Concepts in Physical Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Concepts in Physical Science - Essay Example By combining observations rational arguments and experimentation he supported the theory of vision. He corrected the preconceived notion by stating that the rays of light are emitted from objects rather than coming from the eyes. He rejected the old theories of Ptolemy and Euclid about the theory of vision.He also corrected Aristotle’s theory where he had claimed that objects emit physical particles towards the eyes. During the first millennium, BC Babylonian Astronomy evolved into the most successful examples of scientific astronomy. This method of astronomical study was the first successful attempt at refining the mathematical description of astronomical movements. All further developments in astronomy by the Islamic world and the Indian scientists was made possible due to such research. During the middle of the fifth century BC, other great philosophers like Plato mentioned teaching arithmetic, astronomy, and geometry. The field of chemistry is as ancient as the scientific thought process itself. The earliest record of using metals by humans appears to be gold. It is usually found free or raw in nature and does not include chemical processing to obtain it. It also means that other metals like silver, tin, copper, and iron gave the earliest humans an opportunity to work with metals. Democritus was a Greek philosopher who founded the atomistic school where he worked on finding the reasons why different substances had different properties and why they existed in different states.

Burning the identification cards Essay Example for Free

Burning the identification cards Essay The leadership style shown in the 1982 film Gandhi is based not on force or intimidation, but on a more subtle, inspirational, and principled approach. Where many leaders rely on charm or fear and have only their own benefit in mind, Gandhi led by setting a clear example and aiming to teach his followers and subordinates, setting a solid example and using his powers of persuasion to keep his movement morally exemplary, nonviolent, and ultimately successful. Throughout the film, Gandhi follows this approach consistently. For example, at his first public act of civil disobedience (burning the identification cards that South Africa forced Indians to carry), he acts to inspire others to follow his example, though clearly he faces the perils of police brutality and arrest. At a large meeting shortly thereafter, he uses reason and principle to reach his audience, some of whom vow to use violence against South African police for violating their rights. He does not lose sight of his own commitment to nonviolence and appeals to their sense of superior morality; by defying injustice but refusing to answer violence with violence, Gandhi illustrates for the audience both the methods and the intended effects. Later, after he returns to India and becomes involved with the growing home rule and nationalist movements, he sets himself apart from more politically ambitious leaders (like Nehru and Jinnah) by living and dressing like India’s many poor peasants and, again, adhering rigidly to his nonviolent civil disobedience. He does not behave deviously, compromise himself, use people, or contradict his goals; instead, he leads not for his own glory, but for the much greater benefit of India itself. In doing so, Gandhi does not issue orders but certainly commands his followers’ respect. In my own experiences, I have often responded best to leaders who lead not by using and intimidating their subordinates, but by consistently following their own principles, clearly conveying why certain things must be done, and never losing sight of the bigger goals. Indeed, this inspires confidence because such leaders do not behave hypocritically or immorally; they do not let ego get in the way of accomplishing the chief task and assume the same risks their followers face, thus subordinating themselves to their goals without being misled by their own personal ambition or benefit. This relates well to one of my favorite employers, who led by setting examples, instructing, and persuading rather than bullying. While we were certainly not engaged in any epic struggles, she led in a similarly non-commanding manner, without ulterior motives or excess self-interest. She functioned more as a mentor, instructing rather than micro-managing and placing the greater purpose (our tasks and projects at hand) above her own desire for power or authority. Instead of demeaning her subordinates, she related to us directly, giving us credit for our intelligence and feelings and appealing to our sense of right and wrong to get points across. In doing so, she let us focus on our work without creating resentment or undermining us (or the company), and she knew that employees who feel respected are often more productive. Also, she did not separate herself very rigidly from her subordinates; while she did not present herself as our friend, she was nonetheless friendly, approachable, and patient. She also assumed some degree of risk by defending her employees, rather than feigning support and then denying it when risks appeared. By treating us as capable, intelligent individuals, rather than devices for her own advancement, and she did not behave with the hypocrisy often seen in employers whose â€Å"do as I say, not as I do† approach is often counterproductive. Like Gandhi, she was often conciliatory rather than directly commanding, which made us feel more at ease and thus open to her commands (which appeared more like friendly requests). In general, I find that effective leaders share Gandhi’s sense of perspective; they do not lose sight of the goals they wish to achieve, and as leaders they do not place themselves ahead of what they want to achieve. BIBLIOGRAPHY Gandhi. Dir. Richard Attenborough. Perf. Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Ian Charleson, Saeed Jaffrey. Columbia, 1982.

Unification of Italy and Germany Essay -- History

Unification of Italy and Germany By 1871 both the kingdom of Italy and the empire of Germany were united. Even though both countries used popular trends to that time, both liberalism and nationalism, the process unifying these two countries was very different. The end result was Germany emerging as a strong nation and Italy appropriately, the weaker. Italy’s problems started with the fact that it didn’t have one main ruler, but two people and a concept, resulting in a different approach to the unification. Gulseppe Mazzini had a radical program focusing on a centralized democratic republic based on universal suffrage and the will of the people. Vincenzo Gioberti, who was a catholic priest called for a federation of existing states under the presidency of the pope. Then there were the people who favored leadership toward the autocratic kingdom of Sardenia. Sardenia’s rule was much more popular to the middle class than the other two because Sardenia appeared to be a liberal, progressive state displaying national unification. That is what the people were striving for. They thought Mazzini’s ideas too radical- and they were trying to get away from religion running the nation as it had done in the past. They wanted a distinct separation between church and state. Cavour was the man who made the change, but he sought unity only for northern Italy to become a greatly expanded kingdom of Sardenia. â€Å"In the 1850’s Cavour worked to consolidate Sardenia as a liberal state cap...

Eugene Schueller

Eugene Schueller By: Jaqueline Gastelum Block 1- Hon. Chemistry Mr. Velazquez Today there is much advancement in the cosmetic world. There are also many scientist (that go back to the ancient Romans) that have invented and experimented with chemicals to produce what we know have today. Eugene Schueller is one of those chemists that helped advance the cosmetic industry. He also invented other products such as Sun block and the revolutionary L’Oreal cosmetic industry. Eugene Schueller is a French chemist.There is not a lot of information about his life and where he grew up. Eugene Schueller graduated from France’s national chemical engineering school in 1904. In 1909, this young chemist founded the company L’Oreal. He had an amazing â€Å"entrepreneurial spirit†. Schueller began by selling his own formulated hair dye to the Persian Hairdressers. The next year after that, he convinced Paris hair stylist to use his hair dyes for a fashion show, with his determ ination and ambition he succeeded and earned publicity.Another bit of information that we know is that Schueller had a passion for chemistry always trying new ideas. During the 1920s when the war was finally over, there was a new perspective changing in women. Women are now working, earning money and are getting more concerned about their appearance. They wanted to look younger, by covering gray hair. This was a great opportunity to the Oreal hair dyes (now they changed it to L’Oreal) to earn more money. This was a great success, it even started to spread to other countries such as Italy, Austria, The Netherlands, and even reaching the U.S, U. K, Canada and Brazil. During 1928 Schueller started to modernized and upgraded his products by improving qualities and redesigning his advertising methods. In some point in time, people didn’t know how to advertise, but Eugene Schuler is a pioneer on this kind of advertising. Schueller had talent for advertising, using his skills he was successful, always drawing attention to his new/ old products. He made promotional events and started to make strategies for new advertising ideas.Thinking above the others, Schueller used radio commercials (as they were barely starting to add them) to promote his hair dye. With all the advertisements he maximized sales in the L’Oreal Company. Hair dying came to be because of many scientists but Eugene Schueller is the main one. He wanted to make people beautiful and to love themselves, another part was for the money but anyways he continued to bring success to his company by making a blonde colour that actually can make the individual look like a natural blonde.Many more inventions came to be later on. One of his Other famous The type of chemistry involved†¦ Sunscreen invention†¦ Many have liked the idea of being beautiful, and attractive Since beginning of time, people have always wanted to be beautiful and attractive. L’Oreal has been created concl usion Souces: http://www. loreal. com/dd/loreal/HistoryDetails. aspx? TopCode=CorpTopic_Group_History_19091956 http://www. humantouchofchemistry. com/discovery-of-hair-dye. htm Online Book source- Encyclopedia of hair: A Cultural History by Victoria Sherrow

