â€Å"Renewing The Geography of Regions.† Environment and Planning 16.9 (2001): 669-800. Print. Schaefer, Frankline. â€Å"Exceptionalism in Geography: A Methodological Examination.† Annals of the Association of American Geographers 43.3 (1953): 298-305. Print.

How to Improve ACT Science Scores 7 Tips From a Perfect Scorer

How to Improve ACT Science Scores 7 Tips From a Perfect Scorer SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you struggling with ACT Sciencescores between 14-24? You're not alone - hundreds of thousands of other students are scoring in this range. But many don't know the best ways to break out of this score range and get 26+on the ACT. Here we'll discuss how to improve your ACT Sciencescore effectively and why it's so important to do so. Put these principles to work and I'm confident you'll be able to improve your score. Brief note: This article is tailored for lower-scoring students, currently scoring below a 26 on ACT Science. If you're already above this range, my perfect 36 ACT Sciencescore articlewill be better for you as it contains advanced strategies. In this article, I'm going to discuss why scoring high is a good idea, what it takes to score a 26, and then go into ACT Science tips. Stick with me - this is like constructing a building. First you need to lay a good foundation before putting up the walls and windows. Similarly, we need to first understand why you're doing what you're doing and what goal you're aiming for, before diving into tips and strategies. In this guide, I talk mainly about getting to a 26. But if your goal is to get to a 24 or lower, these tips still equally apply. Understand the Stakes At this ACT score range, improving your low ACT Sciencescore to a 26 range will dramatically boost your chances of getting into better colleges. The reason? A 26 puts you at the 83 percentile, well above the national average of all ACT test takers. This is roughly equal to a 1200 out of 1600 on the SAT. Let's take a popular school, University of Massachusetts Amherst,as an example. Its average ACT score is a 27. Its 25th percentile score is a 24, and 75th percentile is a 29. Furthermore, its acceptance rate is 63%. In other words, a bit more than half of all applicants are admitted. This is a decently competitive school - almost half the people are rejected, and the lower your score, the greater the chance you'll be rejected. In our analysis, if you apply with an ACT score of 21, your chance of admission drops to 25.4%. This means you have a 3 in 4 chance of being rejected! But if you raise your score to a 26, your chance of admission shoots up to 57.7% - over double the chances of admission, for just 5 points of improvement. And because your ACT Science score factors into your ACT composite score, raising your Science score will really help raise the average of your total score. In fact, if you raise your ACT Science score by 4 points, your Composite score will increase by a whole point. It's really worth your time to improve your ACT score. Hour for hour,it's the best thing you can do to raise your chance of getting into college. Curious what chances you have with a 26 ACT score? Check out ourexpert college admissions guide for a 26 ACT scoreto see what colleges you're competitive for. Know That You Can Do It This isn't just some fuzzy, feel-good message you find in a fortune cookie. I mean, literally, you and every other reasonably capable student can score a 26 on ACT Science. The reason most people don't is they don't try hard enough or they don't study the right way. Even if you don't consider yourself a science geek, or you got a B in Biology, you're capable of this. Because I know that more than anything else, your ACT score is a reflection ofhow hard you work and how strategically you study. Here's why: the ACT is a weird test. When you take it, don't you get the sense that many questions are nothing like what you've seen in school? It's purposely designed this way.The ACT is a national test, which means it needs to be a level playing field for ALL students around the country. It can't discriminate against students who never took AP Physics (or whose schools don't even offer AP classes). Therefore, the ACT can't test difficult concepts, because this would be unfair for students who never took AP Physics.The ACT Science sectioncan't ask you to solve cold fusionor build a rocket to get to Mars. So it HAS to test scientific concepts that every high school student will cover: how to interpret data graphs, what the scientific method is, how scientific theories disagree from each other. This leads to the big secret of ACT Science. The Big Secret: You Don't Have to Know Much Actual Science Many students who study ACT Science are intimidated by the mistaken impression that they need to know a lot of science to get by. The reality is the opposite - it's much more about reading comprehension, understanding graphs, and logic. Now, it SEEMS like you need to know a lot of science, because there will be weird scenarios you've never seen before, from dinosaur claw sizes to how clouds affect soil temperature. These may seem intimidating because you've never learned this in school. Here's an example graph: You've probably never seen a graph like this before in school. The thing is,every other high school student in America hasn't seen this graph before either! The ACT expects you to solve questions for this graph through the skills you've learned in high school - looking at two axes, understanding how a plot works, and getting data values from the graph. This is good news for you: if you can practice the basic skills tested on ACT Science, and you know what types of questions will be asked, you'll do a great job on the section. I guarantee it. Just to prove this to you, further down we're going to understand this graph and go through a few sample questions. The key to improving your ACT Science score is to: Learn the types of questions that the ACT tests, like the one above Put together the concepts you already know to solve the questions Practice on a lot of questions so you learn from your mistakes I'll go into more detail about exactly how to do this. First, let's see how many questions you need to get right a 26 in ACT Science. Disappointed with your ACT scores? Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically. What It Takes to Get a 26in ACT Science If we have a target ACT score out of 36 in mind, it helps to understand how many questions you need to get right on the actual test. The ACT Science section has 40 questions on it. Depending on how many questions you get right, you'll get a Scaled score out of 36. Here's the raw score to ACT Science Score conversion table. (If you could use a refresher on how the ACT is scored and how raw scores are calculated, read this.) Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw 36 40 27 32 18 16 9 5-6 35 39 26 30-31 17 14-15 8 - 34 38 25 28-29 16 13 7 4 33 37 24 26-27 15 12 6 3 32 - 23 24-25 14 5 2 31 36 22 22-23 13 10 4 - 30 35 21 21 12 9 3 1 29 34 20 19-20 8 2 - 28 33 19 17-18 10 7 1 0 So if you're aiming for a 26, on this test you need to get just 30 questions correct. This is just a 75% on the test! Also, keep in mind that you'll be able to GUESS on a lot of questions. Because there are only 4 answer choices, you get a lot of questions right with a 25% chance! So here's an example. Let's say you know how to solve just 27 questions for sure. You guess on the remaining 13, and get 4 of them right by chance. This gives you a raw score of 31, or a scaled score of 26! This has serious implications for your testing strategy. In essence, you only need to answer 2/3 of all questions right. In school, this would be a D, but on the ACT, this can get you to your ACT score target! We'll go into more detail below about what this means for your testing strategy below. Whatever you're scoring now, take note of the difference you need to get to a 26. For example, if you're scoring a 22, you need to answer 8-10 more questions right to get to a 26. Once again, if your goal is a score below 26, like a 24, the same analysis applies. Just look up what your Raw Score demands above. OK - so we've covered why scoring a higher ACT Sciencescore is important, why you specifically are capable of improving your score, and the raw score you need to get to your target. Hopefully, getting to a 26 on ACT Science doesn't seem so tough at this point! Now we'll actually get into actionable ACT Science tipsthat you should use in your own studying to maximize your score improvement. ACT Science Tips to Get a 26 ACT Science Tip #1: Don't Waste TimeUnderstanding Useless Details Tell me if this sounds familiar: you're reading an ACT Science passage, and it's so overwhelming trying to understand every detail of whatever obscure thing they're telling you about. This is by far the biggest time waster for most students - and because you only have 35 minutes to get through 7 passages and 40 questions, time is a huge factor in ACT Science. Here's the truth: ACT Science passages are full of scientific details that don’t actually matter to answering the questions. This is especially true of all those complicated graphs you see. You literally don't have to understand many of the details to get every question correct. The ACT does this on purpose to confuse you and make the test harder, and to show you what real scientific research kind of looks like. But you aren’t reading a science journal – you’re answering ACT Science questions. A common mistake people make is to try too hard to understand the passage in its entirety. They want to understand every detail in every chart. Trying to understand the entire passage is a HUGE waste of time because most of the passage isn’t going to have a question asked about it. This is true in ACT Reading, and it’s even more true in ACT Science. So what should you do instead? Skim the passage and understand the passage at a very high level. Answer these two questions only: What’s the main point here? What’s the figure showing? That’s it. When I read ACT Science passages, I don’t understand the deep details of what’s happening. I get the gist and I move on to the questions. Let’s try an example from a real ACT Science passage. I’m going to show you how useless most of the passage is and how little you need to understand to answer the questions. My skimming: There is a lake. The lake sediment tells us about the climate in the past. They mention average temperature for figure 3, so that’s probably what the main point is. There’s a weird oxygen symbol 18O, but all I need to know is that SMALLER values mean COLDER. This is a map showing 3 sites. We’ll probably be looking at samples from these 3 sites. Otherwise, I don't care right now where the sites are, how big the lake is, or whether I can see my house on this map. I'm ignoring all the fine details. This shows us a cutaway section of the lake, with the 3 sites from Figure 1. The y-axis is elevation. The key shows that each colored section is a different layer. Lake clay, glacial till, bedrock. The layers change as you move across the graph. How exactly they change I’m not going to care about until I get asked about it. I have no idea what the hell â€Å"glacial till† is but I’m not going to worry about that, since I’ll bet the ACT isn’t going to ask me to define it. Here's abunch of graphs designed to be confusing. Well, they all look about the same. We’ll just look at Site 1. The y-axis shows depth, so the