The Art of Strategy Essay Example for Free

The Art of Strategy Essay Introduction The ongoing debate on the concept and definition of strategy is as interesting as the process of making the strategy itself. This discussion happens probably because different organisations (business entity, non-profit, governments, non-government, military, etc.) interpret strategy differently, one organisations might see it as a CEOs personal mission while other perceives it as a tool to achieve the organisations collectively decided goals. One organisation sees it as a game plan while other defines it as a set of pattern in a stream of not planned actions. Hofer and Schendel tried to give a comparison of some of the notable strategy definitions formulation as shown in Table 1. It can be clearly see that although slightly different from one another, there is some consistency as well in it. In addition, one think to note is the way an organisation defines the concept of a strategy will affects the way they formulate their strategies and the strategies resulted (Evered, 1983, p.60). Coming from this situation, this essay will try to identify the concept of strategy using the war analogy to offer another perspective on what strategy is and the implications of the said perception. Figure 1. Hofer and Schendel comparison of various author’s concepts of strategy and the strategy formulation process in the business management field (Everend, 1983, p. 60) The Art of War In this essay, I will use the same approach as James Brian Quinn (1996, pp.5-6), by using the history of the Kingdom of Macedon to illustrate the essence of strategy from my point of view. Figure 2. The Kingdom of Macedon, from Wikipedia, Map Macedonia 336 BC-en, (2009) Philip II and Alexander III of Macedon had very clear goals. They wanted to established their supremacy by conquer the other city-states in Ancient Greek area and put them under the Kingdom of Macedon. Moreover, they also need Athens’ troops to be in their alliance to defeat Persian Empire. When the city of Amphissa did a sacred land violation, the Macedonians used it as an opportunity to interfere. On their way to punish Amphissa, they made a detour in Elatea and built a defence base. Following this, Philip sent a peace offer to Thebes and Athens which got rejected by both parties and led to resort to battle. The Macedonians then made a scheme to prepare themselves in winning the battle using their specific strengths in the new spear technology, their strong phalanx’s formation, as well as the powerful cavalry. However, they knew that they were outnumbered and will face the best ground soldiers in the world. Therefore, they decided to attack Thebes and Athens from Chaeronea which is lightly armed using their strongest units. They also split their force, Philip engaged the full force phalanxes to the right wing and Alexander commanded the cavalry to the left wing. After fought hard Philip deliberately withdrew his troops. The Athenians on the left followed which made them breaking their army lines. After the enemy’s unity broke, Alexander attacked from the left side (the Theban lines). At the same time, Philip’s army then pressed forward and quickly scatter and defeat the enemy. After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander then occupied the other city-states unchallenged and declared it as a Hellenic Alliance. Later on the Hellenic Alliance will try to expand its authority to the Persian Empire. From the illustration above, several apparent points could be pointed out. The king’s and his successor’s grand strategy was to establish its dominance throughout the Greek land. In order to achieve it, they arranged a strategy which was to conquer all city-states and put them under the Kingdom of Macedon’s wing, either using peace offers or battles. Should the battles arise, they need to made tactics on the spot to win the battles, like the one they made in Chaeronea. So in this military context, the word â€Å"strategy† can be described as â€Å"the actual direction of military force† to achieve the policy’s (king’s) objectives (Evered, 1983, p.63). This aligns with the literal meaning of the word itself, stratos (army) and ago (leading)  (Evered, 1983, p.58). Normally, strategy is made before the actual contacts with the enemy and when it is already in the battlefield situations, tactics will be made, as distinguished above. Grand Strategy, Strategy, and Tactics Similar approach can also be applied to examine the concept of strategy in the management field. In my opinion, any organisation will need to have a grand strategy, strategy, and tactics which will be describe below. Grand Strategy As an organisation tries to define the intention of their existence, they will have to consider several questions, such as: Why are they here? What the key objectives are? Where is it going? What the organisation want to be in the future? What are their values? The answers to these questions will set the tone to their organisations quest. It will lead them to determine their grand strategy, or in this case I would refer it as the organisation’s mission, vision, and core values. According to Raynor (1998, p. 371), mission is a statement of the organisation’s core competencies and values that will give the organisation characteristics that will allow it to perform successfully in a particular