Employee Training and Career Development Essay Example

Employee Training and Career Development Essay Example Employee Training and Career Development Essay Employee Training and Career Development Essay Employee Training and Career Development April 13, 2012 HRM/300 Fundamentals of Human Resource Management Carol House University of Phoenix Employee training and career development is very important to an organization because the success of the organization depends on the success of its employees. Organizations are always developing and implementing new technologies, strategic plans, and objectives. The training, development, and mentoring are the keys to growth of each of the organization goals. Organizational development is defined as being a systematic process to implement effective change within an organization. In the late 1960 organizational development was relatively unknown and had no proper definition. The organizations that used this theory implemented ideas of what they felt organizational development should be. Richard Beckhard who is an authority on organizational development defined it is, an effort, planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organizations processes, using behavioral-science knowledge (Organizational Development, 2012). Courses and programs on organizational development were being offered in business, education, and administration curricula in the 1970 and 1980. By the 2000 organizational development theories and strategies had grown and evolved and its influences can be found in reengineering, total quality management, job enrichment, and team b uilding. The role of training in an organizationâ„ ¢s development is key to the success of any organization. Training helps to develop skills, enhance skills, and self-growth amongst the employees. Training helps the organization to grow, reach goals, increase productivity, and keep the organization objectives on track. A company is only as good as is employee, if the employees are not properly trained the company cannot fulfill its mission or vision statement. When employees learn how to become more productive the company revenue will increase and new goal will need to be set. The first step to become more productivity is communication. Communication skills can be developed with team building actives. The second step is to have family and friendly work environment. The three step is for the employee to have respect. When employee can get alone they, are more productive and are easier to train in group setting. An organization needed to ensure that training is for all employees upper m anagement, middle management, support staff, and line employees. The management staff of an organization should be trained in leadership, delegation, giving and receiving feedback, and providing support to their employees, this will help to ensure the organizations culture and climate is warm and inviting. Training is also importation to the image of the organization. People want to work for an organization that encourages their employee to grow and promote within the organization and acquiring the proper image will help to bring in new hires. Organizational development and training are two importation roles to an organization and employee development is just as importation. Employee development is when the employee and the organization work together upgrade the employees knowledge, skills, and abilities. Some of the methods that can be used are personal development plans, leadership training, mentoring, and job rotation. Personal development plane is a plan that the employer and employee make to set personal professional goals for the employee. The plan would include a list of goals, how to achieving them, and were does the person see his or herself within the company in the next five years. Personal development plans are a good tool to help employees on track and encourage employees to do his or hers personal best. Leadership training is a method that companys use to help develop employees who show leadership skills. The employee will work closely with a manager or team leader to help improve their skills and set pe rsonal goal for themselves. This is also a way for employers to promote from within. Mentoring is the pairing of a manager with an employee, the manager will help the employee achieve more in his or her professional life. This could a supervisor mentoring a team leader or a team leader mentoring a line employee. Sometime line employee will mentor other line employee to help them go further within the company than he or she did. This program also help companies to promote from within and encourage employees do perform to his or her best. Job rotation is moving employees to various positions in the organization to expand their skills, knowledge, and abilities. There are two types of job rotation horizontal or vertical. Vertical job rotation would be promoting an employee up within the company. Horizontal job rotation would be when an employee move to jobs of a similar status. The first benefit to job rotation is burnout reduction. Employee who do the same the job everyday experien ce greater feelings of fatigue, apathy, boredom, and carelessness. Burnout can lead to promote decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and increased likelihood of turnover. The second benefit is increased employee satisfaction. When employee are satisfied they can better identify their strengths and weaknesses. The last benefit is employee motivation. Employees are more motivated because they are given the opportunity to enhance and improve their skills, abilities, and competencies. Employee and organizational development are very similar but also very different. Employee development focus on the resource the organization provides to their employees to help them acquire new skills or accreditations. The organization will offer paid training class, team building actives, incentives to take leadership course, or financial support to obtain a degree. Employee development also involves management helping employee to set personal goals. Organizational development focus the organization management planned, organizational evolution, improving a businessâ„ ¢s effectiveness and profitability by using behavioral-science knowledge. The main function of organizational development is to careful analysis and study the organizational structures an organization. Also to keep the organization updated with new trends in the marketed place. They both include some form of education as an important component. In employee development the employee can choice what type of education he or she wants to take. With organizational development education has to fall in line with the specific plan that organization has outline out. This class would be conform to the organizationâ„ ¢s developmental goals not to the personal goals of the employees. The role of human resource management in career development to ensure that the employees of the organization are on the track to researching their career goals. HRM should ensure that employees have a clear understand of all the benefits that they organization offer. A good way to ensure that each employee has a clear understand is to make a personal goal list when he or she is first hired. It should include education, salary, position 410k plans, job rotation, outreach, and other personal goals of the employee. HRM should make sure the employees of the organization also have a clear understand of the organization strategic plan, objectives, and vision statement. HRM also has to make sure that the organization has the education resource in place to help the employees reach the goals set in their personal plan. In five years I would like to own a Avon store. I am currently an Avon representative and plan own starting the leadership program within the next six months. I want to increase my sale by 20 to 30 percent each year. To do this I am planning fundraisers and parties. Within the next year I want to have 10 to 12 representative in my team line. Having this many representative on my team will ensure that I have fully trained staff set in place. I could have employees to work the store and as outside representative. I believe that will all the employee development program Avon offer will be to reach my goals in no time. References Cromwell, J. (2012). Difference Between Employee Development Organizational Development. Retrieved from ehow.com/info_12170202_difference-between-employee-development-organizational-development.html Importance of Training and Development. (2010) Retrieved from shrm.org/hrdisciplines/orgempdev/Pages/OrgDevIntro.aspx Organizational Development. (2012). Retrieved from referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Organizational-Development.html Thompson, S. (2012). Role of Human Resources for Career Planning. Retrieved from ehow.com/about_7370181_role-human-resources-career-planning.html