further down, the deeper into the earth we go. The x-axis shows the 18O thing. From left to right, this value gets larger. What Site 1 shows is as you go UP in depth, you get a LARGER 18O value. That's all I'm going to care about for now. Now look at the other 2 Sites. Site 2 looks about the same, except for a glacial till line higher up. Site 3 looks the same as Site 1 - curve goes up and to the right. And now there’s this formula. I’m not even going to bother with this crap until they ask me a question about it. Notice from my notes that I really understand the passage only at a 30,000 foot level. I’m not getting bogged down in details, and I’m not understanding every detail of every graph. Doing that would be a waste of time. Just to convince you this high level of understanding works, we’re actually going to answer all 5 questions for thispassage. Look at the Key on the right. Lake clay is gray. Where is it thinnest? Winnipeg, F. You literally didn't even have to read the passage to solve this! You could have solved it just by looking at the picture. We want to find the SMALLEST 18O value, which means it’s more on the LEFTside of the graph. From the dots we see that’s going to be at the BOTTOM LEFTof the figure. Choice C. Once again, you barely had to read the passage to solve this! It's just figuring out where the dots are. OK, so figure 2. We start from Grand Forks on the right, then move to Site 3. Lake clay, the gray piece, gets THICKER. They say this in the question, and we see it in the figure. The question asked about glacial till, the striped layer under it. It gets THINNER as you go from Grand Forks to Site 3. So thickness DECREASES, choice J. Yet once again, you barely had to know the passage to solve this! OK, we want the elevation of the TOPof GLACIAL TILL at each of 3 sites. Glacial till is the STRIPED layer. At Site 1, the top is 200. At Site 2, the top is 205ish. At site 3, it’s 180 ish. Answer choice C is the only one that fits these values. YET AGAIN you barely had to know the passage! To rephrase: it rains. Water gets to 3m deep. What is the 18O 3m deep? Look at figure 3 at a depth of 3m. In each figure, it’s around -15. Answer J. Finally, surprise surprise, you didn't have to know the passage at all to answer this question. EASY PEASY. Notice all the crap we didn’t have to care about: In the passage, we didn’t have to care about how old the lake was or how it formed. Wedidn’t have to care about what 18O means about temperature. We didn’t use Figure 1 at all. Stupid map. In figure 2, we didn’t care at all about bedrock. Also, we only needed to care about how the layers changed when we were asked about it. In figure 3, we didn’t have to care at all about how Site 2 had a glacial till layer. We sure as hell didn’t have to know what the formula meant. I hope you get the point. So much of each passage is USELESSto getting the questions right. The stupid ACT knows this, and they WANT you to get bogged down. â€Å"Oh gee, I wonder what bedrock is? How might they ask questions about this?† â€Å"Boy this formula looks real tough. What is 18O, and what is 16O? What’s groundwater and what’s standard water? Why multiply by 1,000?† You can waste so many minutes trying to make sense of the entire passage. If you have time management problems, skimming the passage can be a huge time savings for you! Again, when you read the passage focus on only two questions: What is the MAIN POINT of the passage? What is the MAIN POINT of each figure? I’ve started yelling more just because of how angry this test makes me. So let me take a deep breath. Moving on†¦ Bonus:Want more helpful tips like this? Check out our new ACT Science prep book. If you liked this lesson, you'll love our book. It includes everything you need to know to ace ACT Science, including deep analysis of the logic behind ACT Science questions, a full breakdown of the different passage and question types, and tons of expert test-taking and study tips. Download our full-length prep book now: ACT ScienceTip #2: Understand What ACT Science Actually Tests ACT Science stands out as the most structured and predictable section on the ACT. What I mean by that is ACT Science has 3 passage types, and each passage type has specific question types associated with it. This is unlike ACT English, where all 5 passages have all sorts of random question types associated with it. To do well on the ACT, you HAVE to predict the questions and passages that you're going to see on test day. Here are the passage types and question types associated with them: 3 Data Representation Passages - describes a study, heavy on graphs and charts Read-the-Graph Questions Interpreting Trends Calculating Values 3 Research Summaries Passages - describes an experiment with multiple parts Experimental Design Hypothetical Experimental Changes Interpreting Experiments 1 Conflicting Viewpoints Passage - 2 or more scientists disagree Understanding Viewpoints Comparing Viewpoints Remember what I said about ACT Science testing basic skills you've learned before in school? This is it - reading graphs, the scientific method, and comparing viewpoints. Here's a helpful writeup of the 3 types of ACT Science passages and an overview of question types. Your job is to understand these skills, figure out what you're weak in, and drill those skills until you've mastered them. Does this sound intimidating? Our PrepScholar ACT program does the hard work for you by dividing up the entire test into specific skills you need to master. For every skill in ACT Science and every other section, you'll get a focused lesson and a quiz customized to your skill level. This is how I studied for the ACT and got a perfect score, so that's how I designed our prep program to work. If you could use help breaking down the ACT like this, definitely check out our PrepScholar ACT program. ACT ScienceTip #3: Learn How to Read Graphs By far the most important single skill on ACT Science is knowing how to read graphs and charts. Nearly half of all questions on the test will relate to reading a graph and making sense of it. Often, the graph will be in a totally unfamiliar subject you've never learned about. The units will be weird, and the shape of the graph might be weird. Don't worry about this - the graph isweird for every other student in the country too. The ACT does this on purpose so that students with advanced science knowledge don't have a huge advantage on the test. For example, if the ACT showed problems from AP Physics, people would riot - it's unfairly discriminating against students whose schools don't have AP Physics. But if the ACT shows a graph about sabertooth tiger tooth sizes, this is OK - almost no one will have seen this graph before, so everyone's on more level footing. If you've been overwhelmed by graphs before, this is important to sink in - ACT Science is designed so that YOU are fully capable of understanding everything you need to answer the questions right - if you learn the right skills. So how do you actually read a graph? The three most important steps you need to understand every single graph are: Skim the intro text. Often the passage will tell you literally "Figure 2 is about X" and this is a big head start. (Like I said in Tip #1, though, don't get bogged down in details.) Read the axes. What does the x-axis represent, and what changes as you move from left to right? What does the y-axis represent, and what changes as you move from bottom to top? This tells you what is actually being shown. Understand the general shape of the graph. Where is it going up or down? If there are multiple lines shown, how do they differ? I mean GENERAL - don't memorize every detail, just get a sense of what's going on. Let's apply this with the following real ACT Science passage. OK - so it's about photosynthesis, which you may remember from AP Biology. It's how plants use sunlight to generate glucose (sugar).We also hear about wavelength, which is a property of light. We can see that Violet light has a shorter wavelength than Red light. Here's Figure 2: Let's step through the 3 steps: Skim the intro text.Here it tells us figure 2 "shows the average rate of photosynthesis at various wavelengths, as a percent of the average rate of photosynthesis at 670 nm." So we get a hunch for what the graph is showing - how fast photosynthesis happens, at different wavelengths. Read the axes.The x-axis shows wavelength, and as you move from left to right, the wavelength gets larger. The y-axis shows rate of photosynthesis, and as you move from bottom to top, the rate gets bigger (which means photosynthesis happensfaster). Understand the general shape of the graph.Generally, I see two peaks and a big valley in between. Remember, higher on the y-axis means faster photosynthesis. This means that photosynthesis happens really fast at two wavelengths, and really low in the middle (around 540 nm). Again, few people have ever seen this graph before - or if they have, they've probably forgotten it. Now you understand it just as well as anyone else. With this in mind, we can try answering a question! Let's rephrase the question. "At what wavelength is photosynthesis faster than it is at 670 nm?" Let's rephrase it even more simply. "At what wavelength is the graph higher than where it is at 670 nm?" Because we understood what the y-axis was showing, we know that HIGHER UP means FASTER PHOTOSYNTHESIS. So first, let's find out how fast photosynthesis is at 670 nm. It's right around 100. (Actually, it tells you this in the intro text: "Figure 2 shows the average rate of photosynthesis at various wavelengths as a percent of the average rate of photosynthesis at 670 nm." Naturally, the value at 670 nm should be 100%. You don't have to know this, and I didn't dwell on it since it's not critical to know.) OK, now we look at where the rate of photosynthesis is higher than 100 at the 4 points: 400, 430, 630, and 700 nm. I show these with orange dots here: It's pretty clear that the only dot higher than 100 is at 430 nm. So B is the answer. What we just went over is exactly how you can approach every single graph on the ACT Science section. Some graphs will be more complicated than this, but the principles are really all the same. You CAN understand every graph in ACT Science. If you keep practicing these skills over and over again, you WILL become much better at getting more questions right. Trust me. Want to learn more about reading graphs on ACT Science? Read our complete guide to How to Read Graphs, Tables, and Data on ACT Science. ACT Science Tip #4: Understand Your Weaknesses, and Keep Drilling Them You only have a limited amount of time to study for the ACT. You need to get the biggest score improvement possible for every hour you study. To get the biggest score improvement, you need to understand where your greatest weaknesses are. Then you need to keep drilling those weaknesses with practice until you solve your weakness. This makes sense, doesn't it? Most students actually actively avoid improving their weaknesses.As a result, they waste a ton of time studying without any actual improvement. Why is focusing on your weaknesses so hard to do? A few reasons: Diagnosing your weaknesses requires a lot of analysis and discipline.To do this right, you need to categorize every practice question you do by skill, score how many questions you get right on each skill, and figure out which skills are best to work on. This is pretty laborious and tough to do right. It's