Tv Shows And Real Life :: essays research papers

TV Shows and Real Life TV shows are probably the primary source of entertainment for the average American. Most of them run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with reruns starting at 5 p.m. We watch them because they give us something to do, a way to relax, something to help pass the time. We all watch different shows, some people like "Married...with Children", some are repulsed with it, but like to watch "Home Improvement", what draws particular crowds to certain shows? How do these shows portray the average American, or do they portray average Americans at all? These are questions many writers have attempted to answer, at least one column in almost every newspaper is dedicated to this topic. I think the people like to see shows that portray them, or what they'd like to be. "Married...with Children" runs on Fox 29 on Mondays at 8:30 p.m., it has been on air for a long time, and has passed its 200th episode last season. The main characters of the show is women's shoe salesman Al Bundy, his wife Peg, dorky son Bud, and slutty daughter Kelly. Al loves to watch TV, bowl with his buddies, drink and go to the "nudy bar". Marcie and Jefferson, are the Bundy's neighbors and also take an active part in the show. Most shows consist of Al going somewhere or doing something and everyone else making fun of him when he fails miserably. Al is someone you can hardly call a father to his kids, he's doesn't take care of them and he does absolutely nothing father-like for them or with them. Al is constantly complaining about his marriage, he says that if he was sober that night, none of this would have happened. He calls his children accidents and the only good memory he has, is of him being a great high school football player, which he would take to the next level had all his dreams not been crushed by Peg. The only living thing Al really likes on the show is his dog, Buck, to which he can relate as they are both dirty and nasty. Every show it is the same kind of thing, over and over again. Peg is trying to convince Al to have sex, Al blames Peg for his failure in life, Kelly is screwing some guy in the back seat of a car, and Bud is looking at "nudy magazines". Last Monday, the 27, Al decided to join the Army Reserve in order to escape his family. John Ozersky writes in his article entitled "TV's Anti-Families: Married.

Importance of Value Based Education Essay

In the present era of education assisted by ultramodern technology, we are inclined more towards knowledge and ranks in the examination than application of learning in our day-to-day life. Theodore Roosevelt warns, â€Å"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.† It is a lamentable fact that in the prevalent scenario of education, the majority of the teachers as well as the taught have turned into grades-oriented and marks-oriented individuals overlooking and undermining the superlative purpose of education i.e. refinement of ethics, purification of soul ad enlightenment of human intellect. More sadly, in the pursuit of degree-oriented education, we have, wittingly or unwittingly, failed to incorporate the learning of moral and ethical values to our studies for the positive nourishment of our character. â€Å"The degeneration in the present day life, the demoralization of public and private life and the utter disregard for values, are all t raceable to the fact that moral, religious and spiritual education has not been given due place in the educational system.† (Rena, Ravinder 2006) In a broader view, as the outcome of education, we are producing successful professionals obsessed with material pursuits, who fail as considerate, altruistic and humane people. Totally remiss of philanthropic and humanitarian element of their work, these professionals are content with the achievement of absolute luxury as well as authority as being the radical purpose of their studies. This kind of attitude is the result of the myopic and inadequate execution of the abilities of teachers and teacher-educators. Thereby, most of the existing students indulge themselves into anti-social and unethical dealings in their futures endeavours. â€Å"Unfortunately, education is becoming more or less materialistic and the value traditions are being slowly given up.† (Erwin, 1991) We, nonetheless, have time to redress our wrongs and set right our shortcomings. In this regard, the curriculum and teachers play a pivotal role. Curriculum must contain distinctive instructions for the values associated with each lesson. The teachers, on the other hand, must explain those values to the students and encourage them to put the same into practice in their daily life. In this way, we can surely bring about a positive change in the overall attitude of our students towards learning as well as society. Moreover, the students in the academic phase of their school life need to learn to be kind, compassionate and considerate towards their fellow beings. This could be communicated to them while teaching Islamiyat, Ethics, Pakistan Studies, Science, English or any other subject of their interest. In addition to teaching students the periodical and chronological record of life and achievements of the successful and influential people in the world, the teachers must highlight the brighter aspects of their character which dominated their practice and performance. The students should be inspired to identify the positive implications of their study in their everyday life. In this connection, value-based education can not only improve a person’s life but it can also advance society in the right direction. â€Å"So, value education is not simply the heart of education, but also the education of the heart. It is a necessary component of holistic citizenship education.