Business and Research Project Essay Example for Free

Business and Research Project Essay JC Penny has been running successfully for close to 90 years. Most entrepreneurs and managers face the same dilemmas at times. The choices one makes are the basis for his or her company success. The CEO of JC Penny Ron Johnson was faced with many management dilemmas. The first of many dilemmas that Ron Johnson was faced with was to innovate or conserve JC Penny. Innovation is important, but one should also focus on new applications and new markets as well. However, the revenues of innovations are in the future. One needs also to get the maximum out of one’s current business. According an article published by Forbes â€Å"Ron Johnson did not try and solving the real problem with JC Penny. Sales fell some 25%. The stock dropped 50% He spent lavishly trying to remake the brand. He modernized the logo, upped the TV ad spend, spruced up stores and implemented a more consistent pricing strategy. But that all was designed to help JC Penney competes in traditional brick-and-mortar retail. Against traditional companies like Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Sears, etc† (Hartung, 2014). If the leader or manager does not invest there comes a time when the current business declines without new innovation to take over JC Penny revenues. If a manager invests too much, it may end up endangering the continuity of the current business. According to Joshua Kennon â€Å"J.C. Penney saw sales fall from $19.903 billion in 2007 to $12.985 billion in 2013. This caused the firm to go from a pre-tax profit of $1.792 billion to pre-tax losses of $1.536 billion, a staggering swing of $3.328 billion. Dividends were slashed, book value destroyed. There were rumors the company was surviving by pushing payable bills and hoarding cash† (Kennon, 2013). The purpose of learning team C’s research is to identify the most important factors to customers that are considering shopping at J.C. Penney. This statement speaks to the researcher’s attention and states goal or objective of the research. This statement will evaluate errors that were made J.C.  Penny’s top management, putting the company into a very vulnerable predicament with the core customers. The factors that will be considered are directly associated with management errors such as: †¢Misreading what shoppers want- coupons, sales price/clearance items †¢Not testing the ideas in advance- assuming the culture was the same as other companies †¢Alienated the core customers †¢Misreading the JC Penney brand †¢Not respecting the JC Penney company overall From these errors the team will provide research questions to include in the paper, gather the information the is related to the customer most recent shopping experience with the company to develop a proposed research plan to address the most management dilemmas. Draft of Research Questions Learning team C intends to research the reasons J.C. Penney had a decline in customer core base and sales which almost led to the demise of the company. This research will be conducted via survey with the intent of possibly salvaging the creditability of the company. Our learning will provide surveys to adults that have shopped J.C. Penny either online or in the store within the last two years. The survey questions used would supply management with opportunities to test potential marketing strategies to revive sales and retain the company’s initial core customer base. LTC will provide the following questions to gather data for research in the survey: †¢What is the age group/gender of the participant †¢How far from home will he or she be willing to drive to the store †¢What is the importance of coupons and sales price/clearance items †¢How frequent does the participant shop online or in the store †¢How important is the brand name that is provided by the company †¢How important is the atmosphere of the store (i.e. Arizona, IZOD, Dockers, etc) †¢How important is the culture of store (i.e. is food courts or specialty boutiques important) After compiling a more precise list of question to provide for the survey, we will rank the factors from least to greatest importance to determine the  decision making process for J.C. Penney current dilemma. Conclusion Eventually, JC Penny did fire Ron Johnson and rehired the previous CEO Mike Ullman, who stills faces big challenges. JC Penny has posted sales drops and losses in its first three quarters. As JC Penny attempts to recover from its dilemmas from the period in which it alienated consumers, and infuriated its employees, its new CEO Mike Ullman, is making headway in trying to purge corporate ranks and bring the customers back to shopping at JC Penny. In business leaders or managers all face some challenges that if left unaddressed such as JC Penny dilemma can massively affect the business. The good news is that there is now a solution in place to help JC Penny return to being successful. References Hartung, A. (2014). Two Wrongs Wont Fix JC Penney. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cwe/citation_generator/web_01_01.asp Kennon, J. (2013). The Collapse of J.C. Penney – What Caused It and Can It Be Fixed?. Retrieved from http://www.joshuakennon.com/the-collapse-of-jc-penney-what-caused-it-and-can-it-be-fixed/