a lot more enjoyable to work on things you already do well.Would you rather eat ice cream or cabbage? In ACT prep, ice cream is working on skills you're already good at - it feels great to knock questions out of the park and get high quiz scores. Unfortunately, this is a false sense of confidence - you're ignoring all the weaknesses that are actually bringing down your score. You should be eating your cabbage by working on weaknesses, which takes a lot more mental energy and is unpleasant since you keep making mistakes. But it's the only way to get better. Even after you find your weaknesses, it's not clear how you should improve on them.Let's say you find out you have problems with interpreting experiments. How do you get better? Do you do a bunch of practice questions? Which questions do you use? How do you teach yourself the right skills? You have to overcome these problems to really drill down on your weaknesses.This is really the only way to get better. But it's the foundation to how I designed our ACT prep program at PrepScholar. Here's a step by step guide on how to find your weaknesses: Categorize every practice question you take by skill, especially for practice tests. You can find every skill listed in our Ultimate ACT Science Study Guide.Try to categorize as accurately as possible. Keep track of how many questions you got right and wrong in each skill. You can use a notebook or a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Identify the skillsyou're missing the most number of questions in. Don't just focus on the % correct - what really matters is how many more points you can get by mastering that skill. For example, there might be a really uncommon skill that shows up just once on every test. Even if you get 0% of those questions right, it's not lowering your score much. It's much better to work on the skill that appears 10 times per test that you're getting 50% of questions right on. Find the best resources to train your weakness. You need a way to 1) learn the underlying skills, 2) find practice questions to keep drilling that skill. Unfortunately, as I'll discuss below, there aren't that many great books for ACT Science available. Sound overwhelming? It is a lot of hard work, but it's the most effective way to improve. Most students don't take the time to do this, which is why they don't improve their score. However, doing this well really does take a lot of energy and discipline.In PrepScholar ACT, we do all of the above steps automatically for you so you can focus on actually learning.You'll avoid the hard organizational work of finding your weaknesses and gathering practice problems, and focus on actually learning the skills to improve your score. Bonus: If all of this is making sense to you, you'd love our ACT prep program, PrepScholar. It does all of the hard work in finding your weaknesses and giving you the exact lesson you need to get better. We designed our program around the concepts in this article, because they actually work.When you start with PrepScholar, you’ll take a diagnostic that will determine your weaknesses in over forty ACT skills. PrepScholar then creates a study program specifically customized for you. To improve each skill, you’ll take focused lessons dedicated to each skill, with over 20 practice questions per skill. This will train you for your specific area weaknesses, so your time is always spent most effectively to raise your score. We also force you to focus on understanding your mistakes and learning from them. If you make the same mistake over and over again, we'll call you out on it. There’s no other prep system out there that does it this way, which is why we get better score results than any other program on the market. Check it out today with a 5-day free trial: ACT Science Tip #5: Use Only High-Quality Practice Materials ACT Science is an odd section. You take weird scientific concepts and papers, distill them into a high school-friendly format, and ask very specific types of questions to test science reasoning skills. This means that test prep writers have a lot of ways to go wrong. Unlike other ACT sections like Reading or Math, ACT Science has woefully few ACT books to prep from. In fact, I can't recommend ANYpublished ACT books - all the ones I've seen so far are pretty terrible. They all suffer from one or more of these problems: The passage is inappropriate. It's either too easy, too difficult, too short, or uses unnecessary jargon. Official ACT Science passages have a very specificfeel to them. The questions asked aren't stylistically correct. They might test interpretation of graphs in the wrong way, or it doesn't have the right bait answers that ACT Science has to trick you. They don't teach you the fundamental skills underlying the questions. If it's just a book of practice questions, it's not enough. This is often a problem because ACT prep companies hire people who are too unskilled or too advanced to write ACT Science material. If you hire PhD's in science who are super smart but don't know the ACT well, you'll produce ACT Science content that will be way too difficult. So where can you get great practice materials? The very best source of practice questions is official ACT practice tests. These are official tests previously administered to real students. There are some problems with just using these tests though. They aren't organized by skill, which means it's hard to find problems to drill a specific skill like Interpreting Experiments or Comparing Viewpoints. Also, there aren't that many official tests available (up to 10 or so), and you want to save some of these tests to gauge your ACT score. Finally, practice tests don't actually have any instructional material - they're just a bunch of practice questions. If you need lessons to teach you how to actually read graphs and understand ACT science, you won't find that here. If you want to supplement with more ACT Science questions, you might consider our program PrepScholar. To make sure we produce the highest quality questions possible, we broke down the test into its individual skills and categorized every wrong answer type and question type possible. You can see some of this in our Ultimate ACT Science Prep Guide. I also hire only the best ACT content writers - these people usually have years of deep tutoring experience, went to Ivy League schools, and know the test inside and out. Even if you don't use PrepScholar, make sure you find a source of great source of ACT Science materials somewhere. ACT Science Tip #6: Track Your Time Per Passage and Question Tell me if this sounds familiar - in 35 minutes, you don't even make it through the entire section. You just try your best and answer as many questions as you can, then guess on the remaining questions at the end. ACT Science has tough time pressure.You only have 35 minutes to get through 7 passages and 40 questions. Even I, a perfect ACT scorer, find ACT Science to have pretty tough time pressure. Furthermore, unlike ACT Math, the questions and passages aren't arranged in difficulty. Therefore, you can't predict ahead of time which questions are going to be harder, and just skip the hardest questions. This means you need to hustle to get through all the passages and questions. But there's good news. Remember what we said above? To get a 26 on ACT Science, you can miss 10 questions. This means you don't have to fret about getting every question correct. In fact, there are some questions that are so hard that you will never get them right, no matter how much time you spend. Therefore, I have tworecommendations: Spend no more than 1.5 minutes reading each passage. This takes 10.5 minutes away from 35 minutes. From my tip above, you already know that you don't need to actually read the entire passage to answer the questions. Spend no more than 30 seconds trying to answer each question. This takes away another 20 minutes. If you get stuck on a question and have no idea how to solve it, MOVE ON. You do NOT want to spend 90 seconds on one question - that's time better spent getting more questions right. When done right, this gives you a few spare minutes to go back to some tough questions and try to get them right. See a question that you have constant trouble with? Feel free to skip it and come back to it later. As you practice, it might help to have a timer by your side. 90 seconds for reading a passage passes a LOT more quickly than you would expect. ACT Science Tip #7: Don't Worry About Memorizing Science Here's my final tip. A lot of students try to study for ACT Science by reviewing their old class notes from biology, chemistry, and physics. The problem is, ACT Science isn't really a test on science. It's a scientific reasoning test, based mostly on scientific data you've never seen before. Aside from a few questions about basic scientific concepts (like natural selection and electrical charges), nearly everything else can be answered without a deep foundation in the subject matter. For example, look at the photosynthesis example from Tip #3 - you technically don't even need to know what photosynthesis is, and you could answer those questions. The few scientific concepts you likely already remember - but if not, here's all the actual science you need to know for ACT Science. So put aside your textbooks and notes from high school - they're not the best way to study for ACT Science. The best way, as we've discussed throughout this tips guide, is to focus on the test: Understand what's tested on ACT Science Know how to approach ACT Science passages - don't get stuck in the details Understand your skill weaknesses, and drill them Practice time management so you can get through all the questions Summary Those are the main strategies I have for you to improve your ACT Science score. If you're scoring a 17, you can improve it to a 22. If you're scoring a 21, you can boost it to a 26. I guarantee it, if you put in the right amount of work, and study like I'm suggesting above.Notice that I didn't actually teach you any sciencecontent. I didn't point to any facts or formulas that will instantly raise your score.That's because these one-size-fits-all, guaranteed strategies don't really exist. (And anyone who tells you this is deceiving you). Every student is different.Instead, you need to understand where you're falling short, and drill those weaknesses continuously. You also need to be thoughtful about your mistakes and leave no mistake ignored.This is really important to your future. Make sure you give ACT prep the attention it deserves, before it's too late, and you get a rejection letter you didn't want.If you want to review any of the strategies, here's a list of all of them: Tip #1: Don't Waste TimeUnderstanding Useless Details Tip #2: Understand What ACT Science Actually Tests Tip #3: Learn How to Read Graphs Tip #4: Understand Your Weaknesses, and Keep Drilling Them Tip #5: Use Only High-Quality Practice Materials Tip #6: Track Your Time Per Passage and Question Tip #7: Don't Worry About Memorizing Science What's Next? We have a lot more useful guides to raise your ACT score. Read my corresponding guides for other ACT Math sections: Get a 26 in ACT English, ACT Reading, and ACT Math. What's a good ACT score for you? Read our detailed guide on figuring out your ACT target score. Want a bunch of free ACT practice tests to practice with? Here's our comprehensive list of every free ACT practice test. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