† (Rena, Ravinder 2006) This practice can be carried out while teaching students the formation of water in Chemistry, the teacher must talk about the worth and use of water. The students can also be informed about the importance of growing plants and trees in our daily life in Botany. With reference to their lessons, the students could be enlightened to show reverence to their teachers and elders and love their younger ones. Value-based education can also be a source of appreciation and promotion of one’s own culture and history. More importantly, the students can probe into and find the eternal solace in Nature. In addition to that, they must praise the creations of Allah and love both the creatures and the Creator. Besides integrating values in the provided curricula, the value-based education can also be featured in the co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The special assemblies and functions could be arranged to instill the vital importance of fair and descent values. This could also be combined with the regular activities in the sports ground and academic contests. Sir Frances Bacon in his essay ‘Of Studies’ says, â€Å"Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; morals, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.† Hence, if we want to achieve the purpose of education in life, fortify humane feelings, alleviate poverty, bring peace and prosperity to our country as an educated and civilized nation, we must develop the constructive thoughts and attributes in our children vis-à  -vis their academic and professional uplift to positively mould their character as an example for others to follow. The teachers must also inculcate the idea of ‘peaceful coexistence with people from other cultures and countries.’ (P.L Joshi 2007) Therefore, we should integrate information, knowledge, skills with values in education and help students come together to bind this world in a peaceful harmony.

Nba – a New Digital Entertainment Model in China

Entertainment and Media Industries Professor Sam Craig NBA – A New Digital Entertainment Model in China Name : Ted Mui Executive Summary The National Basketball Association’s expansion into the Chinese market has been met with great success. The company’s China operation currently generates over UDS$150 million in annual sales, and is one of the most recognized international brands in the country. To further focus on the growth of this unique market, a subsidiary was established in 2008, with former head of Microsoft China Tim Chen serving as the first CEO. The NBA has had great success in developing strategic partnerships in China. Over 290 games are broadcasted on Chinese TV per year, and NBA-related content can be readily found online on Chinese websites. However, NBA China has thus far generated little revenue directly from its end consumers, especially with its digital offerings. In reviewing its target market, we find that the NBA is in direct competition with other online entertainment products for the time and money spent by this market. Popular online entertainment options for China youths share the following traits: simple to learn and use, ability to interact with other users, a high (and almost addicting) replay value, and contain many customizable features for its users. Based on these ideas, it is suggested that NBA China pursue the development of a brand new web portal combining the components of gaming, social networking, and video streaming, which currently all exist as separate components. Using a concept based on an old video game idea, the web portal will aim to move consumers down the marketing funnel, eventually expanding the fan base and leading to end-user generated revenue. The cliche of the China market is well known to everyone by now. With its population of 1. 3 billion steadily increasing its purchasing power, China has become the focal point of just about every multinational company. Despite its potential, many multinational corporations’ attempt in entering the China market ends in failure, with millions of dollars of investment vanishing without producing any returns. The National Basketball Association is one of the rare success stories in China. Since opening its first office in Hong Kong in 1992, the NBA’s Greater China operation has grown to four offices with over 100 employees, generating over USD$150 million in annual sales. According to a survey, nearly 90% of Chinese people aged 15-54 in 11 urban markets had some awareness of the brand. 1 Despite this initial success, there remain many opportunities for growth in this market, especially in the digital sector. Facing increasing pressure from competition wishing to emulate its success and from shareholders seeking greater returns from the market, the NBA must look for new ways to build on its success in China. Company Background The National Basketball Association, founded in 1946, is a global sports and entertainment brand that features 30 teams in the United States and Canada. It is currently the third largest sports league in North America, with an estimated league revenue of $3. 