Pros and Cons of Part-Time MBA Programs

Pros and Cons of Part-Time MBA Programs There are many different types of MBA programs - from part-time and full-time programs to accelerated and dual programs. A part-time MBA program is designed primarily for students who are only able to attend class part-time. It is important to understand that the words part-time dont mean barely any time. If you commit to a part-time program, you will still need to make a significant time commitment to school - even if you dont have to attend class every single day. It is not unusual for part-time students to spend more than three to four hours each day on MBA schoolwork and activities. Part-time MBA programs are popular. More than half of all MBA students attend school part-time, according to a recent study from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business  (AACSB). But that doesnt mean that part-time study is for everyone. Before you commit yourself to earning your degree through part-time study, you should be aware of all of the pros and cons of part-time MBA programs. Pros of Part-Time MBA Programs There are many advantages to studying part-time. Some of the biggest pros of part-time MBA programs include: Part-time MBA programs are more flexible for working professionals; classes are usually scheduled outside normal business hours.Some part-time MBA programs require fewer course credits than their full-time counterparts.Part-time programs are typically favored by employers who offer  tuition reimbursement.Many part-time MBA programs schedule courses all year long.Part-time programs tend to cause less strain financially because tuition is sometimes cheaper.Part-time MBA students can apply what they learn as they learn it.There are many high-quality part-time MBA programs inside and outside the United States. Read more about the best part-time MBA programs. Cons of Part-Time MBA Programs Although there are advantages to part-time MBA programs, there are drawbacks as well. The biggest cons of part-time MBA programs include: Not every school offers a part-time MBA program, which means you may not be able to attend your first school of choice.Some part-time programs offer fewer course selections than their full-time counterparts.Part-time programs require fewer class hours each week but sometimes take as long as two to five years to complete.Credits that are earned through a part-time MBA program are not always transferable to other programs.Many part-time MBA programs schedule courses all year long.Working while you earn your part-time MBA can be exhausting - especially if it will take you more than two years to earn your degree.Not all part-time MBA programs offer a study abroad option or international experience, which is increasingly valuable in todays global business world. Should You Study Part-Time? Part-time programs may be the perfect solution for students who want to work while they earn their degree, but they arent for everyone. Be sure to take time to evaluate all of your business degree program options, including accelerated MBA programs, specialized masters programs, and executive MBA programs, before you commit yourself to any one program option.

Anti-car theft system Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Anti-car theft system - Coursework Example GSM based anti-car theft is based on operation through the consideration of GSM module and micro controller programming (Chandra, 2005). The system used in the security comprises GSM which functions as an intermediate between the car owner and the entire car system. The system is responsible for both receiving of calls for system activation and also its deactivation and sending a text message to the owner. The output of the system is fed in to the microcontroller. The microcontroller is considered the main brain behind the entire system with a written program stored in the Read Only Memory. The controller with the direction of the written program connects and coordinates the system of operation through different aspects. The connection occurs when the system is active as it monitors both the car doors and the boot of the car to each if there is opening of the car by a stranger. The system also works to demobilize the car by disconnecting the ignition line from the battery supply through the actuator(Eberspächer, Vögel & Bettstetter, 2001). The design also works with the start up an alarm for the purpose of al ert. If the system is inactive there will be disabling of all the outputs and sensor inputs. In the project, there was utilizing of the design through locally assembled microcontroller and other few basic components of electronic components to achieve both the controller and the controlled. Microcontrollers have been seen to be used in performance of the simple security task inn which performance of humans might be able to degrade over time(Halonen, Romero & Melero, 2003). The engineering technique that has been used in the design is that which makes it reliable,durable and capable for offering guarantee security at all times, the power supply that has been used provides the voltage and current which is required for effective performance

Security and Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Security and Human Rights - Essay Example Apparently, any governments priority to guarantee security for its people (McAdam, 2013). However, a critical focus on the Australian policies targeting migrants and asylum seekers tempts one to conclude that the policies are not genuinely aimed at protection of the country but are centered on keeping migrants and asylum seekers off the Australian community (McAdam, 2013). The policies are harsh, inhumane and repugnant to the human rights and international law. This paper takes position against the Australian actions against migrants and asylum seekers particularly Muslims. It presents evidence of the inconsistencies of these Acts with human rights and the international law and gives recommendations to the UN concerning these acts In 2001, unfortunate events, particularly the September 11 attack on the United States allowed the government to exploit public fears and create a rhetorical and eventually legislative divide between the rights of the so referred to as genuine refugees, resettled in Australia from camps abroad by the offshore humanitarian program and those arriving in Australia spontaneously, ordinarily by boat, described as â€Å"queue jumpers†, â€Å"illegals† and â€Å"unauthorized arrivals†. The labor government had laid the foundation of these laws. In 1992, the labor government created a policy of compulsory detention. Initially, the policy was aimed at being an exceptional measure for wave of Indochinese boat people majorly from Cambodia but was expanded to all unlawful non-citizens for administrative efficiency. The then Immigration minister categorically sent a message that migration to Australia would not simply be achieved by arriving in the country and expecting to b e permitted into the community. Ever since then, leaders have played up the concept of the good refugee who waits in a camp for resettlement and the bad refugee who jumps the line by arriving by boat (McAdam,

Relativistic Theory of Ethics Essay Example for Free

Relativistic Theory of Ethics Essay One relativistic theory of ethics is situationism. Situationism (also known as situation ethics) was devised by Joseph Fletcher, who was strongly against absolutist theories for instance; legalism and also disliked how religions were taught implying there were some rules that could never be broken, as he thought these rules are too demanding and restrictive. He then created this theory of situation ethics which is seen as the ‘mid way’ because it lies between antinomianism and legalism. Antinomianism is very anti law whilst legalism emphasises the important of law. However, situationism lies between the two as Fletcher was very enthused by making a decision on individual situations. Situation ethics maintains that it’s the consequences of actions which determine whether an action is right or wrong, so it is very much a consequentialist position. Situationists enter each decision making situation with ethical maxims of their community and culture, each they treat with respect. Fletcher proposed that not only the situation guides an individual on what they should do but also the principle of agape (love). In Fletcher’s book he suggests that Christians should make the right choices without blindly following rules but rather by thinking for themselves. Decisions should be made on the sole basis of one rule – agape. Such love involves doing the best thing possible for the other party involved. So maxims could be ignored if they don’t serve agape, for example if a priest is presented by a young lady who is having underage promiscuous sex, the right thing to do would be to insist the young lady uses contraception. This is because the most loving thing to do for the other person is to ensure she is safe. For the situationist the rule of agape is always right. Fletcher created 4 working principles which outlined how situation ethics works. The first one is pragmatism, which states that what you propose must work in practice. Second is relativism, so Fletcher eliminates words like ‘always’, ‘never’, and ‘absolute’. He states there are no objective rules but all decisions must be relative to agape. Thirdly is positivism, which states a value judgement needs to be made, giving the first place to love. Finally – personalism, people are put in first place; morality is personal and not centred on laws, this emphasises the idea that morality is relative to situations. Fletcher put forward 6 propositions which also aid the theory. The first proposition is â€Å"only one thing is intrinsically good; namely love; nothing else at all† Thus, only love is good in itself; action aren’t intrinsically good or evil. Instead they are good or evil dependent on whether they promote the most loving result. Fletcher rejects any statements like â€Å"Adultery is wrong† as the circumstances are always different, and sometimes it may be right for adultery to take place. The second proposition is â€Å"the ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else† Fletcher claims Jesus replaced the Torah with love, also the Ten Commandments are not absolute even Jesus broke them when love demanded it. Love replaces law. The third proposition is that justice will follow from love, because ‘justice is love distributed’. If love is put into practice it can only result in justice. Fourth is that love has no favourites and does not give whom we like preferential treatment. â€Å"Love wills the neighbour’s whether we like him or not† The fifth fundamental principle, love must be the final end, not a means to an end. For Fletcher, the end must be the most loving result. Finally the sixth proposition is that the most loving thing to do will depend on the situation and since situations differ, you can’t say an action will be right in every situation. Fletcher, the good result is that which serves agape love best. Any action that leads to that end is right.

