Apple International Marketing Essay

1. If you would be working for Apple (Ipad or Iphone) what strategies would you pursue in order avoid situation like what is happening today to Nokia Apple Inc. has already had a spectacular break-through in the technological race when it firstly released Iphone in 2007. Since when, there was a revolution in the technology field especially, in the Personal Computer (PC) industry involves: smartphone and tablet computer. If I worked for Apple Inc., in order to retain as well as to enhance the position of Apple in Today’s market, I would apply, deploy and develop the Relationship marketing with â€Å"Differentiation† strategies based on 4P includes: Product-Price-Promotion-Place. Product Firstly, people have to admit the truth that the present success of Apple was built on the brilliant products. Compared to Nokia, Apple already created a key competitive advantage that raises company to a new level. The failure of Nokia was a cost lesson for others mobile phone manufacturer in the world. The main reasons leading Nokia to this moment situation is company already missed a valuable opportunity in smartphone revolution as well as its products. Even though, later on Nokia unveiled smartphone Lumia but it did not satisfy the consumers’ demand and expectation. Nokia product’s designs are not attractive and fashionable as Iphone. In addition, the products are outdated interface, lack of applications and outdated technologies compared to Apple’s products. Consequently, Nokia loose its leading brand value in the mobile phone industry. Meanwhile, Apple realized and took that opportunity then turned it into huge success. Hence, Apple should continue the product differentiation strategy. It mainly focuses on investing more in creating and developing the new and innovative technologies, which are totally different from competitors’. The products should be usually updated and upgraded in both its particular outlook (thinnest, most lightweight, unique, fashionable and outstanding) and functions (convenient, ease-use, support applications and service etc.). This is the only way to make company continue keep its crown as innovator in the intensive technological competition. Price Secondly, despite the Apple is assessed as â€Å"the tech industry’s high-price leader† with Premium price, people are still willing to purchase its products at a particular price. The main point is price set based on the â€Å"product Differentiation strategies†. Therefore, in order to exist and grow in the price war, the company not only retain the same price strategy but also use more the pricing Skimming and Reference strategies: launching a same product line but in different price points depending on the features and drive capacities. It may be better for Apple than using the penetration pricing strategies by suddenly decreasing the price to expand or approach new market. Promotion In order to get the large impact from media and society, one key in the Apple’s marketing is its traditional promotion strategies by creating hype and excitement before the launch of products. Apple is considered as â€Å"Phenomenon† and each marketing communication relating to â€Å"Word of mouth† created huge impact on consumer behavior. Organizing significant campaigns with special slogan to introduce and get emotional response about the new products, which concentrate on the consumer psychology: the curiousness, self-esteem, desire and passion in new technologies Place Finally, expanding and opening new multi-distribution channels with high sales volume (retail store chain and online sales). Simultaneously, more creating the strong relationship with worldwide retail partners. In conclusion, Relationship Marketing based on â€Å"Differentiation strategies† focusing on customer retention and satisfaction, which in order to enhance, increase customer loyalty and sustainable development. Apple Inc. has to understand the market dynamic to keep its track as market driven by inventing the unique and creative product lines as well as innovation technology. 2. On the other hand, if you would be working for a competitor of Apple (Tablet or mobile), what strategies would you adopt in order to compete against Apple Apple (Iphone and Ipad) is considered as the biggest rival in the PC industry of Samsung (Galaxy S), Nokia (Lumia), Google (Nexus), Amazon (Kindle Fire). Even though, Apple has been dominating the PC industry but its target market selection is â€Å"Market specialization†. The weakness of Apple is the limited market share because of the premium price and most Apple content can only run on its selected devices. If we are competitors of Apple, we can use the Apple’s strategies to compete against it. It means we should also apply the â€Å"Differentiation strategies† to provide more perceived value to consumer. Every time, Apple releases new product or any application, we might prepare to create and unveil our amazing different products with adding more value proposition. Take for instances, to accompany with product, we can offer new innovative or free (or low cost charge) applications, software, movies, TV shows, games, e-books, cloudy computing or even more drive capacity etc. Although, we do not have as strong customer loyalty as Apple has, our competitive advantage is offering the same product’s quality with a competitive price which is less than Apple’s but still not too low to confirm our position in the market. In addition, as some Apples’s competitors (eg: Kindle of Amazon) did, they used the bundle pricing strategies combine two or more products and sell these at a reduced price or offer programs: buy once but easy to access content on other devices ipad, iphone, tablets . Then little by little getting the expansion international scale with â€Å"Full market coverage† (different product lines suitable for every customers) through different market entries, distribution channels and marketing communication campaigns. 3. Make a SWOT analysis for Apple (Ipad and Iphone) Apple’s SWOT analysis a. Define what are the biggest threats and opportunities for Apple in the future Threats Nowadays, the high technology industry seems to be in the â€Å"Saturation† but in the future, people still believe there would be remarkable changes. In the future, the most threats that Apple may face is the intensive and high level in technology competition. The threats might be coming from both existing and emerging competitors. The growing in the market share leads to the consequence that there growth in perception and needs/demands of customers. In addition, there are more and more counterfeit and fake products overflowing market that affect directly to the company image and sales. If Apple cannot find the solution, soon company is surpassed by others competitors. Opportunities: Ranking as a top leading innovator brings many open-opportunities for Apple. The biggest opportunity of Apple is changes in technology offer new and innovative products. The company can even get and deploy from the outsourcing for its research and development. Creating the technology revolution and changing desire of information age affecting to most generations. As one of the most famous philosophies of strategic marketing pioneer – Regis McKenna: â€Å"Markets for new innovative products do not exist, they have to be created, and defined†. Therefore, creating and expanding the product/service lines by Apple could help them define its market, raise sales and increase their product portfolio. b. Define what are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of Apple today Strengths In 2012, this is the second time when Apple is ranked the world’s most valuable brand according to â€Å"The 2012 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands†. It is said that the Apple’s brand success is driven by three elements confidence, competence and customers. Might be the reason why people purchase Apple’s product because they just care about its brand and image. As the David Haigh stated in the annual report on the world’s most valuable global brands: â€Å"Brands are the most valuable assets in business today. They drive demand, motivate staff, secure business partners and reassure financial markets. Leading edge organizations recognize the need to understand brand equity and brand value when making strategic decisions† – David Haigh, CEO, Brand Finance plc. Apple is successful in creating its identity and emotional branding that all most the whole world can recognize. Long term brand building will engage consumers on a variety of touch points that create the high loyalty. Weaknesses Entering the Niche market with the premium price strategies, which can considered as Apple’s weakness. The price wars between competitors will also affect to Apple’s profits. Moreover, the company’s target market selection is â€Å"Market specialization† then it quite limits the market share cause products provided by Apple meet the demand of middle/ upper class and people are interested in innovation technology. Reference Mr. Francois Simon’s lecture and materials http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/comments/nokia-and-strategic-change-the-essential-a2-business-case http://theapplephenomenon.blogspot.fi/ http://www.brandfinance.com/images/upload/bf_g500_2012_web_dp.pdf http://www-sul.stanford.edu/mac/mckenna.html http://www.wpp.com/wpp/press/press/default.htm?guid={92b52c53-fc68-45e0-aaea-34fe6fbd769b} http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=100071977 http://www.saleschase.com/blog/2012/04/03/little-known-secrets-of-apples-pricing-strategy/ http://www.saleschase.com/blog/2012/03/13/the-best-of-apples-marketing-strategies/ http://blog.openviewpartners.com/apples-marketing-strategy-history-repeats-itself/ http://blogs.gartner.com/eric-knipp/2009/09/28/cost-leadership-and-differentiation/ http://www.slideshare.net/kaushiik10/apple-inc-marketin-and-distribution-strategy