area. While vision is the state in the future that the organisation wants to achieve within the area defined already in the mission. This includes setting up their objectives and goals. These components also famous to be categorized as strategic intent (Campbell Yeung, 1991, p.146; Phillips, 2011, p.928). Although some organisation might not have a specific explicit statement of their mission and vision (Ireland Hitt, 1992, p.36), the similarity of values and interest of the people within an organisation could accidently set an implicit mission and vision, which still could be considered as a grand strategy, like what happen in Lonely Planet company (Hubbard, et.al, 1996, pp.215-235). Strategy After an organisation becomes clear with who they are and the intention of their existence(mission), they know what their state of position in the future (vision), they have set their objectives and goals, now it is time  for them to determine their strategy to achieve it. Using the war analogy, the way I see a strategy is to treat it as a long term blueprint of an organisation that breaks down the big picture of grand strategy into smaller tangible milestones by understanding the organisations position at the time the strategy was made. A clear comprehension of the organisations internal strengths and weakness as well as the external opportunities and threats will help the organisation decide the ideal respond to take and the best way of recognising it is by using Porters SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threats) analysis (Phillips, 2011, p.928). Once the active responses are determine, it will hopefully achieve competitive advantage. According to Arnoldo Hax, the linkage between external and internal conditions and competitive advantage is very close in the strategy concept, he even put those together in one dimension in his redefinition of strategy concept (Hax, 1990, pp.35-36) whereas before he put those in two separate dimensions (Hax Majluf, 1988, pp.100-101). The benefit of having a strategy is to give the organisation a sense of unity, direction, and purpose, especially when it comes to the resources allocation as it will be more direct and clear. The other benefit is to give the organisation the ability to have a logical system for differentiating managerial tasks in an organisation, especially the one that has many layered of organisational structure (Hax, 1990, p.36). From this perspective, it is clear that in the grand strategy and strategy parts, the information processing and knowledge ordering use a top-down approach. Tactics Once the strategy is being declared, the organisation then have to set the tactics to match the strategy or in this case I would also like to refer it as a set of programmes or courses of actions. Tactics defines the details of strategy especially the resources allocations part and it is more of a short-term plan compares to strategy which makes it more adjustable than strategy to facilitate the necessary changes that come in the future. Since the creation of tactics occurs in a more daily basis with more dynamic activities, the information processing and knowledge ordering in this segment ideally use a mixture of top-down and bottom-up approach. The reason why I think the mix approach is ideal was because same as what happens in  normal battlefields, the frontline soldiers sometime know the situation on the field better than the general. That way the input from them is valuable to decide the next tactics. Same as in an organisation, when it comes to daily running, the operational staff would have a better and detail insight then the Chief Executive Officer. Once the programmes are implemented, the organisation will have to see the result and compare it to the strategy and then again to the grand strategy. The similar cycle (mission, objectives, goals, strategies, plans, operations, results) also suggested by LD Phillips (2011, p.928). Combining these three elements together, I think the suitable kind of strategy to this point of view is the Process Strategy which can be define as the leadership controls the process aspects of strategy, leaving the actual content of strategy to others; strategies are again partly deliberate (concerning process) and partly emergent (concerning content), and deliberately emergent (Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.13). By using this type of strategy, I think I position myself in between the two strategy mainstreams: Porter and Mintzberg. Porter with his deliberate strategy concept is in line with my point of view of formulating a strategy. It has to be carefully crafted because it will control all critical variables and activities in an organisation in a long run. However, as it is widely known, Porters concept on strategy has a flaw as well. It is accused to be too rigid, taking a long period of time to define, and not flexible for todays environment where the boundaries between industries are more fluid and the environment becomes less stable. Therefore, to accommodate this issue, I add the tactics element to it to give an option to the organisation to be more flexible. As already stated above, tactics are made to tackle the issue in the daily basis implementation and are more easily modified. Furthermore, I think it is appropriate to say that strategy, with the addition of tactics, is a