Living Within Constraints :: essays research papers

Living Within Constraints Constraints on the Expansion of the Global Food Supply In the early ages people were hunters, or predators; they had to survive by killing other species. Although predators are supposed to be the strongest in the food chain, people were vulnerable because they had to depend on the same species below them. Our senses were not developed as well either; hearing, smelling, eye sight were and still are not as good as of those below us. We can’t kill with our teeth or nails, like some alligators could. So after 4 ice ages, only 25,000 people were left. That’s when they realized that they had to change their loosing strategies and that’s when they came up with Subsistence Agriculture. People domesticated animals, plants, and according to the number of the population today, we are doing real well. The world population grew slowly over much of the historic past; it was not until after 1900 that growth accelerated. The 1992 population was 5.5 billion. Now the world population is increasing at about 1.7% yr, corresponding to a doubling time of 40 years. In the early 1960s, most nations were self-sufficient in food; now only a few are. Except for parts of Africa, production exceeded population growth throughout the world. Per capita production has now slowed and appears to be declining. In line with recent studies, we estimate that with the world population at 5.5 billion, food production is adequate to feed 7 billion people a vegetarian diet, with ideal distribution and no grain fed to livestock. Yet possibly as many as two billion people are now living in poverty, and over 1 billion in ‘utter poverty’ live with hunger. Inadequate distribution of food is a substantial contributing factor to this current situation. Less than one half of the world’s land area is suitable for agriculture, including grazing. Nearly all of the world’s productive land, flat and with water, is already exploited. Most of the unexploited land is either too steep, too wet, too dry, or too cold for agriculture. Water Shortages: Pressures from growing population have strained water resources in many areas of the world. Worldwide, 214 river or lake basins, containing 40% of the world’s population, now compete for water. If we improve conservation of water, it would enhance rainfed and irrigated crop yields. A major difficulty arises simply from the rate with which food supplies would have to be expanded to pace or to exceed population growth rates in those countries experiencing high growth rates.