Coyote Blue Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 Sprinkling the Son of the Morning Star Santa Barbara After almost twenty years as a salesman, Sam found that when he was confused his head filled with homilies that pertained to the profession. Win an argument, lose a sale. If you look hungry, you will be. You can't sell if you don't pitch. There were hundreds of them. He'd been running them through his mind for hours, trying to find some clue as to what he should do. The one that kept returning was Never confuse motion with progress. To leave the house in search of Calliope without a clue as to where she might be would be movement for the sake of movement. Progress would be actually finding a clue to her whereabouts. He had no idea where to start looking for clues, so he lay on his bed and smoked, and tried to convince himself that he didn't want her. She's probably found some other guy, he thought. Losing the kid is just an excuse, a cowardly Dear John letter. It was just a one-night stand and I refuse to let it mean more to me than it meant to her. I've got my life back, intact, and there's no room for a young girl and a child. Nope. I'll rest up today and get back to work tomorrow. After I close a couple of deals, this week will just seem like a bad dream. It was a good rationalization. Unfortunately, he didn't believe a word of it; he was worried about her. Sam closed his eyes and tried to imagine the pages of his appointment book. It was a visualization he used to relax, a salesman's version of counting sheep. He saw the days and weeks spread out in front of him, and he filled in the blanks with lunches and prospects. By each of the names he made mental notes on how he would approach the pitch. Before long he was lost in a world of presentations and objections; the image of the girl faded away. As he started to doze off he heard the sound of heavy breathing. He rolled on his side and steamy hot dog breath hit him in the face. He didn't open his eyes. There was no need to. He knew Coyote had returned. Perhaps if he feigned sleep the trickster would go away, so he lived there in the land of dog breath. A wet nose prodded his ear. At least he hoped it was a nose. With Coyote's sexual habits it could be†¦. No, he still smelled the breath. It was the nose. I'm asleep, go away. I'm asleep, go away, he thought. He'd seen opossums try the same method to fool oncoming semi trucks, and it was working about as well for him. He felt the coyote climb onto the bed. Then he felt a paw on each of his shoulders. He groaned as he thought a truly sleeping guy might groan. Coyote whimpered and Sam could feel the canine nose press against his own. Dog breath, Sam mused, seems to have no distinction to it, yet it is distinctly dog breath. You could be at the cologne counter at Bloomingdale's, and someone could mist your wrist with an atomizer, and a single whiff would reveal the elusive scent to be dog breath as surely as if it had been squozen straight from the dog. Yet, what a wide spectrum of foulness dog breath can span, both in odor and humidity. This particular version of dog breath, he felt, is especially steamy, and carries a top note of stale cigarettes and coffee, as well as the usual fetid meat and butthole smells found in more common dog breath. This, he thought, is supernatural dog breath. I'm not likely to be breathed upon by another dog in my lifetime that has recently enjoyed a Marlboro over a cup of Java. Despite his effort to distract himself with dog breath aesthetics, Sam's tolerance was wearing out and he thought he might sneeze or throw up any second. Coyote licked him on the mouth. â€Å"Yuck!† Sam sat upright and wiped his mouth on his arm. â€Å"Ack!† He shivered involuntarily and looked at the big coyote, who grinned at him from the end of the bed. â€Å"There was no need for that,† Sam said. Coyote whimpered and rolled over on his back in submission. Sam got up from the bed and grabbed his cigarettes from the nightstand. â€Å"Why are you back? You said you were gone for good.† Coyote began to change into his human form. No longer afraid, Sam watched the transformation with fascination. In a few seconds Coyote sat on the bed in his black buckskins wearing the coyote-skin headdress. â€Å"Got a smoke?† he asked. Sam shook one out of the pack and lit it for the trickster. Sam took a small plastic box from his shirt pocket and held it out to Coyote. â€Å"Breath mint?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"I insist,† Sam said. Coyote took the box and shook out a mint, popped it in his mouth, and handed the box back to Sam. â€Å"The girl is going to Las Vegas.† â€Å"I don't care.† The lie tasted foul in his mouth. â€Å"If she tries to take her child from the biker she will be hurt.† â€Å"It's not my problem. Besides, she'll probably find another guy to help her out.† Sam felt both righteous and cowardly for saying it. This role he was playing no longer fit. Quickly he added, â€Å"I don't need the trouble.† â€Å"In the buffalo days your people used to say that a wife stolen and returned was twice the wife she had been.† â€Å"They aren't my people and she's not my wife.† â€Å"You can be afraid, just don't act like it.† â€Å"What does that mean? You're worse than Pokey with your fucking riddles.† â€Å"You lost Pokey. You lost your family. You lost your name. All you have left is your fear, white man.† Coyote flipped his cigarette at Sam. It hit him in the chest and hot ashes showered on the bed. Sam patted out the embers and brushed himself off. â€Å"I didn't ask for you to come here. I don't owe the girl anything.† But he did owe her. He wasn't sure what for yet, except that she had cut something loose in him. Why couldn't he cut loose the habit of fear? Coyote went to the bedroom window and stared out. Without turning he said, â€Å"Do you know about the Crows who scouted for General Custer?† Sam didn't answer. â€Å"When they told Custer that ten thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were waiting for him at the Little Bighorn he called them liars and rode on. The Crow scouts didn't owe Custer anything, but they painted their faces black and said, ‘Today is a good day to die. â€Å" â€Å"The point?† Sam bristled. â€Å"The point is that you will never know what they knew – that courage is its own reward.† Sam sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at Coyote's back. The red feathers across the buckskin shirt seemed to move on the black surface of Coyote's shirt. Sam wondered if he might not be light-headed from prolonged dog breath inhalation, but then the feathers drew a scene, and in a whirl of images and feathers, Sam was back on the reservation again. There were three of them: boys hiding in the sagebrush by the road that led into the Custer Battlefield National Monument. Two were Crow, one Cheyenne. They were there on a dare that had started in ninth-grade gym class. The largest boy, the Cheyenne, was from the Broken Tooth family – descendants of a warrior who fought with Crazy Horse and Red Cloud on this very land. â€Å"You going to do it?† said Eli Broken Tooth. â€Å"Or are you full of shit like all Crows?† â€Å"I said I'd do it,† Samson said. â€Å"But I'm not going to be stupid about it.† â€Å"What about you, breed?† Eli asked Billy Two Irons. â€Å"You a chickenshit?† Broken Tooth had been taunting Billy about his mixed blood for the whole school year and citing his own â€Å"pure Indian† lineage. The fact was that in buffalo days the mortality rate had been so high for young plains warriors that a woman might have three or four husbands in her lifetime, and have children by them all. Sometimes one of the husbands was a white man, yet since they all traced their kinship through their mother's line, the white ancestor could easily be forgotten. Billy said, â€Å"I'll bet you got a few whiteys in your wigwam you don't even know about, Broken Dick.† Samson laughed and the others shushed him. The security guard was making a pass by the monument's high wrought-iron gate. They ducked their heads. A flashlight beam passed over them, paused, and moved on as the guard turned to walk up the hill toward the Custer burial site. â€Å"You going to do it?† Eli asked. â€Å"Once he's past the grave he has to go check on the Reno site. He'll take the jeep for that. When we hear the jeep, we'll go.† â€Å"Sure you will,† said Eli. â€Å"You coming?† Samson asked. He was more than a little afraid. The monument was federal land, and this was a time when an Indian causing trouble on federal land was something the government was going to great lengths to discourage after the Alcatraz takeover and the killings at Pine Ridge. â€Å"I don't have to go,† Broken Tooth said. â€Å"My people put him there. I'll just sit here and twist up a doobie while you girls do your thing.† He grinned. â€Å"The gate will be the bitch,† Billy said. They looked at the fifteen-foot iron spears suspended between two stone pillars. There were only two cross members they could use as footholds. They watched the guard amble the hundred yards down the hill to the visitor center. When they heard the jeep fire up, Samson and Billy took off. They hit the gate at the same time. The gate swung with the impact and clanged against the chains and padlock that held it closed. They scrambled up the bars, then hung over spearpoints and dropped to the asphalt. As they let go the chain sent a loud clang ringing down the valley. They both landed on their butts. Samson looked to Billy. â€Å"You okay?† Billy jumped to his feet and dusted off his jeans. â€Å"How come the Indians in the movies can do this shit in complete stealth?† â€Å"Vocational training,† Samson said. He started running up the hill toward the monument. Billy followed. â€Å"Snake ahead,† Samson said as he ran. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Snake,† Sam repeated breathlessly. He leapt into the air over the big diamondback rattler that was lying in the road, warming itself on the asphalt. Billy saw the snake in time to pull up and slide on some loose gravel within striking distance. When he heard Billy's shoes sliding he stopped and turned. Billy said, â€Å"You were saying ‘Snake, right?† â€Å"Back away and go around, Billy.† Samson was so out of breath he could hardly talk. The rattler coiled. â€Å"I thought you were saying ‘Steak. I was wondering, Why is he yelling ‘Steak' at me?† â€Å"Back away and go around.† â€Å"‘Snake. Well, I guess this explains it.† Billy backed slowly away, then once out of striking distance ran a wide arc around the snake and up the hill. Samson fell in beside him. The monument was still a hundred yards away. â€Å"Pace yourself,† he said. â€Å"Did you say ‘Snake' again?† Billy said between pants. Rather than answer, Samson fell into a trot. The monument was a twenty-foot granite obelisk set on a ten-foot base at the top of a hill that overlooked the entire Little Bighorn basin. â€Å"Let's do it,† Samson said, heaving in breaths. The hill had been longer and steeper than he'd thought. Billy unzipped his pants and stood beside Samson, who had already bared his weapon. â€Å"You know,† Billy said, â€Å"it would have been easier to gang up on Eli and beat the shit out of him.† â€Å"I think I hear the jeep coming back,† Samson said. A long yellow stream arced out of Billy and splashed the side of the monument. â€Å"Then you better get going.† Samson strained. â€Å"I can't.† Billy grunted, trying to force his urine to run faster. â€Å"Go, man. That's headlights.† â€Å"I can't.† Billy finished and zipped up, then turned to face Samson. â€Å"Think rivers, think waterfalls.† â€Å"It won't come.† â€Å"Come on, Samson. He's coming. Relax.† â€Å"Relax? How can-â€Å" â€Å"Okay, relax in a hurry.† Samson pushed until his eyes bugged. He felt a trickle, then a stream coming. â€Å"Push it, Samson. He's coming.† Billy began to back down the hill. â€Å"Push it, man.† The jeep's headlights broke over the hill and descended toward the monument. â€Å"Duck!† Billy said. Samson squatted by the base of the monument and managed to stream urine down both pant legs before he got himself reaimed. Billy dove for cover next to Samson. â€Å"Did you say ‘Duck'?† Samson whispered. â€Å"Shut up,† Billy snapped. Despite his fear, the adrenaline had made Samson giddy. He grinned at Billy. â€Å"I thought you were saying ‘Truck, which would have made more sense, but-â€Å" â€Å"Would you shut up?† Billy risked a peek at the road. The jeep was coming toward them, rather than returning to the visitor center where it had started. As the jeep approached the monument, they worked their way around its base, keeping the obelisk between themselves and the guard. â€Å"He won't stop, will he?† Billy said. Samson could hear the jeep slowing as it passed the monument on the other side of them, not twenty feet away. They held their crouch until the jeep descended the hill and stopped halfway to the gate. â€Å"He sees footprints,† Billy said. â€Å"On asphalt?† â€Å"He saw us. I'm going to end up in jail like my brother.† â€Å"No, look, it's the fucking snake. He's waiting for it to get out of the road.† Indeed, the guard was inching the jeep forward slowly enough for the rattler to slither off into the grass. When the snake was gone the jeep revved up and continued down the hill, by the iron gate, and back around to the back of the visitor center. â€Å"Let's go,† Billy said. They ran down the road, Samson almost falling while trying to zip his pants and run at the same time. As they reached the gate Samson grabbed Billy's shoulder and pulled him back. â€Å"What the fuck?† Billy said. Samson pointed to the chain. Billy nodded in understanding. The clanging. Samson went to the center of the gate and grasped it. â€Å"Go,† he said. â€Å"When you get over, hold it for me.† Without hesitation Billy leapt to the gate and climbed over, sliding down the opposite side instead of dropping as before. He held the gate and Samson started over. As Samson reached the top of the gate and was working his feet between the spearpoints, he heard Eli's laughing from down the road and he looked up. A second later he heard a metal fire door slam at the visitor center. The quick turn took his balance and he tried to jump, but one of the spearpoints caught his jeans leg and he was slammed upside down into the gate. Billy held the chain, but there was a dull clank as Samson's forehead hit the bars. It took Samson a second to realize that he was still hanging from the gate, his head still eight feet off the ground. â€Å"Unhook your leg,† Billy said. â€Å"I'll catch you.† In this position Samson was facing the visitor center. He could see some lights going on inside. He struggled to push himself up on the bar, but the spearpoint was barbed. â€Å"I can't get it.† â€Å"Shit,† Billy said. He held the gate with one hand and drew a flick knife from his back pocket with the other. â€Å"I'll come up and cut you down.† â€Å"No, don't let go of the gate,† Samson said. â€Å"Fuck it,† Billy said. He let go of the gate and it clanged with Samson's swinging weight. Billy jumped on the bars and as he climbed Samson could hear the fire door open and slam again, then footsteps. Billy stood at the top of the stone pillar and put the knife to Samson's pant leg. â€Å"When I cut, keep hold of the bars.† Billy pulled the knife blade through the denim and Samson flipped over and slammed the bars again, this time right side up. The gate clanged again. Samson heard the jeep starting and saw the beams of the headlights come out from behind the visitor center. He looked to Billy. â€Å"Jump!† Billy leapt from the fifteen-foot pillar. As he hit the pavement he yowled and crumpled. â€Å"My ankle.† Samson looked to the visitor center, where the jeep was pulling out. He grabbed Billy under the armpits and dragged him down into the ditch. They waited, breathlessly, as the jeep stopped and the guard, gun drawn, checked the lock and chain once again. After the guard left they crawled down the ditch toward Eli. When he came into view, Samson helped Billy to his feet and supported him while he limped up to the big Cheyenne, who was taking a deep hit on a joint. â€Å"Want a hit?† he croaked, holding the joint out to Billy. Billy took the joint, sat down in the grass, and took a hit. Eli let out a cloud of smoke and laughed. â€Å"That was the funniest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life.† Then he spotted the wet streaks on Samson's pants. â€Å"What happened, Hunts Alone? I thought you were going to piss on Custer's grave. You get so scared you wet yourself?† He threw back his head to laugh and Samson wound up and tagged him on the jaw with a vicious roundhouse punch. Eli dropped to the ground and didn't move. Samson looked at his damaged fist, then at Eli, then at Billy Two Irons. He grinned. Billy said, â€Å"You couldn't have done that twenty minutes ago and saved us all this trouble, could you?† â€Å"You're right,† Samson said. â€Å"I couldn't have done that twenty minutes ago. Let's get out of here before he comes to.† Samson helped Billy to his feet, then out of the ditch onto the road. As they headed toward Crow Agency it seemed to get darker as they walked, then darker still, until there was no light at all and Sam was in his bedroom staring at the back of a black buckskin shirt trimmed with red woodpecker feathers. â€Å"It was a stupid thing to do,† Sam said. â€Å"It was brave,† Coyote said. â€Å"It would have been stupid if you had failed.† â€Å"We found out later that Custer wasn't even buried there. His body was taken to West Point, so it was all for nothing.† â€Å"And what about the night on the dam? Was that all for nothing?† â€Å"How do you know about that?† Coyote turned and stared at Sam with his arms crossed, his golden eyes shining with delight. â€Å"That was nothing but trouble,† Sam said finally. â€Å"Would you do it again?† â€Å"Yes,† Sam said without thinking. â€Å"And the girl is nothing but trouble?† Coyote said. Sam heard the words echoing in his mind. Going after the girl was the right thing to do. After all the years of doing the safe thing, it was time to do the right thing. He said, â€Å"You really piss me off sometimes, you know that?† â€Å"Anger is the gods' way of letting you know you are alive.† Sam got up and stood face-to-face with the trickster, trying to read something in his eyes. He moved forward until their noses almost touched. â€Å"All you know is that she's going to Las Vegas? No address or anything?† â€Å"Not so far. But if she misses them there, the biker is going on to South Dakota. She'll follow. I'll tell you the rest on the way.† â€Å"I don't suppose you could change into a Learjet or something practical.† Coyote shook his head. â€Å"Just living things: animals, bugs, rocks.† Sam reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out the box of breath mints, and handed them to Coyote. The trickster raised his eyebrows in query. Sam said, â€Å"Eat those. I can't handle dog breath through an eight-hour drive.†

