Learning Definition

Definition Learning Abstract: What is Learning? Does a new term need to be coined for learning? One hundred and four students undergraduate and graduate were asked to respond to the question. Their responses were coded using the five levels researcher designed rubric which was modeled after Bloom‘s Taxonomy for depth of knowledge. Of the responses coded fifty-one were from Pre-Service teachers and fiftythree were from graduate students enrolled in the Principals Masters Program. The effects of understanding learning include the preparation of lesson plans, classroom instruction, the guiding of student learning, and the professional development of teacher leaders. Introduction: Learning is a term that is being used with great frequency in Education. Learning is a critical event today, because if a child has learned, then doors are opened to the world. If the student has not learned then their opportunities for success have been narrowed. Teachers are heard to say, ? my students learned their multiplication tables today.? It is concrete and measurable, either they can recite them from memory or they can not. Can they recite them today and a week from today? Other teachers are heard to say, ? my students learned to write an essay.? They learned the parts of an essay. They learned the parts of an essay, but can they write an essay? The question of ? What is Learning? has become critical in the lives of children, adolescents, and adults. In some states children cannot move from one grade to another without passing a criterion referenced test which is given on one day of the year. If on that day the child can answer an appropriate number of the given questions they can pass on to the next grade. Should the student fail the test, then he is given the test repeatedly-until he/she ? passes? and then he is permitted to move on to the next grade. If the student does not pass, then the student is retained, to try to learn again (Texas 726 Education Agency, 2010). When the student reaches High School they may face end of course exams that determine whether or not they are able to graduate or the level of the diploma that can students receive. Scores on one test determine whether or not a student is required to take remedial classes before entering the regular college program, even if the student ? assed? the course in high school. If the student received a passing grade and then can not perform on the designated test, did they really learn? No, by our measures they did not learn. When then, has learning occurred? It is often said, ? when I can teach someone else, when I can apply the information, when I can make ? learning? connections of content across conceptual areas.? All the r esponses and many more may be correct. The question still remains, when has learning occurred and to what degree has that learning been embedded for connections to new learnings? What is Learning It is no longer acceptable to say, ? I know that the students are learning as they all are smiling and giving positive body language of acceptance during the lesson?. This was at one time considered a ? check for understanding‘ however, understanding is also a vague term which is not measurable unless ongoing formative assessments are given by the teacher (Popham, 2008). Schlecty (2002) identifies the behavior of smiling and nodding on the part of the teacher pleasing student as either 1) Ritual engagement, or 2) Passive compliance. According to Schlecty (2002) ritual engagement occurs when the student is undertaking the task or assignment because of the end result which is often identified as a passing grade. Passive compliance serves to identify the necessary effort that student will expend in order to avoid negative consequences, which can include a bad grade or not passing the ? test.? Again, the question emerges did learning occur? Can you ? pass? a test and not have learned the information; is the ? learning‘ only in short term memory to be dumped when the 727 goal ? passing the test‘ is achieved. This could lead to another discussion to be addressed at a different time. It is critical for today‘s educators to be able to document a student‘s progress or lack of. Ron Edmonds put forth the belief and is quoted in 1979 as saying ? It seems to me, therefore, that what is left of this discussion are three declarative statements: (a) We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us; (b) We already know more than we need to do that; and (c) Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel bout the fact that we haven‘t so far.? (p. 22) Ron Edmonds believed that all students can learn. He based his life‘s work on learning trying to determine why in some schools all children were learning and in other schools, the same level of learning was not happening. There have always been pockets of schools ? where learning occurred? and other similar schools where students were not learning as identifie d by state criteria. Yet, defining learning is still an area that is often unclear for teachers, parents, and the larger community they serve. When education faculty members are asked to define learning, they are seen to smile and write an answer that is a collection of vague terms or words. By vague, the researchers are defining it as being unmeasurable or something that can not be documented without a judgmental reply on the part of the person attempting to define learning; it is abstract. So what is learning? Learning is defined in about as many ways as the number of people you ask. The dictionary thesaurus states that learning is knowledge, education, erudition, scholarship, understanding, research, study, teaching, instruction, edification and wisdom. The definition in the dictionary defines learning as acquiring of knowledge, acquired knowledge and change of knowledge. The term ? learning? seems to float around teacher meetings, in-service and professional development training, the teachers lounge, parent-teacher conferences, university faculty meetings and even in 728 the classroom with the students. The term learning seems to be used in many cases to indicate a mastery of a concept, yet if a ? number of‘ or ? mount of‘ learning (a quantitative amount) had to be documented for any student, that amount would be a human guess, which maybe altered by the State to reach identified targets for learning for that year, that testing cycle. Learning in this context is not or has not been measured, when the targets for learning continue to move up and down based upon the scores of the students on the test. We are all familiar with movement of the learning—in the University classroom it is called a curve. The moving targ et that maybe unidentified leads to a vagueness or lack of clarity if we want to know ? ow much? or ? what? did the student learn? Learning by necessity in conversations about curriculum is generally connected to assessment in order to determine if learning has occurred. This ? learning? becomes critical for the classroom teacher. W. James Popham says, ? †¦That formative assessment process must be based, not on a whim, but on evidence of the students current level of mastery with respect to certain skills and bodies of knowledge? p. 7. This being the case, then the role of determining learning becomes the responsibility of the classroom teacher. When observing in classrooms, today, many of us have witnessed students being given a passing grade because they were compliant teacher pleasers, or a terrific problem that the teacher did not want to deal with again, they passed on to the next level of learning without understanding the ? learning?. Assessment did not occur and if it did, it was ignored. These children who have not learned and who have been passed from grade to grade experience the frustration and failure that accompanies, never learning. During a recent observation an eighth grade science class, the teacher stated to the observer that this ? as a difficult group of students.? The day before the classroom observation a fight had occurred with three boys in the class and another teacher had to come into the science teacher‘s class to intervene 729 and stop the fight. The planned lab for the observation day was excellent, even though students were threatened, ? if you don‘t behave you will not get to go ou tside for the lab. It is a really good lab and it will be fun. You are going to miss the lab if you don‘t finish the lab sheet. You are going to keep everyone from getting to do the lab; it is fun. You are going to get beads.? Finally, with help and coaxing all of the students finished the pre-lab form. Then students were given string and colored beads to put around their wrists, to go outside and see what happened to the beads in the sun. It was exciting for the Junior High students to watch as the beads as they changed colors. Then it was time to complete the lab sheets. The teacher relished the curiosity of the students as they asked questions about the process of the color transformation and she skillfully guided their responses. Now the students had to write up the lab report. One African American student walked around with his head down looking for beads. Other students, also African American and Hispanic, never attempted to complete the form. The observer offered to help, finally going over to one black child sitting on the ground with his head between his legs. The observer asked, ? can I help you finish the form the student had not started to write. The black child responded that, ? He did not want to.? It became ever so painfully obvious that a number of the students in this predominately low-income classroom could not write and were reading at an elementary level. Had science learning occurred for the students who were actively involved in the lab with the changing colors of beads when exposed to sunlight? Learning was not evidence for the classroom teacher, since the lab forms were not completed. Yet, for the school by state standards, reading is rated at an acceptable level of performance for the majority of the students tested. Given the significance of high stakes testing that effects children and teacher‘s lives, it is no longer acceptable to say learning has occurred, when one child has been left behind. Learning must be measurable and real. It must last. Today educators need to be able to document a student‘s 730 progress or lack there of and the interventions for learning are essential. Yet, is high stakes testing the answer for the dilemma of ? learning.? It is very difficult to pass a high stakes test, and to learn if a child can not read, yet they must also be able to demonstrated learning in science, math, and social studies. High stakes tests provide a framework for accountability. High stakes tests may serve to distribute teaching fairly and equitably for all students. Funding for schools is connected to learning or the lack thereof, but much more is learned in schools than can be measured on one test, on any given day of the week. The measurement for learning and of learning is critical to the life of the child. For the purposes of this work an attempt was made to determine a definition for learning based upon the understanding of Teacher-candidates (pre-service students) and graduate students in the School of Education and Human Development in a regional institution that serves a predominately low income, rural, minority population. Additionally, this institution serves a large metropolitan area, which has a population that is diverse financially, ethnically, and culturally. Research Study This research study began as university faculty reviewed lesson plan assignments of teacher candidates. It was found that an acceptable assessment/evaluation of the skill being addressed was missing in approximately 90% of the plans submitted. This seemed to be very odd that the students would just omitted one of the components of the lesson plans which they were developing even though it was listed in the assignment directions. In the directions, it was stated that all lesson plans must contain a title, objective/s, supplies, procedure and assessment/evaluation which matches the objective/s. It was noted that most of the lessons which were missing components cited an online source for his/her lesson. In her work, Patton (2009) found that many of the lesson plans on the Internet were not quality. Using the very basic components, she found that less than 10% were 731 complete. There was not any judgment used as to the quality of the component as at this point it was a simple response of yes if the was there and no if it was not. The study evaluated approximately 200 lesson plans which were retrieved from the Internet. These lesson plans were just picked randomly after a Google search was done to locate the various sites. Only one lesson plan was printed from each site to be included in the study. Further while in consultation with a graduate faculty member who also teaches ? learning? for teachers becoming principals, it was determined that several class sessions were being spent on ? learning.? What is learning and when has learning occurred? Again, the responses were vague, non-specific and general, without the extended focus and discussion on learning, there was no real determination of ? learning? by prospective principal students. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine what undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Education and Human Development consider to be ? learning.? That is: The researchers for this project were attempting to determine how others describe and interpret learning. Methodology The subjects of the study were 104 teacher candidates and graduate students preparing for the principalship. There were 51 teacher candidates and 54 graduate students. These students were surveyed to determine how or what they perceive as learning. The teacher candidates are in the last semester of coursework before doing student teaching. These Teacher candidates have been busy preparing lesson plans and were asked as a part of a multiple phased assignment to give their personal meaning of learning. In an additional, second assignment, they were asked to write a paper on learning and to state how they could document a student‘s progress. Definition Learning 732 will be addressed in this paper with the primary question being ? Does a new mental model need to be developed for the Teacher candidates The future principals were given the same assignments; we must remember that these graduate students are in the classrooms, thus preparing lesson plans on a daily basis. The process was equally important to these future Teacher Leaders, as they help others at the campus find their meaning of learning. The ethnicity of the students in this study is very diverse. Approximately 50% of the student body is majority and the other 50% are minorities including about 4% international students. Instruments: Survey A: quick 3-4 minute response to the question ? hat is learning Rubric: researcher designed. See figure 1 below. Levels of Learning Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Gained information, able to apply and then have that information which was gained measured in some way Gained information, complex definition and the person is able to apply what was gained. A detailed definition however is just banking the info rmation and is not able to apply the gained knowledge Is able to give an answer however, is not able to do more than bank the information. Lowest of levels. Only repeat the word, learning; does not give an answer or defines learning with learning. This one is almost lower than the knowledge level on Bloom’s taxonomy. Figure 1 Researcher –designed Rubric of the levels of learning Several weeks prior to the survey being distributed, the researchers developed a hierarchical, five-tier ranking system to evaluate the surveys. Bloom‘s taxonomy served as a model 733 of hierarchical ranking to evaluate the surveys. Charles Randall‘s work with problem solving was also an influence. Responses to the surveys were scored using the rubric to measure levels of thinking. The grading rubric was a 1-5 Lickert scale. Level 1) The lowest of levels. The student only repeated the word, learning; does not give an answer or defined learning with the word learning. Level 2) The student is able to give an answer however, it not able to do more than bank the information. Level 3) The student is able to give a detailed definition, however, but is not able to apply the gained knowledge. Level 4) The student gained information, provided a complex definition and is able to apply what was gained. and Level 5) The students gained the information was able to apply and then have that information which was gained measured or evaluated in some way. The participants in the survey were asked to write their definition of learning. They were given about 3 minutes to do so. They were told well in advance that the task was not a graded exercise as to the quality. It was either a full credit if you participated or no-credit if you did not. It was hoped that this would relieve some anxiety and allow the participants to elaborate on the task. Graduate students breathed deeply and hesitated to respond to the quarry. The responses which only had a few words and repeated the word ? learn‘ or used the word ? earn‘ to complete the definition were rated a one (1). A rating of a two (2) was reserved for definitions which were of very low level and seemed to believe that the human mind was a bank for the information and was not be used. It was to be stored or banked. This banking was more like a safe deposit box where the info was safe but did not gain any interest or in this case no new information could be added. The ranking of a three (3) was given for a more detailed definition and possibly even added a little information but it was still kept in the safety of the bank. For a four (4) the response illustrated that the person gained the information and was able to apply and 734 use it in a constructive manner. The highest tier on the hierarchical chart was a five (5). In this highest ranking the students illustrated gained information, which he/she was able to apply and then have that application measured or evaluated in some manner. After the surveys were completed the responses were first coded into two categories. The first being very simply responses and in the other the responses were more complex. Next the responses were evaluated using a researcher-designed rubric which was modeled from the very low knowledge level response to the highest level which utilized a judgment and evaluation in the explanation. The two researchers rated the surveys individually and then met and re-evaluated each. The ratings of the two researchers were very close. When there was an evaluation not in agreement, the two discussed and came to a consensus. Using the criteria there was 90% agreement thus, establishing inter-rater reliability. Results/Findings: For the purpose of the findings to the question ? What is learning , only one student, a teacher candidate, 1 of 51 responded at the lowest level. None of the graduate student responses were evaluated as a level one response, meaning they only repeated the word learning and did not give an evaluation or an answer to define learning. Fourteen of 51, (27%) teacher candidates responses, were at level two, as did 11 of 53, (21%) of graduate students. By a level two response, they were considered to have given an answer to what is learning, but they did not apply or evaluate learning as apart of the response. Twenty-three of 51 teacher candidates (45%) of the responses were a level Three. A detailed definition was provided, but there was no application indicated in the response. While 20 of 53 graduate students (38%) responses were rated as a level three. 