2 billion for the 2008-09 season. Looking to expand the association’s presence outside of North America, the NBA occasionally hosts exhibition games around the world. 1 The NBA first made its presence in China in 1979, when the Samantha Marshall, â€Å"NBA’s China Strategy a Slam Dunk,† Crain’s New York Business. com, May 29, 2008. 2 Source: Plunkett Research, Ltd Washington Bullets traveled to China to play two exhibition games against the Chinese National Team. Seeing the potential for the Greater China market, the NBA sent its first Asia-based employee to Hong Kong in 1990. The association’s operations in China have grown substantial since, leading up to the formation of NBA China in 2008. As a subsidiary of the association, NBA China is responsible for conducting all of the league’s business in Greater China. While the NBA remains as the majority shareholder of the new entity, 5 other strategic partners invested $253 million to acquire 11% of the company in preferred equity. The 5 partners are ESPN (a division of Walt Disney), Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings Ltd. Li Ka Shing Foundation, and China Merchants Investment. 4 Timothy Chen, former CEO of Microsoft China, was appointed as the new entity’s first CEO. NBA’s Digital Strategy in China Since Yao Ming’s entry into the league, NBA coverage has grown substantially along all lines of Chinese media. The country’s national television network, CCTV, has Each season, the CCTV established a long-term partnership with the association. sports channel televises over 90 regular season games, including the NBA All-Star Game, NBA Playoff games and The Finals. In addition to CCTV, the NBA is also covered by 50 other broadcasters around China, covering all but 2 provinces in the country. In total, about 290 NBA games are broadcasted on TV in China each year. 5 3 Pete Thamal, â€Å"The NBA and China Are Fans of Each Other,† New York Times, August 9, 2008. Source: nba. com 5 Source: hket. com 4 The NBA has also been able to capitalize on the rapidly increasing population of internet users in China. The association has partnered with Tom. com to revamp its localized websites in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). Among the new features, the sites will include online webcasts allowing viewers to watch live games and Chinese-language talk shows daily, and provide gaming and fantasy basketball options and networking capabilities. 6 Moving towards high definition media, the NBA has recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement to allow BesTV, Shanghai Media Group's (SMG) Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) subsidiary, to offer pay-perview broadcasts of up to 14 high-definition NBA games daily over a four-year period. 7 Through a partnership with KongZhong Corporation, the NBA has also launched a China WAP site in 2007. The site will allow mobile users to access a broad range of content options including news, scores, editorial content, player interviews, TV schedules, wallpapers, ring tones, video clips and live NBA games. The NBA hopes to generate revenue from the site through offering advertising options to corporations and premium downloadable content to end-users. 8 The NBA’s media blitz in China appears to have produced great results. Currently, more than 30% of nba. com traffic comes from China, and this number can be expected to increase over the years. NBA† was ranked 7th in the hottest search keywords in 2008 for Baidu, China’s leading search engine. Similarly, â€Å"NBA† was ranked 10th for Google China’s most popular search words. Other than the NBA, only Xunlei and QQ, 6 7 Anita Davis, NBA Inks Tom. com Online Deal, CEI, August 20, 2008 st Source: 21 Century Business Herald 8 Source: nba. com two of China’s largest web portals, appear in the top 10 of both those lists. However, it is unknown how effective this web traffic has been in generating actual revenue for NBA China. Market Overview In 2008, China overtook America as the country with the largest number of internet users. As of the second quarter of 2009, the country now has over 330 million users, with a growth rate of over 50% annually (see exhibit A). The demographic groups growing comparatively faster than this average are people living in rural areas (with over 100% annual growth), young â€Å"netizens† aged 18 and under, and adults aged 30 and up. Exhibit B shows a breakdown of the age demography of internet users in China. There are also an increasing number of users accessing the internet through mobile devices. Currently, over 29% of internet users use mobile phones to get online, with a growth rate far exceeding that of laptop users. 9 The high growth rate indicates that more and more of the country’s 600 million mobile-phone subscribers now own mobile devices capable of accessing internet information. With next generation mobile technologies such as the iPhone and Google Android yet to reach the mass market in China, there remains great potential for significant growth in this market for years to come. The Meek Shall Inherit the Web, Economist, September 6, 2008 Exhibit A 100 million Total Internet users in China: 2005-2009 3. 5 3 2. 5 2 1. 5 1 0. 5 0 1. 23 1. 03 1. 62 2. 50 3. 