Management Theories

ABSTRACT Management is the most important part of any organization. No organization can achieve its objectives without proper management. So management is considered the hub of any organization. As society continuously relied on group effort, and as many organized groups have become large, the task of managers has been increasing in importance and complexity. To meet the challenges like competition, efficient and economical uses of sources and maximum output, knowledge of management and theories of management is basic requirement.Henceforth, managerial theory has become crucial in the way managers manage complex organizations. This article will provide the basic information of main management theories and how they have developed. It also addresses the management objectives, functions, goals, and essentiality as well as the requirement skills of a Manger. Relating to my current company – AON Vietnam, member of AON Corporation, the article point out which theory of management fi t best with the style of management in AON Corporation, one of biggest insurance brokers worldwide and what a Manager at AON should do. Topic 1 & 2) CONTENTS I. MAIN MANAGEMENT THEORIES 1. Definition of Management According to Drucker (1974) Management is â€Å"the activity of getting things done with the help of others peoples and resources†. It means that management is a process of accomplishing work with the help of other people. According to Weijrich and Koontz (1993) â€Å"Management is process of planning, leading, organizing and controlling people within a group in order to achieve goals. It is also the guidance and control of action required to execute a program.It indicates that there should be definite plan/program for affective management (Shied, 2010). On the basis of these definitions it can be concluded that management is a process that includes strategic planning, setting objectives, managing resources, developing the human and financial assets needed to achie ve objectives and measuring results. It also includes recording facts and information for later use upon requirement. 2. Management Theories Contemporary theories of management tend to account for and help interpret the rapidly changing nature of today’s organizational environments.Several important management theories which are broadly classified as follows: 1. The Scientific Management School. 2. The Classical Organizational Theory School. 3. The Behavioural School. 4. The Management Science School. 5. Recent developments in Management Theory comprising works such as Systems Approach, Situational or Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building approach. This discussion will provide a general description of these management theories, how they have developed and the successes that they achieved. A Timeline Overview of Key Management theories pic] a. The Scientific Management School The first management theory is what is popularly referred to as Frederick Taylor’ s Scientific Management. Frederick Taylor (1856 – 1915) started the era of modern management. Taylor consistently sought to overthrow management â€Å"by rule of thumb† and replace it with actual timed observations leading to â€Å"the one best† practice. â€Å"Taylorism† involved breaking down the components of manual tasks in manufacturing environments, timing each movement (‘time and motion' studies) so that there could be a proven best way to perform each task.Thus employees could be trained to be ‘first class' within their job. This type of management was particularly relevant to performance drives e. g ‘Action On' projects. It has to be acknowledged that from an economic standpoint, Taylorism was an extreme success. Application of his methods yielded significant improvements in productivity. For example, improvements such as his shovel work at Bethlehem Works, which reduced the workers needed to shovel from 500 to 140. Henceforth, Taylor proposed four underlying principles of management: First, there is need to develop a ‘science of work’ to replace old rule-of-thumb methods: pay and other rewards linked to achievement of ‘optimum goals’ – measures of work performance and output; failure to achieve these would in contrast result in loss of earnings. – Second, workers to be ‘scientifically’ selected and developed: training each to be ‘first-class’ at some specific task. – Third the ‘science of work’ to be brought together with scientifically selected and trained people to achieve the best results. Finally, work and responsibility to be divided equally between workers and management cooperating together in close interdependence. This was a rigid system where every task became discrete and specialized. However, many critics, both historical and contemporary, have pointed out that Taylor’s theories tend to â€Å"dehumani ze† the workers. Therefore, in summary, while the scientific management technique has been employed to increase productivity and efficiency both in private and public services, it has also had the disadvantages of ignoring many of the human aspects of employment.This led to the creation of boring repetitive jobs with the introduction of systems for tight control and the alienation of shop floor employees from their managers. b. Classical Organizational Theory School In this category of management theory are the works of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory and Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory. Administrative Theory Henri Fayol’s administrative theory mainly focuses on the personal duties of management at a much more granular level. Fayol believed that management had five principle roles: †¢ Forecasting and planning. †¢ Organizing. †¢ Commanding Co-ordinating †¢ Controlling. Forecasting and planning was the act of anticipating the future a nd acting accordingly. Organization was the development of the institution’s resources, both material and human. Commanding was keeping the institution’s actions and processes running. Co-ordination was the alignment and harmonization of the group’s efforts. Finally, control meant that the above activities were performed in accordance with appropriate rules and procedures. Fayol also developed fourteen principles of administration to go along with management’s five primary roles.These principles are: specialization/division of labor, authority with responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interest to the general interest, remuneration of staff, centralization, scalar chain/line of authority, order, equity, stability of tenure, initiative, and esprit de corps. Fayol clearly believed personal effort and team dynamics were part of an â€Å"ideal† organization. Fayol’s five principle roles of management are still actively practiced today. The concept of giving appropriate authority with responsibility is also widely commented on and is well practiced.Unfortunately, his principles of â€Å"unity of command† and â€Å"unity of direction† are consistently violated in â€Å"matrix management†, the structure of choice for many of today’s companies. Bureaucratic Theory Max Weber (1864 – 1924) postulated that western civilization was shifting from â€Å"wertrational† (or value oriented) thinking, affective action (action derived from emotions), and traditional action (action derived from past precedent) to â€Å"zweckational† (or technocratic) thinking. He believed that civilization was changing to seek technically optimal results at the expense of emotional or humanistic content.Through analyses of organizations, Weber identified three basic types of legitimate authority: – Traditional authority: where acceptance of those in authority arose from tradition and custom. – Charismatic authority: where acceptance arises from loyalty to, and confidence in, the personal qualities of the ruler. – Rational-legal authority: where acceptance arises out of the office, or position, of the person in authority as bounded by the rules and procedures of the organization. It is the rational-legal authority form that exists in most organizations today and this is the form to which Weber ascribed the term ‘bureaucracy'.The main features of bureaucracy according to Weber were: †¢ A continuous organization or functions bounded by rules. †¢ That individual functioned within the limits of the specialization of the work, the degree of authority allocated and the rules governing the exercise of authority. †¢ A  hierarchical  structure of offices. †¢ Appointment to offices made on the grounds of technical competence only. †¢ The separation of officials from the ownership of the organization. †¢ The authority was vested in the official positions and not in the personalities that held these posts.Rules, decisions and actions were formulated and recorded in writing. It is not coincidence that Weber's writings were at a time of the major industrial revolutions and the growth of large complex organizations out of the cottage industries and/or entrepreneurial businesses. c. Behavioural School The key scholar under this category is Elton Mayo. The origin of behavioralism is the human relations movement that was a result of the Hawthorne Works Experiment that started in the early 1920s. Elton Mayo and his associates’ experiments disproved Taylor’s beliefs that science dictated hat the highest productivity was found in ‘the one best way’ and that way could be obtained by controlled experiment. The Hawthorne studies attempted to determine the effects of lighting on worker productivity. When these experiments showed no clear correlati on between light level and productivity the experiments then started looking at other factors. These factors that were considered when Mayo was working with a group of women included no rest breaks, no free more hours in the work-day/work-week or fewer hours in the workday/work-week.With each of these changes, productivity went up. When the women were put back to their original hours and conditions, they set a productivity record. These results showed that the group dynamics and social makeup of an organization were an important force either for or against higher productivity. This outcome caused the call for greater participation for the workers, greater trust and openness in the working environment, and a greater attention to teams and groups in the work place.Finally, while Taylor’s impacts were the establishment of the industrial engineering, quality control and personnel departments, the human relations movement’s greatest impact came in what the organization†™s leadership and personnel department were doing. The seemingly new concepts of â€Å"group dynamics†, â€Å"teamwork†, and organizational â€Å"social systems†, all stem from Mayo’s work in the mid-1920s. d. Management Science Theories Douglas McGregor (1906-1964) postulated management ideas as contained in â€Å"Theory X† and â€Å"Theory Y†.Using human behaviour research, he noted that the way an organization runs depends on the beliefs of its managers. â€Å"Theory X† gives a negative view of human behaviour and management that he considered to have dominated management theory from Fayol onwards – especially Taylorism. It also assumes that most people are basically immature, need direction and control, and are incapable of taking responsibility. They are viewed as lazy, dislike work and need a mixture of financial inducements and threat of loss of their job to make them work (‘carrot and stick’ mentality). T heory Y†, the opposite of â€Å"Theory X†, argues that people want to fulfil themselves by seeking self-respect, self-development, and self-fulfilment at work as in life in general. The six basic assumptions for ‘Theory Y’ are: work is as natural as play or rest – the average human being does not inherently dislike work, whether work is a source of pleasure or a punishment (to be avoided) depends on nature of the work and its management. Second, effort at work need not depend on threat of punishment – if committed to objectives then self-direction and self-control rather than external controls.Third, commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. Satisfaction of ego and self-actualization needs can be directed towards the objectives of the organization. Fourth, the average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility. Fifth, high degrees of imagination, ing enuity and creativity are not restricted to a narrow group but are widely distributed in the population. Lastly, under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentials of the average human being are being only partly utilized. . Recent Developments in Management Theory Under this category of theory are the Systems Approach, Situational or Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building theory. The systems theory has had a significant effect on management science and understanding organizations. A system is a collection of part unified to accomplish an overall goal. If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the system is changed as well. A system can be looked at as having inputs (e. g. , resources such as raw materials, money, technologies, and people), processes (e. g. planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling), outputs (products or services) and outcomes (e. g. , enhanced quality of life or productivity for customers/clients, productivity ). Systems share feedback among each of these four aspects of the system. The Chaos theory is advocated by Tom Peters (1942). Chaos theorists suggest that systems naturally go to more complexity, and as they do so, they become more volatile and must, therefore, expend more energy to maintain that complexity. As they expend more energy, they seek more structure to maintain stability.This trend continues until the system splits, combines with another complex system or falls apart entirely. It will need an effective manager for the latter worst scenario not to happen. Team Building approach or theory emphasizes quality circles, best practices, and continuous improvement. It is a theory that mainly hinges on reliance on teamwork. It also emphasizes flattening of management pyramid, and reducing the levels of hierarchy. Finally, it is all about consensus management – i. e. , involving more people at all levels in decision-making. 