Cognitive Biases in Entrepreneurial Strategies

The view of the human as a rational being is nowadays heavily questioned (Simon, 1959), UT in science a lot of models and theories still are based on this assumption. When looking at research on entrepreneurship, we notice that it is considered a relatively new field of study, though practice has shown that entrepreneurial activities have a great influence on the market. Schumacher (1934) already linked entrepreneurial Initiatives of Individuals to the creation and destruction of Industries, as well as to economic development.More research has been conducted about entrepreneurship, which questions the classical picture of the economic man – Homo economics – and he classical concept of rationality. This might be because the entrepreneur himself Is one of the most crucial factors of either the success or failure of an entrepreneurial business. This has caused the entrepreneur to be a hot topic and so a lot of research has been dedicated to the phenomenon. An Shame to (200 0) for example different argues that the underlying factor that causes entrepreneur knowledge. Other research has focused on the traits of entrepreneurs.In general, entrepreneurs are considered overconfident (Cooper et al. , 1988), which is a good thing if you want to start-up a company. Without this trait, start-ups would probably not take place as often as we observe (Goodness & Lecher, 2013). However, research has also showed that this overconfidence is associated with failure (Camera & Lovable, 1999). Nobel (2011) argued that although we know 30 to 40 per cent of entrepreneurial firms fail, many other are bought out or never bring expected return on investment, meaning that the real failure rate can be up to 70 or 80 per cent.Overconfidence is one of the known biases that influence human beings in decision making. There are, however, a lot of more biases which an entrepreneur can encounter. This raises the question of whether being aware example of such of the biases could help the bias, entrepreneur in his activities. If we look at the overconfidence overconfidence can lead to wrong decisions. Awareness thus, could be helpful. On the other hand, if the entrepreneur is aware of this bias he could become too careful in the decision making process. This can result in no action being taken when the ‘moment' arrives.Or it could result in the entrepreneur even deciding not to continue due to the risks being too high. This leads us to the question: 3 The following questions will help us answer the main question by shedding some eight on the biases that are out there: Theory of Bounded Rationality As mentioned in the introduction, we assume Homo economics appears to be perfectly rational and has complete knowledge, while the economic choices one makes are clandestine in the economic sphere without affecting other aspects of the individual such as emotions or being influenced by the environment.This is in line with the neoclassical economic theory that assum es full What is a cognitive bias? Why does this article address cognitive biases? What kind of cognitive biases could an entrepreneur encounter? Theory In this section the previously stated substitutions will be answered based on theory of decision-making, cognitive biases and the application to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship We accept the definition of entrepreneurship as suggested by Stevenson and Carillon (1990): ‘Entrepreneurship is about individuals who create opportunities through various modes of organizing, without regard to resources currently controlled. Sevens and Carillon moved away from the view of the traits school' which tried to describe how entrepreneurs differed from other people by control, leadership, or propensity for risk-taking. When studies showed that entrepreneurs are as different from one another as they are from school' non- entrepreneurs, the ‘behavioral rationality. This view has been criticized by Simon (1959) who developed an approach based on bounded rationality and problem solving. Simon stated that the assumption of full rationality is unrealistic.In his view, the rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds and the finite amount of time they have to make decisions. The theory of bounded rationality states that individuals face uncertainty about the future and costs in acquiring information in the present. What is a cognitive bias? Biases and heuristics (mental shortcuts) are decision rules, cognitive mechanisms, and subjective opinions people use to help them making decisions. This is a deviation of the benchmark Cognitive of biases rational prevent decision-making. Individuals to accurately understand reality and interfere with the ability to be impartial, unprejudiced or objective (Goodness and Lecher, 2013). Taverns and Keenan (1974) state that people rely on ‘heuristic principles which reduce the complex tasks of assessing probabilities and predicting values to simpler Judgmental operations. There are specific and systematic biases that move the Judgment away from the perfect rationality of individuals. Argued that the process of creating a new venture, should be the fundamental part of defining someone as an entrepreneur. (Gideon, 2010).This is why we agree on the definition by Stevenson and Carillon, which also implies we will not discuss entrepreneurial traits in this article. 4 Drawing on aspects of both psychology and economics, the operating assumption of behavioral economics is that cognitive biases often prevent people from making rational decisions, despite their best efforts. Why do we focus on cognitive biases? The general opinion about entrepreneurs is that they are risk takers. However, research showed that if entrepreneurs have to choose, they prefer to take moderate risks instead of taking decisions where there is high risk involved (Keenan and Lovable, 1994).This seems a contradiction, because the decision to become an entrepreneur is statistically a highs decision since over half of new ventures fail. In a study conducted by Cooper and colleagues their (1988), 95 per cent of the The interviewed entrepreneurs venture would did not entrepreneurs were convinced succeed. Where there is a complex interplay between feelings and thoughts which have awoken intense emotions. He concludes deal with that these entrepreneurs frequently situations that are new, unpredictable and complex. What kind of cognitive biases could an entrepreneur encounter?When we look at what kind of biases an entrepreneur can encounter, it needs to be known what kind of biases exist. There are dozens of known biases but not all an entrepreneurs will meet. We would like to discuss the biases that came across the most in research of cognitive threats of entrepreneurs. Optimism bias. The decision to become an entrepreneur is a crucial step that only can be taken if the entrepreneur is feeling optimistic about the chances of success. Because the chance of failure is statistically higher than success, entrepreneurs usually have an optimism bias.As mentioned before, 95 per cent of the entrepreneurs perceive the future of their new venture as being successful, while past studies of business survival suggest poor prospects for long-term survival for most new businesses (Cooper et al. , 1988). The optimism bias makes because entrepreneurs they see perceive less risk, more everything receive the new venture as a risk and their perception, rather than objective reality, explained the decision to start a current or future venture. That is why entrepreneurs do not necessarily have a higher risk propensity than other people (Keenan and Lovable, 1994).They simply perceive existing risks smaller than they are which shows that entrepreneurs are biased. Baron (2004) suggests that entrepreneurs are more often exposed to situations that test the limits of their cognitive capacities than other people. This i ncreases their susceptibility to various forms of bias or error. Baron argued that biases occur more frequently when individuals are confronted with more information