Early Childhood Education Theorists and Their Theories

Early Childhood Education Theorists and Their Theories Throughout this topic I have learnt many things about pioneers, theorists and current thinkers who have had a big influence on the way to treat children in a setting like a nursery or school. These people have had thoughts that stretch from, corporal punishment to healthy settings, playing areas and timings. In my presentation I chose two theorists, two pioneers and one current thinker, and the people I chose were; Robert Owen, The McMillan Sisters (Rachel and Margaret), Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget and Tina Bruce. I analysed their impact in the presentation of what it had on current day thinking and Early Years provision. I have learnt about many techniques and ideas that have been put in place across child settings across the UK, and what their influences were on current times. There were many great ideas from the pioneers, theorist and current thinkers and in my presentation I discussed these. Most of the pioneers and theorists that I focused on were from the 19th century or the early 20th century, and from researching for my presentation I have become aware that many great ideas about subjects like corporal punishment, play, when the child will develop most, had come from hundreds of years ago, not just in the past couple of decades. This surprised me as because of all the modern research that is done today, and huge reform in education in the past 30 years, I would have thought that most of the current studies would have been a cause of this, especially with corporal punishment. This personally has brought up some questions to why it took so long to implement this into childrens settings, especial ly schools, which not employed until 1987. One of thought of a pioneer was allowing free play within nurseries, schools and other locations. This idea came from the McMillan Sisters, who are arguably the most influential pioneers, and had questionably the biggest impact. I explained this in my presentation, how it affects the children to develop creativity and also how it has been implemented within the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage). In my presentation I analysed the impact and influence that it has on the children, the setting and the teachers or people who work in the school or surroundings. I said that they were key in promoting playgrounds in the schools for the children to be creative when they were at school, and also not to just do boring classes, but to be kinaesthetic and learn in all different ways possible. The McMillan sisters also were of the belief that the key to the development of a child was the years between 0-6. This inspired other pioneers and teachers to realise how vital teaching 0-6 year olds was, and how it would shape their lives. It is also now a core subject and feature in the EYFS. Robert Owen was a pioneer from the late 18th, early 19th century, who realised the importance of a rational approach to teaching and believed that there should not be any punishment given out to children. I explained this in my presentation, by stating that it is something that has been implemented into all settings that have children in them which was employed in 1987. This also has been taken one step further in the UK and now adults are not allowed to strike children at all. He used to work a lot with children and built a model community which included a day nursery, a playground and a school for children in 1817 which meant the children did not have to work in factories like usual. With this approach he was part of the reason why children stopped working in factories and other workplaces at such a young age. Instead they were required to be educated at a school, which meant that children would have a better education and society were likely to have brighter people as a result. Th is had a huge impact on society, throughout the UK and most of the World, and now is part of Human Rights laws. From this I found out that Robert Owen had a huge impact on education and stressed how important it was for a child, and had influences of getting children out of the workplace and into education. Jean Piaget was a theorist from the 20th century who believed that the way a child develops was down to nature, and it was something that they are born with, which related to formal and logical thinking. This lead to a lot