living system rather than a static formula to be applied (Evered, 1983, p.61). Strategy as Plan (and Ploy) Coming from the illustration above, it is clear that my point of view about strategy aligns with Mintzbergs definition of strategy as plan. It has the two essential characteristics of plan which are: made in advance of the  actions to which they apply, and they are developed consciously and purposefully (Mintzberg, 1987, p.11; Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.10). Unlike the pattern definition that sees strategy as sporadic actions that are not intended but somehow consistent in behaviour, the way I set the strategy framework is to treat it as a clear and intended plan that is made to deal with a situation from the beginning (Mintzberg, 1987, pp.11-13; Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, pp.10-12). The interlock between strategy and tactics was noted by Mintzberg who stated that as a plan, a strategy can be a ploy too (Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.11). Similar thing also expressed by Rumelt in 1979 who stated that one persons or one departments strategy can be a tactic to another division depending on where and when you sit (Mintzberg Quinn, 1996, p.13). The other thing that I would like to point out is Mintzbergs definition of strategy as perspective which he describes as an ingrained way of perceiving the world (Mintzberg, 1987, p. 16). This means strategy as a perspective could also be seen as an ideology or a collective mind in an organisation that can be an umbrella for the other definitions of strategy (plan, pattern, and position). Although this interrelating connection is acceptable, I personally would consider perspective as a part of a mission rather than a strategy. The Argument One might argue that having a strategy is unnecessary and outdated for an organisation as it will restrain the organisation from being adaptive and flexible in a turbulent environment. To answer this question, I would like to use the Japanese competition style and practice in the 1970s and 1980s as illustrated by Michael Porter in one of his discussions (Porter, 1996, p.63). During this period of time, most of the Japanese companies did not develop a rigid mission, vision, or a distinctive strategy. They did not have a certain plan and did not position themselves in a certain market. Most of them copied and follow each others new development and being responsive to the markets demand by becoming all things to all customers. At first this style successfully made the operational process became effective as they did not need to spend time to formulate the strategy. However, over time it was destructive for the organisation itself. As the organisation did not have a clear direction of th eir quest, it had to  constantly change its orientations. As a result, not only the resources allocation needed to be repeatedly revised, it was also confusing the stakeholders. From the illustration above, it is clear that any kind of organisation will need to have a strategy to set direction for themselves and to outsmart competitors, or at least enable themselves to manoeuvre through threatening environment (Mintzberg(a), 1987, p.25). Even if it refuse to have a strategy, an organisation has to have a grand strategy at the very least as quoted here by Chandler, one of the men who was behind the success of Sears Roebuck. He stated business is like a war in one respect- if its grand strategy is correct any number of tactical errors can be made and yet the enterprise proves successful (Mintzberg(a), 1987, p.25). The importance of strategy is also to help the organisation to be focus on its effort and coordination as well as providing consistency. Conclusions Using the war analogy and different range of viewpoints from several authors, I have drawn a conclusion of my own definition of strategy. A strategy is a set of guidelines that forge the resource allocations, other critical activities, and a set of tactics in an organisation intended to achieve its objectives and goals. By adding the element of tactics there, it becomes the advantage for the organisation that afraid of having a strategy because it can be too long-term vision and cannot facilitate the rapid growing and changes of the environment. This definition is versatile as it can be used in any types of organisation and can always be re-used and re-apply should one objective or goal has been achieved. However, the definition can be too broad for some organisation that again can cause confusion in understanding the concept of strategy. If this happen then I would like to address the statement in the beginning of essay that there is no certain and specific definition of strategy. It is very subjective and depends on ones knowledge and interpretation which I personally think is the art of strategy. References Andrews, K. R. 1. (1980). The concept of corporate strategy. Homewood, Ill: R. D. Irwin. Evered, R. (1983). So what is strategy? Long Range Planning, 16(3), 57-72 Hax, A. C. (1990). Redefining the concept of strategy and the strategy formation process. Strategy Leadership, 18(3), 34-39. Hax, A. C., Majluf, N. S. (1988). The concept of strategy and the strategy formation process. Interfaces, 18(3), 99-109. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Macedonia_336_BC-en.svg Mintzberg, H and Quinn, J.B, The Strategy Process: Concepts, Content, Cases, 3rd Edition, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996 Phillips, L. (2011). What is strategy? Journal of the Operational Research Society, 62(5), 926-929. Porter, M. (1996). What is strategy?. BOULDER: Harvard Business Review. 74(6), 61-78. Raynor, M. (1998). That vision thing: Do we need it? Long Range Planning, 31(3), 368-376