38 Total Internet Users 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Exhibit B Age structure of Internet users in China Source: Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China, CNNIC, January 2008 Competition Many sports a nd entertainment companies have tried to emulate the NBA’s success in China and have invested heavily in its digital marketing efforts. The National Football League has launched a Chinese website (nflchina. com) providing up-to-date news and score, discussion boards and mini-games. Manchester United, the richest sports club in the world, also has an all-Chinese website with online media and shopping to capture on its Chinese fan base. But as the earlier search rankings would suggest, the NBA is by far the leading sports entertainment company in China. Leading infotainment web portals such as sina. com and sohu. com have pages dedicated to the NBA linked from their front page. Already in a dominant position in the sports entertainment sector in China, the NBA should perhaps look at its competitive landscape from another perspective. At present, the NBA generates the majority of its revenue in China through broadcast rights, branding partnerships and ad sales through its media channels. However, it has thus far been able to generate relatively little income from its actual fan base with its digital content. In comparison, end-user Internet Value Added Services (IVAS) made up for the majority of the revenue for Tencent Holdings Ltd. another digital media partner of NBA China. Tencent Holdings Ltd. is the largest and most used internet service portal in China. The company’s strategic goal is to provide users with a â€Å"one-stop online life service†10 While its product offerings are similar to that of MSN Messenger, Facebook, World of Warcraft, 10 Source: tencent. com and other leading instant messaging, social networking, and online gaming com panies, Tencent is unique in its ability to generate revenue directly from the end users of its products. Most of Tencent’s products are interconnected through its QQ Network, ncouraging its free users to upgrade in order to access its value-added services such as ringtone downloading, SMS sending/receiving, and online gaming. QQ Coin was later introduced to allow users greater ease in making purchases in the â€Å"virtual world†, and incentivizing video gamers with rewards for performance. With a retail value of 1 yuan (about 14 cents) per coin, users are able to use the coins to purchase â€Å"virtual goods† such as avatars, virtual gifts for friends, and even items for use in games. Due to its ease of use and low denomination in value, the QQ Coin took off with the company’s young user base. It is estimated that nearly $2 billion in virtual currency was traded in 2008, even leading the Chinese government to implement restrictions to the trade. 11 Exhibit C Tencent Holdings Ltd. Quarterly Revenue by Sector Source: Tencent Holdings Ltd. Investor Fact Sheet 11 David Barboza, In China, New Limits of Virtual Currency, New York Times, June 30, 2009 Strategic Analysis While NBA China has succeeded in building brand awareness with its target demographic market, its digital strategy has thus far only focused on only the active fan base of this market. Its licensed product with Tencent and EA Sports, NBA Street Online, targets only the segment of gamers who are passionate about NBA basketball. Likewise, services on the NBA China website such as video games and news updates are mainly targeted to already converted basketball fans. A recently initiative called NBAiD was launched exclusively for the NBA China website. Looking to capitalize on the growing popularity of social networking and blogging, NBAiD acts as a personal page for NBA fans, allowing fans to connect with one another and express opinions through blogs. However, at this point, the product itself has very little added value for active or casual fans. Segmenting user categories using the concept of the marketing funnel, we see that NBA China has succeeded in both capturing awareness in the mass market and driving loyalty from its core fan base through its digital strategy, but have done little to drive â€Å"aware† consumers down the funnel (see Exhibit D). There remains great potential for the NBA to generate greater interest and desire for its product through a revision of its digital strategy. Exhibit D The Marketing Funnel Applied to NBA China Target Market Awareness Casual internet users who are aware of the NBA brand, but have no intent to spend money on its products Internet users who are interested in learning more about the NBA, and look to utilize free products and services made available to them Interest Desire Internet users who are attracted by the entertainment value of the NBA and may take action upon receiving an attractive offer Action Individuals who are engaged to the NBA and are most likely to purchase new products and services offered to them Repeat Purchases The digital age has changed the landscape of sports marketing. Martin Sorell, chief executive of WPP, recently advised the International Committee on the importance of meeting the needs of the new generation of young and tech-savvy consumers: There are 1. 