All About the British Princess Who Defied Her Father

All About the British Princess Who Defied Her Father Known for: her second marriage in which Joan rebelled against protocol and expectations; supposed miracles at her grave Occupation: British princess; countess of Hertford and Gloucester Dates: April 1272 - April 23, 1307 Also known as: Joanna Background and Family Mother: Eleanor of Castile, Countess of Ponthieu in her own rightFather: Edward I of England (ruled 1272-1307)Siblings: sixteen full siblings (of whom five survived to adulthood), at least three half-siblingsJoan was descended on both sides from King John of England; on her mothers side, through Johns daughter Eleanor of England.Husband: Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 5th Earl of Hertford (married April 30, 1290, died 1295)children: Gilbert de Clare, Eleanor de Clare, Margaret de Clare, Elizabeth de ClareHusband: Sir Ralph de Monthermer (married 1297)children: Mary de Monthermer, Joan de Monthermer, Thomas de Monthermer, Edward de Monthermer Birth and Early Life Joan was born the seventh of her parents fourteen children, but only one older sister (Eleanor) was still alive at the time of Joans birth. Four of her younger siblings and one younger half-sibling also died in infancy or childhood. Her younger brother, Edward, born 12 years after Joan, became king as Edward II. Joan of Acre was called by that name because she was born while her parents were in Acre at the end of the Ninth Crusade, during the year before Edward returned to England to be crowned as Edward I on his fathers death. A sister, Juliana, had been born and died the year before at Acre. After Joans birth, her parents left the child for a time in France with Eleanors mother, Joan of Dammartin, who was the Countess of Pointhieu and widow of Ferdinand III of Castile. The little girls grandmother and a local bishop were responsible during those four years for her upbringing. First Marriage Joans father Edward began to consider marriage possibilities for his daughter while she was still very young, as was common for royal families. He settled on the son of Germanys King Rudolph I, a boy named Hartman. Joan was five years old when her father called her home so that she could meet her future husband. But Hartman died before he could come to England or marry Joan. Conflicting reports at the time had him dying in a skating accident or drowning in a boat accident. Edward finally arranged for Joan to marry a British nobleman, Gilbert de Clare, who was the Earl of Gloucester. Joan was twelve and Edward in his early 40s when the arrangements were made. Gilberts previous marriage ended in 1285, and it took another four years to get dispensation from the Pope for Gilbert and Joan to marry. They were married in 1290. Edward struck a hard bargain and got de Clare to agree to a large dower for Joan, with his lands held jointly with Joan during their marriage. Joan gave birth to four children before Gilbert died in 1295. Second Marriage Still a young woman, and one controlling quite a lot of valuable property, Joans future was being planned by her father again, as he sought out a suitable husband. Edward decided on the Count of Savoy, Amadeus V. But Joan was already secretly married by then, and likely quite fearful of her fathers reaction. She had fallen in love with one of her first husbands squires, Ralph de Monthermer, and had urged her father to knight him. A member of the royal family marrying someone of such a level was simply unacceptable. First Edward found out about the relationship itself, not knowing it had already progressed to marriage. Edward took possession of Joans lands that she had as dower from her first marriage. Finally, Joan told her father that she was already married. His reaction: to imprison Sir Ralph. By this time, Joan was noticeably pregnant. She wrote her father a letter which contained words that have come down to us as an early statement protesting the double standard: It is not considered ignominious, nor disgraceful for a great earl to take a poor and mean woman to wife; neither, on the other hand, is it worthy of blame, or too difficult a thing for a countess to promote to honor a gallant youth. Edward gave in to his daughter, releasing her husband in August of 1297. He was given her first husbands titles though at his death they went to a son of her first husband, not one of Ralphs sons. And while Edward I accepted the marriage and Monthermer became part of the kings circle, Edwards relationship with Joan was cooler than it was towards her siblings. Joan was also close to her brother, Edward II, though she died earlier in the year he became king, and so was not around through his more scandalous escapades. She did support him through an earlier episode when Edward I took away his royal seal. Death History does not record Joans cause of death. It may have been related to childbirth. With Joan and then Edward I dead, Edward II took the title Earl of Gloucester from her second husband and gave it to her son by her first husband. While we dont know her cause of death, we do know that after her death, she was laid to rest at a priory in Clare, established by her first husbands ancestors and to which she had been a benefactor. In the 15th century, a writer reported that her daughter, Elizabeth de Burgh, had her mother disinterred and inspected the body, found to be intact, a condition connected with sainthood. Other writers reported miracles at her burial site. Â  She was never beatified or canonized.