than they can process at a given time, they face situations that are new to them and involve high degrees of uncertainty, and optimistically.In ‘The Evolution of Cognitive Bias', (2005) Hasten, Nettle, and Andrews state that where biases exist individuals draw inferences or adopt beliefs where the evidence for doing so in a logically sound manner is either insufficient or absent. In the case of 5 entrepreneurs however, we see that even if logical sound manner is sufficient still an entrepreneur can be biased. In the experiment by Cooper and colleagues (1988) 95 percent of the entrepreneurs was thinking that their venture would be a success, disappear when they knew about the objective chances.Business and Barney (1997) have stated that the optimism bias of an entrepreneur could also influence the stakeholders arou nd them as well. If the stakeholders wait until they attain all additional information, the opportunity they seek to exploit could be gone by the time this data is available. This means that the optimism bias of an entrepreneur can even overrule the rationality of other persons involved. Illusion of control The illusion of control gives the entrepreneur a sense of control that increases the likelihood of them acting on an opportunity, but at the same time it may blind them to genuine risks. Simon et al. 2000) The illusion of control states that decision makers often overestimate the personal control they have over the outcomes. This type of bias influences the ability for decision makers to actually make a decision. This could also be the reason many entrepreneurs fail even though they thought they had made a right decision. Belief in the Law of Small Numbers The belief in the law of small numbers is the use small off limited sample of to draw rim are conclusions. The bias makes peo ple believe samples information representative of the entire population from Overconfidence bias.Overconfidence refers to an unwarranted, high level of confidence (Forester and Scratchy, 2007). It is interesting that overconfidence can only be determined in retrospect, after an evaluation of knowledge, predictions and outcomes. Therefore, it will be difficult to notice beforehand if an entrepreneur is dealing with an overconfidence bias. Because of overconfidence, people do not take into account other factors and information that they need for decision-making. Goodness and Lecher optimism (2013), bias and argued distrust. Hat They the overconfidence bias is influenced by both the see overconfidence as a central theme in the failure of entrepreneurial firms with its effects magnified in combination with other cognitive biases. Which they are drawn (Simon et al, 2000). Simon and Houghton (2002) argued that belief in the law of small numbers may explain why entrepreneurs often overesti mate demand. The success of a small number of people in their own environment can make entrepreneurs think that they will also be successful, while the objective probability of success may be very low.Business and Barney (1997) mint out that entrepreneurs often use biased samples from a small number of friends or potential customers. Decision-makers versus Entrepreneurs Business and Barney mentioned that entrepreneurs are influenced by the sorts of cognitive biases that we all as individuals encounter (1997). However, they found that the extent to which people deviate from rational thinking may not be constant and that different individuals may utilize biases and heuristics to different degrees.They argued, and Baron (2004) agrees, that entrepreneurs in general are more susceptible to the use of biases and heuristics in decision-making. For entrepreneurs, the level of uncertainty in making decisions is higher than for general decision-makers (Humpback and Cozier, 1985; Covina and Sl iven, 1989). Also, general managers can approximate the rational ideal more closely because they usually have access to historical trends and past performance, while entrepreneurs do not. Several studies (Covina and Sliven, 1991; Garner et al. 992; Miller and Ferries, 1984) have shown that the context faced in decommissioning by entrepreneurs tends to be more complex than the context faced by managers. Pitfalls, biases and heuristics are likely to have more utility in hose highly complex decision settings faced by entrepreneurs, compared to the less complex context that managers face (Business and Barney, 1997). We find that entrepreneurs in general encounter, and until now no attempt has been done in making such a list. Simon et al. (2000) did make a selection in their research towards risk perception and the start of a new venture.They selected three biases that may lower risk perception when starting a new venture. Their research focused on the overconfidence bias, the illusion o f control and the belief in small numbers (see table 3). In their research optimism did not have a significant relationship with the decision to start a new venture, therefore they left this bias out of the model. Striking is that they left optimism out of their model, because they found a lack of significant relationship between optimism and the decision to start a venture.They mentioned however that other studies did encounter optimism affecting both cognition and behavior and explain that their outcome may have occurred because their survey measured optimism in a specific context. Further research on at least the optimism bias therefore is necessary. What influence can biases have on the success or failure of an entrepreneurial firm? Biases can have great impact on the success or failure of a company. Goodness and Lecher (2013) argued that their research shows that overconfidence can lead to disastrous effects in the entrepreneurial domain.In fact, they even found a strong relati onship between overconfidence and company failure, especially if overconfidence was linked with other biases. Also they found that optimism bias has a negative effect on firm survival, strengthening arguments on low risk perception and resultant propensity to fail. However optimism bias also acted positively on opportunity orientation. This is an important encounter more biases than other types of decision-makers, but no specific research has been done on framing the most common biases faced by entrepreneurs.In the field of strategic decision-making however, Hogwash described the 29 most common separate biases (1980). The ones that he considered most likely to affect strategic decisions are listed in table 1. An overview like this is missing in the field of entrepreneurship. One reason for this might be that most entrepreneurship common biases is hard to frame. Previous research did not mention a list of the that 7 finding, as one of the important aspects of entrepreneurship is find ing opportunities. Effective decision-making by entrepreneurs with respect to actions involving risk could play an important role in the success of new ventures.Empirical findings in literature about entrepreneurship offer support for the possibility that successful entrepreneurs are more effective at this task. Simon et al. (2000) found that effectiveness at decision making is an important factor in the performance of new ventures. Lovable and Keenan (1993) prescribed corrective measures to overcome the biases and achieve optimal behavior in every situation. Also Russo and Shoemaker (1989) reasoned that decision biases can be corrected through training.They have indicated that every decision-maker must, consciously or unconsciously, go through each phase of the decision-making process. They have stated ten most common barriers that entrepreneurs encounter in making good decisions. These barriers show resemblance with the biases described by Hogwash (1980). The availability bias, â €˜Judgments of probability of clearheadedly events are distorted', can be linked to the trusting shortsighted the most shortcuts, readily ‘relying or inappropriately on rules of thumb such as information anchoring too much on invention facts'.Both of them trust the most readily available information and thus