6 billion people online today and 4 billion mobile phones. The key audience with whom these digital opportunities resonate is of course young people. They are a valuable and massive audience. Globally they impact over $600 billion in consumer spending. The young people take their media habits with them, so if you are ot part of their habit now – you most definitely will not be in the future. Let the children play. You have to let them play with your content, your assets in their own way. 12 12 Karolos Grohmann, Don’t Restrict Games Media Access, Sorrell urges IOC, Reuters, October 5, 2009 While referring to a different context, Sorrell’s remarks can also be addressed to NBA China’s current situation. Ther e is indeed a huge market of internet and mobile users, and the majority of them belong to the young demographic group that NBA China is targeting. The media habits of youths in China also differ greatly than that of the United States (see Exhibit E for comparison). On average, Chinese youths spend about 18 hours on the internet a week, compared to 12 hours in the US. 13 Social networking sites such as renren. com and kaixin001. com, streaming video sites such as youku. com and todou. com, and online games make up for the majority of these hours spent online. NBA China should now look to capture a bigger share of the â€Å"entertainment hours† spent by youths online. To accomplish this, NBA China must understand and tap into the media habits of these users, as Sorrell suggests. Exhibit E Comparison of Internet Activities Used by US and China Internet Users Source: China Internet Network Information Center & Pew Research Center 13 Shaun Rein, Blogging Down in China, BusinessWeek, July 27, 2006 Popular online entertainment options for China youths share the following traits: simple to learn and use, ability to interact with other users, a high (and almost addicting) replay value, and contain many customizable features for its users. One such example is the recent phenomenon of the Happy Farm game (see Exhibit F for screenshots). The concept of the game is not a breakthrough in any way: In the game, players act as owners of a farm, and are responsible for cultivating, irrigating, fertilizing, spraying, harvesting and selling crops. Each action will add points to the player’s level. However, a player can not only take action on his own farm, but also on his friends’ farms. Thus, people can either help their friends manage their farms, or steal crops from other players. The accumulation of all these actions will eventually help the players get bigger farms. Made available for users in social networking sites such as kaixin001. com and renren. com, the success of the simple game has been phenomenal, with reportedly 23 million users now playing the game. 14 Tencent has since created its own version of the farming game, and is expected to generate RMB50 million (USD $7 million) from the game each month. 15 Exhibit F Screenshots of â€Å"Happy Farm† Game 14 15 Source: duowan. com Source: tradingmarkets. com Recommendation Currently, the NBA China already has components of gaming, social networking, and video streaming. The idea is to combine all these components into one entertainment web portal targeted to youths that will drive interest and desire, leading to generation of revenue from end users. In 2005-06, video game developer 2K Sports added a new feature to its yearly NBA and NFL games called â€Å"The Crib†. The feature awards players as they accomplish feats and milestones within the game. With crib credits, players are then able to decorate their crib (slang for home), buy music, or play mini-games (see Exhibit G for screenshots of Cribs). While this feature was innovative in adding replay value to the game, its customizable options were limited and the feature was eventually removed in future renditions of the sports games. However, such a concept may be much better utilized in an online environment where crib owners can interact in real time, new videos and games are readily accessible, and virtual items are plenty to satisfy the customization appetite of its users. Exhibit F Screenshots of â€Å"The Crib† from video game NFL 2K5 Source: ign. com The possibilities stemming from such an idea are endless. Having already an established network of corporate partners, â€Å"The NBA Crib† can serve as a media channel for product placement. Already showing an appetite for spend virtual dollars, users in return can earn or buy credits to purchase branded virtual products for their cribs (ie. a Coca Cola machine) or even themselves (ie. the latest basketball shoes from Adidas). Other uses for crib credits can include purchasing coupons for use at the online NBA store and video clips and music exclusive to the NBA. Most importantly, interaction between crib owners should be encouraged through games within the crib system. Basketball-themed games can take place within the assigned neighborhoods of owners, and friends can â€Å"visit† each other’s crib with their custom avatar. With the right combination of attractive gaming options, customizable features, and interactive capabilities, this concept will substantially increase the interaction between the NBA and its fans, and eventually lead to a sustainable model for generating revenue from its target market of Chinese youths. NBA China has successfully developed a unique and dominant position in the sports entertainment sector in China. However, the NBA can not simply rely on its popularity and brand recognition to succeed. With Yao Ming injured this season, there are worries that NBA viewership rates in China will significantly drop this coming season. It is therefore crucial for NBA China to connect with its target market and provide supportive product offerings to satisfy their entertainment needs. In this market of technologydriven consumers, NBA China must strive to not only become the leader in sports entertainment in China, but also a leader in digital entertainment.