Commanding Heights Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Commanding Heights - Movie Review Example To add on that, consider this scenario, a documentary of cancer that is funded by manufacturers of cigarette, will you believe it fully? Then what you think about an economics documentary that is sponsored by large world corporations? From that, it can be concluded that although Commanding Heights is a PBS production, it is not objective and neutral. This can be demonstrated clearly as the first thing seen are the advertisements from the program corporate sponsors including British Petroleum and the federal express. On further audit, it is crystal clear that one of the original founders of the documentary was Enron even after the company scandalous fall. This illustrates Commanding Heights is substantially a piece of propaganda for the world mega-corporation as the financiers of the program have a major interest in advocating for pro-deregulation economic issues and Pro- big business. Â  This series encompasses frustrating duality: it is informative on issues of the contemporary politics and history but apparently, the bias not only on the choice of facts to present and not to present but also in the interpretation. Episode one, (the battle of ideas), examines two substantial competing ideologies about the economy of the world. Firstly it looks at the analogy of the free market as propagated by an economics theorist called Hayek. On the other hand, it looks at the concept of `planned economy’ as advocated by Keynes. It tracks how the ideological climate transitioned from one to the other over a century with a corresponding impact on the policies of the government. The synopsis of the specific opinion of these two critical thinkers is the most crucial part of this episode while the evaluation of the advantages of these positions is the least important.