735 Thirteen of 51, (26%) teacher candidates‘ responses were a level four. They gained the information and provided a complex definition which included application. Seventeen of 53, (32%) teacher candidates‘ responses were rated as level four. While 5 of 53 graduate students (9%) had a level 5 response. There were no level 5 responses from the teacher candidates. Level 5 is the highest of levels and most difficult to achieve. To be rated a level 5 response the answer to ? What is learning , encompassed the lower levels of knowledge, application, and added the element of evaluation, the responder could document the ? learning? results. See Table 1 below for these findings. Teacher Graduate Candidates Students Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 0 13 23 14 1 5 17 20 11 0 Table 1 Number of responses at each level Figure 2 represents a graph comparing the teacher candidates and graduate students at each level of the rubric. See the Figure below. 736 25 20 15 Teacher Candidates Graduate Students 10 5 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Figure 2 A comparison of teacher candidates and graduate students at each level Implications Do we as educators need to change the language of the education community? The answer is a definite yes if we are going to document a number which can and does open and close doors for students? Students are allowed in programs where they really do not have the background knowledge or even need in those particular programs. By the same token, students are refused entrance into programs as they did not empress certain adults who are making the call, yet if given a measurable instrument, these students prove to be very proficient in the topic. Further, as Educators we need to define, ? what is learning so that teachers and principals can focus upon the importance of the learning in the classroom. A new term needs to be coined that can describe to the world of education and to the larger community, what is implied when it is said that, one has learned. Did they master the concept, will they remember the learning six months or five years from now? Or, did the student only learn to pass a test and then forget the information to go on to a new ? learning. ‘ The new term needs to be 737 one that is measurable, can be documented, described and explained, have a common meaning so that everyone, including all ethnic groups, will have a fair chance when it is used. If learning is a process rather than a test as suggested by Popham, then clarity is required when the use of the term is applied. Curricular aims need to be determined. Sub-skills leading to learning should be identified and our own beliefs about learning must be clear. (Popham, 2008, Lambert, 2002, Schlecty, 2002). Teacher‘s cognitive development when explored by Ammon (1984) in a study of a two-year teacher education program with an emphasis on teaching teachers about child development (Piagetian theory) found that teachers as they studied Piagetian and related developmental theory, their personal conceptions of students, learning, and teaching changed. The participating teachers progressed from simplistic to more complex, interactive explanations of student‘s behaviors, development, and learning. These teachers moved from ? showing and telling,? to designing a learning environment that fostered the construction of knowledge for learning. The teachers‘ views on learning shifted from passive receptions to active construction of learning. A young teacher is described by C. Yarema as she moves conceptually into understanding a mathematical concept that she herself had never grasp, until reflecting with her learning community (Yarema, Smith, and Hutto under-review). The teacher learning example is a problem for the 5th -6th grade research lesson in mathematics which was stated as follows: ? A new season of sports has started and programs are being designed for printing. Certain companies purchased spaces on your 8? nch by 11 inch rectangular advertisement page to be seen in the next program. Given the ad pieces, your group must design an advertisement page for the program. You will notice that ads are in three categories: entertainment, apparel and food. What fraction of the page is covered by entertainment ads A teacher volunteered with the rest of her group observing and gathering data on student learning. The pri ncipal, an education faculty member, evaluator of the project, university mathematics faculty, and teachers in the 7th-8th grade group were invited to join the 5th– 6th grade group in this phase of their lesson study. 38 Students were introduced to advertising by perusing sports programs, then the teacher posed the problem and gave each group of students materials for designing an ad page using 8 separate ads with different areas. Out of the 8 ad pieces, three fell into the category of entertainment. After some difficulty with designing an ad page, all groups stated the answer to the problem as 3/8. Although this answer was anticipated by the teacher‘s lesson study group, she became disturbed that all students ? got the wrong answer.? Instead of following the suggested interventions recorded in the group‘s Plan to Guide Learning, apart of the Lesson Study Process, the teacher chose to focus students‘ attention on her. From the front of the room, she then directed students through a paper folding exercise, folding the advertisement page into halves, fourths, and eighths. At that point, she asked students to place the 3 entertainment ads on the page. Following this set of instructions, students saw that 3/8 of the page was not covered, and some changed their answer accordingly to (3? )/8. Although this answer is technically correct, the teacher did not see this as a possible answer and instructed students to fold the paper again into sixteenths, thus leading all students through the same solution process to the answer 7/16. During the post lesson discussion with the observers, the teacher learning was identified; the teacher spoke first. She elaborated on the decision made as an individual teacher. Then the group moderator called on various people to ask the Teacher questions. A teacher colleague asked her how she thought her students would have responded if she had focused them on the whole to the fraction in the problem. The Teacher referred back to a mathematics lesson in a summer professional development that she had attended, and she state, ? that she never thought in terms of the whole to the faction.? Then the Teacher‘s principal complimented her on introducing the paper folding exercise and asked her the reason she chose to continue folding the paper to sixteenths. The Teacher admitted that she did not know what to do when all the students answered 3/8 and that her 739 pedagogical choice of folding the paper into sixteenths took away the opportunity for students to engage in problem solving as it led them all to the same answer of 7/16. She also stated that she did not know if they understood this answer. Next, the outreach mathematician asked her why she redirected students away from the answer [(3? ) / 8] of the page being covered by entertainment ads. The teacher was unable to respond as other teachers from her school commented about the need to hear students‘ explanations so the group could learn more about what students were thinking. During this discussion, another teacher commented that she finally understood why [(3? ) /8] of the page is a correct answer. The teacher then reiterated what she had learned from the debriefing? The question evolves again, when has learning occur? Is it incremental, in stages as concepts develop both for students and teachers? Students are held to a different level of accountability for learning. Yet, with the learning, can they move to application and evaluation of the learning? Benjamin Bloom understands the responsibility of the teacher in the classroom for student learning. He states that students, maybe different in the rate that they learn, but not their potential for learning. (Bloom, 1981). Other factors can be identified that effect and influence learning. One of the primary factors effecting student learning is the effectiveness of the teacher, (Podesta, 2000). Studies have shown that students with teachers who are highly effective out perform other students on standardized tests. The expert teacher work can be very different from that of the novice teacher. The implications for the learning of the student are significant. Learning is required. While there are graduations in teacher content knowledge and pedagogy, there still should remain a sense in all teachers in every classroom, what is learning for that day, for that subject, if students are expected to learn. John D. Bransford and Nancy J. Vye (1989) cite the variations in knowledge from ? know that,‘ something is true to ? knowing how‘ to think, learn, and solve problems.? p. 193. The stakeholders of today‘s 740 educational society demand to see documented evidence that the students are learning and mastering the required content. Each school, public and private, answers to a higher entity who in turn reports to the State and ultimately the Federal government the level of learning of the students. Reports i. e. , STEM, etc keep the progress or lack of learning in the public eye. The effectiveness of the schools is closely monitored. The level of learning of the students is monitored by the government, business, parents, and tax payers as they determine whether or not families will choose to move to a town, a neighborhood, or a state. Internationally the educational level of each and every country is compared daily to determine the intellectual capacity of the citizenry. Conclusions If, as a country, we are using high stakes testing to determine if students are learning, then the teacher should be able to state the learning goal and know the scaffolding steps that would lead to the learning goal. What is learning, when did it happen, or if the student did not learn, then what action did the teacher take to re-teach, re-mediate so that the student did learn. Are there learning progressions-scaffolds and have they been identified, in order for the student to learn the larger concept of the lesson. Deep and important discussion should be a part of the teacher education curriculum that include what is learning, when did learning occur, did the information pass the attention threshold for the student, is it stored in long term memory. How do we encourage student‘s to learn? As the Nation moves to National Standards for learning, then translating learning goals into real learning and mastery of concepts become crucial for teacher effectiveness in the classroom (Bulter and McMunn, 2006). Each teacher must be able to identify the timeline for that individual student learning has taken place and for her/him and what is learning for that individual lesson, concept, unit, or area of study. While it is impossible to know everything in 741 today‘s society, it is critical that educators understand learning, in order to assure that all students do learn. Jennifer B. Chauvot, in her article ? Grounding practice in scholarship, grounding scholarship in practice: Knowledge of a mathematics teacher educator-researcher,? speaks to the importance of teacher training, citing that there is limited research focused upon what teacher educators need to know and how they develop that knowledge. There tends to be an assumption that a good teacher will be a good teacher educator, but in reality little attention has been given to the support of teacher educators. The state of Texas is currently involved in attempting to augment teacher training of teacher educators as end of course assessments are requiring a higher level of teaching at the university so that teacher candidates will be prepared to teach the curriculum in the public schools. Bridging the gaps of current teaching and elevating the practice for teacher education has become a focus of the statewide initiative. The curriculum becomes the knowledge to be learned by the student and taught by the teacher. With State and National curriculum standards serving to focus education, teaching and learning, then a clear expectation of ? earning? is necessary for both the teacher and the learner. Implications for colleges and universities as they change their instruction to assure that the teacher candidates become avid classroom teacher. These teacher candidates will progress from the university classroom to the being the confident and secure classroom teacher. Connecting teacher learning wi th student learning is the theme of the ten key principles of professional development as outlined by Timperly (2008), whereby experts work with teachers to assist them as expert teachers who teach others content and skills of pedagogy. Focusing upon student learning whether in the k-12 classroom or the university setting becomes a priority, if all students are going to ? learn.? Additionally, the professional development of teachers to extend and 742 scaffold content knowledge become an important role of school districts and universities as they reach out and build learning communities. Newmann and Wehlage (1995) noted that ? Schools with strong professional communities were better able to offer authentic pedagogy and were more effective in promoting student learning.? p. 3. The next area for research will be for the students to identify their learning goal for their students and then determine, if learning has occurred. 743 References: Ammon, P. (1984). Human development, teaching and teacher education. The Teacher Education Quarterly, 11 (4), 95-108. Bloom, B. (1981). All Our Children are Learning: A Primer for Parent‘s, Teachers, and other Educators. NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company. Bransford, J. D. ; Vye, N. J. , A Perspective on cognitive research and its implications for instruction in Toward the Thinking Curriculum: Current Cognitive Research. 1989 Yearbook of ASCD. Edited by Laureen R. Resnick and Leopold E. Klopfer. Arlington, VA. Bulter, S. M. & McMunn, N. D. (2006). A Teacher‘s guide to classroom assessment: Understanding assessment to improve student learning. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA. Chauvot, Jennifer B. (2008). ?Grounding practice in scholarship, grounding scholarship in practice: Knowledge of a mathematics teacher educator-researcher.? Teaching and Teacher Education. 1-14. Emonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership. 37(1), 15-24. Jarvis, P. (2006). Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning. London. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. International Academy of Education (IAE) and International Bureau of Education (IBE) Retrieved from http://unesdoc. unesdoc. unesco. org/images/0017/001791/179161e. dpf. Lambert, Linda. (1998). Building Leadership Capacity in Schools. ASCD. Alexandria, VA. Newmann, F. M. & Wehlage, G. G. , (1995) Successful School Restructuring: A Report to the Public and Educators by the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools. Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring Schools. Patton, B. (2009) Lesson Plans and the Teacher Candidate: Is the Internet helping or hindering? National Social Science Association Journal. 1(2) 146-9. Podesta, J. , (2007). ?Quality Teachers, Quality Schools Testimony to the House of Education and Labor Committee.? Center for American Progress. May 11, 2007. Popham, W. J. (2008). Transformative Assessment. ASCE. Alexandria, VA. Randall, C. (1985). The role of problem solving. Arithmetic Teacher 38. 48-50. Randall, C. (1985) How to teacher problem sol ving step by step. Arithmetic Teacher 15. 62-6. Randall, C. (1989). Steps toward building a successful problems solving program. Arithmetic Teacher. 36. 25-6. Schley, P. , (2002). Working on the Work. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA. 744 Timperly, H. (2008). ?Teacher Professional Learning and Development.? Educational Practices Series. Yarema. C. , Smith, P. , Hutto, N. , (under-review, 2010). ?A Community of Practice: Productive Professional development of Mathematics Teaches through Lesson Study.? 745 Copyright of NAAAS & Affiliates Conference Monographs is the property of National Association of African American Studies & Affiliates and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