the Judgment of probability may be distorted. Conservatism, which is the failure to sufficiently revise forecasts based on new information, can be linked to fooling ourselves about feedback, since in both cases the feedback will not be taken into account when forecasting new decisions, which can also emerge from being overconfident in making a Judgment. Russo and Shoemaker (1989) indicated that good decision-making can be broken down into four main elements: (1) framing; (2) gathering intelligence; (3) coming to a conclusion; (4) learning from feedback.Entrepreneurs have to keep track of what they expected to happen while guarding and against Lecher self-serving (2013) also explanations. Goodness agreed with the effectiveness of training on biases. They stated that for example the training of unrealistic optimists should stimulate the motivation to manage finances, to take advice, not to leave matters up to chance, and to understand the value of healthy distrust in oneself and others in non-routine situations.However, they also warned that training programs for entrepreneurs are not always a good idea. If it was not for the cognitive biases, start-ups would not occur as often as we observe now. Their advice for entrepreneurs is to balance the organization with people that are aware of these biases and can correct the entrepreneur where necessary. As well, Taverns and Keenan (1974) do not consider the biases as something that always should be eliminated.They argued that under conditions of environmental uncertainty and complexity, biases and heuristics sometimes also can be an effective and efficient guide to decision-making, simply because in such settings comprehensive and cautious decommissioning is not always possible. They state that biases and heuristics may even provide an effective way to Training When a bias causes harm, it is of critical importance that it can be addressed properly. Errors in decision-making can be extremely costs at not only the personal but also at the professional and societal level.As this article indicates, there does not seem to be an easy fix. Building further upon his previous work, Fishhook (1982) reviewed four strategies for reducing bias: (1) warning subjects about the potential for bias, (2) describing the likely direction of bias, (3) illustrating bias to the subject, and (4) providing extended training, feedback, coaching and other interventions. Fishhook concluded that these first three strategies yielded limited success, and that ‘even intensive, personalized feedback and training produced only moderate improvements in decision making. This model, derived from Wilson and Breake r (1994), shows how Judgmental biases are created and how they can be reduced. Awareness should first be created, there must be motivation to correct this bias and the direction and magnitude of the bias should be understood. As a final step, the bias should be removed or countered. But what is interesting is to see which techniques can be used to mitigate the bias of concern. We believe this can be done by applying a counter bias or by structuring the decision-making process.If decision makers rely less on intuition and emotion when making a decision, and more on deliberate and structured thinking processes, a decision can be made which approximates rationality. Analysis A list of the most common biases among decision-makers (note this it is not a list of the most common among entrepreneurs) have been framed earlier in this paper by Hogwash (1980). It is known that entrepreneurs are more susceptible to the effects of biases, but it is doubtful whether the most important biases for decision-makers are also the most important ones for entrepreneurs.The optimism bias and overconfidence decision-makers, bias do not appear on in the Hogwash's list of most common biases for while research cognitive biases of entrepreneurs mentions them often. The problem with making an analysis on the cognitive biases that entrepreneurs encounter is that there is no such a list of most common biases among entrepreneurs. Earlier in this paper, we accepted the definition by Stevenson and is Carillon several to (1990) modes that of entrepreneurship opportunities organizing without about creating resources through rage rd currently controlled.This made us not look at the traits of an entrepreneur, but at the processes of decision-making and biases that can occur. There are biases that every person encounters, but there are certain biases that have a more effect on decision-making but also have to be aware of different sorts of biases that can influence their perception of the world. Th is can be of great influence on the future of their new ventures. As Abide (1994) argued, there are three critical elements of successful entrepreneurial approaches.Entrepreneurs 9 have to screen opportunities quickly to weed out unpromising ventures, they have to analyze ideas in which they focus on new important issues and they have to integrate taking action and analysis. His most important conclusion is that entrepreneurs must reflect on the adequacy of their ideas and their capacities to execute them. This comes back to what we are addressing in this article. Can entrepreneurs be aware of adequacy of their ideas? And is it recommendable to create this awareness among entrepreneurs?To be able to have a better perception of the world and thus be better capable of reflecting and making decisions, biases are of great importance. Hen reflecting on the environment of the new venture and when making decisions based upon those reflections. Training programs to become aware of bias do e xist. Russo and Shoemaker (1989) proposed a training system in which good decision- making can be broken down into four main elements. In each element the person involved is encouraged to take the different barriers (table 2) into account so that he or she is guarded against silvering explanations.However, Goodness and Lecher (2013) argued that when entrepreneur are aware of biases, probably less start-ups will be realized. They advise that not the entrepreneurs will follow a raining program, biases. But rather people around the entrepreneur should be aware of existing Conclusion Although there are frameworks of individual cognitive biases in the literature of decision making, like the barriers by Hogwash (1980), there is no clear framework which cognitive biases entrepreneurs commonly encounter and how and if the effects of these biases should be reduced.The biases studied showed however that they can have big influence on the success or failure of a new venture. Goodness and Leche r (2013) found a strong relationship between overconfidence and company failure. Also positive biases strengthen low risk reception and increased the chance of failure. On the other hand, a positive bias in the startup phase of the company could be of great help because it strengthens the entrepreneur in motivation and opportunity finding.If entrepreneurs are aware of their biases, they could take this knowledge into consideration Taverns and Keenan (1974) pointed at the fact that not always should be eliminated. Under conditions of environmental uncertainty and in complexity, biases and simply heuristics because sometimes also can be effective and efficient decision-making, comprehensive and cautious decision-making is not always possible. Being aware of cognitive biases contributes towards obtaining optimal behavior in every situation.However, when we want to answer the question if awareness helps entrepreneurial firms perform better we would like to advise to also create awarenes s among the people around the entrepreneur and not the entrepreneur himself. The bias of an entrepreneur can be crucial in the start-up of a company and the motivation of other people. However, when a bias is harmful people around him can undertake action to 10 eliminate this bias and therefore reduce the chance of a company's failure. As a radical note we would like to mention that research on biases that an entrepreneur can encounter still has not been done.