3. Management theory applied to AON II. WHAT A MANA GER DOESManaging, like all other practices – whether medicine, music composition, engineering, accountancy, or even baseball – is an art; it is know-how. It is doing things in the light of the realities of a situation. Managers just don't go out and perform their responsibilities. A good manager should discover how to master 05 basic functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. †¢ Planning:  This step involves mapping out exactly how to achieve a particular goal. For example, that the organization's goal is to improve company sales. The manager first needs to decide which steps are necessary to accomplish that goal.These steps may include increasing advertising, inventory, and sales staff. These necessary steps are developed into a plan. When the plan is in place, the manager can follow it to accomplish the goal of improving company sales. †¢ Organizing:  After a plan is in place, a manager needs to organize his team and materials a ccording to his plan. Assigning work and granting authority are two important elements of organizing. †¢ Staffing:  After a manager discerns his area's needs, he may decide to beef up his staffing by recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees.A manager in a large organization often works with the company's human resources department to accomplish this goal. †¢ Leading:  A manager needs to do more than just plan, organize, and staff her team to achieve a goal. She must also lead. Leading involves motivating, communicating, guiding, and encouraging. It requires the manager to coach, assist, and problem solve with employees. †¢ Controlling:  After the other elements are in place, a manager's job is not finished. He needs to continuously check results against goals and take any corrective actions necessary to make sure that his area's plans remain on track.All managers at all levels of every organization perform these functions, but the amount of time a manager spends on each one depends on both the level of management and the specific organization. Roles performed by managers In his classic book,  The Nature of Managerial Work,  Henry Mintzberg describes a set of ten roles that a manager fills. These roles fall into three categories: †¢ Interpersonal:  This role involves human interaction. †¢ Informational:  This role involves the sharing and analyzing of information. †¢ Decisional:  This role involves decision making.The below table  contains a more in-depth look at each category of roles that help managers carry out all five functions described in the preceding â€Å"Functions of Managers† section. Mintzberg's Set of Ten Roles | | |Category | |Role | |Activity | | |Informational | |Monitor | |Seek and receive information; scan periodicals and reports; maintain personal contact with stakeholders. | | | | | |Disseminator | |Forward information to organization members via memos, reports, an d phone calls. | | | | |Spokesperson | |Transmit information to outsiders via reports, memos, and speeches. | | | |Interpersonal | |Figurehead | |Perform ceremonial and symbolic duties, such as greeting visitors and signing legal documents. | | | | |Leader | |Direct and motivate subordinates; counsel and communicate with subordinates. | | | | |Liaison | |Maintain information links both inside and outside organization via mail, phone calls, and meetings. | | |Decisional | |Entrepreneur | |Initiate improvement projects; identify new ideas and delegate idea responsibility to thers. | | | | | |Disturbance handler | |Take corrective action during disputes or crises; resolve conflicts among subordinates; adapt to environments. | | | | |Resource allocator | |Decide who gets resources; prepare budgets; set schedules and determine priorities. | | | | |Negotiator | |Represent department during negotiations of union contracts, sales, purchases, and budgets. | | | Skills needed by managers Not everyone can be a manager. Certain  skills,  or abilities to translate knowledge into action that results in desired performance, are required to help other employees become more productive. These skills fall under the following categories: Technical:  This skill requires the ability to use a special proficiency or expertise to perform particular tasks. Accountants, engineers, market researchers, and computer scientists, as examples, possess technical skills. Managers acquire these skills initially through formal education and then further develop them through training and job experience. Technical skills are most important at lower levels of management. †¢ Human:  This skill demonstrates the ability to work well in cooperation with others. Human skills emerge in the workplace as a spirit of trust, enthusiasm, and genuine involvement in interpersonal relationships. A anager with good human skills has a high degree of self-awareness and a capacity to understand or empathize with the feelings of others. Some managers are naturally born with great human skills, while others improve their skills through classes or experience. No matter how human skills are acquired, they're critical for all managers because of the highly interpersonal nature of managerial work. †¢ Conceptual:  This skill calls for the ability to think analytically. Analytical skills enable managers to break down problems into smaller parts, to see the relations among the parts, and to recognize the implications of any one problem for others.As managers assume ever-higher responsibilities in organizations, they must deal with more ambiguous problems that have long-term consequences. Again, managers may acquire these skills initially through formal education and then further develop them by training and job experience. The higher the management level, the more important conceptual skills become. †¢ Designing skill is the ability to solve problems in wa ys that will benefit the enterprise. To be effective, particularly at upper organizational levels, managers must be able to do more than see a problem.In addition, they must have the skill of a good design engineer in working out a practical solution to a problem. Managers must also have that valuable skill of being able to design a workable solution to the problem in the light of the realities they face. It has, however, got to be mentioned that the relative importance of these skills may differ at various levels in the organization hierarchy. Although all four categories contain skills essential for managers, their relative importance tends to vary by level of managerial responsibility. Management Theories ABSTRACT Management is the most important part of any organization. No organization can achieve its objectives without proper management. So management is considered the hub of any organization. As society continuously relied on group effort, and as many organized groups have become large, the task of managers has been increasing in importance and complexity. To meet the challenges like competition, efficient and economical uses of sources and maximum output, knowledge of management and theories of management is basic requirement.Henceforth, managerial theory has become crucial in the way managers manage complex organizations. This article will provide the basic information of main management theories and how they have developed. It also addresses the management objectives, functions, goals, and essentiality as well as the requirement skills of a Manger. Relating to my current company – AON Vietnam, member of AON Corporation, the article point out which theory of management fi t best with the style of management in AON Corporation, one of biggest insurance brokers worldwide and what a Manager at AON should do. Topic 1 & 2) CONTENTS I. MAIN MANAGEMENT THEORIES 1. Definition of Management According to Drucker (1974) Management is â€Å"the activity of getting things done with the help of others peoples and resources†. It means that management is a process of accomplishing work with the help of other people. According to Weijrich and Koontz (1993) â€Å"Management is process of planning, leading, organizing and controlling people within a group in order to achieve goals. It is also the guidance and control of action required to execute a program.It indicates that there should be definite plan/program for affective management (Shied, 2010). On the basis of these definitions it can be concluded that management is a process that includes strategic planning, setting objectives, managing resources, developing the human and financial assets needed to achie ve objectives and measuring results. It also includes recording facts and information for later use upon requirement. 2. Management Theories Contemporary theories of management tend to account for and help interpret the rapidly changing nature of today’s organizational environments.Several important management theories which are broadly classified as follows: 1. The Scientific Management School. 2. The Classical Organizational Theory School. 3. The Behavioural School. 4. The Management Science School. 5. Recent developments in Management Theory comprising works such as Systems Approach, Situational or Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building approach. This discussion will provide a general description of these management theories, how they have developed and the successes that they achieved. A Timeline Overview of Key Management theories pic] a. The Scientific Management School The first management theory is what is popularly referred to as Frederick Taylor’ s Scientific Management. Frederick Taylor (1856 – 1915) started the era of modern management. Taylor consistently sought to overthrow management â€Å"by rule of thumb† and replace it with actual timed observations leading to â€Å"the one best† practice. â€Å"Taylorism† involved breaking down the components of manual tasks in manufacturing environments, timing each movement (‘time and motion' studies) so that there could be a proven best way to perform each task.Thus employees could be trained to be ‘first class' within their job. This type of management was particularly relevant to performance drives e. g ‘Action On' projects. It has to be acknowledged that from an economic standpoint, Taylorism was an extreme success. Application of his methods yielded significant improvements in productivity. For example, improvements such as his shovel work at Bethlehem Works, which reduced the workers needed to shovel from 500 to 140. Henceforth, Taylor proposed four underlying principles of management: First, there is need to develop a ‘science of work’ to replace old rule-of-thumb methods: pay and other rewards linked to achievement of ‘optimum goals’ – measures of work performance and output; failure to achieve these would in contrast result in loss of earnings. – Second, workers to be ‘scientifically’ selected and developed: training each to be ‘first-class’ at some specific task. – Third the ‘science of work’ to be brought together with scientifically selected and trained people to achieve the best results. Finally, work and responsibility to be divided equally between workers and management cooperating together in close interdependence. This was a rigid system where every task became discrete and specialized. However, many critics, both historical and contemporary, have pointed out that Taylor’s theories tend to â€Å"dehumani ze† the workers. Therefore, in summary, while the scientific management technique has been employed to increase productivity and efficiency both in private and public services, it has also had the disadvantages of ignoring many of the human aspects of employment.This led to the creation of boring repetitive jobs with the introduction of systems for tight control and the alienation of shop floor employees from their managers. b. Classical Organizational Theory School In this category of management theory are the works of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory and Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory. Administrative Theory Henri Fayol’s administrative theory mainly focuses on the personal duties of management at a much more granular level. Fayol believed that management had five principle roles: †¢ Forecasting and planning. †¢ Organizing. †¢ Commanding Co-ordinating †¢ Controlling. Forecasting and planning was the act of anticipating the future a nd acting accordingly. Organization was the development of the institution’s resources, both material and human. Commanding was keeping the institution’s actions and processes running. Co-ordination was the alignment and harmonization of the group’s efforts. Finally, control meant that the above activities were performed in accordance with appropriate rules and procedures. Fayol also developed fourteen principles of administration to go along with management’s five primary roles.These principles are: specialization/division of labor, authority with responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interest to the general interest, remuneration of staff, centralization, scalar chain/line of authority, order, equity, stability of tenure, initiative, and esprit de corps. Fayol clearly believed personal effort and team dynamics were part of an â€Å"ideal† organization. Fayol’s five principle roles of management are still actively practiced today. The concept of giving appropriate authority with responsibility is also widely commented on and is well practiced.Unfortunately, his principles of â€Å"unity of command† and