Qualitative method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Qualitative method - Essay Example Broadly, there are two approaches in collection of information for research purposes in social sciences: qualitative research and quantitative research. Quantitative research originated in the natural sciences such as chemistry, physics, biology, geology and others, and focused on investigating things the researcher could observe and measure in some way. Evidently, applicability of this approach to social science research was rather limited: social world is impossible to objectively measure in the same way as natural world. Researchers working in the social sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology and others were interested in studying behaviour of human beings and various aspects of the social world inhabited by people. Attempts to explain human behaviour in simply measurable terms had only partial success: although measurements obtained with the help of quantitative research told researchers how often human beings demonstrate some or other type of behaviour or how often certain social phenomenon occur, no quantitative research could determine why people demonstrate such behaviour or why things in social world occurred in some specific way. Qualitative research is an effective alternative to find the answer to this question. Qualitative research is defined as "multimethod in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter" (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994: 2). Qualitative research is based upon a solid philosophical basis which includes a number of paradigms. Theorists outline four major philosophical paradigms that formed the basis of qualitative approach in social sciences: positivism, postpositivism, critical theory, and constructivism (Guba and Lincoln, 1994). Positivist philosophy founded by a famous French theorist A. Konte played exceptionally important role in development of qualitative research. Positivists argued that the objective reality did not depend upon the perspectives of taken by researchers. Consequently, there is no difference between reality and perception of reality, and the primary task of researchers is to disclose facts of the objective world. This paradigm is present in a diluted form in some qualitative research. Postpositivist philosophy is a contemporary modification of Konte's positivism. Adherents of this paradigm claim that human being is not capable of perfect and comprehensive understanding of reality admitting that serious analysis and accurate collection of information can bring the researcher close to such understanding. Postpositivism exerts substantial influence on qualitative research (Shaw, 1999: 45-47). Critical paradigm emerged in the second half of the last century in Germany. Proponents of this paradigm argued that reality could not be grasped without researcher's bias that is caused by historical, political, societal, ethnic, or gender conditions. Consequently, realisation of social conditions and values should be the primary purpose of research (Harvey, 1990). Critical ethnography, feminist research and participatory action research are the best known methods within qualitative approach which rely upon the critical paradigm. And finally representatives of constructivist paradigm claimed that reality was not possible to study and understand 'in pieces', but only holistically and in context. Therefore, the traditional relationship between researcher and subject of research was labelled

Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Civilization - Essay Example Industrialization started with the mass production of pottery, textiles and metal tools. Writing emerged as a means of communication invented mainly to deal with urban problems of management and book keeping. On the social front, people were grouped into classes based on control of resources, wealth, political authority, family, or religion. By 3000 B.C.E., the Sumerians in south Babylonia (Southern Mesopotamia) founded the oldest cities of Ur, Nippur, and Uruk; the largest city in the world. Quarrels over water and agricultural land led to increased warfare to create kingdoms ruling several city states. The city of Kish in north Babylonia had the first king in history. In the far east of Babylonia, the Akkadians established the first empire in history in the city of Akkade. Sargon, their first king who was the servant of the king of Kish became the first conqueror of history. His grandson, Naram-Sin developed unheard-of wealth and power that he declared himself god and built temples to himself. In 2125 B.C.E., the Sumerians established the third dynasty empire on the foundation of the Akkadian empire. In 1792 B.C.E. King Hammurabi created a kingdom to embrace most of Mesopotamia. At 1600 B.C.E., the Babylonian kingdom fell apart by invasions from the Hittites, Hurrians, and Kassites. Ingredients of civilization were ... Their language consisted of thousands of characters that represented words and some sounds. In ancient Egypt, the hieroglyphics language was invented to involve hundreds of picture signs, each representing one, two or three sounds to mean a word or category. Text was written horizontally from right to left or left to right, or vertically from top to bottom in both horizontal directions. Another ingredient of culture is social change. In ancient Egypt, black Africans from Nubia and Asians from the east were captured in war and brought back to Egypt as slaves. Sometimes entire people were slaved as the Hebrews according to the Bible. Slaves performed domestic services, labored in fields with the peasants, worked as policemen or soldiers as they also labored to erect the great temples and monuments of Egypt. They could be freed by in most occasions they were not. In Mesopotamia there were two main types of slavery: chattel and debt slavery. Chattel slaves were bought like property and had no legal rights as they were easily recognized by their hair style or tattoo on their arm. They were non-Mesopotamians bought from slave merchants or imprisoned during war. Chattel slaves were mainly used in domestic services rather than fieldwork. Debt slave were more common than chattel slaves. They were declared slaves when members of family were declared as surety of a loan where they have to labor to pay the interest on the loan. They could not be sold and they are redeemed free once the debt is paid off. However slaves had little legal protection and could buy his or her freedom. Hammurabi's Law Code revealed the classes of people of nobles, commoners, and slaves, who were not treated equally. Women in Mesopotamia could

Terrorism Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Terrorism - Case Study Example Some of the founding members included Leroy Schweitzer, who was the head of the group, Skurdal and Daniel Petersen, and had been inspired by a former group called Posse Comitatus. Members of this group defaulted taxes and resisted the Internal Revenue Service, which auctioned most of their property to recover the taxes. However, the public feared the group and some property marked for auction remained unsold for several years (Combs, Cindy and Martin, pp. 186). The group created complicated schemes which involved filing liens worth millions of dollars against property owned by the federal or local government in Montana. This was a strategy to raise money to sustain their movement. The movement set up its own common law court and a government in Montana. The government issued arrest warrants for the members, but most of them remained in their farms, and the authorities could not arrest them. The most radical members regrouped at Clark ranch in Jordan from where they ran the movement. In 1996, the Freemen wanted to set up a radio antenna to facilitate their communication. The contracted installer was an undercover FBI agent, who lured Schweitzer and Peterson from their houses to the installation site. On reaching the site, the two Freemen were arrested by federal agents who were waiting for them. Most of the other members were arrested later and sentenced on account of several crimes. The Kurdistan Workers’ party or the PKK was founded in 1974 by Abdullah Ocalan and was initially known as the Kongra-Gel. The group, mainly composed of Turkish Kurds, began armed violence in 1984 as part of its campaign. The main objective of this movement was to establish an independent Kurdish state and government in Turkey, Northern Iraq, parts of Syria and Iran. The groups’ founder members adopted the Marxist theory as part of their liberation campaign. PKK collaborated with other militants in this region to conduct attacks against the Turkish government alongside other extremist sympathizers. The group operates in several countries and runs several training camps in Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. Their campaign involves spreading propaganda against the government, explosives and violence, sabotaging government activities, and spreading their anti-government ideologies (Balci, pp. 172). The group has been involved in several bomb attacks in Turkey, drug trafficking and kidnappings. The founder Abdullah Ocalan was arrested in 1999 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Several European countries such as France and Germany sympathize with PKK and have allowed them to open offices in their countries and offered its members support and training. The Turkish government condemns the group by referring to it as a threat to national security. Other sister organizations such as PJAK have come up and are involved in terror activities within Turkey and Iraq. PKK fighters operate from the Qandil Mountains in Iraq in a bid to limit government attacks. The Turkish government has offered the movement an opportunity to negotiate for peace, which has not been fruitful. The U.S government has been accused of giving Iraq PKK members a safe haven for the operations since the fall of Saddam Hussein (Mannes, pp. 179). The Al-Qaeda is an Islamic terror group that was founded by Osama Bin Laden in 1988. The group was founded to free Islamic countries from the profane influence of the west, especially USA and