Using the concept of narrative and discourse, deconstruct one aspect Essay

Using the concept of narrative and discourse, deconstruct one aspect of international development - Essay Example Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe are also credited for advancement of this theory and most importantly hegemonic discourse. Antonio Gramsci on the other hand, is credited for coining the term hegemony referring to the predominance of one social class over others. The dominant class projects its own way of viewing the world and the dominated classes take this view as ‘common sense’ or ‘natural’. Hegemonic discuss most often involves discussions about the developed and developing countries with the developed countries especially U.S assuming the role of a hegemony that controls or regulates the rest of the world in what Brand refers to as â€Å"global governance† (155-176). Theorists agree that discourse involves power relations in society and that hegemonic practice is a form of political activity or struggle (Howarth & Stavrakakis 2). This essay will use the hegemonic discourse to deconstruct one aspect of international development: global governance and in particular developing countries. According to Laclau and Mouffe, every material object is articulated within discourse thus it is not determined by nature. The main assumption of discourse theory is that all objects and actions are meaningful, and their meaning is conferred by historically specific systems of rules. For them The fact that every object is constituted as an object of discourse has nothing to do with whether there is a world external to thought, or with that realism/idealism opposition. An earthquake occurs here and now independent of my will. But whether their specifity as object is constructed in terms of ‘natural phenomenon’ or ‘expressions of the wrath of God’ depends upon restructuring of discursive field. What is derived is not that such objects exist externally to thought, but the rather different assertion that they constitute themselves as objects

Puerto Rico - A commonwealth with U.S.A Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Puerto Rico - A commonwealth with U.S.A - Essay Example The enjoining of Puerto Rico, according to analysts and researchers in historical studies, as a commonwealth in USA, is one that requires a detailed understanding of the events that took place prior and after the 1952 event. With the USA developing a relationship with Puerto Rico in the 1898 Spanish-American warfare, by the 20th century Puerto Rico was under the martial support of USA. In regards to the words by Levy & Bahrawi, by the year 1947 Puerto Rico was granted the right to select their own ruler, thanks to the US government (28). With Munoz Marin taking over Puerto Rico, the country arrived at the rank of US commonwealth in October 1950. Levy & Bahrawi indicate that the signing of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth Bill guaranteed the country’s status as a commonwealth of USA (28). On the other hand, the citizens of Puerto Rico consistently supported this status by voting for spiraling of the rapport between Puerto Rico and USA. However, it is vital to note that though the ratio for the commonwealth status was extremely high as opposed to the advocates against the commonwealth status, the nationalist movement was extremely willing to campaign for independence. Levy & Bahrawi are of the view that by January 2005 when Anibal Acevedo-Vila was elected the governor of Puerto Rico, the country was driven towards a struggle for autonomy or statehood of the country (29). It can, therefore, be argued that the commonwealth status of Puerto Rico was attained after granting of American citizenship to the Puerto Ricans. This was to later be a conflict especially after the disasters that faced the country under the American rule. In this case, the Puerto Ricans wanted change to be on their own. Puerto Ricans- USA citizens In the research compiled by Thomas, Puerto Ricans attained what would be referred as an exceptional status of US citizens (136). Though the Puerto Ricans were viewed as burdens to the New Yorkers especi ally in terms of distribution of resources in the city, Thomas is of the opinion that the Puerto Ricans were already US citizens and a long struggle would see to their independence (137). In the year 1917, the then US president, Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones- Shafroth Act which legalized the Puerto Ricans to be U.S. citizens. This is unlike the previous years when the Puerto Rico was a commonwealth of US. Upon signing of the Jones- Shafroth Act the Puerto Ricans became full US citizens. The Puerto Rican government was made similar to that of USA, as well as the Puerto Ricans enjoying civil rights in the country according to Sanchez (41). Of essence, Sanchez indicates that the Puerto Ricans became USA citizens after the signing of Jones-Shafroth Act (42). Though a lot of resentment resulted from this move, a majority of the Puerto Ricans would be forced to participate in US wars against other states, an aspect which did not please the Puerto Ricans. Protests followed soon after to campaign against USA control over Puerto Rico’s constitutional rules and the U.S. Congress. (517 words) Summary From the depictions by the authors of the works of the history of Puerto Rico, I not only like the pieces of compilations, but I am also impressed by the quality and depth of research conducted by the authors. In the work by Levy & Bahrawi on Puerto Rico for example, it is easy to get a glimpse of the history of Puerto Rico and commonwealth from the headings in the work. These headings allow the reader get a quick search of the related chapters and the facts behind the years. Levy & Bahrawi are also keen to give the accurate dates of the chronology of events that took place during that particular time in history, an aspect that makes me believe the facts inscribed in the book. The context of events is also evident from the piece, which gives the author an idea of what happened before, at the particular time and after the event. The reader therefore gets a clear pict ure of the entire theme brought forward by the authors. Having

Presenting song as poem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Presenting song as poem - Essay Example This kind of music usually uses a simple vocabulary, and known words ."Dear mama" opens with a statement that shows there will be not so many sophisticated words: "You are appreciated". So, the message and the theme of the poem are stated very clear and directly. In this case this sentence , according to the style of music is equivalent to all the literary devices used in other poems or songs. Even this thing happens it does not mean this song has less suggestive meaning. The word choice is much more related to the events that influenced the speaker's attitude or feelings about his mother: the problems from school, with the police, Thanksgiving Day. The speaker uses the blacks' dialect or the street language for showing an affiliation to a group. Here his mother is shown as an icon, "black queen", "sweet lady", but she also has a terrestrial side, understanding and helping him. Being a straight song the figurative language is not so much used , but it can still be found some literary devices. At the beginning of the text the speaker makes a simile between his family and other ones: "Over tha years we wuz poorer than tha other little kids", his condition being much poorer.

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law - Essay Example Issues Relevant to The Contract for the Sale of the Van Misrepresentation In negotiating for the purchase of a van from Daly, Winston explained that the putative van must have a storage capability of 200 feet and must be capable of regularly transporting antique furniture up to 1 ton. Based on these requirements, Daly told Winston that he had a van the fit Winston’s requirements and a van was offered for sale and accepted based on Daly’s representations. In fact, Daly also noted that the van in question had hardly been broken in. It is a fundamental rule of contract law that the parties to a contract enter into a contract on the basis of an understanding that they will receive the benefit bargained for and forming the inducement to enter into the contract.1 In addition, should one of the contracting parties fail to perform as mandated pursuant to the contract, the party losing the benefit bargained for and reflected in the contract for sale, is entitled to compensation for that loss.2 When the party loses the entire benefit of his or her bargain, he is entitled to treat the contract as terminated.3 Under the contract for the sale of the van, Winston was promised and expected to receive a van capable of replacing the van lost in the conduct of the antique shop’s business. The truck however, turned out to be inadequate as a replacement vehicle. The question is therefore whether or not the van’s failure to live up to expectations amounts to a breach of the contract on Daly’s part. Daly did make certain representations or as it turned out, misrepresentations that the van in question was fit for purpose. Misrepresentation occurs when false information is communicated and that false information induces the other party to enter a contract to which the false information applies.4 Misrepresentation can be made fraudulently or negligently or innocently.5 It is difficult to discern from the facts of the case for discussion whether or not the false information provided by Daly that the van was fit for its intended purpose was negligent, innocent or fraudulent. However, as a skilled or experienced salesman, it can be assumed that at the very least, Daly ought to have known whether or not the van was fit for purpose. It is therefore reasonable to assume that Daly’s misrepresentation was negligent at the very least. Regardless, it will be for Winston to prove that he relied on the information communicated to him or was induced by that information to enter into the contract.6 It can be assumed from the facts that Winston did in fact rely on Daly’s communication of facts since he was looking for a specific van with specific requirements and communicated those facts to Daly. Fit for Purpose Quite apart from misrepresentation, Winston can consider taking action against Daly under statute. By statutory law, it is an implied term of contracts for the sale of goods that goods purchased for a specific purpose are fit for purpose. By virtue of Section 14 (3) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, where a purchaser either â€Å"expressly or by implication makes known to the seller† it is implied that the â€Å"goods supplied under the contract are reasonably fit for that purpose† unless the purchaser â€Å"does not rely,† on the â€Å"skill or judgment of the seller†.7 Winston can prove that he rel