Recent Basketball-related Research: The Vertical Jump Essay

On a message forum that I frequent, I continually see trainers touting the Vertimax as the solution to all vertical jump problems for basketball players. There are two issues with this: McClenton et al. (2008) compared depth-jump training to Vertimax training and found: Depth jump training twice weekly for 6 weeks is more beneficial than VertiMax jump training for increasing vertical jump height. Strength professionals should focus on depth jump exercises in the short term over commercially available devices to improve vertical jump performance. McClenton, L.S., Brown, L.E., Coburn, J.W., & Kersey, R.D. (2008). The effect of short-term VertiMax vs. depth jump training on vertical jump performance. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 22 (2), 321-325. Carlson et al. (2009) compared strength training, plyometric training, and jump training with a VertiMax and found: The findings of this study demonstrate that there is no difference in vertical jump among strength training, plyo metric training, and jump training over a 6-week timeframe. Carlson, K., Magnusen, M. & Walters, P. (2009). Effect of Various Training Modalities on Vertical Jump. Research in Sports Medicine: An International Journal, 17 (2), 84-94. One issue with the second study is the use of plyometrics, as that has become a colloquial term that has lost meaning (Flanagan & Comyns, 2008). Many plyometrics exercises use the slow stretch-shortening cycle (as would VertiMax) with ground contact time longer than 250 milliseconds and large angular displacements (Schmidtbleicher, 1994), whereas depth jumps utilize a fast stretch-shortening cycle with ground contacts between 100-250 ms and small angular displacements (Schmidtbleicher, 1994). The above results would suggest the need for fast SSC training to improve vertical-jump performance over a six-week training cycle. This does not mean that the VertiMax is without use or a bad product. However, plyometric boxes are a much less expensive purchase that can elicit the same or improved benefits, at least over a six-week training program. Secondly, and of primary importance, McGill et al. (2012) found that the broad jump predicted basketball performance measures better than the vertical jump in college basketball players: Dependent variables of performance indicators (such as games and minutes played, points scored,  assists, rebounds, steal, and blocks) and injury reports were tracked for the subsequent 2 years. Results showed that better performance was linked with having a stiffer torso, more mobile hips, weaker left grip strength, and a longer standing long jump, to name a few. McGill, S.M., Andersen, J.T., & Horne, A.D. (2012). Predicting Performance and Injury Resilience From Movement Quality and Fitness Scores in a Basketball Team Over 2 Years. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26 (7), 1731–1739. The implication of the second study is to suggest that vertical-jump performance is not of primary performance to basketball performance, and other qualities such as change-of-direction speed, balance, and acceleration likely have more to do with on-court performance. Flanagan, E.P. & Comyns, T.M. (2008). The use of contact time and the reactive strength index to optimise fast stretch-shortening cycle training. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 30, 33-38. Schmidtbleicher, D. (1994). Training for power events. In P. Komi (Ed.), Strength and Power in Sport (381-395). London: Blackwell Scientific.

International Legal System as Initiatives to Enhance the Umm Qasr Port Security

International Legal System as Initiatives to Enhance the Umm Qasr Port Security The article under discussion is called â€Å"International Legal System as Initiatives to Enhance the Umm Qasr Port Security†; it represents a study report prepared by Iranian researchers Hassan Jafari and Somayeh Dehdari. The paper under discussion is devoted to the examination of the port security problem in the framework of the Umm Qasr Port.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on International Legal System as Initiatives to Enhance the Umm Qasr Port Security specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The authors put a particular emphasis on the problem of the International legal system’s implementation and the efficiency of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code (Jafari Dehdari, 2013). From the very first lines of the introduction, one might understand that the researchers are mainly interested in the efficacy of the particular security measure – the ISPS Code. Before Jafari and Dehd ari introduce the research question itself, they cover a series of minor problems that it comprises. Thus, the authors point out the cost-effectiveness of this security code, its benefits for the customers and potential disadvantages for the personnel. Therefore, the readers might presume in advance that the question of the following research is going to be focused on the outcomes of the ISPS Code integration in the port security system. Even though the focus of the research is evident, the researchers clearly put their principal question at the end of the introductory passage. According to Jafari and Dehdari, their study is aimed at the assessment of the effects of the ISPS Code implementation (Jafari Dehdari, 2013). The hypothesis of the analyzed research is represented in the format of a series of assumptions. Thus, the authors do not have a principal supposition the validness of which they intend to test with the help of the experiment. Instead, they put forward six assumptions that imply various aspects of the security code’s performance: price, customers’ satisfaction, duration length, to name but a few. One should necessarily point out that the authors provide a detailed explanation of the security code phenomenon, introducing the readers into the main problematic and potential questions in this area. Such an accurate description of the examined subject helps one realize the importance of the research. The â€Å"so what† question will hardly arise as long as one gets acquainted with the provided data. Therefore, Jafari and Dehdari manage to convince the readers that the study is worth carrying out.Advertising Looking for article on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Meanwhile, as to the uniqueness of the analyzed research, this question is not elucidated throughout the paper. The researchers do not provide any information regarding the novelty of the following study and their insights. Nevertheless, due to the fact that Jafari and Dehdari examine the implementation of the security code on the example of a particular port, Umm Qasr, one tends to presume that the study is unique. Another point that is worth analyzing is the research’s design. One has to note that the main points of the article are slightly different from those that the standard study report includes. Thus, the major part of the paper focuses on the background of the problem, whereas the methodology, the description of the experiment, the recommendations and some other essential parts of the research seem to be neglected. On the whole, one might suggest that the paper has two main points: the introduction of the problem and the accurate description of the received results. The introductory part takes up one-third of the entire text and seems to be exceedingly detailed while covering all the aspects of the ISPS Code’s implementation in the securit y system. As it has been already mentioned above, the paper does not include a separate sector devoted to the literature review. Meanwhile, one might still note that Jafari and Dehdari’s narration is well grounded from the literature point of view. Thus, the researchers provide the minimum of their own suggestions and assumptions while speculating over the key subject. Instead, they try to support every idea with the relevant reference to the peer-reviewed source. One is to mention that a significant part of the sources the research includes is represented by official documents and standards. The rest of the literature sources that the authors use seem to be valid and up-to-date. The method of collecting and analyzing data is thoroughly described only in the final part of the paper that covers the received result. One should admit that the authors are particularly attentive to the problem of analyzing the results – they provide an exhaustive explanation of the performe d process. On the other hand, the question of collecting data for the study seems to be slightly unrevealed. Therefore, one can suggest that replicating the following research might be rather problematic unless some extra guidance is provided. As long as every assumption is tested with the help of the one-sample t-test, the question of variables is explicitly covered in the paper. Thus, every statistical table includes the â€Å"variable† and the â€Å"average difference† columns. In the meantime, one can note that the discussion on the variables issue is highly brief and concise; the authors do not touch upon the alternative point of view in their study.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on International Legal System as Initiatives to Enhance the Umm Qasr Port Security specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One should necessarily point out that the provided findings fully support the authors’ initial go als. Thence, the examination of the validity of every assumption throws light on a particular aspect of the ISPS Code implementation. At the beginning of the research, Jafari and Dehdari intend to find out the character of the impact ISPS Code is likely to have on cost, clients, personnel, etc. The performed study provides the answers for all of these questions. The only drawback one might point out is the fact that the researchers receive the findings that are true for a particular port, Umm Qasr, whereas the beginning of the paper makes an impression they need to receive a more general data. Nevertheless, the validness of their findings can hardly be doubted. Jafari and Dehdari employ the specific first-hand information and a reliable method of its analysis. As a consequence, the insights they introduce are relevant, though not universal. The conclusion that Jafari and Dehdari offer is very brief and concise. Although, it follows the evidence provided, one might suggest that the a uthors fail to cover some significant findings. Thus, the problem of the security code’s impact on the personnel seems to be overlooked, even though the researchers initially pointed it out as one of the key points for examination. On the contrary, in conclusion, the authors lay a particular emphasis on the port’s size as one of the determining factors of the success of the code’s implementation. However, the size of the port was not primarily supposed to become the focus of the study. Therefore, one might suggest that the main advantage of the following conclusion is the concise manner the authors use to represent information. Meanwhile, the principal drawback of the final part is the omission of some essential points as well as the introduction of new aspects. One of the principal shortcomings of the research report under discussion is the authors’ interpretation of their findings. Hence, Jafari and Dehdari provide a brief summary of the results of thei r experiment leaving out the potential implications the received data possesses. Therefore, the authors do not analyze the significance of their findings, the potential areas of their implementation, or the novelty of their insights. The readers do not receive any information regarding the possibility of employing the results in further research. One might suggest that the following research report could be improved if the authors tried to speculate upon the integration of the data collected from a particular port into the general port security system. Hence, one could have performed the analysis of the port security code in general and worked out a series of recommendations on how this code may be efficiently implemented. As a consequence, the analyzed research report has a number of strengths and limitations. Among the benefits of the following study, one might point out the specificity of the targeted subject – the study focuses on a particular port; hence, the research is more practical rather than theoretical. Moreover, the background reference is highly detailed and explicit that helps a reader receive a complete idea of the examined subject.Advertising Looking for article on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Finally, the validity of the findings determined by the reliable data analyzing method also adds to the research’s relevance. On the other side, the paper lacks some key parts that a research report has to include such as the description of the experiment itself and the analysis of the received results. One can suggest that the principal limitation of this study is the unclear experimental group and the lack of further recommendations that do not allow a reader to define the potential capacity of the authors’ insights. Reference List Jafari, H., Dehdari, S. (2013). International Legal System as Initiatives to Enhance the Umm Qasr Port Security. Journal of Social Issues Humanities, 1(7), 70-73.