Transformative Leadership

Transformative Leadership in a Nonprofit Organization Yulanda Harris EDD8100 – Foundations of Educational Leadership and Management 1 April 21, 2013 Capella University Abstract A transformative leader is a leader who can bring about influential change in others. These leaders not only transform essential change, they change the way we think and act. Transformative leaders create practices and processes in organizations proactively. In addition, transformative leaders can be found at different levels in an organization.They can hold the title ranging from supervisor to executive director. This essay primarily focuses on the challenges faced by the Training & Development (T&D) Specialist, who is capable of helping to make essential changes and encourage transformational leadership at Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (PVM). Introduction The purpose of nonprofit organizations is to offer programs and services to assist the public. Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (PVM) is a fait h-based, nonprofit organization.PVM offers quality senior living housing and services, offering a wide range of residential service options including apartments, condominiums, assisted living, and skilled nursing care (Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, 2013). The ideal leadership style is that of a Servant Leader. According to Robert Greenleaf, servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world (Greenleaf, 1991).In contrast or a more similarity practice, transformative leadership can transform organizational culture and influence job satisfaction of the employees. However, the supervisors and managers appear to be disengaged or a gap presents itself within the organization. Therefore, it was necessary to begin the journey of conducting research within the organization. As in the case of action research according to Joe Donaldson, the T&D specialist must have a particular perspective about what is going on within the organization (Donaldson & Francis, 2013). Developing Transformative Managers and SupervisorsTransforming the managers and supervisors is an ongoing process primarily because he or she have not had any formal training on leadership. Typically as adult learners, we bring knowledge, skills, and abilities from previous experiences to the learning environment (Wainright, York & Woodward, 2012). However, concerning the managers and supervisors at PVM they have very little experience of leadership to bring into the learning environment. They are very familiar with process and procedures therefore; this is what was predicated on their promotional opportunities with the organization.In other words they were promoted into their role base on their performance. However, they lack knowledge in the area focusing on behavioral matters and how to coach or develop the line staff. To begin the process of developing transformative leaders, the T&D specialist uses the ADDIE methodology to complete a valuation of the training needs of the organization to determine if training is the best result to address the issues of the lack of leadership among the managers and supervisors.It is critical to begin the process by asking questions that will develop their ability to initiate and manage change in their department along with developing creative approaches to support strong team leadership and growth. This will allow the managers and supervisors build cohesion among each other and improve upon organizational efficiency. The following are questions that are asked during the analysis phase utilizing the ADDIE methodology. 1. What motivations you to lead a team? 2. What are some challenges you have faced as a manager or supervisor? 3. How would you describe your leadership style? . What leadership characteristics do you value about yourself? 5. What challenges do you face in your day-to-day operations with your employees? 6. How would you describe your decision-making process. For example, when your staff comes to you with a problem, how do you come to a solution? The above questions cited the importance of empowering others, inspiring others, delegation, collaboration, mentoring others. If managers and supervisors are to become transformative leaders they must answer those questions (Lansford, Clements, Falzon, Aish & Rogers, 2010).The goal is to have managers and supervisors feeling capable of reaching the right decisions independently with the goal of possessing their team to feel good about their contributions. Furthermore, the T&D specialist is ensuring the mission and values of the organization will affect the managers and supervisors thinking and management style. As a result they will transform organizational culture and inspire job satisfaction of the employees. The managers and supervisors will need to form a good example, self-confidence and understand needs of the staff.This means they can motiv ate the staff by their actions and words, in addition to ensuring their loyalty to PVM. As a result new training programs are created to develop strategies where new competencies are being taught. This will allow managers and supervisors gain valuable insights and find new opportunities to align their job or career satisfaction and performance with the organization’s outcomes and success (Wainright, York & Woodward, 2012). References: Presbyterian Villages of Michigan. (2013). Welcome to Presbyterian Villages of Michigan! Retrieved from www. pvm. org Greenleaf, R. K. (1991). The servant as leader.Indianapolis, IN: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center. [Originally published in 1970, by Robert K. Greenleaf]. Retrieved from http://www. greenleaf. org/ Donaldson, J. , & Francis, B. (2013). Converstion about research. Retrieved from www. capella. edu Wainright, C. , York, G. , & Woodward, B. (n. d. ). A transformative framework for. (2012). The Journal of Health Administration Education , 40-70. Lansford, M. , Clements, V. , Falzon, T. , Aish, D. , & Rogers, R. (n. d. ). Essential leadership traits of female executives in the non-profit sector. (2010). The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning, 6(1), 51-62.