Videocy findings memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Videocy findings memo - Essay Example The aforementioned can be achieved through the implementation of the following advice: The article historically contextualizes multimedia information delivery technologies. In so doing, it normalizes it. As you overview the evolution of the printing press, the rise of multimedia information channels, such as the television, and move onto interactive multimedia technologies, you normalize this media and present its evolution as a process of natural progression. This certainly allows readers to understand that the phenomenon in question is an evolution of already existing media and communication technologies, not a revolution against them. Nevertheless, the stated approach detracts from the uniqueness of multimedia as an information communication channel. It is essential that you fully acknowledge the uniqueness of this technological development. In so doing you will be expressing a sympathetic understanding of the position held by its opponents. The simple fact of the matter is that many fear multimedia technology and believe that its integration into the classroom and teaching environment will have a detrimental impact upon intellectual and cognitive development (Alliance for Childhood, n.d.). Indeed, as argued in an Alliance for Childhood article entitled `Fool’s gold,’ (n.d.), â€Å"Interactive multimedia leaves very little to the imagination †¦ multimedia narrative includes such specific representations that less and less is left to the minds eye.† This above-stated viewpoint, which as Jonnavithula and Kinshuk (2005) explain, is held by many, should have been acknowledged in the body of the article. Acknowledgement should have taken the form of an explicit concession to the uniqueness of the phenomenon in question. By conceding to uniqueness, you would have been expressing an understanding of the objections sounded against multimedia as a teaching tool. This would have

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law - Essay Example Issues Relevant to The Contract for the Sale of the Van Misrepresentation In negotiating for the purchase of a van from Daly, Winston explained that the putative van must have a storage capability of 200 feet and must be capable of regularly transporting antique furniture up to 1 ton. Based on these requirements, Daly told Winston that he had a van the fit Winston’s requirements and a van was offered for sale and accepted based on Daly’s representations. In fact, Daly also noted that the van in question had hardly been broken in. It is a fundamental rule of contract law that the parties to a contract enter into a contract on the basis of an understanding that they will receive the benefit bargained for and forming the inducement to enter into the contract.1 In addition, should one of the contracting parties fail to perform as mandated pursuant to the contract, the party losing the benefit bargained for and reflected in the contract for sale, is entitled to compensation for that loss.2 When the party loses the entire benefit of his or her bargain, he is entitled to treat the contract as terminated.3 Under the contract for the sale of the van, Winston was promised and expected to receive a van capable of replacing the van lost in the conduct of the antique shop’s business. The truck however, turned out to be inadequate as a replacement vehicle. The question is therefore whether or not the van’s failure to live up to expectations amounts to a breach of the contract on Daly’s part. Daly did make certain representations or as it turned out, misrepresentations that the van in question was fit for purpose. Misrepresentation occurs when false information is communicated and that false information induces the other party to enter a contract to which the false information applies.4 Misrepresentation can be made fraudulently or negligently or innocently.5 It is difficult to discern from the facts of the case for discussion whether or not the false information provided by Daly that the van was fit for its intended purpose was negligent, innocent or fraudulent. However, as a skilled or experienced salesman, it can be assumed that at the very least, Daly ought to have known whether or not the van was fit for purpose. It is therefore reasonable to assume that Daly’s misrepresentation was negligent at the very least. Regardless, it will be for Winston to prove that he relied on the information communicated to him or was induced by that information to enter into the contract.6 It can be assumed from the facts that Winston did in fact rely on Daly’s communication of facts since he was looking for a specific van with specific requirements and communicated those facts to Daly. Fit for Purpose Quite apart from misrepresentation, Winston can consider taking action against Daly under statute. By statutory law, it is an implied term of contracts for the sale of goods that goods purchased for a specific purpose are fit for purpose. By virtue of Section 14 (3) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, where a purchaser either â€Å"expressly or by implication makes known to the seller† it is implied that the â€Å"goods supplied under the contract are reasonably fit for that purpose† unless the purchaser â€Å"does not rely,† on the â€Å"skill or judgment of the seller†.7 Winston can prove that he rel

Story of an Hour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Story of an Hour - Assignment Example The narrative is just so full of figures of speech, one has to really spend time meditating on the symbolisms to fully understand what the story is all about. Although during the initial reading, the reader could understand the events in the story however, it still requires an in-depth analysis for one to really ‘feel and understand’ the story behind the story. Selina Jamil thinks â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is an expression of emotions which she strongly supports through the symbolisms in the story. For instance, Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is perceived as an emotional trouble rather than a physical one (Jamil). While other women might easily be been open to accept their fate as being the housekeepers and even husband and children keepers, it is interesting to note that not all men are created equal and Mrs. Mallard is not the common type who would just be satisfied with her share in life. She was the woman who loved the outdoors and whose dreams are not bound within the four walls of her house rather are far and beyond what her eyes can see as it was then revealed as she was alone in her room thinking about how she would be living after her husband’s burial. Aside from the information directly unveiled in the story, symbolisms help to further picture the desires of the main character. The open window that meets her eyes as she opens her room tells a lot about Mrs. Mallard. The room itself is a picture of her private, unspoken thoughts and desires. Entering it without letting anyone follow her could paint the picture of Louise’s secrets that are not meant to be revealed rather are hers alone. The comfortable, roomy armchair is a representation of the ease she can have with her thoughts and herself in the privacy of her room (Lorcher) and the open window symbolizes the window to herself, her heart. This could be