Gillette Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gillette - Essay Example The 4Ps of marketing named product, place (distribution), price, and promotion helped in marketing Gillette, firstly the product that was having extraordinary features in it was it self an attraction, the distribution was done through normal hiring of distributors in U.S. and afterwards the company launched it internationally, the pricing system was cost based, means that it was on the basis of per unit cost, with some profit on it, and promotion was done by the store display as advertisement had not gained popularity. Henry Ford was a one in million entrepreneur and also an inventor, he was the first one to make assembly line manufacturing for mass production of the affordable automobiles of that time, car was a luxury from ages but it was Ford who gave them another perception, he made it so easy for us to travel, the product that is the car was in the simplest stage at the time of invention, though he had given it so many shapes and features like cars being used for fishing, cars being used for traveling etc. ... The people of old times were just concerned with the core product that was to travel the distance through some means with some standard but than came so many models that now Ford has become a status symbol, though there are so many other cars available in the market but it seems that one is legend while driving the Ford. The 4ps played even a bigger role in making sure that Ford is the most valuable car in the market, the product had so many new features, designs, style, quality was even good in comparison with the other cars of that time, the distribution was done in the entire U.S. on the basis of normal distribution through the transport services, pricing was done while keeping the value of the product, it was value based pricing that was used, and as the product was so unique and wonderful and everybody would have loved to buy it thus the promotion was done through good and effective store display (Showroom display), personal selling had also played some role but afterwards. TV Dinner Gerry Thomas invented TV Dinner while he was working for Swanson, he was criticized severely but he did not show any intimidation and he invented TV dinner, a packaged frozen meal that can be ready to eat at any time, the product was a creative thinking's outcome and it simplified the human life in many ways particularly the working class of U.S. which was in need of some thing that would not be consuming much of their time and can also be used till so many days and weeks. The product was initially a simple pack of aluminum foil having various foods in it such as turkey, but in modern day life it changed from foil to a tin pack and now to a big pack with some fancy packaging. The American

Gilamesh and Eygptian poetry Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gilamesh and Eygptian poetry - Coursework Example These attributes soften Gilgamesh and they become fast friends. Gilgamesh lives to conquer, preferably in the limelight so everyone can see his strength. As he matures throughout the story, this tendency fades as he becomes aware of the mortality of all living things. The three themes weave together to add flow to the epic poem. 3. Enkidu is the foil for Gilgamesh because he does not esteem worldly riches or favor. He does appreciate the advantages of civilization, having once been a wild man, but he does not seek for self-aggrandizement as does Gilgamesh. Where Gilgamesh is brazen, Enkidu is cautious and humble. The ultimate foil provided by Enkidu is his death in opposition to Gilgamesh’s seemingly indestructible nature. 4. Gilgamesh encounters stone scorpions and a ferryman on his quest to obtain immortality. He is also challenged to stay awake for seven days and six nights. To varying degrees, Gilgamesh fails to overcome each of these obstacles. 5. Gilgamesh’s destruction of the ferryman’s boat is typical behavior for him. He is used to just shouting and bullying to get his way. In the process, he destroys the very thing he needs to accomplish his quest. He seems like the type of character that is given to taking action before he thinks through all of the consequences of the action. 6. The gods took council against the humans they destroyed because their service no longer pleased them. Humans were created to serve the gods and do their will, but the gods were not appeased. They regretted their council after they destroyed all the living things of the earth except Utnapishtim, his wife and all the animals, gold, silver etc. Luckily one of the gods told the walls of Utnapistim’s house (not actually the human) that he should build a huge boat to hold all of these things because a flood was coming. 7. Gilgamesh fails to stay awake in paradise for six days and seven nights. He also fails to eat the magical plant that he retrieved

State of the Economi in Bosnia Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

State of the Economi in Bosnia - Case Study Example It also ensures that the graduates accomplish their master’s degree in a short time and thus enable them to access the job market in the shortest time possible. This short program has various disadvantages, which includes generation, of little revenue on a student basis compared with the long program model. The shorter model will ensure that the students finish as quickly as possible and give room for new ones to join the school. This would provide an opportunity to the College to earn extra income and complement the one that would be earned by the long program. The short model would offer ten courses in a period of eleven months while the long would offer sixteen courses in a period twenty months. Most of the students would be interested in the ten courses model since they pay a premium over the other schools offering graduate management education. Since most of the students want to concentrate on other issues like seeking for employment, people would adopt the shorter model since it would take those two years which is a relatively short period to accomplish their studies. Discounted Cash Flow Analysis A Discounted Cash Flow method of valuation estimates the credibility of an investment that is worth investing. In a case where the value that one arrives at through this DCF method is higher than the cost of investment, then the opportunity is viable. Discounted Cash Flow= 425,000-87,250/ (1+0.15) + 350,000-87250/ (1+0.15)2 = 735,899.375 US dollars. One achieves this amount after taking the revenue that the organization realizes after an enrolment of 25 students for both programs. The tuition for each cohort is $ 17,000 for the short program and $ 14,000 for the long program. The students prefer the short program since taking part of the program is of little value with regard to enhancement of their career prospects. The students should ensure that they complete their course since it if finishing that counts with MBA. One finds that the models are realist ic and worth investing in since the DCF amount is favourable. Since the amount of revenue that these two projects would generate, is higher than the cost of investing, the project is, therefore, viable and worth venturing. Consideration of other firms who offer Masters in Business Administration, in the country, also provides vital information concerning investing in the project. It will provide the expected price that should be charged in the market and the expected level of expenses that the college should incur in the process of running the programs. Pros of the long program The long program will generate reasonable profits to the school in case a reasonable number of students join the program. This will ensure that the school develops due to availability of resources that it develops through making profits. It is also cheaper where compared with a short program and students can easily raise the fees with a lot of struggles. The administration distributes tuition fee over a longe r duration of time. The students undertaking the long program has a possibility of performing well since they have few courses to concentrate on in a long duration of time. Cons of the long program The long program takes a reasonably longer time when compared to the short program. It requires a large amount of capital for investment since the number of costs involved in running the program is higher. Pros of the short program The short program saves time for students and equips them with the MBA degree which they will use to secure employment opportunities in the job market. This gives them competitive advantage when compared with the long program students who spend a lot of time in school. The students also finish their course in a relatively short

Discussion questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion questions - Essay Example Given the economic conditions today, I would suggest an expansionary fiscal policy. This is because money in circulation in the market is less, which has discouraged spending, and thus the businesses are performing poorly. An expansionary fiscal policy increases flow of money in the economy, which favours factors of production. This helps increase production, which in turn increases the demand for labour. The rate of unemployment goes down as more people get job opportunities in the job market. The government faces a budget deficit when there is more government spending than the collected revenue. The government should therefore raise taxes, reduce government spending, and sell government bonds and treasury bills as a measure to correct the deficit. Riley claims, â€Å"Higher government borrowings today mean that taxes will have to rise in the future† (Riley web). However, this will reduce the disposable income hence constraining the economy more than expand it. The government should decrease spending as a way of correcting a deficit budget if it seeks for a long-term

Ethical Issues in Research Essay Example for Free

Ethical Issues in Research Essay Ethical issues are essential factors that must be given due and proper consideration in research. This becomes even more applicable when researchers deal with studies that involve human beings and animals. Numerous experiments are being made to achieve progress in various fields of discipline, including psychology. In doing so, human beings and animals must be protected, especially since using them in these experiments involves their well-being. For this reason, ethical standards are established. Ethical standards serve as the guidelines that govern the proper and improper participation and utilization of these life forms in research (University of Alberta, 2008). These standards ensure that studies which involve human beings and animals are subjected to limitations so that they would not be taken advantage of. According to the British Psychological Society (BPS) (2008), ethical guidelines give importance to respecting an individual as the researchers should not express any sign of prejudice toward the participants due to differences in racial descent, sexuality, language, and such. The privacy of the participants should also be respected. Thus, researchers must only acquire the personal information necessary for the study, and this information must be kept confidential. The researchers should also obtain the consent of the individuals who will participate in the study. During the study itself, participants should also be protected from any kind of harm, may it be psychological (e. g. , stress and anxiety) or physical. Moreover, the researchers also have to respect the participant’s right to leave an experiment any time that he or she wishes to. In another perspective, ethics tend to limit the advancement of psychological science. Since there are many guidelines and rules that have to be followed, researchers do not have full control over their participants. This sometimes hinders and impedes the experimentation process. Furthermore, obtaining the necessary license for this kind of research could be time-consuming, which can be used for the study itself (BPS, 2008). Scientists should accept and follow the limitations brought about by ethical guidelines because these guidelines only give due importance to the life of the participants. The main justification for these research studies is that the findings obtained from these would contribute to the knowledge and information on various fields of discipline and help improve the lives of individuals. This gives such studies an objective that is morally good (National Academy of Sciences, 2006). Hence, scientists should value the lives of the people they claim to help. Lastly, the one responsible in identifying the parameters of the participants’ protection are competent organizations that are familiar with the field of study being researched. In the case of the United States, the American Psychological Association (APA) (2008) is an organization that represents the psychologists in the U. S. APA (2008) implements an ethics code that every member of the organization must adhere to. References American Psychological Association. (2008). APA Ethics Office. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www. apa. org/ethics/.British Psychological Society. (2008). Ethics. Scienceaid. co. uk. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://scienceaid. co. uk/psychology/approaches/ethics. html. National Academy of Sciences. (2006). Scientific and ethical justification for using animals in research. Online Ethics Center for Engineering. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www. onlineethics. org/cms/16216. aspx. University of Alberta. (2008). Human Ethics, Biohazards, and Animal Welfare. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www. rso. ualberta. ca/certification. cfm.