development and research into the development of child psychology, and how much importance is there for put on a teacher or how much importance there is the childs gene pool. I thought this was quite a step forward for child psychology and I believe he has started a real debate between Nature vs Nurture. Piaget also created Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development, which had four different stages to it; the Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years), Pre-Operational Stage (2-7 years), Concrete Operational Stage (7+ years) and the Formal Operational Stage (11+ years). With this cycle he also stressed that the child cannot be forced to move on to each stage and that they have to be mentally ready to move on. I explained in my presentation that as a result of this work that he com pleted and the cycle he made, many education curriculums or areas are now built on the thought that the children should be taught towards their level, and if they are not ready, they will not move on, which is similar to the national curriculum in England. This has lead to work support environments being set up across the World to help children who are struggling in education. From this I believe that Piaget has made one of the biggest impacts on childrens development, psychology and childrens settings. Lev Vygotsky was a very influential theorist from the early 20th century who based most of his work on, thought, language and psychology and believed that development mostly came from guidance from adults, language and the environment. From this work, Vygotsky had a big impact and I recognised this in my presentation by stating that Vygotskys impact from this was that he promoted the teachers and educators of the children to speak to the children clearly and in a way that they would understand. This would lead to the children becoming more attentive, and thus make them more likely to take information in, and consequently learn more. This was a great point, and has influenced so much in modern times, not just for schools and children settings, but for work places and customer care or service. He also stressed the importance of the adults role within the childs life. Later in the 20th century this point became very important, and it made people take notice that children need an adult i nfluence in their lives to send them in the right direction, and make them become a nice person and the best they can be at whatever they wanted to do. In my presentation I stressed this as a very important point, which had a huge influence on society today. Tina Bruce is a current thinker, who has a strong belief in learning through the use of play through the development of experience using representation and games with rules. With this she has helped inspire and influence play in the National Curriculums, which led to the Early Childhood Reform for Education, in countries across the World from USA to New Zealand and from the UK to Portugal. However I believe this is the hardest person to judge with her impact and influence, as her ideas are fairly recent and therefore you cannot see how she has influenced childrens settings and how children develop through her thoughts and observations. In my presentation I brought this point up, and even though she may have some good ideas, most notably her though of the use of play through the development of experience using representation and games with rules, these ideas cannot be fully judged or merited, and therefore cannot be compared to any of the pioneers or theorists such as Robert Owen or J ean Piaget. I learnt a lot during this module, and found out what a huge influence these people had on society and childrens settings for today. I believe the person who had the greatest influence was Jean Piaget as the work he did on his Stages of Cognitive Development had a monumental impact on todays national curriculum, not just in the UK and Europe, but in the rest of the World too. What I thought was clever about this cycle was that it wasnt fixed or set, so if the child is not mentally ready, then they will not move on which differs to other cycles with do not allow that leeway or flexibility. He also made great points about logical and formal thinking which lead to a lot of research towards the development of childs psychology which is very helpful in society today, through the knowledge of how best to teach, develop or educate the children.