Employer †Employee Relationship Essay Example for Free

Employer – Employee Relationship Essay Little Lamb Company needs an additional programmer for a special project. The company enters into a contract with Mary to complete this project. Just as the project is nearing completion, initially an independent contractor as she had a high degree of control over how the work is accomplished, and enters into a contract with the company a new need arises for her services. She is asked to continue with the company to complete the new project. While completing the new project, the supervisor begins working more closely with Mary and requires her to use company materials and equipment while adhering to company work schedules. Mary seems to be moving toward an at-will employee position, because she appears to have less control over how the work is accomplished as she will probably have to answer to the supervisor, and using the companies materials and equipment and adhering to the company work schedules. After two years suggests at-will employee because of the length of time being 2 years, economic conditions force the company to make budget cuts. Mary is asked to leave as an employee, as she is obviously no longer working as an independent contractor, when asked to leave the company. Thirty days later, a major contract is acquired by the company, which reinstates the need for Marys services as a programmer. However, the supervisor chooses to hire his equally-qualified cousin and not offer Mary the opportunity to return. The use of word hire implied that Mary had been an employee and not an independent contractor. Is Mary an independent contractor or an employee? Describe the factors that led to your determination. There are several criteria to determine if Mary is a contractor or an employee. For example, one critical aspect to distinguish an independent contractor from an employee is the degree of control over how the work is accomplished. Initially Mary seemed to have more control than she did at the end, so it seems that she moved from being a independent contractor at the beginning to an employee over time. However, there are many factors to consider in making a determination as to whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. Some of these criteria include:†¢Whether a distinct occupation or business is  being performed; e.g. programmer, so initially Mary was contracted as an independent contractor for a specific project. †¢The amount of supervision over the means by which the work is performed; e.g. the supervisor begins working more closely with Mary and requires her to use company materials and equipment while adhering to company work schedules implies a move away from independent contractor towards an at will employee. †¢The degree of skill required to perform the work; e.g., programmer equally-qualified cousin†¢Who provides the tools used to perform the work, and, e.g., requires her to use company materials and equipment while adhering to company work schedules and therefore moving towards being an at-will employee†¢The place where the work is done; e.g. Mary is working in the office, the supervisor begins working more closely with Mary and requires her to use company materials and equipment while adhering to company work schedules suggesting an at-will employee position. Has the employer/employee relationship changed over the course of time? If so, how?As mentioned above, it did seem to change over time. It seems that initially, Mary could be considered an independent contractor because Little Lamb Company needs an additional programmer for a special project and Mary entered into a contract with the company. However, Mary was later asked to stay on and began working close to the supervisor, who expected Mary to used the company materials and equipment, to follow the company work schedule, and was terminated at will when economic conditions demanded. Thus, Mary seemed to move from an independent contractor to an at-will employee. 3) Was Marys release legal under the doctrine of employment-at-will? Why or why not?This is murky water and it depends. If Mary had moved into an at will employee, then the doctrine of employment-at-will allows her employee to let her go without reason (however, they initially had a contract, which we look at in the next part of this question below). In the scenario, it says Mary enters into a contract for the first project, however, makes no  mention of a contract when she is asked to stay on (however, sometimes contracts are implied). For example, in most states of the United States all employees are considered at will employees. That means that the employer can terminate or change the employment relationship at will, unless there is a contract with the employer. In general, an employer can fire an at will employee, or change the employees position or compensation with no notice and no reason. Likewise, the employee can terminate his employment at will without notice or reason. However, there are three possible legitimated reasons employee can challenge a wrongful termination:If not, which of the following exceptions to employment-at-will have been violated? Why?a) Breach of public policy (Perhaps) Values, principles and basic rules that the courts and legislatures consider to be in the best interest of individuals and the general public. Employer violations of specific labor and employment laws might be called violations of public policy, instead of or in addition to violations of the specific laws. That is because it is in the best interest of all workers that all employers obey such laws. Public policy may be written or implied, and varies among states and municipalities. Consequently, whether or not an employer has violated public policy is often a matter of interpretation by a court or arbitrator (i.e., hired cousin instead of having Mary return). b) Breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Probably not, because it is dealing with contracts and the question is dealing with at-will exceptions. c) Breach of implied contract (this is a possibility). Why? For example, in a contract between the employer and the employee, even in the absence of a formal written employment agreement. For example, language in an employee handbook may promise all layoffs are based on seniority or we give employees at least 2 weeks notice of all layoffs. Therefore, if Mary thins she is wrongfully terminated, as an employee; she can challenge a wrongful termination for these legitimate reasons