The Consumer Complaint Behavior

The consumer complaint behavior, CCB in short, is an area of research which deals with the identification and analysis of all the aspects involved in the consumer reaction to a product or a service failure and the consequent perceived dissatisfaction. A growing interest for CCB starts appearing toward the middle of the '60s as a particular aspect of a general attention for consumer behaviors and attitudes. Consumer satisfaction, dissatisfaction and consumer complaint behavior, in particular, are three distinct, but highly correlated subjects investigated by marketing and consumer studies.Real marketing problems can be considered at the origin of these studies. The growing competition in the market, the developing consumerism, the importance given to quality, performance and satisfaction, the emphasis given to customers, considered at the Centre of a product or of a service, bring researchers to inquiry about the complex mechanisms which determine customer satisfactions or dissatisfac tion and what are the consequent consumer behaviors.At the same time, as the research is deeply rooted in real life, the findings of the studies are aimed at identifying and suggesting managerial and practical solutions directly applicable to markets or services. As far as CCB research is concerned, the main aspects investigated can be summarized according to the some questions. The proposed list is anything but exhaustive: 1. Why do people complain? 2. Why do people not complain? 3. To whom do people complain? 4. Facing an unsatisfactory product or service, what are the possible reactions available for a customer? . Are there any differences in CCB according to the product or the service investigated? Being a Customer Relationship Manager of a luxurious hotel in Penang I received a mail from Mr. Stanley. He and his family stayed at my hotel last week. He has complained that the quality of food served was not satisfactory, hotel staff very impolite and not helpful and his computer n otebook and some cash was missing from his hotel room. Also he has criticized the hotel staff members that they do not listen to his complaint patiently. Firstly, I will send Mr.Stanley a letter of apologize and tell him about we will take further step even when full resolution is likely to take longer because fast acknowledgment remains very important and this action helps to build rapport with customer, the ? rst step in rebuilding a bruised relationship. In this letter I would not argue with Mr. Stanley and the goal should be to gather facts to reach a mutually acceptable solution, not to win a debate. Arguing gets in the way of listening and seldom diffuses anger. Next, I will show that I understand the problem from his point of view.Seeing situations through his eyes is the only way to understand what he thinks has gone wrong and why he is upset. Service personnel should avoid jumping to conclusions with his interpretations. Besides that, I have to clarify the truth and sort ou t the cause. Mr. Stanley says my hotel staffs are impolite, the food served is not satisfied and hotel members didn’t listen to his complaint, it may result from inefficiency of service, misunderstanding by Mr. Stanley, or the misbehavior of a hotel staff or third party. If I’ve done something wrong, I will apologize immediately. The more Mr.Stanley can forgive me, the less he will expect to be compensated. I would not be defensive because acting defensively may suggest that my hotel has something to hide or is reluctant to explore the situation fully. Furthermore, I will provide Mr. Stanley the bene? t of the doubt because not all customers are truthful and not all complaints are justi? ed. However, he should be treated as though they have a valid complaint until clear evidence to the contrary emerges. Because Mr. Stanley miss some cash money and computer notebook from his hotel room so careful investigation is warranted.Because the amount involved is not small, it ma y be worth haggling over a refund or other compensation. However, it’s still a good idea to check records to see if there is a past history of dubious complaints by the same customer. Propose the steps needed to solve the problem. When instant solutions aren’t possible, I will tell Mr. Stanley how my hotel plans to precede shows that corrective action is being taken. It also sets expectations about the time involved and I should be careful not to overpromise. I have to keep Mr.Stanley informed of progress because nobody likes being left in the dark and it may cause uncertainty breeds anxiety and stress. People tend to be more accepting of disruptions if they know what’s going on and receive periodic progress reports. Moreover, I have to consider compensation. When Mr. Stanley do not receive the service outcomes he believes he has paid for or have suffered serious inconvenience and loss of time and money because the service that hotel provide are failed to delive r to him, I might offer an unconditional money back guarantee and tell Mr.Stanley if at any point during the search process he is unhappy with progress, simply address the fact with us and if we are still not 100 percent satis? ed after that discussion, I will cheerfully and unconditionally refund every cent he has paid as a retainer. No quibble, no hassle, guaranteed period. This type of recovery strategy may also reduce the risk of legal action by an angry customer. Service guarantees often lay out in advance what such compensation will be, and hotel should ensure that all guarantees are met.Whatever is promised in the guarantee must be totally unconditional, and there should not be any element of surprise for the customer. The guarantee has to easy to understand and communicate to Mr. Stanley so that he is clearly aware of the bene? ts that can be gained from the guarantee. Meaningful to Mr. Stanley in that the guarantee is for something important to him and the compensation shou ld be more than adequate to cover the service failure.Guarantee has made must easy to invoke It should be easy for the customer to invoke the guarantee and it also have to easy to collect on because If a service failure occurs, the customer should be able to easily collect on the guarantee without any problems. Lastly, guarantee has to be credible and be believable. Persevere to regain Mr. Stanley goodwill. When Mr. Stanley has been disappointed, one of the biggest challenges is to restore his confidence and preserve the relationship for the future. Perseverance may be required to defuse is anger and to convince him that actions are being taken to avoid a recurrence of the problem.Truly exceptional recovery efforts can be extremely effective in building loyalty and referrals. Also I will check the service delivery system and pursue eminence. Because Mr. Stanley has left, I should check to determine whether the service failure was caused by accidental mistakes or system defects. I ne ed to take advantage of every complaint from Mr. Stanley to perfect the whole service system. Even if the complaint is found to be a result of a misunderstanding by Mr. Stanley, this implies that some part of my communication system is ineffective.But while we discussed the importance of professional complaint handling and service recovery, we have to acknowledge that not all complaints are honest. When ? rms have generous service recovery policies or offer guarantees, there is always the fear that some customers may take advantage. Also, not all complaining customers are right or reasonable in their behavior, and some may actually be the cause of complaints by other customers. We refer to such people as jaycustomers. Every service has its share of jaycustomers. Jaycustomers are undesirable. At best, a ? rm should avoid attracting them in the ? st place, and at worst, a ? rm needs to control or prevent their abusive behavior. Let us ? rst describe the main types of jaycustomers befo re we discuss how to deal with them. De? ning a problem is the ? rst step in resolving it, so let’s start by considering the different types of jaycustomers. I’ve identi? ed seven broad categories. The Cheat – There are many ways in which customers can cheat service ? rms. Cheating ranges from writing compensation letters with the sole purpose of exploiting service recovery policies and cheating on service guarantees, to in? ating or faking insurance claims and â€Å"ward robing†.The Thief – Those customers who always wishes to payless or not to pay, these may be like travelling in public transport freely, or not paying restaurant bills and others – firms to be prevented from such customers use many tips because if company is not taking actions against such people; other customers would also have intentions to behave in such manners. The Rulebreaker – Those customers who don’t obey rules of company or country like breaking traf fic rules – even though it costs them sometimes a lot but they do because they feel pleasure in behaving such manners†¦.Company should ensure that rules are to be followed. The Belligerent – Expresses resentment, use to abuse employees verbally or even physically. It causes demotivation of employees if company doesn't react upon such customers because for everyone in this world SELF RESPECT is most important thing, Guards/Security are their best solutions, Company should also guide their Front line staff to deal with such uncertain circumstances†¦ The Family Feuders – Customers who gets in detailed arguments with other customers about company of any kind.The Vandal – Those customers who always makes hurdle for company like pouring water in ATM, writing on walls, in cybercafes deleting windows files or other software. The Deadbeat – These are not like thief but close to them, these are those who pays the amount but after creating such prob lems for company, like I’ll pay tomorrow, they know that they have to pay but they try to delay as much as they can. Encouraging customer feedback provides an important means of increasing customer satisfaction and retention.It is an opportunity to get into the hearts and minds of the customer. In all but the worst instances, complaining customers are indicating that they want to continue their relationship with the firm, but they are also indicating that all is not well and that they expect the company to make things right. Here, service firms need to develop effective strategies to recover from service failures so they can maintain customer goodwill. That is vital for the long-term success of the company.Having professional and generous service recovery systems does not mean â€Å"the customer is always right† and that the ? rm is open to customer abuse. Rather, it is important for the bene? t of all too effectively deal with jaycustomers. (1782 words) References www . google. com www. wikipidea. org http://deni9ek. blogstudent. mb. ipb. ac. id/files/2011/12/CHAPTER-13-CASE-3. pdf http://www. scribd. com/doc/51888732/Services-Marketing-Lovelock-Wirtz-Chaterjee-Ch-13

Business Event Managment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Business Event Managment - Assignment Example Different sponsors have come on board to showcase what they offer to the business environment making economic and financial sense. This career expo brings together potential employees who are basically the students and professionals from different industry sectors so that the right candidates can access employment opportunities by matching up the right talent with potential employers. Not forgetting investors who are willing to create job opportunities with people who have great ideas which have not been tapped yet thereby enhancing entrepreneurial culture. It’s important to note that in coming up with this event, there are four key departments that have been set up, each with different functions. In a way the event planning itself prepares the people involved who are basically the students in what happens in a normal business set up. Each department though independent, having different roles and responsibilities depends on the other departments to make sure that the event is successful, bringing in the aspect of interdependence within any organization. Without which, the event cannot be successful. The four departments and their functions are outlined below; Legal department- this ensures that the event to be held does not contravene the state laws and that all the procedures required in holding a career fair are met. This means that all the documentation necessary to hold an event must be acquired following the legislation of the state. Adherence must be followed to the latter. Specifically, this department will be required to acquire permits, licenses and approvals for the career fair. It’s also their responsibility to understand legal obligations, to identify and reduce any risk to occupational health and safety, not to just deal with the consequences. In addition, all suppliers for the event in form of sponsors, investors, exhibitors and any corporates coming on board on that particular day will be required have their own public

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

Utopia - Essay Example Sargent starts by pointing at the need for utopia for individuals in the society. But the utopia Sargent envisages is not that which presents a perfect state as this is impossible in the contemporary world. Instead, he describes utopia to be situations that strive to better humanity and give hope to individuals. The critical thing in her redefinition is not the perfect states but a better state, which sees the betterment of all situations and circumstances. A good life gives hope to those leading it and provides quality for human life, it is so critical because when people lose hope they lose their worthiness of life. In these situations humanity stares at extinction as a hopeless generation has no future. Sargent stresses that utopia is not at fault but what is at fault is the notion that there only exists one type of utopia. This is because there exists three segments of utopia that are the design or theory, the utopian movement and the utopian studies (Sargent 11-17). Sargent poin ts at the need for humanity to sustain hope; hope is the gateway to a better life and a wonderful future. Sargent points out that the link between a successful life and a life of despair is the ability of humanity to cling to hope. If one ever loses this vital component then they lose their sight on a bright future, which would definitely lead to betterment of life. According to Sargent utopia is the mother of humanitarian movements, these seek to ensure a better society by facing off with retrogressive groupings or practices in the society. Another example of a believer in utopia is John W. Friesen and Virginia Agnes Lyons Friesen who detail existence of several different utopian societies. Through their book The Palgrave Companion to North American Utopias, the two authors assert that every human being in the past and in the current aspires to live in a utopian society. The illustration of this statement is given by citing a number of utopian North America societies. They go furth er to point that achieving a utopia society is possible at least to the extent of Sargents definition, the way to achieve such a society is well detailed in their book (Friesen & Friesen). Defining Utopia brings more problems than it solves, as people have different conceptions on what it is and how it can be defined. Some of the definitions that have been forwarded define utopia as a creation of the mind where people and systems act and operate efficiently. In trying to define utopia other related terms come into the limelight such as dystopia and anti utopia. Dystopia is the extreme opposite of utopia and represents a situation where all things and people are messy. However, Sargent holds that utopia is not an extreme condition of goodness but a more realistic situation of a better society or situations. Situations that give people a chance to better their lives and embrace change which is beneficial to them. The ability to better lives and embrace change is the drive behind socia l movements which share in the dream of a utopian community. These movements seek to help people embrace change and motivate them to better their lives by remaining hopeful. This also explains why these movements seek to be all inclusive, because they hold that unification is not a divided calling but an inclusive call which seeks to integrate humanity in entirety. Dystopia also becomes an integral situation in defining a utopian state as dystopia represents a situ

Puerto Rico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Puerto Rico - Essay Example San Juan (Wikipedia, 2006) is the capital city, and it is located on the north coast. Along the years, manufacturing has replaced agriculture as the main industry. A significant component of the economy is tourism. Spanish and English are the official languages. A small minority use English as a primary language, but the large majority living in metropolitan areas are bilingual. Most of Puerto Ricans are Roman Catholics. As of 2002, the literacy rate of the population was 94.1%. According to the Wikipedia (2006), "Puerto Rican athletes have won 6 medals (1 silver, 5 bronze) in Olympic competition, the first one in 1948 by boxer Juan Evangelista Venegas. Although boxing, basketball, and baseball are popular, traditionally baseball has been the most popular sport." During the Pre-Colombian Era (Wikipedia, 2006), Puerto Rico was first inhabited by the Arcaico, the Igneri, the Carib and the Tano Indians. As time passed, the Tanos became the dominant inhabitants of the island around 1000 AD. They maintained this dominant presence until the arrival of the Spaniards in 1493. The Tanos were Arawak Indians, and they called the island "Borikn". Some people say that it was discovered by Martn Alonzo Pinzn in 1492 when he separated from Christopher Columbus in order to explore on his own. Columbus came to the island on November 19, 1943, during his second voyage to the Antilles.