Effect of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Brain Functions

Effect of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Brain Functions Cannabis Use During Adolescence: A Review of Impacts on Brain Functions and Associated Outcomes Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the social acceptability of cannabis usage in the United States, with several states having already legalized recreational use of the substance and several more projected to do so within the next several years (Leyton, 2016).   Concurrently, there has been an increase in the amount of adolescents who report using cannabis, with recent data indicating that 39% of high school seniors report using cannabis within the past year and 6-7% reporting daily or near daily cannabis use (Johnston & O’Malley, 2015).   Despite increasing utilization of cannabis products for pain management and other ailments (Hwang & Clarke, 2016), some in the scientific community have expressed concern about the potential ramifications of recreational legalization of cannabis.   Chief amongst these concerns is the idea that adolescents will have very easy access to increasingly potent cannabis and synthetic cannabis products (Sobesky & Gorgens, 2016), as a great deal of research has indicated that the use of cannabis poses several risks specific to individuals in the adolescent age range (see Levine, Clemenza, Rynn, & Lieberman, 2017).   This paper will summarize the research examining the impact of cannabis use on the developing adolescent brain and potential associated outcomes, particularly in the areas of cognition/executive function, anxiety and depression, psychotic disorders, and future substance use/dependence.   The Adolescent Brain To understand the impact of cannabis use on the developing adolescent brain, it is first necessary to understand the changes taking place in the brain during this developmental period.   Not surprisingly, the period of adolescence is a time of tremendous change in the circuitry of the brain.   According to Arain et al. (2013), there is a significant amount of neuronal plasticity in the brain during adolescence, meaning the â€Å"wiring† of the brain is extremely adaptable to learning and experience.   Such plasticity, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, lends itself to difficulty thinking rationally and critically, often leading to the impulsive decision-making that is characteristic of the adolescent years.   In addition, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, the system responsible for regulating human responses to stress, also undergoes significant development during the period of adolescence.   Within this system, the amount and duration of adrenocorti cotropic hormone (ACTH) and glucocorticoids released in response to stress increase significantly as compared to other life periods (Romeo, 2013).   Shortly before puberty, a â€Å"surge† of synaptogenesis and neuronal growth occurs in which grey matter in the brain thickens substantially.   From this point throughout the period of adolescence, the brain is continually rewired through dendritic pruning and increased myelination of synapses, particularly in the prefrontal cortex (Arain et al., 2013; Lubman, Bonomo, & Yucel, 2007).   In addition, white matter increases are seen in the corpus callosum (Arain et al., 2013).   Taken together, these changes increase the efficiency of communication within the brain, allowing for the eventual development of more complex cognitive functioning, including improved impulse control, operational thinking, and working memory (Hart, 2007; Lubman et al., 2007).   In addition to the constant rewiring of brain circuitry that occurs during adolescence, the levels of three neurotransmitters – dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin – change during the adolescent period (Arain et al., 2013).   According to Dahl (2003), dopamine and serotonin levels decrease during adolescence, resulting in emotional dysregulation, mood disruptions, and difficulties with impulse control.   Melatonin levels, on the other hand, increase, which in turn increases the amount of sleep that adolescents need to be fully â€Å"re-charged.†Ã‚     Given the massive changes that are occurring in the brain during the period of adolescence, it is a time in which the brain is especially susceptible to the use of substances, (Lubman et al., 2007) including cannabis.   Cannabis’ Action in the Brain Before discussing the specific impacts of cannabis use on the adolescent brain, it is important to understand how cannabis acts in the brain in general.   First, the brain has an endogenous cannabinoid system (endocannabinoid system) made up of the ligands anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) and cannabinoid receptors known as CB1 and CB2 receptors (Moreira & Lutz, 2008).   CB1 receptors are located throughout the brain, but are particularly populous in the front region of the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, the cerebellum, the hypothalamus, the anterior cingulate cortex, and the hippocampus; CB2 receptors are generally found throughout the body’s immune system (Hill et al., 2010; Iversen, 2004).   The endocannabinoid system plays a role in a number of processes, including the regulation of the HPA axis stress response (Hill et al., 2010; Lee & Gorzalka, 2015), neural plasticity, and learning and memory (Lu et al., 2008).   According to Iversen (2004), the psychoactive component in cannabis is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).   THC, as well as increasingly popular synthetic cannabinoids, act as agonists on CB1 cannabinoid receptors in the brain.   Because CB1 receptors are generally presynaptic rather than postsynaptic, cannabinoids control the release of certain neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine, L-glutamate, ÃŽ ³-aminobutyric acid (GABA), noradrenaline (norepinephrine), dopamine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT).   The use of exogenous cannabinoids, such as marijuana or synthetic marijuana products, leads to an unnaturally long-lasting activation of CB1 receptors, ultimately inhibiting the release of the aforementioned neurotransmitters in selected areas of the brain (Iversen, 2004).   In addition to its impact on CB1 receptors and associated neurotransmitters, THC also appears to trigger the firing of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the brain and the nucleus accumbens – areas of the brain that are heavily implicated in the brain’s reward circuit associated with drug use.   This effect is also seen with heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and nicotine, suggesting that THC may also act on the opioid receptor system within the brain (Iversen, 2004). Impact on Cognition and Executive Function Tasks The literature has focused on several larger areas of impact regarding cannabis use during adolescence, one of these being the potential impacts on cognition and tasks of executive function.   As previously mentioned, the brain undergoes a significant amount of change in the adolescent years, including the frequent re-wiring of neural connections through neural pruning processes, particularly in the prefrontal cortex.   According to Filbey, McQueeny, DeWitt, and Mishra (2015), cannabis use during adolescence disrupts this normal pruning process through its modulation of neurotransmitters and inhibition of microglial processes.   This results in abnormal connectivity within the brain, including a decrease in white matter volume and integrity (Gruber, Dahlgren, Sagar, Gonenc, & Lukas, 2014; Jacobus et al., 2009). Such changes result in a number of cognitive impacts, including increased impulsivity, poorer reaction times, and increased errors on executive function tasks (e.g., planning, organization, self-regulation, etc.) (Becker, Wagner, Gouzoulis-Mayfrank, Spuentrup, & Daumann, 2010; Gruber et al., 2014).   Indeed, studies have indicated that individuals who begin marijuana use in early adolescence are at an increased risk for developing deficits in attention (Ehrenreich et al., 1999) and visual processing (Tapert, Granholm, Leedy, & Brown, 2002), and exhibit a decreased full scale IQ and verbal IQ in adulthood (Meier et al., 2012).   Memory also appears to be affected by adolescent-onset cannabis use (Tait, Mackinnon, & Christensen, 2011), likely via its impact on the hippocampus – a part of the brain heavily implicated in memory functions.   Animal research has shown that the hippocampus is affected by cannabis use especially during the period of adolescence.   In rats, adolescent exposure to cannabis impacted the microstructure of the hippocampus as well as abnormalities in the way that proteins are expressed in the hippocampus (Quinn et al., 2008).   Specifically, it appears that exogenous cannabinoids bind to CB1 receptors and inhibit the release of glutamate, thus contributing to deficits in short-term memory (Hart, 2007) and negatively impacting performance on memory-related tasks (see Levine et al., 2017).   Some animal studies indicate that lower levels of cannabis use (those most reflective of the actual amount that adolescents use) are not predictive of long-lasting hippocampal changes.   However, because current cannabis products are continuing to increase in potency (Levine et al., 2017), hippocampal changes and subsequent memory problems are topics of concern, especially with regard to adolescent users of cannabis.   Working memory also appears to be impacted by cannabis use, particularly in individuals that began using cannabis before the age of sixteen.   Becker et al. (2010) used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine performance on a working memory task in individuals who began using cannabis before age sixteen (early-onset) as compared to individuals who began using cannabis after the age of sixteen (later-onset).   Results of this study indicated that early-onset cannabis users exhibited increased cortical activity in the parietal lobe as compared to later-onset cannabis users.   The researchers concluded that this increased cortical activity indicated decreased cortical efficiency in response to challenging working memory-related tasks in early-onset, but not later-onset, cannabis users (Becker et al., 2010).   Such findings are consistent with a number of studies indicating that an earlier age of onset of cannabis use is associated with greater risk of negative impacts on cognitive functioning during adulthood (Ehrenreich et al., 1999; Fontes et al., 2011; Meier et al., 2012; Pope et al., 2003).   Impact on the Development of Anxiety and Depression Several studies indicate a connection between adolescent-onset cannabis use and the development of both anxiety and depressive disorders (e.g., Brook, Rosen, & Brook, 2001; Degenhardt et al., 2013; Fairman, 2015; Hayatbakhsh et al., 2007; Patton et al., 2002; van Laar, van Dorsselaer, Monshouwer, & de Graaf, 2007).   Though past researchers have speculated about the directionality of this relationship, studies have consistently indicated that adolescent-onset depression is not predictive of later cannabis use (e.g., Degenhardt, Hall, & Lynskey, 2003; Moore et al., 2007; Womack, Shaw, Weaver, & Forbes, 2016), negating the idea that depressive and/or anxiety symptoms lead to engagement in cannabis use as a method of symptom relief.   Instead, such findings promote the idea that cannabis use during adolescence, in combination with other potential risk factors, increase the risk for the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms in adulthood (Levine et al., 2017).   As with the cognitive changes discussed in the previous section of this paper, it is early-onset use of cannabis that appears to be riskiest with regard to the development of future anxiety and depressive symptoms (Hayatbakhsh et al., 2007; Patton et al., 2002).   In an interesting study by Spechler et al. (2015), fMRIs were used to examine activity in the amygdalas of adolescent users of cannabis.   The researchers showed participants images of both angry and neutral faces, a well-known test of amygdala activity and a well-regarded index of emotional processing.   Results of this study indicated that compared to the control group, adolescent cannabis users exhibited increased amygdala activity in response to the images of angry faces whereas the control group showed the same amount of amygdala activity when shown images of neutral faces.   