Strategy Implementation Procter Gamble Company

Strategy Implementation Procter Gamble Company Procter and Gamble Company (PG) is USs leading maker of household consumer products. With its headquarters in Downtown Cincinnati Ohio, PG is also a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation highly recognized for a chain of business innovations (Katrina, 1999.p.146). PG for instance has been admired for effective brand management and the soap operas. The company has operations representation in at least 80 countries internationally providing a range of products in diverse categories including; beauty care, health care, baby care, beverages, home care, and snacks among others (Griffin, 2006.p.138). Corporate strategy is every companys tool for competitive advantage attainment. This paper undertakes to evaluate how corporate strategy and other structural changes impacted on PGs competitive advantage since the 1990s. Specific focus is directed toward the key changes that occurred in the company in the 1990s and the contribution made by Al Lafley in his nine year tenure at PG. PG company was formed with intention of providing quality branded products and services for the consumers in the international market. As a profit company, it aimed at winning consumers in the competitive market environment through exploiting excellent leadership, quality and value service provision. PG started in 1837 as a partnership between William Procter and James Gamble to manufacture and sell candles and soap. Today, PG has over 300 brands marketed and sold in over 160counties across the globe. PG has 16 of her key products producing revenue in excess of $1 billion per year. These products include; Ariel, Downy, and Tide (laundry products); Actonel (for osteoporosis treatment); Always (feminine protection); Bounty (paper towels); Charmin (bathroom tissue); Crest (toothpaste); Folgers (coffee); Iams (pet food); Olay (skin care product); Pampers (diapers); Pringles (snacks); and Head Shoulders, Pantene, and Wella (hair care products) (Katrina, 1999.p.146). Reading PGs company history, the company had performed quite well over the ears since its inception, overcoming market challenges (social, economic and political) through tactful brand management and innovative strategies until brand equity challenges emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some of the earlier successes of PG Company included; rapid growth and expansion during the 1850s amid strong competition, prosperity during the civil war period during which her competitors outputs plummeted, the introduction of innovative employee benefits in 1903 hence becoming a renowned employee-benefit programs leader, and the one man one brand brand management debut of 1931 which made brand management at PG become a fixture to be replicated by other companies (Boyer, 2009.p.494). PG Company was also able to successfully circumvent around the Great depression to emerge virtually unscathed. With radio playing a key role to deliver PG information into homes at the time, PG began sponsorship of radios serials in 1933 which were later referred to as soap operas Her fame for packaging expertise earned PG a military application by government to oversee Ordinance plants construction and operations. Talking of the successes at PG can not be complete without mentioning the Companys post World War II growth miracle that was fueled by the introduction of a synthetic detergent (Tide) in 1946 which brought a complete shift in the cloth washing trends at the time. Investing in further research and the tapping into acquisition strategy made PG to remain on profit making axis over years since the 1950s (Redmond, 2010.p.162). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the weakening of economy coupled with the resulting consumer value bias started to weaken the brand equity for PG. These occurrences favored performance of private labels in both health and beauty lines. PG responded to this threat by launching Every Day Low Pricing (EDLP) strategy to induce consumers while implementing promotional kickbacks for wholesalers. The EDLP covered 50-60%of the companys product range which included; pampers and Luvs diapers, Cascade dish soap, and Jif peanut butter. Although the Company strategy was met by mixed reactions with some retailers rejecting it, many others supported the Companies value-conscious positioning efforts. With this support, PG actually made good savings from trade promotions which were then ploughed back into direct marketing activities meant to reach out to some target groups for narrow market base brands through the coupon and sample programs. The target products for the program included Pampers, Cl earasil, and Oil of Olay (Harmon, 2003.p.352). PG also joined the green bandwagon of environmental marketing by adoption of reduced packaging strategy which saw the company provide concentrated product formulations in relatively smaller packages, as well as refill packs applied for 38 of the companys brands across 17 countries in the 1990s. In July 1991, PG acquired the international Max Factor and Betrix lines from Revlon, Inc., thus expanding PGs presence in cosmetics and fragrances. As part of her strategy to attain meaningful growth, PG also divested her holdings in those areas the company considered to have outgrown. For instance, in 1992, PG sold almost 50% of her cellulose and specialties pulp trade to Weyerhaeuser Company (Katrina, 1999.p.147). Vertical integration had been observed to have helped PG develop her paper products in the past. However, with time, things had change and he 1990s saw unprofitable and distracting forest trade. Therefore in 1992, PG decided to sell off the Italian coffee business to allow more focus on the core European brands. The Companys strategy was to tap into the well established regional markets through introduction of pan-European packaged, branded and advertised products. In the next section, this paper explores PGs major restructurings and Acquisitions pursued in mid to late 1990s period (Griffin, 2006.p.138). The main objectives of PG at this time were to enhance its competitive advantage in the market through various designed strategies and policy options. Specific goals for the company included; ensuring that her brand-name products became more price-competitive so that they could effectively compete the private label and generic brands in the market; enhancing efficiency so that products reach the market aster, and increasing the companys profit margins. To achieve, these, PG pursued a number of cost cutting policy measures including winding up of 30 of her international plants and laying off 12% of her total workforce (13000 jobs). The estimated cost of the restructuring program was $2.4 billion and the estimated accrued savings for the company were to a tune of over $600 million. Together with these, the program raised the companys net income margins from 7.3% to 10.2% in 1994 and 1998 respectively (Dana, 1997.p.D1). The restructuring period was to reach its culmination in 1997. But in the course of the restructuring process, PG increased its pace for acquisitions, making a considerable number of acquisitions in the period, some of which were quite successful, while some became a big failure. These acquisitions included: the 1994 purchase of Vereinigte Papierwerke Schickedanz AGs European tissue unit with aim to venture into European tissue and towel trade. PG also acquired Giorgio Beverly Hills, Incs prestige fragrance business. During the same year 1994, when the US lifted the existing sanctions, PG ventured back into the South African market and subsequently changed its geographic management framework in 1995; apportioning its operations into two (namely- US and International) with four regions in total (i.e. Asia, North America, Latin America, and Europe/Middle East/Africa). At the same time, IN July 1995, the company leadership (CEO) changed hands from Artzt to Pepper. Durk I. Jager (Harmon, 2003.p.352). It was during 1996 that PG bought the Eagle Snacks brand that that was before then a property of Anheuser-Busch. Other brands purchased the same year included; the Latin American brands Lavan San household cleaner and Magia Blanca bleach and Baby Fresh of US. Perhaps the most memorable event of 1996 for this company was the receiving of approval from the U.S Food Drug Administration (FDA) to use the controversial olestra (Boyer, 2009.p.494). Olestra was a fat substitute to be applied in snacks and crackers. PG had spent about $250 million to conduct research about olestra and by the time FDA was approving the product, a stipulation had already been circulated by FDA that a label must be attached to any food with these substance in it to warn the public of possible gastrointestinal side effects. This impacted heavily on the products ability to gain market, and even with concerted test marketing efforts, products with olestra never ever caught on in the market. In the long run, Olestra was declared one of PGs biggest product failures in the companys history (Boyer, 2009.p.494). After acquisition of Tambrands, Inc. and the Tampax tampons line in 1997, PG launched a new restructuring plan in 1998 and named it Organization 2005. This was after PG had failed to realize the 1996 set goals of doubling profits to $70 billion by 2005 from the then $35 billion. The calculated growth rate had to be 7 annually, but the actual realized growth rate was only 4% hence profits had stagnated around $37.5 billion figure. PG therefore aimed to make a structural shift from the 1995 Organization centered model (of four regions) to a one centered model with seven business units defined on product line basis. The product lines were as follows; Tissues Towels, Baby Care, Fabric Home Care, Beauty Care, Feminine Protection, , Health Care Corporate New Ventures, and Food Beverage (Katrina, 1999.p.146). These changes were important to PG since they aimed at attaining higher innovation and speed through the deliberate strategy and profit responsibility positioning of brands internationally as opposed to centering on geographic locations. These events coincided with the scheduled take over of Jager as the companys president and he subsequently was given the mantle to lead the strategy implementation. Aiming at enhanced innovation and high revenue and profit levels, Jager introduced new initiatives in 1999 to extend those introduced in 1995. These included resolve to continue with more acquisitions, cut down the number of workers by 15000 by year 2005, close down at least 10 factories, and spent an estimated $1.9 billion on restructuring by the year 2005. It is during this period that PG acquired the Iams Company, marking PGs biggest deal that cost $2.22 billion in cash. Iams Company was among the leading manufactures of premium pet food in the US with established global yearly sales estimated at $800 million. Next to acquire was the Recovery Engineering, Inc. at an estimated cost of $265 million. This newly acquired company was based in Minneapolis and produced the water-filter brand PUR that had been on a fast growth path. Attempts by Jager to join the company with the Warner-Lambert company into a risky drug business in 2000 flopped Jagers intention to take over Gillette (razor making) company was rebuffed very quickly in the same year (Dana, 1997.p.D1) While this was happening, PG had by June 2000 issued a 3rd profit warning in a year. These developments forced Jager to resign and subsequently A.G. Lafley assumed the company leadership in capacity of the President and CEO of PG in June 2000 (Dyer, 2004.P.496). The new CEO, A.G. Lafley had joined PG in June 1977, starting as a brand assistant for Joy product. Before his promotion to CEO position, he had been heading the global beauty care unit. What a time t be promoted to the top seat! In the next section, this paper considers Lafleys contribution to the company during his entire 9 year tenure. Having made his first impression at PG simplifying life in the laundry room as he led colleagues in launching liquid Tide, Lafleys strategy applied Druckers back-to-basics formula to overhaul and clean up the entire PG House (Redmond, 2010.p.162). Right from the beginning of his tenure of the top job A.G. Lafley became famous for his four word business winning principle The consumer is boss. In what would perhaps appear like a fools errand to attempt at narrowing down the matching orders that govern an estimated 138000 employees in over80 nations to simple chestnut, Lafleys keep it simple strategy would emerge to speak a lot for itself through the four word phrase The consumer is boss, as the business mantra which he kept on singing to his team (Redmond, 2010.p.163). Lafley started off by slowing down the existing rush to send products into markets. He did this purposely to ensure that the products would be given adequate marketing support before getting into the competitive arena. Lafley then re-focused the companys resources towards shoring up PGs top brands that could earn the company global revenue of at least $1 billion annually. These were just about a dozen products. He immediately re-branded the Oil of Olay to be simply called Olay. This was aimed at allay the notion that Oil of Olay was greasy. Focused on a small number of key brands, the company sold of Clearasil (the acne-treatment brand) for an estimated $340 million to Boots PLC. In the same period FDA gave approval to PG for Actonel brand (prescription treatment for osteoporosis), which was later marketed and attained a remarkable $1billion yearly sales for the trade year 2004 (Boyer, 2009.p.494). Lafley changed the traditional Company approach which tended to favor externally sourced product ideas. He significantly reduced development projects, promoted culture of collaboration with external world as opposed to self centered tradition initially pursued, and went ahead to outsource PGs including manufacturing of oldest brands in the company such as Ivory bar soap. Lafley also significantly restructured the companys workforce through focusing on top-priority countries, advocating for enhanced collaboration within the company divisions, and considerable reduction in number of the total company workforce (by an estimated 20,000 jobs) which included significant number of top level management staff (about 50%) (Harmon, 2003.p.352) A.G. Lafley entrenched some goal winning principles in the remaining team, which he referred to as two consumer moments of truth- first, buying PG products and then, liking them so much that its memorable-at least satisfying and ideally delighting. Lafley argued that since more than 50% of PGs workforce did not have English as their native language, he need to make use of simple slogans which when repeated again and again would keep everyone at pace with current state of affairs in the company. Therefore he maintained Human beings dont want to stay focused, so my job is to get them to focus their creativity around the focus; focus their productivity around the focus; focus their efficiency or effectiveness around the focus (Griffin, 2006.p.138). In summary, aside from the simple effective strategies he pursued to turn around PG, Lafleys 9 year tenure left took the company to the top, more than doubling the sales and significantly expanding the companys range of top brands (those with sales between $500million to $1billion annually) fivefold. Lafley is recognized for shaping PG into a more externally focused and consumer-driven alongside developing a more advanced innovations and employee relations culture at Procter and Gamble (Redmond, 2010.p.163).