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy :: BSE Prion Mad Cow Disease

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) BSE is a disease found in cows that contaminates the brain. It kills many cattle each year because there is no known cure. Humans can be infected by a disease called Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease and sheep can be infected with a disease called scrapie. There is no known treatment for any of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy, including CJD. In order to prevent this disease, the beef is inspected before coming into the United States. Without antibodies, a microscope is the only other way to confirm the cow as being infected. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, other wise known as mad cow disease is â€Å"an infectious degenerative brain disease occurring in cattle† (www.dictionary.com). Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is one of many Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy’s (TSE) in animals. Humans can not be infected with BSE but if they are exposed to contaminated meat, then they are at risk of being infected with Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease (CJD). CJD is very rare and as well as BSE, cannot be treated because there has been no cure found. Figure one shows the death rate of humans infected with CJD. (BSEInfo.org July 27, 2006) Figure one BSE mainly occurs in the brain but experiments have been conducted and found it to be â€Å"in the spinal cord, and in the retina of the eye. The BSE agent may also be present in the small intestine, tonsil, bone marrow, and dorsal root ganglia (lying along the vertebral column)† (US Food and Drug Association, September 24, 2004). Once the cow is infected, the brain tissue takes on a sponge-like appearance under a microscope. This is how the disease got the name Spongiform. (Mad Cow Disease, Andrew Simmons) BSE is spread throughout the brain by important proteins called prions. The prion folds itself incorrectly which leads other prions that encounter the false protein to fold as well. Spreading in the brain then occurs. Figure two shows how the brain would look when mad cow disease is present. These infected prions are extremely difficult to destroy, resulting in no possible cure. Figure Two There are several ways to tell of a cow is infected with BSE. An adult cow may take from two to eight years to first show signs of being infected but others can take a short time. The symptoms for infected cows are â€Å"anxiety, nervousness, and initial hyperactivity followed by lethargy† (Ratzan 10). Also cows experience pain in their horns, horn sockets and ears when they are infected.

Chick-Fil-a: “Eat Mor Chikin” (Except on Sunday)

S. Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A in 1967. Cathy is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Chick-fil-A. The first Chick-fil-A restaurant was opened in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Shopping Center. In 2005, Chick-fil-A had sales of $1. 975 billion, which landed them as being the â€Å"second-largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the United States† (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2012, p. 529). Throughout 37 states and Washington, D. C. , there are 1,250+ Chick-fil-A restaurants. Due to Cathy’s religious background, all of the restaurants are closed on Sundays. The company’s official statement of corporate purpose is â€Å"to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A†Ã¢â‚¬  (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2012, p. 529). Cathy also established the WinShape Foundation in 1984 in attempt to help people such as restaurant employees, foster children, and other young people. Chick-fil-A’s â€Å"Eat Mor Chikin† advertising campaign, which started in 1995 with the first billboard, is one of the longest-running in the United States. By 2010, the company looks to double its current size in terms of new locations, primarily through stand-alone restaurants and aggressive expansion into the western United States† (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2012, p. 529). Chick-fil-A was one of the first to market the chicken sandwich restaurant food chain. They make the chicken sandwich better than most of their competitors as well as they excel in the chicken market/industry. Their marketing strategy consists of the theme â€Å"Eat Mor† Chikin. â€Å"The Eat Mor Chikin theme, created by Dallas-based ad agency the Richards Group, was first introduced in 1995 as a three-dimensional billboard concept depicting a black-and-white cow sitting atop the back of another cow painting the words â€Å"Eat-Mor-Chikin† on a b illboard (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2012, p. 529). The theme of the cow implementing people to eat more chicken was a hit. â€Å"The theme has been used as the basis of an integrated marketing campaign, which encompasses billboards, in-store