SAT Standard Deviation What Does It Mean for You

SAT Standard Deviation What Does It Mean for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've ever glanced through any of the year-end College Board data reports, you may have seen information about the SAT standard deviation. Unfortunately, the reports just list the numbers and then move on, without explaining at all what these numbers mean. So how is info about the SAT mean and standard deviation useful to you? In this article, we’ll explain what the term standard deviation refers to and what it means for you and your SAT score. Feature image credit: Bell Curve by Abhijit Bhaduri/Flickr Bonus: Looking for the very best guides to every SAT section? Check out our top guides for every single section of the SAT. Choose the score level you're aiming for: 800 Score Guides: SAT Reading | SAT Writing | SAT Math | SAT Essay Choose these guides if you're scoring a 600 or above on a section, and you want to get the highest SAT score possible. 600 Score Guides: SAT Reading | SAT Writing | SAT Math | SAT Essay Choose these guides if you're scoring below a 600 on a section, and you want to boost your score to at least a 600 level. These are the very best guides available on boosting your SAT score, section by section. They're written by Harvard grads and perfect SAT scorers. Don't disappoint yourself - read these guides and improve your score today. What Is the SAT Standard Deviation? The standard deviation of a set of numbers measures variability. Standard deviation tells you, on average, how far off most people's scores were from the average (or mean) score. The SAT standard deviation is195 points, which means that most people scored within 195 points of the mean score on either side (either above or below it). SAT standard deviation is calculated so that 68% of students score within one standard deviation of the mean, 95% of students score within two standard deviations of the mean, and 99+% of students score within three standard deviations of the mean. If the standard deviation of a set of scores is low, that means most students get close to the average score (in this case, 1060). This is pretty clearly not the case with the SAT, because otherwise schools that boast 1300+ average SAT scores for admitted students would have no students. By contrast, if the standard deviation is high, then there’s more variability and more students score farther away from the mean. Based on the most recent data released for the SAT, the standard deviation is relatively high, meaning that there is quite a bit of variability in how students score on the SAT. Below, we’ve created a table with the data about the SAT mean and standard deviation for each section of the test, as well as the mean and standard deviation for total SAT scores. SAT Participation and Performance Mean Standard Deviation Total 1060 195 EBRW 533 100 Math 527 107 Note: this table only includes data drawn from the most recent test scores of 2017 high school graduates. Hardeep Singh/Flickr What Does the SAT Bell Curve Look Like? The bell curve for SAT scores is pretty close to an ideal normal curve. Since the average score is higher than the midpoint of the range (1060 instead of 1000), it's a little shifted over to the right, but otherwise the SAT bell curve is a regular bell shape. Because the SAT standard deviation for total SAT scores is 195 and the mean is 1060, we can do a little quick math to figure out the score ranges for the first, second, and third standard deviation. % of SAT scores in range Total Score Range EBRW Range Math Range 68% 865-1255 433-633 420-634 95% 670-1450 333-733 313-741 99+% 475-1600 233-800 206-800 To help you better visualize the distribution of SAT scores, we've graphed out the SAT bell curve (in blue) for composite SAT scores (out of 1600) and added in lines for the mean and each of the standard deviations. The green line in the chart is the average SAT score (1060), while the lines on either side of the mean represent the boundaries of the different standard deviations. The two yellow vertical lines on the chart represent the first standard deviation scores, 865 and 1255. The scores of 68% of all students who took the SAT fall in between those two lines. The two orange lines on the chart represent the second standard deviation scores, 670 and 1450. The scores of 95% of all students who took the SAT fall in between the two orange lines (including the 68% who scored between an 865 and a 1255). The two red lines on the chart represent the third standard deviation scores, 475 and 1645. Technically, because the SAT only goes up to 1600, there are no students who scored above that, which is why the blue curve of all student SAT scores stops abruptly at 1600. The scores of about 99% of all students who took the SAT fall between the two red lines, with the remaining 1% falling below the leftmost red line (scores of 475 and below). Extra Advice: Want to get into the best college you can? Read our famous guide on how to get into Harvard, the Ivy League, and your top choice college. In this guide, you'll learn: What colleges are looking for in your application How to impress your top choice colleges Why you're probably wasting your time on activities that don't matter Even if you're not actually interested in Ivy League schools, you'll still learn something fundamental about how to apply to college. Read our top college admissions guide today. Why Does the SAT Standard Deviation Matter? As a student, the exact details of the SAT bell curve and standard deviation aren't going to be all that relevant. Most of the info you’d get from standard deviations you can just as easily get from the information about your percentile rank that's included on your score report. For instance, knowing you’re in the 98th percentile is probably more useful to you than knowing you’re a little more than two standard deviations above the mean SAT score. Learn How Much Scores Vary The size of the standard deviation can give you information about how widely students' scores varied from the average. A larger standard deviation means there was more variation of scores among people who took the test, while a smaller standard deviation means there was less variance. As we discussed above, the SAT standard deviation is 195, which is relatively high and therefore indicates there's a lot of variation in scores among students who take the SAT. Practically speaking, this means that high-achieving students have to get relatively high scores in order to distinguish themselves. To do better than 98% of students on the SAT with a mean of 1060 and a standard deviation of 195, you must get a 1450 or higher on the test. Discover How Your Score Stacks Up The standard deviation of SAT scores is also useful information because it gives you a good general idea about how well you performed, compared to other students. Based on which standard deviation you fall into, you can even figure out your rough percentile score (if you don't know it). If your SAT score is more than one standard deviation above the average SAT score, then you did better than about 84% of students, which puts you in a strong position for most state schools (including UMass Amherst, University of Cincinnati, and UT San Antonio) and some private schools (like Pace University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University). Similarly, if your score is more than two standard deviations above the mean SAT score, then you did better than around 97% of students, which is great and makes you a strong candidate for more competitive schools like NYU, UMich (Ann Arbor), and even Ivy-League schools like UPenn and Brown. On the other hand, if your score is more than one standard deviation below the mean, you definitely have your work cut out for you if you want to be a competitive applicant for most schools. You’ll need to put in some serious study time to boost your score up to an 860+ score level. Bonus: Want to get a perfect SAT score? Read our famous guide on how to score a perfect 1600 on the SAT. You'll learn top strategies from the country's leading expert on the SAT, Allen Cheng, a Harvard grad and perfect scorer. No matter your level, you'll find useful advice here - this strategy guide has been read by over 500,000 people. Read the 1600 SAT guide today and start improving your score. What’s Next? Ready to get more precise information of how your SAT score compares to other students' scores? Check out our article on SAT scores and percentiles to figure out where you fit in. Are you a high-achieving student with high SAT score dreams? Learn what SAT scores you need to get into the Ivy League here. What if you're worried your score might be too low to get you into college at all? Find out what the minimum SAT score for college is here. Need to figure out what SAT score to aim for in the first place? We have a complete guide to setting your target SAT score in this article. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Lucretia of Rembrandt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lucretia of Rembrandt - Essay Example This second version, painted in 1666, portrays Lucretia moments after she had plunged the knife into her heart. What follows is a discussion of the composition and technique used in Rembrandt's 1666 Lucretia. It includes such factors as placing, pose and expression of the figure, the use of colour, tonal range, and lighting effects. Finally, it ends with Rembrandt's treatment of the female virtue. Placing. In the world of art, the technique of tenebrism is used in this painting. Tenebrism refers to a stark contrast of dark and light shades within a painting such as utilized in Lucretia. Rembrandt places Lucretia in the foreground of the painting and sets her against a dark background. Lucretia then appears jumping out or moving into the viewer's space. As such Rembrandt involves the viewer, which helps convey the dramatic and emotionally wrenching scene. Pose and expression of the figure. Rembrandt's excellent attention to detail allows the viewer to observe the intricate designs on Lucretia. The model is dressed in a decorative, highly stylized dress indicating enormous wealth. The head of Lucretia is bent to one side and lowered a little as though in shame and in anguish. At the left portion of her white robe is a long streak of dripped blood. The white robe appears slashed beyond comfortable length in the middle of her bosom, indicating unwelcome hands. On the weighty left hand of Lucretia, she holds a string hanging from higher space as though just by a slight pull she would be lifted up in deathly space. Round her neck is the ready loop of the noose. On her right hand is a dagger pointed to herself, ready to harm. From just the sight of blood stains, however, she might as well have already cut herself to death and is slowly dying. There is an expressed effort to die by all means in Lucretia. Meanwhile, the face is that of loneliness and resignation from life. She appears to have cried so much in her despair. Use of colour. There is a fantastic element of colour coordination throughout this painting of Rembrandt. The colour of the rope, her fluffy white silk cuffs, her silky blouse, and her golden jewellery shows continuity of colour. Tonal range. Tone is important to painting, perhaps even more than color. Tone is how light or dark a color is, rather than what the actual color is. Implementing tone in a painting is often bothersome to artists because people get distracted by the strong appeal of color. The master of color, Henri Matisse, said (in his A Painter's Notes, 1908): "When I have found the relationship of all the tones, the result must be a living harmony of all the tones, a harmony not unlike that of a musical composition." In other words, if a painting is going to be successful, the artist must get his tones right, otherwise it's just going to be visual noise. In Lucretia, Rembrandt had no problem about tonal range. Every element went in harmony with each other. Lighting effects. There are tricky details with lighting effects such as the falling cushion and pearls, caught symbolically in Lucretia's shift. Movement is downward as though expressing some undressing not by the subject but by an outside force that is not welcome. The cushion is

Tension between Liberty and Morality, Liberty and Patriotism Assignment

Tension between Liberty and Morality, Liberty and Patriotism - Assignment Example There are many human concerns and needs that differ with respect to the difference in social values. There are also some general ethics people should be taken into account before doing or transmitting any idea/action in society. More the people take care of the needs/concerns ethics of the people associated with their behavior towards a certain matter it will be more easy for the government to give liberty to the people. On the other hand if one will not take into account the above-mentioned factors than there are greater chances of losing all the freedom he/she has in society. This principle is applicable to individuals to masses of society. Traffic laws are a good example of this principle. If traffic rules are followed strictly by the people there will be fewer accidents and this will also lead less set of laws to be followed while driving. On the other hand, if people do not care about traffic laws and take the liberty to do anything they want on roads will lead to more accident and also more strictness by the authorities (Bambenek, 2005).It is the job of government or society to give its people a minimum standard of living and to provide them maximum civil rights. On the other hand, people should take more responsibility for their actions and place less blame on the government for the problems they are facing. Human history is an open prove of the fact that a complete failure had occurred whenever people started placing all the blame on the government instead of taking responsibility to perform certain actions themselves. Throughout human history, many governments have come and gone whenever people rely on the government to meet their basic needs. In the USA owing a house is not out of the reach of majority people yet their houses can be taken by the government and given to other people paying more money to the government for the same house. The idea of capitalism failed due to total reliance of the people on their government for every need. On the other h and complete failure also occurred whenever the government had tried to suppress people beyond limits. Failure of different dictators of the world is a common example of it. The conclusion is that one should take into account of moral values of the society before doing anything or promoting ideas that will affect the people of the society to enjoy liberty given to it by society and government (Llosa,2011).