Spechler et al. (2015) concluded that adolescent cannabis use is associated with increased hypersensitivity to negative affect.   However, in this case, the directionality of the relationship is unclear: it is possible that the sensitivity of the amygdala pre-dated the cannabis use and the cannabis use was engaged in due to its anxiolytic effect.   Conversely, it is possible that cannabis use led to increased sensitivity in the amygdala.   Either way, it appears that adolescent cannabis users are overly sensitive to negative affect and the potential threat that accompanies it, which may explain the increased incidence of depressive and anxious symptomatology in this population.    There are several potential neurobiological mechanisms explaining the relationship between adolescent cannabis use and the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms.   One possibility is the impact of exogenous cannabinoids on the HPA axis system.   The endocannabinoid system regulates the responsivity of the HPA axis, which, as previously mentioned, undergoes significant development during the adolescent years (Hill et al., 2010; Lee & Gorzalka, 2015; Romeo, 2013).   Studies with both human and rodent subjects have indicated that the use of exogenous cannabinoids during adolescence has the capacity to alter HPA axis stress responses, thus impacting emotionality and the development of anxiety-related symptoms (Lee & Gorzalka, 2015).   Lovelace et al. (2015) discuss another neurobiological mechanism that may underlie the relationship between adolescent cannabis use and the development of anxiety and depression.   In a rodent study, these researchers examined maladaptations in the prefrontal cortex due to cannabis use by looking at presynaptic plasticity at glutamatergic synapses in adolescent rats.   The results indicated that exposure to exogenous cannabinoids during adolescence led to over-activation of CB1 receptors, which led to permanent changes in synapses in the prefrontal cortex.   Overall, mice exposed to exogenous cannabinoids during adolescence showed a loss of presynaptic plasticity, which impacts the brain’s ability to adapt to changing environments and thus may contribute to an increased vulnerability of psychopathology during adulthood (Lovelace et al., 2015).   In an interesting rodent study conducted by Rubino et al. (2008), researchers found that exposure to THC during adolescence was associated with decreased density and function of CB1 receptors in the ventral tegmental area, the nucleus accumbens, and the amygdala.   These areas of the brain are implicated in emotional processing and reward and are thus implicated in the development of depressive symptomatology.   The behavior of the rats in this study also mirrored depressive symptomatology.   Specifically, rats exposed to THC during adolescence exhibited both â€Å"behavioral despair† (which the researchers defined as time the rats were immobile) and anhedonia (as measured through decreased consumption of sucrose).   Taken together, it appears that several neurobiological mechanisms are at play in the connection between adolescent cannabis use and the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms.   Impact on the Development of Psychotic Disorders A substantial body of literature has indicated a connection between the use of cannabis during adolescence and the later development of psychotic disorders (e.g., van Os et al., 2002; Henquet et al., 2005; Stefanis et al., 2004).   This is especially true for individuals who are already genetically predisposed to develop psychotic disorders (Henquet et al., 2005) though the connection has also been found in individuals that do not have this genetic predisposition (van Os et al., 2002).   As with the impact on cognition and on anxiety/depressive symptoms, it appears that early-onset cannabis use (Arseneault et al., 2002; Moore et al., 2007) as well as heavier (i.e. daily or near-daily) use pose the greatest risk for the later development of a psychotic disorder (Moore et al., 2007; van Os et al., 2002). Rubino and Parolaro (2014) discuss the possible neurobiological mechanisms behind the connection between adolescent cannabis use and the development of psychotic disorders.   In general, it appears that the use of exogenous cannabinoids during adolescence disrupts the maturational processes occurring in the brain during this time, especially in the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex – two areas of the brain that are implicated in the psychotic disorder schizophrenia, in particular.   The endocannabinoid system itself undergoes a significant amount of change during the adolescent years; thus, exogenous cannabinoid exposure during this time period has the potential to alter the long-term functionality of CB1 receptors, which then impacts the activity of several neurotransmitters implicated in psychotic symptomatology, especially dopamine (Rubino & Parolaro, 2014). Additionally, being exposed to cannabis during the adolescent period has been shown to disrupt prepulse inhib ition (the ability to accurately perceive and process stimuli) and down-regulate GABAergic activity in the prefrontal cortex – both symptoms commonly seen in individuals with schizophrenia (Morales-Muà ±oz et al., 2014; Zamberletti et al., 2014).  Ã‚   As previously mentioned, individuals who have a genetically predisposed vulnerability to develop psychotic disorders are at an especially high risk to do so if they engage in cannabis use during adolescence (Henquet et al., 2005).   For example, individuals who have a specific variant of the gene for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), which breaks down dopamine – the neurotransmitter implicated in schizophrenia – are at a much higher risk for developing the disorder if they used cannabis during adolescence as compared to individuals who do not have that specific variant of the gene for COMT (Caspi et al., 2005).   Another gene that influences the relationship between adolescent cannabis use and psychosis is the ATK1 gene, which affects dopamine breakdown in the striatum.   According to DiForti et al. (2012), cannabis users with a certain variant of the ATK1 gene were seven times more likely to develop psychosis as compared to individuals with this gene variant w ho did not use cannabis.   Clearly, in individuals that already possess these specific genetic variants, cannabis use during adolescence can be the trigger that leads to the expression of these genes and the development of psychotic symptoms and/or disorders.   In addition, adults with psychotic disorders who used cannabis during adolescence are at a greater risk for relapse of psychotic symptoms, poorer adherence to treatment, and increased rates of hospitalization related to their diagnosis (Hunt, Bergen, & Bashir, 2002; Lewis, Tarrier, & Drake, 2005; Wade et al., 2006).   Impact on the Future Development of Substance Use Disorders   Several studies have indicated a link between adolescent cannabis use and the later development of a substance use disorder.   Again, this relationship is especially strong for individuals that engage in cannabis use in early adolescence and who engage in heavy (i.e., daily or near-daily) use (Fergusson, Boden, & Horwood, 2006; Hall & Lynskey, 2005; Stuart & Green, 2008).  Ã‚   Past researchers have speculated upon various explanations for this trend, including the so-called ‘gateway hypothesis.’   In general, the ‘gateway hypothesis’ assumes that individuals who use â€Å"harder† drugs such as heroin and cocaine almost always started their use of substances with using cannabis, and that this link is explicitly causal (Van Gundy & Rebellon, 2010).  Ã‚   This hypothesis is based on research findings indicating that the use of cannabis during adolescence often predates the use of other illicit substances, including heroin, methamphetamines, and cocaine (Fergusson et al., 2006).   Though the causality of this link has been repeatedly questioned in the literature (e.g., Morral, McCaffrey, & Paddock, 2002; Van Gundy & Rebellon, 2010), many researchers have attempted to explain the mechanisms behind the early use of cannabis and the later use of other substances and/or development of a substance use disorder.   There are countless potential psychosocial explanations for this connection (e.g., peer pressure, propensity toward risk-taking behaviors, availability of substances, etc.); however, for the purposes of this paper, the potential neurobiological mechanisms behind the connection will be discussed. The major possible neurobiological mechanism behind the connection between early cannabis use and the later development of a substance use disorder has to do with the effect of cannabis on the brain’s opioidergic system.   A great deal of animal research has indicated that the endocannabinoid system and the opioidergic system are intricately linked.   For example, Pickel, Chan, Kash, Rodriguez, and Mackie (2004) and Rodriguez, Mackie, and Pickel (2001) found that CB1 receptors and  µ opioid receptors are found on the same neurons in both the striatum and the ventral tegmental area, and Cossu et al. (2001) and Ledent et al. (1999) found that animals without CB1 receptor genes do not self-administer opioids. Drawing upon this clear connection between the endocannabinoid and opioidergic brain systems, Ellgren, Spano, and Hurd (2007) investigated the hypothesis that cannabis exposure during adolescence changes opioid-related neural functions and leads to increased likelihood of later opioid use.   Findings of this research confirmed that rats exposed to THC during the adolescent period self-administered greater amounts of heroin compared to the control group.   Moreover, findings indicated that rats exposed to THC in adolescence showed a persistent disturbance in the activity of enkephalin, which is the endogenous opioid neuropeptide associated with reward behaviors and hedonic states.   Findings also indicated that THC exposure led to changes in the functions of  µ opioid receptors such that heroin use was more reinforcing (via dopamine release) for rats exposed to THC during adolescence as compared to the control group.   Taken together, these results indicate that cannabis use during adolescence leads to a greater vulnerability to the reinforcing effects of opioids during adulthood, potentially leading to a greater risk for dependence and likelihood of relapse of substance use disorders.   Conclusion Despite the increasing popularity of cannabis use, both for medicinal and recreational purposes (Hwang & Clarke, 2016; Leyton, 2016), it is important to consider the resulting increased availability of cannabis to individuals during the sensitive period of adolescence.   Given the profound changes occurring in the brain during adolescence (Arain et al., 2013; Dahl, 2003; Hart, 2007; Lubman et al., 2007), teenagers are particularly susceptible to the influence of substances, which may lead to lasting changes in the brain’s functioning.   Such changes are associated with poor outcomes in several areas, including deficits in performance on executive function tasks (Becker et al., 2010; Ehrenreich et al., 1999; Fontes et al., 2011; Gruber et al., 2014; Meier et al., 2012; Pope et al., 2003; Tapert et al., 2002), an increased risk for the development of anxiety and/or depressive symptoms (Brook et al., 2001; Degenhardt et al., 2013; Fairman, 2015; Hayatbakhsh et al., 2007; Patt on et al., 2002; van Laar, van Dorsselaer, Monshouwer, & de Graaf, 2007), an increased risk for the development of a psychotic disorder (Arseneault et al., 2002; Caspi et al., 2005; DiForti et al., 2012; Henquet et al., 2005; Moore et al., 2007; Rubino & Parolaro, 2014; Stefanis et al., 2004; van Os et al., 2002), and an increased risk for future substance use/dependence (Fergusson et al., 2006; Hall & Lynskey, 2005; Stuart & Green, 2008).   Such considerations may have important implications for policy development related to the legalization of cannabis.   References Arain, M., Haque, M., Johal, L., Mathur, P., Nel, W., Rais, A., Sandu, R., & Sharma, S. 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Three Perspective Approach of Societal Changes