Telecommunication companies in uk (fixed line) Essay

Telecommunication companies in uk (fixed line) - Essay Example Reports have highlighted that the market volumes around the world are expected to rise to 1,180 million (Datamonitor, 2009). It has also been estimated that the voice only transmission segment generates as much as 61% of the overall market value and this amounts to almost $330.9 billion (Datamonitor, 2009). The non voice transmissions segment however generated revenue of about $204.6 billion in 2008 which totals to almost 38.2% of the market aggregate (Datamonitor, 2009). The history of telephone in Britain dates back to 1877, when telephone first arrived there. Sir William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) demonstrated the primal telephone invented by Graham Bell to the British Association for the Advancement of Science assembly, which is situated at Glasgow in September 1876, giving its description as "the greatest by far of all the marvels of the electric telegraph" (Gow & Smith, 2006). However, the very first pair of handy telephones happened to be seen in Great Britain only in July 1877. William Preece who was the Chief Electrician of the Post Office brought this pair to UK. Later, after a few months passed, the British Association put the ‘perfected’ type of telephone by Graham Bell on display in a meeting at Plymouth. Finally, later in the year 1878, the British company took up the Bell patent and the Telephone Co. Ltd. was formed. This happens to be the oldest company in Telecommunication history of Europe, which later became well know n as BT (British Telecom). Here in, the first telephone line was set up. This was erected starting from Londons Hays Wharf at the south of the Thames stretching up to Hays Wharf Office on the northern side of the river (Connected Earth, 2007). This company later was amalgamated, taken over and eventually the control was transferred to state, under the control of the Post Office. This later became a privatized company, British Telecommunications private limited company; that serves 170 countries as on date (When

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example This paper will expansively present the accounting policies and the changes adapted by JP Morgan Chase in order to successfully face the modern day challenges. A complete analysis of the major changes incorporated by JP Morgan chase will be expansively presented in this paper. The oldest financial services in the world is without a doubt JP Morgan Chase, it has its presence in well over 60 countries. They are the leaders in investment banking, wealth management and a host of other services. The biggest change that ever took place in the history of the financial institutions was the merger with Bank One. This change primarily took place because the other banks like the Bank of America were almost ready to merge with other big banks like FleetBoston. This merger took place because the financial institutions came under increasing pressure during the time of recession. The announcement of this merger was made on 14 January 2004. The Wall Street reacted very positively because of this mer ger and the NASDAQ witnessed growth soon after the merger took place. This paper declares that this change took place because the two financial institutions wanted to downsize and cut the deadwood out. The aim was to save about $2.2 billion over three years and it was planned to eliminate as many as 10,000 people. This again goes to show how desperate even the biggest financial institutions were at the time of recession. Mergers and acquisitions were very common and these overtures were the initial signs which showed that almost all the big financial institutions were panicking. ... This again goes to show how desperate even the biggest financial institutions were at the time of recession. Mergers and acquisitions were very common and these overtures were the initial signs which showed that almost all the big financial institutions were panicking. Volatile corporate banking was the major factor on which JP Morgan primarily functioned. â€Å"Wall Street analysts generally praised the merger, and investors climbed on board. Typically, the shares of the acquirer fall, reflecting the cost of the acquisition. In this case, investors are signaling they believe the combined company will make up for that cost by holding the shares in the $39-$40 range, about where they were before the deal was announced. J.P. Morgan has been on a roll, with its shares up about 74% in the past 12 months. Bank One shares jumped about 15% when the deal was announced, matching the premium J.P. Morgan will pay. Such a move is typical in an acquisition.† (JP Morgan Chase) The investors looked less enthusiastic with the deal between Bank of America and Fleet-Boston. This deal was for a whopping $48 billion. The shares of Fleet-Boston were driven up as a result of this deal because Bank of America offered 40% premium in this deal. The shares of Bank of America however came down and the investors lost a lot of money consequently. Big mergers take place because both the companies involved in the merger want to grow at a tremendous pace but this merger was not very useful for both the financial institutions. The collapse of WORLDCOM in the year 2005 signaled trouble for JP Morgan chase, the institution had to pay a whopping sum of $2 billion. This sum was paid to the different shareholders who had lost a lot of money as a result

Human Resource Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example According to Armstrong (2008), with the compilation of the tasks to the human resource department, the scope has also enhanced; hiring, training, etc. all have come well under the umbrella of human resource department. One of the most challenging tasks for human resource department today is the fact that workforce within organization comprises of cross-national individuals i.e. people coming from various backgrounds, cultures, countries, etc. This essay is about how the demographics of a workforce are changing or have changed over a period of last decade or so i.e. identifying the trends and how it poses a threat or otherwise, implying to the human resource management. The following section is about the trends occurring and witnessed amongst the demographics of the workforce at a global scale. The attempt of making the world a global village, in accordance with Mathis (2007), has brought about a lot of changes in the global landscape – particularly there has been a rising trend amongst individuals wanting to move away from their home country in an attempt for enhanced earning, improved life style, and increasing the quality of living for their families in their own regions. As a complement to the same, organizations have also initiated the program of cross boundary hiring, with their own reasons to follow. Firstly, as stated by Bateman (2010) having cross boundary hiring is expensive, which is the downturn of the same; however, in the long run, it is cheaper primarily because in third world countries, very talented human resources are very cheap and easily available. Consider the live example whereby employment posts are held mainly by Asians in countries offering bright prospect of jobs such as UK, US and the Middle East; here individuals get good earnings, mainly due to the currency differential, they earn a lot more then they can do in their home town, and

McDonald's ethics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

McDonald's ethics - Term Paper Example ald s code of ethics likewise promises to intention any private or open clash that may take the position of budgetary , political , social , monetary and natural stance (Mcdonald s Corporation , 2006 , Online ). Mcdonalds will likewise be transparent on the strategy that they use to determination such clash . For this situation , they will be looking to cultivate great association with all the stake holders . On the budgetary additions , Mcdonalds have the moral obligation of proclaiming the comes back to the shareholders in correctness , prompt , transparent and obliged profundity . The guarantee to maintain the US and non US organizations regulations . The guarantee to act without noxiousness , with sensible forethought and with transparent truths that wont be influenced by any second or outsider weight . The partnership esteems business autonomy that they might want to exhibit to any autonomous second gathering reviewers (Mcdonald s Corporation , 2006 , Online Mcdonalds guarantees to settle on the right choices and translations that are without subordination . The code of morals additionally ties the workers to keep up indispensable organization secrecy unless appropriately approved. They have a guarantee that all representatives will have great stream of correspondence. The will be customarily redesigning the shareholders of any monetary matter that effect on the business. Rewrapping the Big Mac McDonalds was provoked to settle on the sudden choice of changing from the clamshell polystyrene cheeseburger boxes wrap to wrap because of ecological concerns. There were purchaser worries that the polystyrene wraps were contaminating natures domain regardless of the possibility that the organization had the capacity to reuse them in the past. They were currently holding the presumption that the wraps were all the more ecologically sound. Today discharges its fourth Corporate Responsibility Report, themed "Dependable nourishment for a supportable future." The