Analysis of the Psalm of Life Poem

Analysis of the Psalm of Life Poem This poem dramatizes the conflict between the truth of life lived in the moment and the neglect of the soul when a person focuses on things beyond his control: namely the past and the future. There are many themes expressed by the poet within this work: freedom, happiness, perseverance, truth, futility, spirituality and success. From the title one might say that the theme is simply to seize the day: Carpe Diem (Harmon, 2009, 87). The poems form is that of the lyric (324)and the poet encourages the reader to use their imagination. The word choices and placement within its stanza evoke both a melody and emotion. There are nine stanzas that make up the composition and each contain the qualities of the quatrain [consist of four lines in which lines two and four must rhyme while having the same number of syllables (452)]. Psalm of Life also carries the traits of the dramatic monologue in that the narrator of the work is the poet himself (177). In stanza one, line one the poet assigns the description of mournful to the idea of numbers. This word was chosen to identify the audience: those who apparently go through life as though it is a chore. The word mournful frames the feeling as though something was lost and captures the grief generated by that loss. Life is but an empty dream! states why there are so many sorrowful within the audience: if there is no aim higher than what one can gather on the earth then life itself has no purpose. The poet reveals his motivation in lines three through four of the first stanza: For the soul is dead that slumbers/And things are not what they seem. Living life in a rut or for material reasons is the killer of the soul. The soul found unawares, which is what is implied by the word use of slumbers, is most vulnerable to eternal death. Line four tells the audience that they must look beyond the surface of the world as well as beyond themselves. Life is real! Life is earnest! conveys an earnes tness and a bit of desperation. An emphatic proclamation made in a way of a Southern Baptist preacher pleading with those on the path to destruction to turn to the life of the soul. And the grave is not its goal underlines the idea that life is something to be actively engaged in and not merely a journey to death. Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest, is referencing Genesis 3:19 and seems to throw this plea for life into a light that may speak to the religious up-bringing of his audience. The poet makes a very important distinction in the following line, Was not spoken of the soul. The creation of man is entirely unique from the rest of life on the earth because the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul(Genesis 3:19). These two lines bring into the poets supplication the backing of scripture. Stanza four brings forward the thought of futility: Art is long, and Time is fleeting,/And our hearts, though stout and brave,/ Still, like muffled drums, are beating funeral marches to the grave. It is as though the poet wants to remind his audience that every moment, every heartbeat is bringing them closer to the inevitable end ones life-time. This further underlines the idea of seizing the day. In using the word fleeting the poet attempts to get across that time will just continue on without regard for the individual- no matter how brave and firm ones heart might be. The poet is again underlining that life today is all one really has when faced with the flow of time. Stanza five, line 18 introduces a word that is unfamiliar in todays way of life: bivouac. This word defined in Merriam-Webster as a temporary or casual shelter or lodging and by itself holds the idea of the entire poem which is that this life is temporary. This stanza evokes urgency through the use of the exclamation point. The poet is telling his audience to be the hero of their own battles rather than a pawn in the battle of another with the words Be not like the dumb, driven cattle!/ Be a hero in the strife!. Stanza six addresses the two possible positions of the audience and bring to them some very specific supplications: for those who are living for tomorrow the poet says, Trust no Future, howeer pleasant! and for those who would lament the past, Let the dead Past bury its dead!. The poet does not leave the audience wondering what their response should be but plainly states, Act, act in the living present! Heart within, and God oerhead! People can make what they will of their own lives and can follow the example of the great men that came before them, Lives of great men all remind us/We can make our lives sublime,. There is no secret that separates those who are great from those that pass through life without leaving an impression. It seems as though the poet is saying that those who are considered great took advantage of the opportunities of their present. It is those people who departing, leave behind us/Footprints on the sand of time who provide encouragement not only to their generation, but for those in the generations to come Footprints, that perhaps another,/Sailing oer lifes solemn main,/A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,/Seeing shall take heart again. The final stanza brings a soft point to the compelling argument of the previous eight. It is as though the poet it taking the hand of the audience: to pull them gently from the bed of their complacency. The hand held out shows that walking along the road of today does not mean a journey travelled alone, Let us then be up and doing,/With a heart for any fate;/Still achieving, still pursuing,/ Learn to labor and wait. The poet takes the hand of the reader now as he did during his own time and seems to say to each individual: Let us move forward together.

Ptolemy of Alexandria, the Influential Astronomer Essays -- Biography

Ptolemy of Alexandria, the Influential Astronomer Ptolemy of Alexandria was the most influential astronomer of the ancient world. The books and theories Ptolemy developed served as a major basis for future astronomers. It was during the Renaissance period that his work became thoroughly studied and revised. Ptolemy collected all ancient knowledge of astronomy and geography including it in his book Almagest around 140 A.D. It follows, he then wrote a four volume astrological study known as the Tretrabiblos. Ptolemy claimed that the scribes of Babylon had been instructed since 750 B.C to keep detailed astronomical diaries. These diaries were written for seven hundred years on clay tablets. The tablets depicted night-sky events along with river level changes and weather phenomena. Modern archaeologists have confirmed the claim by unearthing Babylonian tablets recording observations of Mars and Venus from that time period. Ptolemy used a method of consulting lists of lunar phases, and planetary movements complied over many centuries to look for...