point-of-purchase materials, promotions, radio and TV advertising, clothing and merchandise (e. . , plush cows, bobble-head cows), and calendars† (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2012, p. 529). With tons of beef fast food restaurants out there such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Hardee’s, Chick-fil-A is outnumbered. The majority of fast food places sell hamburgers as their primary food product. Chick-fil-A’s attraction is their chicken sandwich, a â€Å"healthier† alternative to the hamburger. Chick-fil-A’s position is as a preferred alternative in the burger-dominated fast food industry.Going the â€Å"second-mile† is Chick-fil-A’s competitive advantage. â€Å"The comp any stays true to core business principles, which are based on biblical principles, by closing all restaurant doors on Sundays† (Battaile, 2013). By closing on Sundays, they are allowing a day of rest for all of their employees. As well as it allows it allows them â€Å"an opportunity to worship and/or spend time with their families† (Battaile, 2013). Other retailers should only close on Sundays if it follows their religious belief/standpoint.Otherwise, they wise well be open Sundays, because restaurants such as McDonald’s are all over the world, and different countries may not practice their religion on Sundays. Chick-fil-A is founded by a Christian man, who choses to have his business closed on Sundays, because he believes in a day of rest. Overall, Chick-fil-A is an excellent restaurant with a wonderful marketing approach. Their approach to advertise their chicken by using cows is ingenious. As well as they follow the four Ps: Product, Price, Place, & Promotio n.They even added an additional two Ps: Purpose & People. The fact that they follow their Christian belief by being closed on Sundays really speaks out to the people on who they are. ? Bibliography Battaile, Kim. â€Å"AIU Online: The Marketing Scene. † AIU Online: The Marketing Scene. N. p. , n. d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Chick fil A Eat Mor Chikin Except on Sunday – YouTube. † YouTube. N. p. , n. d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. . Perreault, W. , Cannon, J. , & McCarthy, E. (2012). Essentials of marketing: a marketing strategy planning approach (13th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Andragogy and Transformative Learning Essay

The realization that adults learn differently from children led educators and scholars to the difficult task of defining the distinct manner by which adults learn. This was necessary in order to establish adult education as a separate field requiring non-traditional strategies in terms of teaching-learning style and instruction, but needed the same attention and effort as early education. Although the field of adult education has since branched out into numerous categories involving both formal and informal educational settings, the concept of adult learning continues to evolve as a result of the increased interest and numerous contributions to the field by educators and scholars alike. Indeed, adult education professionals have had to define the unique characteristics of adult learning vis-a-vis dominant learning frameworks focused on the teaching and learning of children. For instance, Malcolm Knowles used the term â€Å"andragogy† in an effort to differentiate adult learning from â€Å"pedagogical† or child learning approaches (Atherton, 2005). According to Knowles, there are five key differences between andragogical and pedagogical approaches to the teaching-learning process. These differences emanate mainly from the perceived differences between the characteristics of the adult as a learner compared to the child learner. In contrast to pedagogical approaches to teaching-learning which view the learner as highly dependent upon the teacher/instructor’s guidance and experience, andragogical approaches focus on the learner’s ability for self-direction and capacity for drawing knowledge from experiences (Yale University Library, 2005). Another important source of distinction between pedagogical and andragogical approaches is that the former focuses on the role external sources of motivation in the achievement of positive learning outcomes while the latter emphasizes the importance of motivation for learning that is intrinsic in the individual adult as a learner (ibid). Hence, andragogical approaches assume that adults can take responsibility for the direction and outcomes of their learning, a task that has been traditionally assigned to the teacher or the instructor by most pedagogical approaches in education. Aside from Knowles’ notion of andragogy, another influential theory in the conceptualization and benchmarking of adult education outcomes is Mezirow’s concept of Transformative Learning, which posits that adult learning involves perspective transformation or the process by which adults â€Å"become more adaptive and able to profit from experience† as a result of the expansion of the frames they use for interpreting and understanding the meaning and construction of their experiences (Parkes, 2001, p. 82). Unsurprisingly, the results of Maher’s (2002, p. 11) study on the first three generations of adult educators reveal that adult educators considered both Knowles and Mezirow among the leading theorists of adult learning. The same study is