Environmental Factors Essay Example for Free

Environmental Factors Essay (A) Selection of an Organization   Ã‚  M/S GE Tractors M/s GE Tractors produces tractors, and dairy machines. Tractors are allotted to the Michigan unit in view of its location in the natural market zone for tractors. To supplement GE tractor production, a second tractor assembly line for 45 HP and 59 HP tractors has been in operation since 1985 at Michigan to meet the requirements of tractors in that area. It diversified its product range to provide cushion for the cyclical variations in the market and position itself globally. Besides supplying its products all over USA it has made its position globally. It is exporting tractors and related dairy machines to Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, most of the European countries, Africa and Asian continent.   A specific goal of 7,000 tractors worth $50 million in the coming 1-3 years is targeted so that there is a sustained growth in volume say 5% per annum. (B)High-level domestic and global environmental factors that may impact the organization marketing decision Business planning is basically concerned with the structuring of the relationship between a business and its environment. The environment in which business operates has a greater influence on their successes or failures. There is a strong linkage between the changing environment, the strategic response of the business to such changes and the performance. It is important to understand the forces of environment the way they influence this linkage. The environment which is dynamic and changing holds both opportunities and threats for the organizations. The organizations while attempting at strategic realignments, try to capture these opportunities and avoid the emerging threats. At the same time the changes in the environment affect the attractiveness or risk levels of various investments of the organizations or the investors. The environment in which the business operates broadly consist of the  Ã‚   Political, Ethical, Social, Cultural aspects, Technological and the Ecological related issues like pollution, sustainability etc. The Technological temper and its progress has been the key driver behind the major changes witnessed in the environment making it increasingly complex. These factors often overlap and the developments in one area may influence developments in other. Careful analysis of the above factors helps in identifying major trends for different industries.   Changes in these external forces affect the changes in consumer demand for both industrial and consumer products and services. These external forces affect the above company i.e. M/s GE Tractors regarding the types of products produced, the nature of positioning them and market segmentation strategies, the types of services offered and choice of business. Therefore, it becomes important for the organizations to identify and evaluate environmental opportunities and threats so as to develop a clear mission, designing strategies to achieve long-term objectives and develop policies to achieve short-term goals. (C) Technology impacts the organizations marketing decisions Technological factors represent major opportunities and threats which must be taken into account while formulating strategies. Technological breakthroughs can dramatically influence the organization’s products, services markets, suppliers, distributors, competitors, customers, manufacturing processes, marketing practices and competitive position. M/s GE Tractors is investing heavily in R D projects to bring out new models   hence Technological advancements can open up new markets, change the relative position of an industry and render existing products and services obsolete. Technological changes can reduce or eliminate cost barriers between businesses, create shorter production runs, create shortages in technical skills and result in changing values and expectations of customers and employees. changing The impact of information technology (IT) which combines fruits of both telecommunications and computers has been revolutionary in every field. Not only has it opened up new vistas of business but also has changed the way the businesses are done. IT has specifically brought in another dimension Speed which organizations recognize as the additional source of competitive advantage beyond low cost and differentiation. Manufacturers, bankers and retailers have used IT to carry out their traditional tasks at lower costs and deliver higher value added products and services. (D)Importance of social responsibility and ethics as related to organizations marketing Social: Demographic characteristics such as population, age distribution, literacy levels, inter-state migration, rural-urban mobility, income distribution etc. are the key indicators for understanding the demographic impact on environment.   The growing number of senior citizens and their livelihood needs have been highlighted and the government is being forced to pay more attention in the form of social security benefits etc. Social attitudes, values, customs, beliefs, rituals and practices also influence business practices in a major way. Social values and beliefs are important as they affect the buying behavior. The spread of consumerism, the rise of the middle class with high disposable income, the flashy lifestyles of people working in software, telecom, media and multinational companies seem to have changed the socio-cultural scenario and these needs to be understood deeply. Values in society also determine the work culture, approach towards stakeholders and the various responsibilities the organization thinks of owing to its stockholders and the society. Ethics: Considering Literacy and the composition of literates in the country creates opportunities for particular type of industries and type of jobs. For example on one hand , the presence of multimillionaires in middle east countries encouraged many software giants to set up shops and on the other , the availability of cheap labor ,those countries have become a destination of labor intensive projects. Large labor mobility across different occupations and regions has cut down wage differentials and this has an impact for business to take the proper course. Understanding of the environment in which an organization operates is the foremost pre-requisite towards strategy formulation. The six broad dimensions which the framework provides of the environment are capable of giving a comprehensive overview of how things may be unfolding. The objective of the analysis should not only restrict to the present and past but the real focus should be on projecting the trends into future in order to get the real feel of the environment. This shall enable the firm to proactively strategize for future considering the environment it is going to face and the issues which will be of importance.