Analysis of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin :: The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman, Mrs. Mallard whose husband is thought to be dead. Throughout the story Chopin describes the emotions Mrs. Mallard felt about the news of her husband's death. However, the strong emotions she felt were not despair or sadness, they were something else. In a way she was relieved more than she was upset, and almost rejoiced in the thought of her husband no longer living. In using different literary elements throughout the story, Chopin conveys this to us on more than one occasion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the third paragraph of the story, Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard as she goes into her room and sits on an armchair. Chopin describes how Mallard ?sank pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted the body and seemed to reach into her soul?. In this point of the story Chopin uses symbolism connecting Mrs. Mallard and the chair, the chair representing the death of her husband and her feelings about it. How it was ?a comfortable roomy chair?, she is showing us how Mrs. Mallard was ?comfortable? with her husband?s death and now felt she had room to exist freely. This is supported by the lines ?she would live for herself now. There would be no powerful will bending her in the blind?? This demonstrating to the reader that she felt controlled by her husband, and that she would no longer bet tied down to the ways of the time, which were men control women. This also supported by Jennifer Hicks in her overview of the story which states " Later, when we see Mrs. Mall ard "warm and relaxed", we realize that problem with her heart is that her marriage has not allowed her to "live for herself"."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another example of how Mrs. Mallard was more uplifted than brought down by the news of her husband?s death is the description of the window. As Mrs. Mallard looks out Chopin explains ?she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all a quiver with new life?. This is telling the reader about the new life that Mrs. Mallard can see in the distance that symbolizes the new life she saw that lay ahead of her now that she was free of her husband. This thought being supported by Hicks in saying "The revalation of freedom occurs in the bedroom"

Reaction Paper Essay

On August 3, the 1st year BSHM-CA students held an educational tour in different places of Manila and especially the main event of the tour is in the Fontana Resort, Clark Pampanga. The Educational tour started out as an escape from school for most of us students, bonding with friends, chance to unwind and of course, to learn new things and to gain knowledge at the same time that we may apply someday. First, we went to the entertainment room of the Resort where we discussed about the events, places of Pampanga and also some psychologic facts. After we enter the entertainment room of the Resort, there’s a short briefings about history of Pampanga, the course we took. We also did some different kinds of entertainment like singing, dancing, having fun, and eating. I learned a lot and also it is really useful because it’s important that you know how having an educational tour begins, the history and evolution of Pampanga because other people didn’t know that and I can share what I learned and discovered. After the short visit to entertainment room of the Resort, we went straight to our second destination the area of the Resort, I found myself amazed and amused because the place is really relaxing and unwinding. After we arrived in our hotel rooms, we wait for about 30 minutes because there was a huge rain that day and it looked like a storm. So it’s our time to eat lunch, relax, taking pictures, nap and retouch. After that we go back to our assigned rooms and relax and had fun there. I found our tour very interesting because I felt the happiness in me but it’s also a challenge for us. That’s all. Thank you.

Why Go to College

Why did you choose to come to college? Education is the most important part of one’s life. Not everyone goes to college right after high school. College is not intended for everyone. For example, some people decide to work right after high school. College is expensive and some may even say it is hard. However, college is not a bad thing it has some good qualities. For instance, it can be a time where students can venture out and meet new people. Like others, I, too have some reason why I choose to go to college. Such as, to better myself, higher paying jobs and get away from home. First, after high school may people do not consider going to college for whatever reasons one might have. Not going to college was not an option for me. However, my parents never went to college, and watching my mom struggle to make ends meet I just knew that I did not want that to be me. Therefore, I do not want to live my life, paycheck to paycheck, and worrying about weather or not I am going to have enough money to pay to keep a roof over my head. The reason for going to college is that I wanted to have a better life. Not everyone can go to college to better themselves, but I am lucky, and truly blessed that I am getting a opportunity to better myself. In fact, college is extremely important to me. I am the first one in my immediate family to go to college so it is a big deal to everyone that I not just go but to also graduate. Next, going to college not only helps me better my life but gives me more job opportunity. More and more jobs require more than a high school education. A person with a bachelor’s degree will earn, on average, almost twice as much as workers with a high school diploma. Master’s degree earn $31,900 more per year than a high school graduate. Furthermore, people who go to a two year college earns $250,000 more than someone who does not. More importantly, a college education can help you discover new areas of knowledge, consider life long goals and make wiser decisions. Getting a college education is an investment that is going to be with me for life.