â€Å"unity of direction† are consistently violated in â€Å"matrix management†, the structure of choice for many of today’s companies. Bureaucratic Theory Max Weber (1864 – 1924) postulated that western civilization was shifting from â€Å"wertrational† (or value oriented) thinking, affective action (action derived from emotions), and traditional action (action derived from past precedent) to â€Å"zweckational† (or technocratic) thinking. He believed that civilization was changing to seek technically optimal results at the expense of emotional or humanistic content.Through analyses of organizations, Weber identified three basic types of legitimate authority: – Traditional authority: where acceptance of those in authority arose from tradition and custom. – Charismatic authority: where acceptance arises from loyalty to, and confidence in, the personal qualities of the ruler. – Rational-legal authority: where acceptance arises out of the office, or position, of the person in authority as bounded by the rules and procedures of the organization. It is the rational-legal authority form that exists in most organizations today and this is the form to which Weber ascribed the term ‘bureaucracy'.The main features of bureaucracy according to Weber were: †¢ A continuous organization or functions bounded by rules. †¢ That individual functioned within the limits of the specialization of the work, the degree of authority allocated and the rules governing the exercise of authority. †¢ A  hierarchical  structure of offices. †¢ Appointment to offices made on the grounds of technical competence only. †¢ The separation of officials from the ownership of the organization. †¢ The authority was vested in the official positions and not in the personalities that held these posts.Rules, decisions and actions were formulated and recorded in writing. It is not coincidence that Weber's writings were at a time of the major industrial revolutions and the growth of large complex organizations out of the cottage industries and/or entrepreneurial businesses. c. Behavioural School The key scholar under this category is Elton Mayo. The origin of behavioralism is the human relations movement that was a result of the Hawthorne Works Experiment that started in the early 1920s. Elton Mayo and his associates’ experiments disproved Taylor’s beliefs that science dictated hat the highest productivity was found in ‘the one best way’ and that way could be obtained by controlled experiment. The Hawthorne studies attempted to determine the effects of lighting on worker productivity. When these experiments showed no clear correlati on between light level and productivity the experiments then started looking at other factors. These factors that were considered when Mayo was working with a group of women included no rest breaks, no free more hours in the work-day/work-week or fewer hours in the workday/work-week.With each of these changes, productivity went up. When the women were put back to their original hours and conditions, they set a productivity record. These results showed that the group dynamics and social makeup of an organization were an important force either for or against higher productivity. This outcome caused the call for greater participation for the workers, greater trust and openness in the working environment, and a greater attention to teams and groups in the work place.Finally, while Taylor’s impacts were the establishment of the industrial engineering, quality control and personnel departments, the human relations movement’s greatest impact came in what the organization†™s leadership and personnel department were doing. The seemingly new concepts of â€Å"group dynamics†, â€Å"teamwork†, and organizational â€Å"social systems†, all stem from Mayo’s work in the mid-1920s. d. Management Science Theories Douglas McGregor (1906-1964) postulated management ideas as contained in â€Å"Theory X† and â€Å"Theory Y†.Using human behaviour research, he noted that the way an organization runs depends on the beliefs of its managers. â€Å"Theory X† gives a negative view of human behaviour and management that he considered to have dominated management theory from Fayol onwards – especially Taylorism. It also assumes that most people are basically immature, need direction and control, and are incapable of taking responsibility. They are viewed as lazy, dislike work and need a mixture of financial inducements and threat of loss of their job to make them work (‘carrot and stick’ mentality). T heory Y†, the opposite of â€Å"Theory X†, argues that people want to fulfil themselves by seeking self-respect, self-development, and self-fulfilment at work as in life in general. The six basic assumptions for ‘Theory Y’ are: work is as natural as play or rest – the average human being does not inherently dislike work, whether work is a source of pleasure or a punishment (to be avoided) depends on nature of the work and its management. Second, effort at work need not depend on threat of punishment – if committed to objectives then self-direction and self-control rather than external controls.Third, commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. Satisfaction of ego and self-actualization needs can be directed towards the objectives of the organization. Fourth, the average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility. Fifth, high degrees of imagination, ing enuity and creativity are not restricted to a narrow group but are widely distributed in the population. Lastly, under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentials of the average human being are being only partly utilized. . Recent Developments in Management Theory Under this category of theory are the Systems Approach, Situational or Contingency theory, Chaos theory, and Team Building theory. The systems theory has had a significant effect on management science and understanding organizations. A system is a collection of part unified to accomplish an overall goal. If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the system is changed as well. A system can be looked at as having inputs (e. g. , resources such as raw materials, money, technologies, and people), processes (e. g. planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling), outputs (products or services) and outcomes (e. g. , enhanced quality of life or productivity for customers/clients, productivity ). Systems share feedback among each of these four aspects of the system. The Chaos theory is advocated by Tom Peters (1942). Chaos theorists suggest that systems naturally go to more complexity, and as they do so, they become more volatile and must, therefore, expend more energy to maintain that complexity. As they expend more energy, they seek more structure to maintain stability.This trend continues until the system splits, combines with another complex system or falls apart entirely. It will need an effective manager for the latter worst scenario not to happen. Team Building approach or theory emphasizes quality circles, best practices, and continuous improvement. It is a theory that mainly hinges on reliance on teamwork. It also emphasizes flattening of management pyramid, and reducing the levels of hierarchy. Finally, it is all about consensus management – i. e. , involving more people at all levels in decision-making. 3. Management theory applied to AON II. WHAT A MANA GER DOESManaging, like all other practices – whether medicine, music composition, engineering, accountancy, or even baseball – is an art; it is know-how. It is doing things in the light of the realities of a situation. Managers just don't go out and perform their responsibilities. A good manager should discover how to master 05 basic functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. †¢ Planning:  This step involves mapping out exactly how to achieve a particular goal. For example, that the organization's goal is to improve company sales. The manager first needs to decide which steps are necessary to accomplish that goal.These steps may include increasing advertising, inventory, and sales staff. These necessary steps are developed into a plan. When the plan is in place, the manager can follow it to accomplish the goal of improving company sales. †¢ Organizing:  After a plan is in place, a manager needs to organize his team and materials a ccording to his plan. Assigning work and granting authority are two important elements of organizing. †¢ Staffing:  After a manager discerns his area's needs, he may decide to beef up his staffing by recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees.A manager in a large organization often works with the company's human resources department to accomplish this goal. †¢ Leading:  A manager needs to do more than just plan, organize, and staff her team to achieve a goal. She must also lead. Leading involves motivating, communicating, guiding, and encouraging. It requires the manager to coach, assist, and problem solve with employees. †¢ Controlling:  After the other elements are in place, a manager's job is not finished. He needs to continuously check results against goals and take any corrective actions necessary to make sure that his area's plans remain on track.All managers at all levels of every organization perform these functions, but the amount of time a manager spends on each one depends on both the level of management and the specific organization. Roles performed by managers In his classic book,  The Nature of Managerial Work,  Henry Mintzberg describes a set of ten roles that a manager fills. These roles fall into three categories: †¢ Interpersonal:  This role involves human interaction. †¢ Informational:  This role involves the sharing and analyzing of information. †¢ Decisional:  This role involves decision making.The below table  contains a more in-depth look at each category of roles that help managers carry out all five functions described in the preceding â€Å"Functions of Managers† section. Mintzberg's Set of Ten Roles | | |Category | |Role | |Activity | | |Informational | |Monitor | |Seek and receive information; scan periodicals and reports; maintain personal contact with stakeholders. | | | | | |Disseminator | |Forward information to organization members via memos, reports, an d phone calls. | | | | |Spokesperson | |Transmit information to outsiders via reports, memos, and speeches. | | | |Interpersonal | |Figurehead | |Perform ceremonial and symbolic duties, such as greeting visitors and signing legal documents. | | | | |Leader | |Direct and motivate subordinates; counsel and communicate with subordinates. | | | | |Liaison | |Maintain information links both inside and outside organization via mail, phone calls, and meetings. | | |Decisional | |Entrepreneur | |Initiate improvement projects; identify new ideas and delegate idea responsibility to thers. | | | | | |Disturbance handler | |Take corrective action during disputes or crises; resolve conflicts among subordinates; adapt to environments. | | | | |Resource allocator | |Decide who gets resources; prepare budgets; set schedules and determine priorities. | | | | |Negotiator | |Represent department during negotiations of union contracts, sales, purchases, and budgets. | | | Skills needed by managers Not everyone can be a manager. Certain  skills,  or abilities to translate knowledge into action that results in desired performance, are required to help other employees become more productive. These skills fall under the following categories: Technical:  This skill requires the ability to use a special proficiency or expertise to perform particular tasks. Accountants, engineers, market researchers, and computer scientists, as examples, possess technical skills. Managers acquire these skills initially through formal education and then further develop them through training and job experience. Technical skills are most important at lower levels of management. †¢ Human:  This skill demonstrates the ability to work well in cooperation with others. Human skills emerge in the workplace as a spirit of trust, enthusiasm, and genuine involvement in interpersonal relationships. A anager with good human skills has a high degree of self-awareness and a capacity to understand or empathize with the feelings of others. Some managers are naturally born with great human skills, while others improve their skills through classes or experience. No matter how human skills are acquired, they're critical for all managers because of the highly interpersonal nature of managerial work. †¢ Conceptual:  This skill calls for the ability to think analytically. Analytical skills enable managers to break down problems into smaller parts, to see the relations among the parts, and to recognize the implications of any one problem for others.As managers assume ever-higher responsibilities in organizations, they must deal with more ambiguous problems that have long-term consequences. Again, managers may acquire these skills initially through formal education and then further develop them by training and job experience. The higher the management level, the more important conceptual skills become. †¢ Designing skill is the ability to solve problems in wa ys that will benefit the enterprise. To be effective, particularly at upper organizational levels, managers must be able to do more than see a problem.In addition, they must have the skill of a good design engineer in working out a practical solution to a problem. Managers must also have that valuable skill of being able to design a workable solution to the problem in the light of the realities they face. It has, however, got to be mentioned that the relative importance of these skills may differ at various levels in the organization hierarchy. Although all four categories contain skills essential for managers, their relative importance tends to vary by level of managerial responsibility.