Twiga Cement

TWIGA CEMENT Twiga cement is a company of Tanzania that manufactures Portland cement. The company’s objective is manufacturing, selling and distribution of high quality construction cement in Tanzania. Today the company remains the market leader in the cement industry in Tanzania. Twiga cement is produced in grades of Twiga Ordinary and Twiga Extra. The company’s marketing environment consists of forces outside marketing that affect marketing management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers.Twiga cement’s marketing environment is made up of micro environment and macro environment. The micro environment consists of other actors close to the company that combine to form the company’s value delivery network. The forces include internal environment, marketing intermediaries, competition, suppliers, publics and the customers. The company’s internal environment consists of several departments and management levels as it influences marketing decision making.The marketing intermediaries which help the company to promote, sell, and distribute products to final buyers also affect the marketing decision making. They include resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing service agencies and financial intermediaries. All these work together in order to create customer value for the products produced. The company also faces stiff competition from competitors. The competitors tend to produce similar goods at a low cost making the company to take decisions in order to keep customers. Some of the competitors include Mbeya cement and Tanga cement companies.The company’s suppliers also play a big part in the marketing environment. The company’s marketing managers usually watch supply availability and costs which helps them in decision making. The resources needed for manufacturing are usually available and obtained at a low cost which increases the sales in the short run and creat es customer satisfaction in the long run. The company’s marketing environment also includes various publics which have an actual or potential interest in or impact on the company’s ability to achieve it’s objectives.The various publics include financial publics, media publics, government publics, local publics, general publics, and many others. For example the financial publics enable the company to obtain funds in order to run the production process as a result creating customer satisfaction. The company’s marketing environment also includes the customers. Customers are the most important actors in the company’s marketing environment. The aim of the entire value delivery system of the company is to serve target customers and create strong relationships with them.The company targets different types of customer markets which include consumer markets that is individuals and households, business markets that is buy goods for further processing, resell er markets that is buy the cement to resell at a profit, others include government markets and international markets. The company’s macro environment consists of larger societal forces that affect the entire micro environment. The company’s macro environment consists of; Demographic environment which is the study of human population in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, occupation, and other statistics.The demographic environment is of major interest to marketers of the company because it involves people and it’s the people that make up the market. There has been an increase on the sales due to rapid population growth and an increase on the market share for the goods produced by the company. The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. The economic environment offers both opportunities and threats for the company enabling it to take decisions accordingly.Natural environment involves the nat ural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. The company faces several trends in the natural environment which include shortage of raw materials, increased pollution and increased government intervention. The other factors that affect the marketing environment include the technological environment, political and social environment, and cultural environment.

Biography of Rihanna

She began signing when she was seven with two of her classmates but it wasn’t until she was sixteen that she met Evan Rogers and began to work with him and moved out of Barbados. A year after moving to the states she was asked to meet with Jay-z at DefJam Records where she was offered a contract in February 2005. Working with DefJam records she was able to record her first album by the end of 2005. â€Å"Music of the sun† was released and Pon De Replay became her first widely known hit making it in to the top 5 singles for that year. Just about a year later she released album number two â€Å"A Girl Like Me†. Her song S. O. S. was her first number one hit and the album was ranked in the top five albums for the year. In May 2007 she released her third album â€Å"Good Girl Gone Bad† which won her a Grammy for best rap/collaboration for her number one hit Umbrella. This album also was known for three other number one hits including Don’t Stop the Music, Take a Bow, and Disturbia. Around two years later she released her fourth album â€Å"Rated R† which was the number one album on the Billboard Hot 100 albums for the year. Three of her songs from this album made it to the top ten singles including Russian Roulette, Hard, and Rude Boy. Under a year later she released â€Å"Loud† being one of her most popular albums and being known for her three number one singles Only Girl(In the World), Samp;M, and What’s My