made interesting by the fact that it reflects how the perceptions and philosophies of adult educators themselves are shaped by the impact of their experiences and how they construe and fit the meaning of these experiences into their lives as educators. As Maher (2002, p. 12) notes, the responses of the adult educators she surveyed â€Å"represents a living example of how adult development occurs as a result of ‘a mixture of everything that happens to us’† which parallels both Knowles and Mezirow’s contention that adult learning is generally driven by the need by adults to continually frame and re-frame their existence through making sense of their experiences. Consequently, one of the differences that can be expected from adult educators or professionals who are more often involved in adult education in terms of the instruction approach is their more facilitative style of teaching. This stems from the adult educators’ perception that their students are in possession of knowledge and experiences that are relevant to the learning process as suggested by both Knowles and Mezirow, and that adult learners often want more control over their learning experiences and outcomes (Timarong, Temaungil & Sukrad, n. d. ). Another difference between adult educators and child educators is that the former often expects learners to assume responsibility and direct their own learning. This behavior is influenced by the notion that adult learners are often often conscious of their own learning needs. Likewise, adult educators often have a more informal relationship with their student, which is influenced by their view of the student as an individual as opposed to the more formal and rigid structure in early mentoring (Landsberger, 1996). However, this does not mean that adult educators have lower expectations in terms of learning outcomes. On the contrary, adult educators place more responsibility on their students since adult learners are treated as partners in the learning process and therefore have the ability to actively participate in planning, monitoring, and evaluating their education. The assumption that adults learn differently from children has numerous implications for instruction, particularly in how educators address learners’ specific needs and preferences. First, the educator has to consider the adult learner tendency for autonomy and self-direction in evaluating their teaching style. Second, instruction in adult learning has to take into account adult learners’ preference for relevant, problem-based learning and the relationship between these new knowledge to their specific contexts and life tasks (Lieb, 1991). Hence, adult learning instruction must be able to incorporate multiple teaching strategies, practice respect for self-directed learning processes, and offer experiential learning opportunities in order for learners to gain a sense of control and personal relevance of their learning (Maher, 2002, p. 7). Lastly, adult instruction must enable learner participation in all aspects of the learning process, and clarify the learner’s responsibility for assessing and evaluating their own performance vis-a-vis their goals for learning. Clearly, the dichotomy between adult learning and child learning primarily stems from the distinct learning needs and styles of each group of learners. Hence, adult learners require teaching strategies and styles that are vastly different from the traditional teaching methods employed in early education. Thus, the field of adult learning itself is made unique not only by its distinct goals and outcomes for the learner, but by the greater responsibility for the learning process that it allocates to the learner as a mature, independent individual. Works Cited: Atherton, J. S. (2005) Learning and teaching: Knowles andragogy: an angle on adult learning. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from http://www. learningandteaching. info/learning/knowlesa. htm Landsberger, J. (1996). Learning as an adult Andragogy. The Study Guides and Strategies. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from http://www. studygs. net/adulted. htm Lieb, S. (2007). Principles of adult learning. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from http://honolulu. hawaii. edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2. htm Maher, P. A. (2002). Conversations with long-time adult educators: the first three generation (ED471248). Retrieved October 31, 2008, from http://www. eric. ed. gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1a/9c/bd. pdf Parkes, D. (2001). About adult education: Transformative learning. Journal of Workplace Learning. 13 (3). 182-184. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from ProQuest Data Base. Timarong, A. , Temaungil, M. , & Sukrad, W. (n. d. ). Adult learning and learners. Retrieved October 31, 2008, from http://www. prel. org/products/pr_/adult-learners. htm

6 Disappeared LinkedIn® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them †Part I Events