How to Answer the 5 Most Common Interview Questions

How to Answer the 5 Most Common Interview Questions In a 1981 interview, TV journalist Barbara Walters famously asked actress Katharine Hepburn, â€Å"What kind of tree are you?† Ever since then, the tree question has been a byword for out-there interview questions. And while you probably won’t get any tree-based questions in your next job interview, you should be prepared for open-ended questions designed to test your readiness for a job. Here are some answers and strategies you should have in your pocket for when an interviewer asks you a question slightly outside of your resume.1. What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?Relax. The interviewer isn’t expecting a full audit of your personal failures or a speech about how you remind yourself of Mother Theresa and Mark Zuckerberg. When you’re asked about your strengths, make sure your answer is directly relevant to the job you’re interviewing for. If you’re interviewing for a sales position, mention your knack for turning a slammed door i nto a promising lead. Or if you’re under consideration for a management position, talk about how your leadership led your former group to its best year ever.For your weaknesses, don’t answer with something that will likely make the interviewer roll their eyes, like â€Å"I work too hard† or â€Å"I love my job too much.† Instead, be honest- but again, make sure it can be spun as a positive for the specific role you’re seeking. For example, instead of saying that you work too hard, say that you have a tendency to try to solve every problem that comes along.The key is to  make sure the interviewer knows you’re aware of your limitations. In this case, you could say that you tend to take on a lot, but that you’re aware of the need to work with the team to find solutions together instead of putting it all on one person. A little self-awareness goes a long way.2.  What was your reason for leaving your previous  job?Chances are, the in terviewer will ask you why you’re looking to leave your current job- or if you’re currently unemployed, why you left your last job. If it’s the former, stress that you’re seeking to grow by taking your skills and experience to the next level with this job. If it’s the latter, and you left your last job under less-than-ideal circumstances (like being fired), don’t panic. Emphasize that the job wasn’t a good fit for you, and you’re seeking a job that fits with your long-term goals (with a bit of explanation of what those are and how they relate to the job you’re trying to get).3. What are your salary expectations for this position?Asking what kind of salary you’re expecting may just be the interviewer’s way to determine what you expect from the job. It’s a risky question to answer- too high a salary, and they might think you’ll jump ship for the next high-paying opportunity that comes along. Too low, and that could impact the salary and benefits they propose to you as part of a job offer. It’s okay to punt this one a little- explain that you’re flexible on salary depending on the role and benefits package and would be happy to discuss that further in the future.4.  Tell me about yourself .When an interviewer asks you about yourself, this is not the time to talk about your hometown, your elementary school spelling bee trophies, or your allergies. They want you to cherry-pick your bio to show whether you’ll fit at their company, in their open  position. Here’s where a quick summary of your relevant education would come in handy, along with  an overview of jobs you’ve had in the field or other experiences appropriate to the job itself. This is something you can prepare ahead of time- just a few sentences outlining who you are as a professional and what makes you a strong candidate for the position.5. Tell me about a time you solved a d ifficult problem.Another popular interview tactic is to have the candidate tell a story about a time they demonstrated a particular skill, like problem solving. Before you go into the interview, think about the skills you’d like to emphasize and come up with a few (honest!) anecdotes about how you applied those in real life. Write them down, or at least jot down notes; that will help them stick in your head and make them easier for your brain to â€Å"grab† when you’re on the spot.If you do know what kind of tree you would be, great! You’re all set if that somehow comes up. Much more likely, you’ll see questions like these. The more you think about them beforehand, the more ready you’ll be to answer them like a pro.

Questioning the Rejection

Questioning the Rejection I wear three hats FundsforWriters editor, freelance writer, and mystery author. With the first, I have the painful privilege of accepting and declining submissions. In my other two roles, Im the recipient of the decision. As the writer/author, Ive been politely declined, unfortunately ignored, laughed at, and derided tongue-in-cheek I reply to every submission, usually with a reason if the piece was unacceptable. Im booked through 2015, so there is no shortage of submissions. When a concept shows serious potential, the submitter receives an invitation to resubmit an edited version. Some do and some dont. Most, however, are eager to try again. Keep in mind Im not your normal editor. Still, however, I have writers who become irate or question my logic. The ones who complain the loudest are those who resubmit and I do not accept the piece. The argument usually sounds something like this: I did what you asked and you still reject it? Ive invested all this time and effort and you still dont want it? How dare you waste my time. Im done. When you submit to a magazine/newsletter/publisher, you are asking that someone on the other end take their time to read your work and hopefully pay you. You are one of many. Ten, a hundred, maybe a thousand others like you will be considered for the same slot. How would you like to spend an entire day going over submissions knowing youre only allowed to pick one or two, and that all those other people will be unhappy with you if you take the time to reply? So, to all my writing friends out there, when you pitch to an editor: First, be happy that you receive a response either way. Its expensive to send rejections to so many people. That effort could easily explode into a full-time position with no hope of return on investment. Yes, it might be mannerly to offer a rejection, but when some rejection recipients get upset over the answer, you might understand why its easier not to reply at all. Second, be happy that the reply included editorial remarks. Someone cared. Third, be ecstatic if the reply leaves the door open to resubmit. Someone is reaching out. Finally, never bite the hand that has the potential to feed you. If you are rejected after all that back and forth, chill. The person on the other side took time with you. This is an opportunity for you, even if you are rejected. Get mad and theyll never consider future pieces. Yes, most of them will remember. Ill bet it never crossed your mind that you ought to be paid less because someone had to edit your work two or three times, either. That publication couldve even taken a loss buying the piece, when you look at the hourly pay of that editor. Be positive. Be proactive. Be thankful. Be nice. Trust me, it all comes around.

The Ultimate SAT Math Prep Guide Tips, Formulas, and Practice

The Ultimate SAT Math Prep Guide Tips, Formulas, and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It's entirely possible to train for the SAT Math section. The more you understand how it works, the better you'll perform on test day. Here, we'll give you absolutely everything you'll need to know to master SAT Math. This is the best, most comprehensive guide forSAT math prepavailable.We've scoured all the resources we could find and put them together for your convenience. If you are dedicated to doing your best on the SAT and are ready to commit your time and energy to improving your Math score, this is the guide for you. (And best of all, it's entirely free!) This guide will serve as a directory for all the SAT Math articles and guides we've written. We'll start by going through the SAT Math section at the high level and giving you access to free practice tests and problems. After, we'll dive into the larger SAT tips you'll need for the test before finally getting into individual math topics you should know. With that said, it's a good idea to go through each guide we've linked roughly in order,at least for the first time. You can thencome back to any of the guides you need in order to give yourself a refresher. So let's dive in! High-Level SAT Math Section Overview Now that you've (presumably) decided to study forthe SAT Math section, let's talk big picture. These guides will lay the foundation for your SAT studies and give you an idea of how the Math section works as a whole as well as how to master it at the high level. What’s Tested on the SAT Math Section? Topics and Practice The New SAT Math: What's Changing? The first step to understanding how to master the SAT Math section is to learnexactly what you'll betested on. After all, you wouldn't want to waste your time studying a topic that will never show up on the test! So take a look at what this section covers and focus your studies there. What Is the SAT No Calculator Section? 5 Tips to Do Well SAT Math has two subsections:a No Calculator part (on which you may not use a calculator) and a Calculator part (for which you may use a calculator). This guide introduces the format of the No Calculator section, the various skills it tests, what the questions look like, and tips for doing well. Heart of Algebra: Key Strategies for SAT Math 3 Key Strategies for SAT Passport to Advanced Math Problem Solving and Data Analysis: Key SAT Math Concepts The SAT Math section consists of three major topic areas: Heart of Algebra, Passport to Advanced Math, and Problem Solving and Data Analysis. These guides go over in detail the different content areas on the section as well as the types of math questions you'll get and how to approach them. Expert Guide to SAT Grid-Ins: 5 Key Tips Not all questions on the Math section are multiple choice- you'll also have 13 student-produced response questions (commonly known as grid-ins). For these, you must fill in your own answer. Get the low-down on what these questions look like and when to expect them on test day. How to Improve Low SAT Math Scores: 9 Strategies This guide will take you through the grading structure of the SAT Math section and show you just how you can use it to your own advantage. Ifyou've already taken a practice test and are currently scoring below 600 on Math, learn what you'll need to do and how you can boost your score to get you to where you want to be. How to Get 800 on SAT Math, by a Perfect Scorer For those of you who are already doing well onthe Math section but who are aiming for perfection, this is the guide for you. Written by a perfect scorer, our guide will help you take your scores to the very top. FreeSAT Tests and SAT Math Practice Problems Mastering the SAT is a combination of arming yourself with knowledge of the test and taking time to practice with real practice tests and problems. In this section, we've linkedthe best free SAT Math materials you can find online and use in your studies. Complete Official SAT Practice Tests, Free Links If you haven't yet taken a full-length practice test, set aside some time to sit down and take one of these free, real SAT tests. Doing this will give you a starting point to work with and will show you how your Math score fits into the larger picture of your overall SAT score. The Best SAT Math Practice Tests and Questions This article goes over the very best (official) SAT Math tests and practice questions you can get for free online. We also give you a handful of tips on how to use these resources most effectively. Complete List of FREE SAT Math Practice Problems Beyond full SATs, there are many math SAT problems available online. We have linked them all here and offer tips you'll need to know in order to master them. The 13 Hardest SAT Math Questions Ever From all the real SAT Math problems available, we've compiled the 13 hardest questions (for both the No Calculator and Calculator sections) along with answer explanations. Take a look if you're ready to test yourself against the most difficult problems the SAT Math section has to offer. SAT Math Tips and Tools So far, you've learned what the SAT Math section looks like, taken a look at the high-level strategies for earning and improving your Math score, and discovered the best sources for SAT Math practice problems. Now,let's look at the specific skills and tools you'll need to successfully tackle the SAT Math section. The 28 Critical SAT Math Formulas You MUST Know One of the most important requirements for mastering SAT Math is having a solid understanding of the key formulas and knowing how to apply them. We'll show you what math formulas you'll need to remember, what formulas you'll be given on the test, and what formulas you can get away with not knowing. How to Get the Most Out of SAT Practice Math Questions You alreadyhave access to SAT Math practice problems, soit's a good idea to learn how to best use them to effectivelyraise your score. We show you how to do just that in this guide. 7 Most Common SAT Math Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Everyone makes mistakes- but there are ways you can avoid making them on SAT Math. In this guide, we introduce the most common mistakes students make and go over exactly how to fix your approach so you can avoid careless errors. Calculators on the SAT: Tips From Experts A good (and approved) calculator on the SAT Math section is indispensable. Learn which calculators are allowed on the test, and get the inside knowledge of which calculators the SAT experts prefer. How to Stop Running Out of Time on SAT Math Running out of time on the Math section? You're not alone! We'll take you through the steps you'll need to overcome this common problem, reachyour best score, and beat the clock. SAT Math Topics Guides Now that you've got a solid grasp of the most important high-level SAT Math strategies, it's time to take a look at each and every SAT math topic. We've written several informational and strategy guides for every topic on SAT Math and offer practice problems with detailed answer explanations. Strategies for Multiple Types of SAT Math Problems Many SAT Math problems can be solved in multiple ways, and there are two different strategies that can apply to many math problems on the test. Understanding these strategies allows you to answer questions on math topics you're wary of- even topics you don't understand much at all! Plugging in Answers: A Critical SAT Math Strategy Instead of actually solving the math problem, you can use the structure of the test against itself by plugging in answer choices one at a time and seeing which one yields the correct answer. Learn how to do this here! Plugging in Numbers: A Critical SAT Math Strategy For complex algebra problems, nothing beats working with real numbers instead of variables. In this guide, we'll show you exactly how to do this on the SAT Math section. Individual SAT Math Guides Now, let's look at each math topic on the SAT by subject. Numbers Integers (basic) Integers (advanced) Fractions, ratios, and proportions Statistics (mean, median, and mode) Probability Sequences Algebra Single variable equations Systems of equations Functions Word problems Coordinate Geometry Points Lines and slopes Reflections, translations, and rotations Plane and Solid Geometry Lines and angles Circles Triangles Polygons Solid Geometry Trigonometry The Takeaways: Studying Effectively for SAT Math There's a lot of information here, so take your time with it and balance your studies over a period of several months, if possible. The SAT Math section is complicated and there is a lot to study and understand if you want to do really well on it. But always take to heart that it ispossible for you to do well on SAT Math. It takes dedication and discipline, but mastering the Math section iscompletely doable. Taking the time to work through these guides is a great first step! What’s Next? Need help with other SAT sections? Then check outour ultimate guides to SAT Reading,Writing, and the Essay. If you're still feeling overwhelmed, it might be a good idea to work with a prep program. Our PrepScholar SAT program learns your strengths and weaknesses to tailor your study materials and lessons to the areas where you need it most. We also show you how to balance out your time over the course of your SAT prep so you can get the most for every hour you study. And if you're still procrastinating on your SAT studies,take a look at how you can overcome it and get your focus back. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