Name?. Finally her most recent album â€Å"Talk That Talk† was released in 2012 and is currently known for the number one single We Found Love. As of now we know that she is working on her seventh album which no information has been release about. She had been on four tours around the world and has one upcoming tour Diamonds World Tour which will be her biggest, longest tour yet. Rihanna often gives credit to her idols that all influenced her in different ways. The person she says influenced her the most would be Madonna saying â€Å"I want to be the Black Madonna. † She also has said that Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Bob Marley, Marilyn Monroe, Mariah Carey and Destiny’s child were very influential on her life becoming a successful artist in today’s music industry. Rihanna has become an influential person herself, having been and idol for Justin Bieber and Rita Ora, both younger artists. She has been named one of the most influential people in the world and ranks fourth in the most powerful celebrities. She has received many awards including five American Music awards, eighteen Billboard Music awards, two BRIT awards and 5 Grammys. She has had eleven number one singles on Billboards top 100 and was named Digital Artist for the 2000’s by Billboard Music as well. She is the highest selling digital artist of all time with 47,571,000 sold singles as of early 2012. Forbes reported that she earned a little over $82 million between May 2010 and May 2012 and she continues to expand on her career. Rihanna in known for her thought provoking music videos, many of them with under-lying meanings. Much like Madonna she incorporates substance abuse, domestic violence or love triangles into her videos. She also turns obscure situations into glitz and glamorous situations. Many of her videos and outfits have caused controversy because of the explicit content. Her live shows are known for her hip shaking, sex appeal, attitude, sexy outfits and over the top performances sometimes being quite risque. She has said that â€Å"These performances are all an act, that’s not me. That’s a part I play. You know it’s like a piece of art with all these toys and textures to play with. † In her early days she was a typical teen pop star but she easily shifted her appearance dramatically and continues to change frequently. By the time she released her â€Å"Good Girl Gone Bad† album she had completely shook the teen pop star image everyone had gave her. By 2008 she was named best dressed by Peoples magazine and was on Maxims Hot 100 for five consecutive years (2007-2011). In 2009 Glamour named her Woman of the year and she ranked seventeenth out of fifty in Most Glamorous Women. She also was named sexiest women alive in 2011 by Esquire. Not only is she an extremely successful music artist, she has had her share in acting as well. In 2006 she mad a cameo appearance in the movie Bring it On: All or Nothing. In 2012 she was seen in the movie Battleship as GM2 officer Cora Raikes and had another cameo appearance in The Katy Perry Movie. In the next two years she will be seen in End of the World and Happy Smekday. The successful Barbadian superstar started out as a typical teen pop singer and has made a huge name for herself, not only singing but acting as well. Attempting to turn herself into the â€Å"Black Madonna† it seems she has met her goal although she continues to do more with her career. After seven years and six albums Rihanna has become one of the most popular music artists not only in the USA but worldwide. She is one of the most influential celebrities for upcoming music artists in the industry today.

A critical analysis of the media's reporting of politics and the Essay

A critical analysis of the media's reporting of politics and the political process - Essay Example Powell (1990) says that it is ‘this form of connection that will determine our lives’. Thus, critical analysis of media’s reporting of politics and political process has become essential to evaluate its role in the changing dynamics of socio-political and economic paradigms of a nation. The various elements of political system vis-Ã  -vis changing dynamics of society, government, political parties, corporate world etc. have become vital ingredients of exploitation by the media. In the recent times, the role of media in the political campaign has come under lot of flak for myriad reasons (Bakir, 2006; Hall Jamieson & Waldmann, 2004; Patterson, 1980). While sometimes media exploits them for its own vested interests, other times it is exploited by the system, especially the political parties and politicians and the corporate world to garner support for their own political agenda (Kepplinger, 2007; Ridout & Mellen, 2007). The media, everywhere in the world, is a leading agency for projecting the ideologies and news to a huge target population or viewers. The larger the audience base, the more powerful it becomes. The media in its various format like television, radio and newspaper and magazine, basically has the main objective of informing the audience of the events and news that are taking place around the world or it may just be region-centric, depending whether it is targeting domestic or international market. In the early eighties, there were about 80 media houses which have now shrunk to only five. These are Time Warner, Walt Disney Company, Murdoch’s New Corporation, Viacom and Bertelsmann. This cartel of big five, control a lot more than media houses. Each of them has stake in all forms of mass media; be it radio and television, newspaper and publishing house or motion pictures. They have become strong