Mergers And Acquisitions In Restructuring Business Organizations Finance Essay

Mergers And Acquisitions In Restructuring Business Organizations Finance Essay Mergers and Acquisitions have gained substantial importance in todays corporate world. This process is extensively used for restructuring the business organizations. Some well known financial organizations also took the necessary initiatives to restructure the corporate sector of India by adopting the mergers and acquisitions policies. The  Indian economic reform since 1991 has opened up a whole lot of challenges both in the domestic and international spheres. The increased competition in the global market has prompted the Indian companies to go for mergers and acquisitions as an important strategic choice. The trends of mergers and acquisitions in India have changed over the years. The immediate effects of the mergers and acquisitions have also been diverse across the various sectors of the Indian economy. The Indian Economy has been growing at the fast rate and emerging as the most promising economy in the world. Be it in IT, RD, pharmaceutical, infrastructure, energy, consumer retail, telecom, financial services, media, and hospitality etc, there has been a sign of promising boom in the Indian economy. It is the second fastest growing economy in the world with GDP touching 8.9 % in 2010. Investors, big companies, industrial houses view Indian market in a growing and proliferating phase, whereby returns on capital and the shareholder returns are high. Both the inbound and outbound mergers and acquisitions have increased dramatically. According to Investment bankers, Merger Acquisition (MA) deals in India will cross $100 billion this year, which is double last years level and quadruple of 2005. Indias merger and acquisitions deal value in year 2010 reached almost US $50 billion which is three times of the deal value last year 2009. There were MA deals worth about $16 billion in 2009, down from close to US $40 billion in 2008. Definitions: Mergers: Mergers or amalgamation is combination of two or more companies to form as a single new company. In this process no fresh investment is made, however an exchange of shares takes place between the entities. In simple terms, a merger involves the mutual decision of two companies to combine and become one entity. Generally, merger is done between the two entities having similar size. Varieties of Mergers   Mergers can be of various types. But there are 5 main mergers varieties which are valued most in the corporate world.   Horizontal merger   Two companies that are in direct competition and share  the same product lines and markets.   Vertical merger   Two companies which are in the Value Chain. Market-extension merger  Ã‚  Two companies having same product but different target market. Product-extension merger  Ã‚  Two companies selling different but related products in the same market.   Conglomeration   Two companies with unrelated business/ industry.   Acquisitions   Acquisition means buying the ownership of one company by another company, often as the part of the growth strategy. Unlike in merger, acquisition is generally done by a large company to a small one. Acquisitions can be either friendly or hostile. Like mergers, acquisitions are actions through which companies seek economies of scale, efficiencies and enhanced market visibility. Acquisition is done either in cash or acquiring the stock of the target company or both. Distinction between Mergers and Acquisitions   Mergers and Acquisitions are often uttered as one and the same and considered to have the same meaning. But the terms merger and acquisition are two different term meaning.   When one company takes over another independent company and clearly established itself as  the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition. From a legal point of view, the  target company  ceases to exist and the buyer or the acquirer possesses the full control of the business and the buyers  stock continues to be traded, then it is acquisition.   Regardless of the type of the strategic alliance they all have one purpose in common. They are all meant to create synergy that makes the value of the combined companies greater than the sum of the two parts. Synergy Synergy  is the force that is obtained when two or more components meet together to produces an exceptional result which when done solely cannot be achieved. In a business synergy takes the form of enhanced performance, increased profitability and exceptional cost reduction. By merging, the companies hope to benefit from the following:   Staff reductions Economies of scale   Acquiring new technology Improved market reach and industry visibility Importance of the study When a company wants to expand, there are various ways its can do. They can achieve the growth either by capturing the market share or by growing through strategic alliances. The main objective of the merger or acquisition is to achieve growth and synergy, economies of scale and capture or expand the market share. Buzz of merger and acquisition often creates hype in the financial market about the acquirers stock price. While most empirical research on merger focus on daily stock return surrounding announcement date, a few studies also look at long term performance of term performance of acquiring firm after merger.  [1]  Not only that, the performance of the company as a whole is also a matter of question mark. Will the company be able to perform better than it is doing or not? Problem Statement Many firm prior to merger and acquisition have an expectation to create a synergy from merger and acquisition. The main motive behind MA is to create efficiencies in the business and expansion of the business. But they most of the time ignore the fact that the effect of merger and acquisition has direct correlation with the value of the acquirers company and the stock price. The other problem that is to be considered is the financial risk associated with the MA. Research Objective The objective of this study is to gain the deeper and clear knowledge of the merger and acquisition on the acquiring firm. It also aims at the financial risk that a company may face post merger/ acquisition asa well as the long term performance of the acquirer. The objectives are as follows: To examine the effect of EPS myopia on the return of acquiring firms in mergers. Evaluate the effect on the stock price of the acquiring company post merger and acquisition. Critically evaluating if the shareholders of the acquiring companies experience wealth effect as a result of MA. The expected long term performance of the acquiring firm. Study of the financial risk pertaining to the merger and acquisition. Research Question What is the motive behind Merger and Acquisition? What is the effect on the stock price of the acquirer pre and post MA? Does the buzz create the bubble effect on the market or is it long lasting? What is the wealth effect of the acquirer firm post and pre MA? What is the trend of MA in Indian market? Drivers of MA in India What are the effects of MA to the competitors? Effect of the tax to the government post merger and acquisition. Limitations of the Study No proper information on the companies is found except for their Balance Sheet and Income Statement. This study is based on secondary database, so errors in the data could affect the results of the study. External factors such as economic conditions, regulatory changes etc are not taken into consideration. An overview of the Study This dissertation is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the background information, problem statement, objective of the study, importance of study, research question limitation of the study. The second chapter deals with literature review. This chapter indicates the theoretical framework of the valuation method of Merger and Acquisition. It shows the detail description of the past research that has been done on the topic and discusses the outcome of the study. The third chapter deals with the research methodology of the dissertation. It deals with the Research method used for the data and information collection. It includes sample selection/design procedure, data collection and data analysis tools used in the dissertation. In this part assumptions had been made where there is lack of appropriate data and information. The fourth chapter deals with analysis and interpretation of the financial data that are used to achieve the objectives of the dissertation. This section mainly deals with the findings from the study and also focuses on the analysis and its results. The fifth and the last chapter of this dissertation present the findings of the study, recommendation of the study to the investors, financial managers regulators. It also concludes the suggestions for future research. Chapter II Review of the Literature 2. Literature Review Many authors and writers have written lot about merger and acquisition and its impact on the performance of the company as well as on the economy. A great deal of research has been carried out on the performance of the corporations involved in the merger and acquisition. When a company wants to jump start a long term growth or boost up the corporate performance, MA may seem to be the best option. Yet study after study puts the success rate of MA lies just between 20% and 30%. A lot of researcher had tried to explain the abysmal statistics, usually by analyzing the attributes of the deals that worked and those that didnt. What is lacking is the robust theory that identifies the causes of those success and failures.  [2]   2.1 Merger and Acquisition: Conceptual Review Farlex Financial Dictionary  [3]  has defined A decision by two companies to combine all operations, officers, structure, and other functions of business. Mergers are meant to be mutually beneficial for the parties involved. In the case of two publicly-traded companies, a merger usually involves one company giving shareholders in the other its stock in exchange for surrendering the stock of the first company Pratap G. Subramanyam (2005) has stated merger as in the term associated with the integration of one company into another. The merging company should exist thereafter and all its assets and liabilities get legally vested in the merged company. This means that the merger means amalgamation of the assets of the two or more companies to form a new company serving the similar or different purpose. 