6 Disappeared LinkedIn ® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them – Part I Events It’s no secret that LinkedIn has recently undergone a significant overhaul (thus the release this past Sunday of the 5th edition of Profile href=https://theessayexpert.com/services-rates/linkedin-profiles/how-to-write-a-killer-linkedin-profile/>How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile). One of the most major changes you will notice is that you no longer have a choice of utilizing LinkedIn Partner Applications such as Events, Amazon, TripIt, Box.net, WordPress and SlideShare. What’s a savvy LinkedIn user to do? Many of my e-book readers and blog subscribers have been asking me questions about how to handle this big change. This article and subsequent blogs for the next few weeks will go through six previously popular applications and review how to transmit the information you used to be able to share through LinkedIn’s partner applications. One of the first applications to disappear from LinkedIn was Events. Events was a platform from which to share live and web-based events with the LinkedIn community, and from which to track RSVPs. The application was eliminated suddenly and with little fanfare. There is no new magic trick to posting events to your LinkedIn page in the absence of the partner application. The only way I know of to announce events on the new LinkedIn is to publicize them directly from your Activity updates, which you can easily populate from either your LinkedIn home page or the Activity bar on your profile. You can share on both LinkedIn and Twitter by using this function. Home page image: Profile Activity bar image: Any updates you add will appear on your profile in your Activity section (the top section of the profile). Your updates will also appear in LinkedIn Signal, which is a running account of all LinkedIn updates that can be found under the News menu. Here’s a sample:    LinkedIn is no longer a viable way to obtain RSVPs for events. If you want people to RSVP, the best way is to provide a link to a page where people can RSVP, such as a registration page or gotomeeting webinar announcement. Once you post an update, you have the option to share it with groups and individuals. Just click on Share below the update and you will see the following screen:    Is your event selective? Invite an exclusive crowd by clicking on Send to individuals. Then write them an enticing note:    Hit Share and spread the word to the world! The more connections you have, the more people will see your post and possibly share it with their connections as well. Next week: What to do about your Amazon reading list? Want more tips on the NEW LinkedIn? Check out the #1 Best-Selling E-Book Profile href=https://theessayexpert.com/services-rates/linkedin-profiles/how-to-write-a-killer-linkedin-profile/>How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, 5th edition just released! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 21, 2013 2 Comments Cathy Yerges says: January 22, 2013 at 12:54 am Brenda, Thanks for starting this series on the lost apps of LinkedIn. Many of us are left finding new ways to engage with our connections. As far as events, I would also add that a person could promote their event on their LinkedIn profile in the summary section and the website url section. These two places would remain static on your profile until you changed them again. This would promote your event to those that view your profile and may not have seen the update. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 22, 2013 at 12:57 am Great idea Cathy thank you! If you are not using all the characters in your summary or all three websites in your website list, your idea would be an option. And an update would go out announcing that you updated your profile; overall I think posting to Activity updates will reach more people, but might as well approach the situation from multiple angles! Log in to Reply

How to Teach the Past Continuous to ESL Students

How to Teach the Past Continuous to ESL Students The main concept to relay when teaching the past continuous is the idea that the past continuous expresses an interrupted action. In other words, the past continuous speaks about what was going on when something important happened. The past continuous can be used by itself to express what happened at a precise moment in the past. However, the most common use is together with the past simple  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(when something happened). You might want to consider teaching the past simple together with the past continuous for intermediate level classes, as the past simple will be review for students. Introduction Start by speaking about what was interrupted. Describe an important past event and then fill in the details as a painter would fill in background details by using the past continuous form. This immediately illustrates the idea that the past continuous is used to set the context of what was happening at that moment in time. Id like to tell you about the day I met my wife. I was walking through the park, the birds were singing and it was raining just a little bit when I saw her! She was sitting on the bench and reading a book at that moment. Ill never be the same. This example is exaggerated for a reason. It boldly conveys the point. Continue introducing the past continuous by asking students simple questions in the past simple about events. Follow up these questions with a question asking what was happening when the event occurred. When did you leave home this morning - At nine oclock.What was your sister doing when you left home?Where did you meet your girlfriend? - At school.What were you doing when you