Three Perspective Approach of Societal Changes The Three Perspective Approach of Symbolic-Interaction Approach,  Conflict-Approach, Structural-Functionalist Approach ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION Alcohol Consumption in the society has always been an attractive part in festivities. Nevertheless, in some culture this is consider to be a symbol that profess happiness. Symbolic interaction explain that an individual’s create the symbols that make life meaningful. Symbolic interactionism explains alcohol consumption today is a huge problem society. According to (Harrison, 2010) it can be usually applied to deviant behavior, and violence. All throughout society symbols are used for all aspects of everyday life, and in the Catholic Church it is use to signify the blood of Christ. Whether this tradition culture is wrong, individuals accept practices in their own perception. However, this symbolic ideas to everyone can be viewed as more positive than opposed, it occur more often. Unfortunately this is something shown in today’s society as a spontaneous thing that leads to different interpretation and influence by other group of culture. However, in the Conflict theory alcohol consumption build up conflict as it become a dependence, and motivated to have no limit drinking. In addition, affect the cognitive processes, and drinking behavior. Other conflict are reflected in relationship, and family member; that leads to separation, domestic violence, rape, and others. In the structural- functionalist can be interpreted in different way such as Manifest Function, and latent function, and dysfunction. In Manifest function it is a part of social gathering, that families come together to unite. These event are custom that have been practice, and exist in the society for Christmas, thanks giving, Easter, and reflect a culture in the church. MONOGAMOUS RELATIONSHIPS Monogamy is referred to two individuals are sexually active only with each other, usually in a committed relationship that may or may not be marital. However, in some culture this is consider to not acceptable such as Islamic cultures, polygamy, or the taking of more than one spouse, is acceptable. In addition the Jehovah, and other protestant church or religion group consider that marriage is between a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage, and those sexual infidelity are described as sin, and corrupts a union. Nevertheless, the symbolic interaction to Monogamous relationship is that one shows affection to the other. Through gift, love, caring, giving flowers and spending time together. All this endorsement are symbolic interaction in finding ways to communicate affection. However, will so much good intention some conflict approach arrives to disperse such happiness. The most common conflict is lacking trust, and having jealousy. In addition it may lead to a divorce of the couple, and a delicate fight between both parents for the children custody. The women are victim of domestic violence, and men are mostly in to infidelity. In addition the function approach suggest that relationship meaning of commitment. According to (Kohol, 1983) the function is to prevent vicious sexual relationship, bearing children, establishing relationship of intimacy and devotion and sharing mutual goals. However, in the Manifest it is consider to be in a relationship with a long term lover, or partner that sharing similarity. Nevertheless, latent is rather the husband being involve in vague relationship outside the house hold, and can be entitle to be infection by sexual disease. This not only harm the husband but the whole relationship and the wife. Therefore casing a dysfunction in the relationship such as broken trust, dishonesty, and no confidence. TEENAGE DATING Teenage Dating is the most popular culture that exist in the world of teen. Some culture insist that this practice help in finding or determining the partner or love one would share mutual happiness for eternity. This can be consider another way of other to be to know the person before physically involve or married to. This a symbolic action has determined people to find the right person to establish a relationship. In addition, the lets person know all the strength and weakness of the other. In some cases conflict approach most time being when the teenager become pregnant at an early age, and struggle the rest of her life with the loss of education. Some teenager also part take in abortion to avoid being young parent. Parent that are not supportive enough, and young parent that have no idea what it implies to be a mother. However, in the function approach it seem that teenage dating happen at a certain age. This vary in some culture like at age sixteen, or older. However, the manifest seem to view the society as individual cooping to survive with a partner, because human are commonly bond to another individual. However in the latent view a good relationship should be establish with one individual to have good parenting skill, and guide the children growing up to not make the same mistake. Mayan Rights and communal land ownership Everyone has the right to own land and other goods, and Maya been a dominant culture should as well imply the Mayan rights and communal land ownership. The individual are known for their Maya Ruin, and farm lands; culture and population. Nevertheless, their individual with all the mutual right as the other cultures existing today. There the one who had inhabit the land and that Mayan should have possession on their lands and communal land ownership for their community and all right to claim any injustice done to them. In addition the symbolic approach to this is that of most significant part of them is their temple that symbolizes power and history. Their land mean a home, and agriculture. The most conflict approach implies that the government something don’t recognize that this is a vivid culture that need to be protected. The diversity culture create new mixture whereby a new culture is born. However in the manifest function the tradition is not carried on and some custom are not practice. Latent Function the government don’t provide funds to excavate the remaining ruin, and other Maya right terminated. In addition in the dysfunction someplace show neglect in Maya right and ownership. Even show racism toward the people in their tradition, and clothing, and integration in the society. Women in politics in Belize Belize has never been the strongest, but since the integration of women in to politics allows equality between man power. However, in the symbolic Interaction the women are seen as mothers, and house holder workers. In entering into politics it provide an opportunity for women to voice their opinions. In the end both man and woman have always had equal rights. Nevertheless, the conflict approach in society woman are not seen as leaders, but as followers. Woman are seen as inferior in some culture such as in India, Islamic, and other cultural group. However the lack of speaking out and be out spoken has been taught sometimes by parent that are raised in that manner. In structural- functionalist approach manifest function- the woman are more entitle to work and be productive member in the society. The woman are the guide for the future to create a strong potential child that seek right and justice. However in the latent function the mother are educated caring and business person. The women are independent, hardworking, and successful. The women reflect a positive and secure home environment for the kids to live at home.