CULTURAL EVENT PAPER (MID-OHIO COMIC CON) Essay

CULTURAL EVENT PAPER (MID-OHIO COMIC CON) - Essay Example The main purpose of attending the Convention according to personal opinion was to understand the comic book scene in the United States of America. As I am a foreign student, it was imperative for me to take the initiative and go to a Comic Convention in the U.S because reading comic books has been my hobby since I was a young boy. I wanted to comprehend the kind of characters that the Americans speak of proudly and the comic books that they release to the rest of the world on such popular demand. Furthermore, I wanted to take time out and interact with American people interested in comic books and was also able to make a few contacts and friends at the Convention. This has really provided me with the opportunity to meet new people and share my ideas and thoughts regarding comic books. I am also interested in writing and imagining comic stories and thus wanted to share my ideologies with people because someday I might want to write my own graphic novel and meeting people at such a con vention is the best way of broadening one’s horizons. ... The convention played host to some very renowned celebrities, and they came together to talk to people and share their ideas and thoughts with others as well which in my opinion was a very interesting experience. This event was created by Wizard World.com, a publishing group that has given rise to a number of such conventions all around the United States of America. Wizard World was founded by Gareb Shamus in 1991 and it grew from being just a magazine to a publishing company with a number of interests, the main one today being holding conventions. In America, this entertainment group is very widely known for its convention organizations and boasts of very high attendance of people coming to visit the Convention every time it is held in different cities all around. It has also won a number of awards for conducting some of the best conventions of all time. The event was extremely light and exciting with a number of people coming together to view different comic books, talk to each oth er, listen to the celebrities and interact with them as well as find out information regarding the new comic books on the scene. There was a great amount of energy in the air and the atmosphere was extremely lively as people of all different age groups came together to talk about and meet the parallel world of comic books. As a person completely new to the entire experience of attending the setup I should have felt like an outsider. However, I felt like an insider because of the love for comic books that I shared with everyone at the event. Everyone had the same thing in common and that brought people together. I was able to interact very freely

Saftey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Saftey - Essay Example At the moment changing the clothing may take a long process. For this reason, this memo will provide some basics guidelines on how to handle a bee attack and avoiding the insects. Additionally, the memo will highlight on the steps to be followed after a bee attack. The memo will also provide guidelines on how to treat and handle immediate stings and long terms management of bee stings. Students should avoid strong scented colognes and body perfumes. Bees are easily attracted to strong scents. Considering that students are in bright attires, strong colognes make then easy targets of the insects. Students should avoid walking barefooted while in the field. Some wasps make their nests on the ground and stepping on the nest one may get their foot stung. Additionally, bees may be sucking nectar from flowers on the ground walking barefoot may result to a sting. In case of a bee sting, a person should as quickly as possible seek professional help to get the sting removed (Pearson 112). The urgency in this case reduces the amount of venom that enters the body after the sting. After the sting has been removed swelling can be minimized by compressing the affected area with ice. Bee venom is acidic and applying a base on the wound at high volumes would effectively neutralize the venom (Stengler & Balch 78). Stengler, Mark. & Balch, James. Prescription for Natural Cures: A Self-Care Guide for Treating Health Problems with Natural Remedies Including Diet, Nutrition, Supplements, and Other Holistic Methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2011.

Forging Ideas and Opinions about Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Forging Ideas and Opinions about Music - Essay Example Music continues to shape the world in diverse ways. Its history is as old as time itself. It carries aspects of culture, history, traditions and values, having social, economic and political impact on the society. Music is from various genres that continue to advance with the changing times. American music has drawn a lot from the British and Jewish backgrounds among others and the culture in these have been influential in determining the ideas expressed and the way opinions are shaped. Discriminations on basis of cultural affiliation have been a trending issue in the music industry. In his topic of discussion ‘Highbrow, Lowbrow, Voodoo Aesthetics’, Robert Walser brings up the controversies behind music and races. He notes that the opinions and mindsets among several people in the population have been biased in regards to the racial and cultural affiliations, the whites usually being placed highly, demonstrating what he calls ‘highbrows’. The music does not only affect the musicians by the acceptance they get but also the listeners are given regard based on the music they listen to (Walser 235-237). Classical music continue to have popularity, interviewing heavy metal music lovers Walser found that they viewed metal music as the most important in their lives but were swift to recognize the wisdom and superiority of classical music. However, cultural hierarchy in music does not influence all individuals; some have beaten odds and drawn from other cultures. For example, rock guitarists of have been able to draw from the techniques and procedures in classical music. Eddie Van Halen not only facilitated technological techniques that saw the making of the Baroque models but also showed how to play speedy arpeggios on the guitar. He spearheaded a revolution that also saw a revolution in the rock guitar (Walser 242-3). This has seen as a deviation from the convectional culture of the music. In the 1980s, Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen brought a new revolution that saw the development of metal neoclassicism an aspect that attracted other musicians who were haste to copy the advancement. Rhoads was very influential in classical materials of music and was good at teaching and an inspiration to many musicians. The concepts of cultural differences and regard of one over the other among the heavy metal musicians is a demonstration that social strata have been shape in music and are maintained (Walser 244). Opinions on music ca n also be shaped according to the origin of the musicians. America is one of the countries in the world that enjoys huge cultural and historical diversity, aspects that have influenced its music. In view of the Jewish songwriters they were seen to embrace a southern strategy after the first world war, but they still upheld some of the traditions attached to their community (Whitfield 9). The south was influential in attracting the songsmiths to their countries who became dominant in the Tin Pam Alley, but no inspiration was forthcoming resulting to their adoption of the southern culture that they owned and propagated in their works. These Jews were the pioneer shapers of American music, the Tin Pan Alley as coined by Rosenfeld in 1909 in description of a music district that had emerged. In the early days of the 20th Century, the Jewish dominance was evident with the creation of songs such as â€Å"The Girl I Loved in Old Virginia†, a piece that dated way back in 1899 by Max D reyfus among others (Whitfield 13). It was seen that songwriters that were Americans of Jewish origin engaged in writing songs on the traditions of the outsiders especially the people of the south without any major experience about some of these areas. These songwriters started to shape music in taking a global perspective. The initial impression created about the south by Tin Pan Alley painted a lasting image about them, in the songs such as ‘Cotton is King’ that was released in 1855 exposes various issues about cotton in the south

KKRs Acquisition of Alliance Boots Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