met her? The next step in teaching the past continuous is to include simultaneous actions using while. Explain that while is used when two actions happen at the same time in the past. Its a good idea to point out the difference between while and during, to help avoid confusion. Practice Explaining the Past Continuous on the Board Use a past continuous timeline to illustrate interrupted action. Contrasting this timeline with the past continuous for something happening at a specific point in the past may help illustrate the difference between the two uses. Make sure that students understand the use of time clauses with when and while to help them use the past continuous in context. Comprehension Activities Comprehension activities such as using photos in magazines will help with the past continuous. In this case, make it clear to students that they are to describe the event in the past. You can model this by using a photo in a magazine to describe such an event. Dialogues beginning with What were you doing? will help students practice. A creative writing exercise on the past continuous will also help students build their ability to integrate the past continuous into more advanced structures. Challenges The single greatest challenge to learning the past continuous is deciding which action is the main event: in other words, which event interrupted the action in progress in the past moment in time? Other challenges can include the use of the past continuous to express an activity that happened over a period of time. Its crucial for students to understand that the past continuous describes a particular moment in time, and not a completed event. Here are examples of this type of issue: I was studying science yesterday.She was cooking dinner last night. In other words, the past continuous needs the context of another event when stopped the action in progress at the time.

Researched Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Researched Argument - Essay Example However, the success of the industry is not free of blemish. In the year 2010, a study approximated the number of users of the drugs non-medically and therefore without prescriptions as 7.0 million which represented 2.7 % of the American population (Drugs and Corbett et al.). The drugs abused by the American population range from pain relievers, and stimulants to sedatives and tranquilizers. The extent of the abuse has seen the addiction of some people to the drugs. The blame for this scenario lies in the pharmaceutical companies that influence the medical practice through the use of misleading commercials and making payments for medical practitioners and experts. However, we should delve into the use of alternative medicine in preference to the prescription drugs to reduce the wrongs that have resulted from the marketing of the drugs. Misleading advertisements Some of the companies that make the prescription drugs that are common in everyday life use misleading statements in their p roduct marketing to create the view that their products are better (Weber 98). The promotion of Darvon, a prescription drug intended for pain from surgery and fractures was studied with the results painting a clear picture of this argument. The promotional literature said the drug was better than aspirin. In the study, the opinions of physicians were reviewed. Although the physicians claimed to base their opinions on science, almost half believed the statement used in the drug’s promotion despite the fact that no results showed this to be true ("Drug Company Gifts to Doctors"). As such, the promotion of the drug misled the physicians into viewing the drug as the best option. Therefore, the reliance on prescription drugs due to the opinion of the physician should be avoided as they may be misled. Influence of medical practitioners The pharmaceutical companies are trying to strengthen the circulation of their drugs by influencing the medical practitioners to have preferences fo r their medication (Weber 47). This is done through the provision of little gifts to the physician. A case in the American Medical Association journal provides an illustration of this. The case describes an insect bite patient who has gone to the hospital to seek attention. An intern made a sensible decision to prescribe penicillin, which would be an inexpensive and suitable treatment. However, the resident thought otherwise prescribing a treatment that was more â€Å"modern† and describing the patient as â€Å"severely† ill. This option would cost the patient $183 for every day he received the new and modern antibiotic ("Drug Company Gifts to Doctors"). However, after some digging into the issue by the house officers’ supervisor who doubled up as the attending physician, it came to light that the resident’s decision was influenced. A drug representative of the drug company had wined and dined the resident prior to the developments. This shows that the re sident’s and some physicians’ decisions were not based on the best choice of treatment as they are influenced by gifts by the drug companies which adopt these as part of their marketing strategy. In some cases, the gifts to the practitioners are monetary. This is evidenced by stories published in the New York Times. In one article, there is a report of the federal law for health care requiring disclosure of payments to medical practitio