2.1.1 Recognition of amalgamation (merger) by Indian Statutory Bodies The Company Act of India does not define an amalgamation or a merger. Therefore, the term are being interpreted as being included in the term arrangement as defined in Section 390(b). This is vindicated by the fact that Section 394 talks about arrangement that are in nature of amalgamation of two or more companies. It is possible under Companies Act for two or more companies to amalgamate using the shareholder approval route under Section 293(1)(a) though such route is never adopted. The more appropriate route is to get court order under Section 394 of the Act, which has been specifically enacted to enable amalgamations. Section 390 This section provides that The expression arrangement includes a reorganization of the share capital of the company by the consolidation of shares of different classes, or by the division of shares into shares of different classes, or by both these methods Section 394 This section contains the powers while sanctioning scheme of reconstruction or amalgamation. Under the Income Tax(IT) Act, 1961 Section 2(1B) the word amalgamation in relation to companies means the merger of one or more companies to another company or the merger of two or more companies to form one company so that: All the property of the amalgamating company or companies before the amalgamation becomes the property of amalgamating company by virtue of the amalgamation. All liabilities of the amalgamating company or companies immediately before the amalgamation become the liabilities of amalgamating company by the virtue of amalgamation. Accounting Standard AS-14 defines amalgamations as those pursuant to the provisions of the companies Act or any other statute, which may be applicable to the companies. Therefore, it applies to all transactions that come under the purview of Section 391-394 of the Companies Act that relate to integration of two or more companies. AS-14 categorizes amalgamation into two categories: (a) amalgamation in nature of merger (b) amalgamation in nature of purchase. An amalgamation fall into former category if: All assets and liabilities of transferor company become after amalgamation, the assets and liabilities of the transferee company. Shareholders holding not less than 90% of the face value of the equity share of transferor company (excluding the shares held by the transferee company), become the equity shareholder of the transferee company by virtue of the amalgamation. The consideration for the amalgamation, receivable by those equity shareholders of the transferor company who agree to become the equity shareholder in the transferee company, is discharged wholly by issue of shares (except for fractional shares that may be settled in cash). The business of the transferor company is intended to be carried on by the transferee company. Acquisition is the mechanism by which companies change hands and through transfer of ownership of share or transfer of control. Acquisition means the purchase of or getting access to significant stakes in a company, often making such acquirer a major shareholder or force in the company. According to Dictionary of Financial Term  [4]  If a company buys another company outright, or accumulates enough shares to take a controlling interest, the deal is described as an acquisition. For example, if Corporation A buys 51% or more of Corporation B, then Corporation B becomes a subsidiary of Corporation A, and the activity is called an acquisition. A single investor may buy out a publicly-traded company; one calls this going private. Acquisitions occur in exchange for cash, stock, or both. Acquisitions may be friendly or hostile; a friendly acquisition occurs when the board of directors supports the acquisition and a hostile acquisition occurs when it does not. 2.1.2 The Acquisition and Takeover Code in India After the advent of the SEBI, introduced in 1994, there was a concerted attempt at formulation of a comprehensive framework under which acquisition and takeover could be made in existing listed companies. However the takeover code does not apply to unlisted companies and continue to be regulated by the provision of the Company Act. Listed companies are currently governed by the provision of Takeover Code, clause 40A and 40B of the Listing Agreement of the stock exchange and Section 108B and 108D of the Companies Act as regards acquisition and takeovers. Under the provision of Section 108B, corporate under the same management holding whether singly or in aggrete.10% or more of the nominal value of the subscribed equity share capital of the any other company shall, before transferring one or more such shares, give to the central government an intimation of its proposal to do with the prescribed details. Section 108D provides the similar provision wherein the Central Government can act suo moto of any transfer of a block share in a company. All the Sections under 108 are backed by Section 108G. Section 108G Applicability of the provisions of sections 108A to 108F.-The provisions of sections 108A to 108F (both inclusive) shall apply to the acquisition or transfer of shares or share capital by or to, an individual firm, group, constituent of a group, body corporate or bodies corporate under the same management, who or which- (a) is, in case of acquisition of shares or share capital, the owner in relation to a dominant undertaking and there would be, as a result of such acquisition, any increase-   (i) in the production, supply, distribution or control of any goods that are produced, supplied, distributed or controlled in India or any substantial part thereof by that dominant undertaking, or   (ii) in the provision or control of any services that are rendered in India or any substantial part thereof by that dominant undertaking; or   (b) would be, as a result of such acquisition or transfer of shares or share capital, the owner of a dominant undertaking; or   (c) is, in case of transfer of shares or share capital, the owner in relation to a dominant undertaking. The SEBI Takeover Code brought in several new features into acquisition law which were not present in Clause 40A and 40B. The basic theme of the code is to provide for fair play and transparency in acquisition and takeover but at the same time to ensure that they are not stifled into extinction. 2.2 Differentiation of Merger and Acquisition In general Mergers and Acquisitions are used interchangeably, but they have a subtle differentiation in there meaning. Weston and Copeland (1992) distinguished merger and acquisition: merger as a transaction between more or less equal partners, while acquisitions are used to denote a transaction where a substantially bigger firm takes over a smaller firm. Their basis of distinguish was the size. But there are other factors apart from size that denotes the differences between merger and acquisition. Asquith Mullins (1986) define mergers and acquisitions on basis of share distribution. When two firms merge, shares of both are surrendered and new shares in name of the new firm will be issued. Unlike in merger, shares of the acquiring firm are not surrendered but traded in the market prior to the acquisition and continue to be traded by the public after the acquisition. The shares of the target firm cease to exist publicly. Motives behind Merger and Acquisition There are three major motives for the mergers and takeovers: Synergy, Agency, Hubris Synergy motive means that the sum total return/value from the integration of two or more companies should be greater than that from the individual company. Elazar Berkovitch (1993) suggests that the takeovers occur because of economic gains that results by merging the resources of the two firms. They even concluded that total gains from MA are always positive and thus can say that synergy appears. The agency motive suggests that takeovers occur because they enhance the acquirer managements welfare at the expense of acquirer shareholders. Elazar Berkovitch and M. P. Narayanan (1993) suggested three major motives for mergers and acquisitions: synergy, agency and hubris. The synergy motive suggests that the takeovers occur because of economic gains that results by merging the resources of the two firms. The agency motive suggests that takeovers occur because they enhance the acquirer managements welfare at the expense of acquirer shareholders. The hubris hypothesis suggests that managers make mistakes in evaluating target firms, and engaged in acquisitions even when there is no synergy. Khemani (1991) states that there are multiple reasons, motives, economic forces and institutional factors that can be taken together or in isolation, which influence corporate decisions to engage in MAs. It can be assumed that these reasons and motivations have enhanced corporate profitability as the ultimate, long-term objective. It seems reasonable to assume that, even if this is not always the case, the ultimate concern of corporate managers who make acquisitions, regardless of their motives at the outset, is increasing long-term profit. However, this is affected by so many other factors that it can become very difficult to make isolated statistical measurements of the effect of MAs on profit. The free cash flow theory developed by Jensen (1988) provides a good example of intermediate objectives that can lead to greater profitability in the long run. This theory assumes that corporate shareholders do not necessarily share the same objectives as the managers. The conflicts between these differing objectives may well intensify when corporations are profitable enough to generate free cash flow, i.e., profit that cannot be profitably re-invested in the corporations. Under these circumstances, the corporations may decide to make acquisitions in order to use these liquidities. It is therefore higher debt levels that induce managers to take new measures to increase the efficiency of corporate operations. According to Jensen, long-term profit comes from the re-organization and restructuring made necessary by takeovers.

Sonnys Heroic Journey in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues Essay -- Sonny

The theme of "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin focuses on whether a person should be conventional in making decisions for their life, or if they should follow their heart and do what is right for them. A person begins with strengths, many of which they lose along the way. At some point along their heroic journey a person may regain their strengths and develop new ones. Each phase of this journey will have an effect on them and others around them. According to his brother, who narrates "Sonny's Blues," Sonny was a bright-eyed young man full of gentleness and privacy. "When he was about as old as the boys in my classes his face had been bright and open, there was a lot of copper in it; and he'd had wonderfully direct brown eyes, a great gentleness and privacy. I wondered what he looked like now" (Baldwin 272). Something happened to Sonny, as it did to most of the young people growing up in Harlem. His physical journey growing up in the streets caused a great deal of inner turmoil about whom he was and what kind of life he was to have. One thing for sure, by the time his mother died, Sonny was ready to get out of Harlem. " 'I ain't learning nothing in school,' he said. 'Even when I go.' He turned away from me and opened the window and threw his cigarette out into the narrow alley. I watched his back. 'At least, I ain't learning nothing you'd want me to learn.' He slammed the window so hard I thought the glass would fly out, and turned back to me. 'And I'm sick of the stink of these garbage cans!' " (Baldwin 285). The garbage cans Sonny referred to seem to symbolize the life he physically lived, his inner or spiritual life and how he dealt with it. I was sure that the first time Sonny had ever had horse, he couldn't have ... ...Drama. 7th edition. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 1999. 272-295. Reilly, John M. " 'Sonny's Blues': James Baldwin's Image of Black Community." James Baldwin: A Critical Evaluation. Ed.Therman B. O'Daniel. Howard University Press. Washington, D.C. 1977. 163-169. Works Consulted Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." N.p.: n.p., n.d. 122-48. Web. 12 May 2015. . "James Baldwin Biography." Bio. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. . "James Baldwin." PBS. PBS, 29 Nov. 2006. Web. 11 May 2015. . N.d. Poetry Foundation. Web. 11 May 2015. .