KKRs Acquisition of Alliance Boots - Case Study Example Besides the case which would be taken up for discussions, it is necessary to take up the case of KKR's purchase of RJR Nabisco, a food products manufacturing company. After the announcement of the deal being successful, RJR's stock price shot up from $ 55 to $ 77.25, a spectacular rise by any standards (Brigham & Ehrhardt, P.1000). During early times, the guiding principles for takeover were in terms of restructuring fully developed companies, acquiring them, and later on, disposing them at good margins, when they are able to provide profitable business. However, nowadays - these considerations are not taken into account, and what is merely important is the takeover of a larger company, preferably by a private equity, in order to utilize its assets for payment of creditors of the acquiring company. The method of experiencing acquisitions through LBO is widespread, and has given rise to private equity being termed as people who wish to liquidate the Company's production capacity, in order to pay off the post taken debts and obligations. Alliance Boots is being seen as the first FTSE Company to be acquired by private equity company, KKR, although earlier the latter had also acquired AFR Nabisco, a prominent food products manufacturer. On March 12, 2007, Alliance Boots was contacted by New York based private equality mogul, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., (KKR) for levered buyouts (LBO) for a record sum of 11 Billion. It is seen as the biggest European LBO deal ever struck and the underwriters even agreed to lengthen the period for Investor to stake claims in it. This move could be seen in terms of KKR's recent acquisition of the UK Retail chain, Alliance Boots, which was undertaken in conformity with the largest shareholder, Stephan Pessina on the condition that Mr. Pessina would just assume control in the newly acquired company. Modus operandi of LBO The mode of acquisition would be in terms of identifying companies, which had high cash flows, but lacked suitable avenues for investments. Through loans, these commercial debts would purchase majority interests in firms at higher than market rates. After this, the acquired company would have to take over the liabilities of the acquiring company, or the acquiring company would take loans by pledging the acquired company's assets etc. as security. Thus, it was possible to gain entry into very large corporations through the use of acquisition techniques. Over the years, it is seen that acquisitions now cease to have real value, since any company, however large, could be

Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Effective ways for their Essay

Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Effective ways for their Educational Practices - Essay Example 25). . Nevertheless, all of the children who are diagnosed with a form of Autistic Spectrum Disorder have commonalities, and this paper explores what they are. Further, there are intervention strategies that can be successful in helping the autistic child negotiate the areas where he or she is most weak, and these are explained as well. What is Autistic Spectrum Disorder? Autistic spectrum disorder encompasses a wide range of the disorder, and there are different diagnostic categories for the syndrome, and these are Asperger’s syndrome, Kanner’s autism (classic autism), and â€Å"atypical† autism (Jordan, 1999, p. 1). The DSM-IV-TR states that the autistic spectrum includes autistic disorder, Asperger disorder, Rett disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (Ozonoff et al. 2003, p. 4). For purposes of expediency, the autistic spectrum will simply be known as â€Å"autism,† although Aspergerâ⠂¬â„¢s will also be delineated as such later in this paper Autism is a continuum, in that there are individuals with pure autism, which means that the symptoms described below are severe, to high-functioning, in which the symptoms are mild (Durig, 1996, p. 98). ... 19). One of the forms of autism is known as Asperger’s syndrome. Asperger’s syndrome is marked by social deficits, such as those seen in autistic individuals, yet language and cognitive abilities, at least early in life, are preserved (Klin et al., 2000, p. 25). While individuals with Asperger’s syndrome may not have impaired language, they will speak differently, such as children speaking like â€Å"little adults† by using a large vocabulary in a pedantic way (Mesibov et al., 2001, p. 12). Individuals with Asperger’s social deficits are less pronounced then autistic individuals, but they still have social difficulties. One reason is because individuals with Aspberger’s are generally unable to have a conversation, because they lack the ability to reciprocate. They will talk, but they will not listen. Because of this, they will have a difficulty making friends, and will often be teased (Atwood, 2007, p. 13). Individuals with Asperger’s also have difficulties with social conventions (Frith, 1991, p. 152), where an individual with Asperger’s has a desire to engage with others, unlike those with autism, but their capacity to engage with others is impaired by their social deficits (Rhode & Klauber, 2004, p. 33). As with autistic individuals, individuals with Asperger’s also have obsessive interests in different things, such as collecting facts and objects. They also tend to be hypersensitive to criticism (Schopler & Mesibov, 1998, pp. 12-13), and have a low tolerance level which leads o frustration easily (Dubin, 2009, p. 44). Not surprisingly, because individual’s with Asperger’s tend to be socially isolated and frustrated, therefore teens with Asperger’s run

KKRs Acquisition of Alliance Boots Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

KKRs Acquisition of Alliance Boots - Case Study Example Besides the case which would be taken up for discussions, it is necessary to take up the case of KKR's purchase of RJR Nabisco, a food products manufacturing company. After the announcement of the deal being successful, RJR's stock price shot up from $ 55 to $ 77.25, a spectacular rise by any standards (Brigham & Ehrhardt, P.1000). During early times, the guiding principles for takeover were in terms of restructuring fully developed companies, acquiring them, and later on, disposing them at good margins, when they are able to provide profitable business. However, nowadays - these considerations are not taken into account, and what is merely important is the takeover of a larger company, preferably by a private equity, in order to utilize its assets for payment of creditors of the acquiring company. The method of experiencing acquisitions through LBO is widespread, and has given rise to private equity being termed as people who wish to liquidate the Company's production capacity, in order to pay off the post taken debts and obligations. Alliance Boots is being seen as the first FTSE Company to be acquired by private equity company, KKR, although earlier the latter had also acquired AFR Nabisco, a prominent food products manufacturer. On March 12, 2007, Alliance Boots was contacted by New York based private equality mogul, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., (KKR) for levered buyouts (LBO) for a record sum of 11 Billion. It is seen as the biggest European LBO deal ever struck and the underwriters even agreed to lengthen the period for Investor to stake claims in it. This move could be seen in terms of KKR's recent acquisition of the UK Retail chain, Alliance Boots, which was undertaken in conformity with the largest shareholder, Stephan Pessina on the condition that Mr. Pessina would just assume control in the newly acquired company. Modus operandi of LBO The mode of acquisition would be in terms of identifying companies, which had high cash flows, but lacked suitable avenues for investments. Through loans, these commercial debts would purchase majority interests in firms at higher than market rates. After this, the acquired company would have to take over the liabilities of the acquiring company, or the acquiring company would take loans by pledging the acquired company's assets etc. as security. Thus, it was possible to gain entry into very large corporations through the use of acquisition techniques. Over the years, it is seen that acquisitions now cease to have real value, since any company, however large, could be

Discussion questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Discussion questions - Essay Example t is an abstraction of phenomena, a theory consolidates all the variables that define the phenomena and outline the characteristic relationship between or among the variables. The above concept-theory aspects show that concepts and theories are intertwined. In other words, theories are built on concepts. Concepts lay the foundation upon which theories are developed. Concepts introduce the idea or phenomena in question but do not develop any variables or principles contained therein. With this foundation, theories capture the variables, principles and interests contained in the concepts and interrelates them prior to the development of the desired theory. When the principles and variables to the concepts are defined and their characteristic relationship outlined, then a theory is developed. That is to say, theories are basically formed from concepts (Walker & Avant, 2011). The link between concepts and theories is therefore seen through the interdependence of each one of them to the other. A concept is not a theory, and on the other hand a theory results form a concept. This complementarity is the link between concepts and theories. Theories are tested through formulation, evaluation and assessment of hypotheses. A hypothesis is a statement that argues for or against a phenomenon. The interest is to test and ascertain which phenomenon is most appropriate and applicable to the theory being tested. In other words, null and alternative hypotheses are stated in the context of the theory being tested. It is important to highlight that theories are tested to confirm or refute them. If proven true, theories are upheld. On the other hand, when proven false, they are refuted. Theory testing focuses on the variables that define the theory. The concepts that make up the theory are highlighted and the relationship between and among all the variables determined. In order to do this, the fact that the theory being tested is formulated from concepts is upheld. Data and