The Lovers Tale :: The Lovers Tale Chaucer Canterbury Tales Essays

The Lover's Tale Whan that the goode Wif of Bathe hadde hir tale ytold, with ful light herte thought she, â€Å"Whan that I go again from Canterbury, Sekirly shalle I have a soper at the cost of alle.† Anoon a yonge lovere saide in parfit Englisch, â€Å"Lordings, now leten me tell the tale of most solas and best sentence.† The young lover paused for a moment: â€Å"Surely the tale would be much more enjoyable if we stop with all the Middle English.† The pilgrims nodded in agreement, wondering why they had not decided upon this earlier, and the lover continued, â€Å"Now, permit me to tell the most pleasant and meaningful tale.† â€Å"In the days of old, during the time of the great King Arthur, there was a knight well known for his courage, valor, and good looks; however, this knight was known to no woman, and many people spoke of this in jest. Also, there was a fair maiden, young and coy, who adored the knight. This lovely lady adored him so much that one day, as he was riding his great steed, she winked at him. This gesture greatly offended the courageous man. He dismounted his horse, went up to the woman, and asked her if she knew who he was. She said, ‘Sir, I do know who you are, and I dare say that I have loved you for some time now.’ The knight was horrified by this beautiful, forthright, and bold woman. He said to her, ‘Woman, I am a fair knight, and thou art not my type.’ A few bystanders giggled, but the knight continued, ‘You shall be punished for what thou hast done to me.’ Then, with his great strength, he took hold of the woman, placed her behind him on his noble steed, and brought her to his lord, the great King Arthur. The noble knight smiled gleefully and was full of joy as he greeted the knights of Arthur’s court (he seemed joyful and gay). The great King Arthur listened to the complaints of his brave knight, and after some time told him that he would need time to decide what punishment to give this girl.

The Trip: Journey To The Center Of Terence Mckennas Inner Self. :: essays research papers

The Trip: Journey to The Center of Terence McKenna's Inner Self. Terence McKenna has become one of the most (in)famous figures in the exploration of psychedelia and its impact on society and technology. Here McKenna espouses his theories on psychedelic mushrooms, virtual reality, shamanism and evolution. This is definitely one of the strangest and most interesting articles I have ever read. At first it seems almost totally incomprehensible and inconceivable, but after reading it over a couple of times with a good dictionary and thesaurus it begins to make sense. In this article McKenna explains one of his trips on magic mushrooms. He describes this trip as â€Å"a virtual reality tour of God's cerebral cortex, hosted by the Lucky Charms leprechaun†. He then goes on to tell how this trip affected his life and how it was such a complete shock that it caused the literal turning inside-out of his intellectual universe. He was knocked off his feet and set himself the goal of understanding this. His quest led him all over the world, exploring traditions of magic-religious drug usage. In the years since his fateful encounter with the self-transforming machine elves of hyperspace, McKenna has fashioned his mental Merzbau on the New Age lecture circuit, where he has earned the benediction of the psychedelic High Priest himself, who dubbed him â€Å"the Timothy Leary of the 90's†. McKenna has written several books as well as having rave bands set his ruminations to billowing techno-trance music. The main focus of this article is on McKenna's theory, which is concocted from psychedelic Darwinism, fringe linguistics, and New Age eschatology. This theory is based on the notion that â€Å"Hallucinogenic plants may have been the catalysts

Fareed Zakaria’s The Post-American World Essay

Fareed Zakaria’s â€Å"The Post-American World† â€Å"Through his writings, research, and teaching, Fareed Zakaria has made an impact in the field of political science and foreign policy. A graduate of both Yale and Harvard, Zakaria has utilized the knowledge that he has gained by writing extensively on the subject of international affairs. Articles authored by Zakaria often appear in distinguished publications such as Wall Street Journal, New Republic, New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. Zakaria’s Journalistic writing has also led to the publication ofa number of books† (Fareed Zakaria). Fareed Zakaria is Indian mmigrant who has become a true patriot of America. Almost all his works are related to the United States. This fact can be read in his creations such as The American Encounter, From Wealth to Power, and The Post-American World. â€Å"Several critics found The American Encounter to be an admirable project†¦. Library Journal contributor Tricia Gray felt the book is the best suited for academics and some of the larger public libraries, while Booklist reviewer Mary Carroll recommended the book for public display, noting: ‘Even Libraries with a full run of Foreign Affairs on the shelf may want this collection. Fareed Zakaria). Fareed Zakaria’s The Post-American World is extraordinary event. The author of the idea of â€Å"Illiberal democracy’ Fareed Zakaria sought to explain to America and West political diversity of the modern world, to imbue the American establishment to respect the historical choice of non-western peoples. The authorà ¢â‚¬â„¢s new creation is not a description of decline of the U. S. that has become commonly known, but thoughtful analysis of the growing world’s globalization, its effects and outlines of the future configuration. â€Å"Changes take place gradually’, writes Zakaria. We live in the Newton’s dynamic world, not in the Medieval Europe’s static world. Everything started from Galileo Galilei who challenged static world and made first changes which led to collapse of Medieval Europe’s world. According to Fareed Zakaria, over the past five centuries there have been three â€Å"tectonic shifts of power†. The first shift that began in the XV century and accelerated dramatically in the XVIII century gave rise to the phenomenon â€Å"modernity’ with corresponding attributes of science and technology, commerce and capitalism, and agrarian and industrial revolutions. The first stage haracterized by the continued dominance of West over the rest of the world. The second shift, according to the author, began in last years of the XIX century, and its content was an elevation of the U. S. , its transformation into â€Å"imperial successor† of ancient Rome with the relevant economic and political-military attributes. In the last two decades America’s influence has become â€Å"unipolar† – a phenomenon unprecedented in modern history. Finally, the third shift that Fareed Zakaria called â€Å"the rise of the others† is happening before our eyes. It is a consequence of accelerated growth of major countries in Asia and beyond. The third shift is actually creating a new international system in which the former â€Å"object† and â€Å"observers† are transtormed into real global â€Å"players†, acting on the basis ot their own interests In other words, distribution of power is shifting from America to other centers of power. However, â€Å"It is not ‘anti-American’ world, but ‘post-American’, directed from many centers not only by Americans, but also by others†, writes the author. Fareed Zakaria describes several trends that determine and will determine the trajectory of evolution of the â€Å"Post-American World†. The author emphasizes the â€Å"Islamic threat† hich, however, at the level of ideology cannot compete with the west modernization. Islam has to adapt to the challenges of modernization and globalization in societies that do not welcome the idea of Jihad. Therefore, â€Å"Modern civilization may be stronger that we suspect† (Zakaria 17). Fareed Zakaria states the offset of the global geo-economic â€Å"axis† to the east, in the direction of the Asian-Pacific region. This trend was reinforced by globalization. Now, the vast majority of the monetary and financial resources of the world are concentrated in the Asian-Pacific region. â€Å"According Goldman Sachs, by 2040, the combined GDP of China, India, Brazil, Russia and Mexico may exceed the corresponding fgures of the G-7† (Zakaria 27). Thus, â€Å"American ideas of the world order† actively challenged by global energy producers: Iran, Venezuela and Russia. Particular attention is given to the national identity of the peoples in the â€Å"Post-American World†. In â€Å"The Rise of Nationalism† Zakaria sees two sides. Firstly, objective difficulties of coordination of private and public interests, and in this sense â€Å"raising of the rest†, are able to â€Å"prevent transformation of the forces of global growth nto factor of global disorder and disintegration† (Zakaria 27). Secondly, the U. S. will have to reckon with the fact that in the modern world there is the concept of â€Å"freedom of choice†. Zakaria cleverly illustrates this fact by excerpt from a conservation of last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten and Mahatma Gandhi. Mountbatten said: â€Å"If we Just leave (India), there will be chaos. † Gandhi replied: mies, but it will be our chaos† (Zakaria 33). Further, very few people in the modern world are ready to agree with the western version of the â€Å"new world order† which is a continuation of the American version. Now, many countries set together horizontal communication without support of the American â€Å"center†. One example of this kind is an interaction of the four mega-countries: India, China, Russia and Brazil (BRICS). As for the â€Å"Last Superpower† the U. S. holds and will hold the positions of the most competitive economy due to the highly developed demographic dynamics. At the same time the role of Western Europe and Japan in the world economy, according to the author, will continue to decline. The inconsistency of being America is that the U. S. , on the one hand, remains at the top of the world’s new order, and on the other and, the new order of its dynamics challenges the privileged position of America. Fareed Zakaria fascinatingly describes historic ascent of the West to the top of industrial civilization, which is a subject well known by experts of the economic history, but new to the ordinary readers. In this approach, there is convincing, in my view, the geopolitical logic. This logic has an idea that the industrial civilization and its foundation not questioned. The author writes: â€Å"Unprecedented economic growth has produced unprecedented social change. China has compressed the West’s two undred years of industrialization into thirty’ (Zakaria 97). The country with an active operation of market mechanisms and the most significant population in the world is a new challenge to the United States. It is the challenge that America hasn’t previously encountered and to which was unprepared. The tinal chapters ot the book are dedicated to America’s role in the â€Å"post-American world. † â€Å"Secret weapon† of the U. S. , Zakaria believes, is the demographic potential of the country. It is going to hit 365 million people by 2030, while the ratio of workers to not employed will be ore favorable than, for example, in Western Europe and Japan.