The Causes Of World War One Essay Example for Free

The Causes Of World War One Essay In the immediate view, it seems that there are two main arguments attributed to the origins of the First World War. One is that the war was planned, the other that it occurred due to accident and miscalculation. I aim to give a detailed analysis of these two arguments with the focus being on the main European powers at the time Germany, Great Britain, France and Russia. It is my view that the First World War was effectively planned, all be it for a later date, and that due to some miscalculations, it was then brought forward so that war would break out in Europe in August 1914. Using sources from various historians, I will argue this point of a planned war blaming it almost solely on the part of the German Empire and bringing in the other side of the argument, that the First World War was the result of accident and miscalculation. The most important idea in the argument that Germany planned the First World War is to be found in the Foreign Policies that she pursued from the late Nineteenth Century to the outbreak of war in 1914. It was the view that no matter how achieved, a German dominated Europe would provide a successful base for the ideal of Weltpolitik. This idea of Weltpolitik was the aim at the head of the hierarchy of German Foreign Policy; it gave the notion of a world mission, but an aggressive one, a mission where no man or nation would stand in the way of its objectives. The key point when describing German Foreign Policy before 1914 is of their willingness to risk war for their own gains in order to achieve world domination and the status of a major power. Michael Gordon argues that this war Germany risked did not, in their minds, involve Britain their greatest rival; As far as German policy is concerned, its readiness to risk war for its own ends either a local Balkan war fought by its ally in Vienna or a larger, continental-sized war in which it, France and Russia participated now seems unshakably established. therefore it seems that by 1914, the Germans had already decided that some form of war would occur. It is also evident that she had a clear plan of her ambitions and military aims later undone by her miscalculation of British and Russian policy which would result in a German dominated Europe; By either one of these two wars the German government thought its interests would be served: at minimum, a successful localised war kept limited by Russias backing off in fear would in the German view probably break up the Franco-Russian alliance, shore up the tottering Austro-Hungarian Empire, and clear the way in Central Europe for an eventual German breakthrough to successful Weltpolitik. It is my view that German Foreign Policy therefore dictated a planned war. This planned war may have been intended to be a fairly localised affair, but then the Germans had obviously either been misled or been ignorant to the stances of both Britain and Russia concerning this idea. Gordon argues that German leaders did not consciously aim at it , but that world war merely emanated from continental war in 1914. The previous German generation were devotees of the world policy , devised by Bismarck but taken up and massively extended by his successor Kaiser Wilhelm II. On his accession to the German throne in July 1888, Wilhelm quickly laid out his programme for country; he wanted to secure Germany a place in the sun . This could have meant anything, but translated, it meant that the basic and primary idea was to destroy Englands position in the world to Germanys advantage . Further translated, the Kaisers ideas aspire to the German jealousy of Britain and her wealth, colonial rule, ind ustrialisation and above all, world naval supremacy. Previous wars of the early Twentieth Century, for example, the Sino-Japanese and Boer Wars had proved the importance of sea power. Fritz Fischer argues that the construction of a great fleet was at the centre of Germanys political plans and that to build such a supreme fleet was the only way of catching up with Britain and being equal to other world powers. Again this jealousy is re-iterated by the lack of self-belief from the German government. We can see therefore, that her Foreign Policy was aggressive when it need not have been and that the idea of Weltpolitik was based on insurances from her huge army and navy. The government now had the full backing of groups of industry, which now heavily concentrated on shipbuilding. Pre-war German Foreign Policy can be summed up by Max Schinkel, the director of Germanys second largest bank; the broader basis in Europe was necessary for laying economic foundations of German world policy It can be argued that this world policy originated under Bismarckian rule, but it is my view that Bismarck merely fuelled the German people with ideas and the accession of Wilhelm made sure that these changes were not only made, but also radically altered and put harshly into place. All armies make plans. However do they make such specific and intentional plans as the Germans did before the First World War? The m ain reason that people think Germany planned the war is due to the Schlieffen Plan. However, as John Keegan argues, the Schlieffen Plan was merely a military affair with military objectives if such a conflict in Europe arose. However it did contain very specific aims in accordance with where the first attacks would be made and then where the majority of fighting would take place; In no sense did it precipitate the First World War Neither did its failure it was a plan for a quick victory in a short war Nevertheless, Schlieffens plan dictated where the wars focus would lie and through its innate flaws, the possibility of its protraction. I believe that what Schlieffen had in mind was a purely military plan, if, by chance, such a crisis arose. I do not believe that Schlieffen himself had anything to do with how the war came into being; he was purely commissioned to draft such a plan. However, the Kaiser, who wanted this war plan drawn up, did have many ulterior motives. He is the main figure in Germany at this time and it is very much as what he says goes. No one would dare question him due to his absolute intolerance of argumentative characters. What Schlieffen came up with was; a plan pregnant with dangerous uncertainty: the uncertainty of the quick victory it was designed to achieve; the greater uncertainty of what would follow if it did not attain its intended object. it seems, therefore, that the Germans, although they had this plan, had no kind of backup or alternative strategy. That idea is typical of the Kaisers character. On many occasions he would just throw everything out of the window and go for his objectives by the shortest possible route. This also confirms and is confirmed by the definition of Weltpolitik that no man or nation would stand in the way of Germany. Did other countries have war plans? Yes, of course, but none were as grandiose and as specific as the German idea. The French war plan confirmed her timidity in the face of her great enemy Germany. At first, they toyed with the idea of defence of the common frontier in the event of war , as; A French attack was though impossible by reason of disparity of numbers. A static French population of forty million could not challenge an expanding German population already fifty million strong and rising fast .. However, this was later disposed of and after some altercation concerning which was the best form of attack, Plan XVII was created in April 1913 but kept secret until the outbreak of war which dictated a headlong attack across the common Franco-German frontier, into Lorraine and towards the Rhine . This then became the French war plan. It was minimal and uncomplicated compared to that of Germany and in my opinion how a war plan should be set out. I believe a war plan should contain certain objectives, but mostly a lot of room to manoeuvre as there is always the problem of miscalculation (which Germany will later become the victim of). It is Fischers view (and I am inclined to agree with him) that it is the idea of world power and German domination that led to the outbreak of war. He argues that Germanys claim to world power was based on her consciousness of being a young, growing and rising nation . This national expansion on all fronts meant that Germany was developing into a high ly industrialised exporting country. However she was running out of options, with so many enemies, of finding markets and raw materials. This did not affect the Germans and played right into their hands and their world mission idea. Through this forced change of markets, she shifted her trade from the traditions of Britain, France and Europe to a worldwide trade; in 1913 the share of Europe in her imports and exports had gone down by 30 per cent; overseas countries, the tropics and above all South America, were supplying an increasing proportion of her raw materials. This advance of Germany in the world of business was based on the expansion of the great iron and steel industry, however new industries, including global communications, were starting to become successful. Therefore this reinforces the view that Germany was becoming a great power and that the people themselves through the Kaisers erratic ideas thought that they were becoming a real force and that the world mission was now a realistic target. It had already been proven that naval power was an incredibly important asset for a country to own; to free hers elf from dependence on British ships.., to enable her to bring her exports, financed by her own capital, to their markets abroad without British middle-men, Germany had to have her own merchant marine. the idea of this new naval power was that it would protect shipping and force Britain to regard her as an equal. However I believe that the new German Navy was a status symbol as much as it was a powerful weapon, as all of these domestic policies were geared towards strengthening Germany and therefore, it being easier to weaken other countries. Moreover, with her lack of raw materials, it became difficult for Germany to maintain her penetration of world markets; the narrowness of her raw materials market became increasingly apparent, and as she penetrated more deeply into world markets, this narrowness became more irksome. by now we can see the extent of Germanys (but predominantly the Kaisers) ideas. It is clear that there are no alternatives but to go for the highest objective by the quickest route, ignoring all other possibilities. I believe that these policies were absurd considering how close they were to fulfilling their goal of Weltpolitik. When taking into account the second argument; that the First World War was the result of accident and miscalculation, I do not believe that any cause s of the war can be attributed to accident, because when nations have such rigid policies and plans concerning Foreign and Domestic Policies and long-term war plans, it is impossible to see how any accidents can happen. However there were a miscalculations made, although I do not believe that these miscalculations were direct causes of the First World War. The idea of a German dominated Europe and all of Germanys war plans were greatly undone by her total miscalculation of British and Russian policy. As previously mentioned German Policy makers believed that their fight would be a short, successful and localised affair, due to Russia being too weak to try to deal with Germany now this Great Power; at minimum, a successful, localised war kept limited by Russias backing off in fear it is clear that the Germans really thought that Russia was basically insignificant. They drew this conclusion from the fact that Russia had already fought in a large war less than ten years earlier the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 as Russias drive across Asia and the Far-East continued. However, either by Russias secretiveness or by Germanys lack of detailed research, the German government did not realise that Russia w ould be able, not only to defend herself, but also to attack Germany. After much confrontation in the Balkans, Kaiser Wilhelm II was convinced that we shall soon see the third chapter of the Balkan wars in which we shall be involved . He was convinced that the balance of powers depended on that in the Balkans. It was to be these relatively small Balkan Wars that would lead to world war. The Kaiser gave the notion that Germany could deal with that though and therefore started to lay out diplomatic ideas for war with Russia. I believe that a German-Russian war was always going to occur; it was just a matter of when. In conversation with Archduke Franz Ferdinand the German Ambassador to Serbia the Kaiser argued that it was vital for Austria-Hungary her great ally to take action against Serbia, and that Russia wouldnt oppose, as she was by no means ready for war . However, with the assassination of Ferdinand by the Serbs, Germany agreed that the Balkan crisis was irreconcilable. Therefore, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and this was a move designed to improve Germanys position for eventual war with Russia. However, German assumption that Russia wasnt ready for war and wouldnt oppose Austria-Hungarys action s proved to be mistaken. Therefore, this eventual German-Russian war followed by four days and not four years as it had been laid out to do in 1917 in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan. However, Wilhelms arrogance and stupidity grew further. He saw the German-Russian war merely as a nuisance and that the Russian recovery gave them an unexpected problem, as their main objective was to acquire extra European Empire at Britains expense. I believe it was Russias attitude that Germany miscalculated, as she was and always has been a very secretive nation. We can also see through the alliances, how this conflict merged into world war. Moreover Germany underestimated Britain. She saw her archrival as being merely a diplomatic power, which was not big enough or daring enough to risk war for the sake of others. I believe it was this German attitude and her supposed increased threat that caused Britain to intervene militarily, more than her alliance with Russia. Therefore due to these great miscalculations, the Schlieffen Plan became void and Germany found herself encircled and in a world war situation. I have already mentioned that Schlieffens plan was pregnant with dangerous uncertainty of what would follow if it did not attain i ts intended objectives , and that is precisely what happened. Since the Germans had no backup plan, they forced themselves into a situation for which they werent prepared. Keegan finally points out that Secret plans determined that any crisis not settled by sensible diplomacy would, in the circumstances prevailing in Europe in 1914 lead to general war. In conclusion, I agree with Keegan, that through all events, war became an inevitable prospect. However through my arguments and chosen sources we can see that the First World War was ultimately planned and due to miscalculation on Germanys part, brought forward to August 1914. Moreover, her argument that the war was the result of accident and miscalculation does not stand up. This is shown mostly in Fischers argument that ultimately she could have prevented a world war even though she planned some kind of war such was her control over Europe at this time. BIBLIOGRAPHY FISCHER, F., Germanys Aims in the First World War (London: Chatto Windus, 1967) GORDON, M., Domestic Conflict and the Origins of the First World War: The British and the German Cases, Journal of Modern History, vol. 46 (1974) KAISER, D., Germany and the Origins of the First World War, Journal of Modern History, vol. 55 (1983) KEEGAN J., The First World War (London: Pimlico, 1999) KEIGER, J., France and the Origins of the World War (London: McMillan, 1983) WEHLER, H-U., The German Empire 1871-1918 (1985) WILSON, K., European Diplomacy 1871-1914, in PUGH, M, ed, A Companion to Modern European History 1871-1945 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997)