SWOT Environmental Scanning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SWOT Environmental Scanning - Essay Example This is the most crucial factor within the company that affects the running of employees. Employees work best and freely under good management. Labor shortage; or when the labor market is tight, it generally refers to limited availability of workers with the needed qualifications. Therefore, the selection method begins with the passive candidates who are actively seeking work. The combination of the passive candidates recruiting and accepting application from active job seekers increases the pool of application from which the company can select. Industry competition; In a competitive period, the industry tend to offer the best pay, generous benefit and guaranteed opportunities for professional development to win the best potential employees. Other industry that cannot pay more or cannot match t tangible rewards and benefits than the competitor’s offers focuses on the company’s

The price of gold has increased in the Indian markets Essay Example for Free

The price of gold has increased in the Indian markets Essay The gold prices have been constantly increasing in India due to the spot demand before the marriage season, currency movements and the traditional investment patterns. The constant depreciation in the Indian currency and a change in government policies are supporting a steady rise in the price of gold. Earlier, there was a flat rate of Rs. 300 for 10g on gold. But now, due to the change in the government policy on import duties, 2% is charged on 10g of gold. This change in the government policy will increase the import duties on the metal to nearly a double, increasing its prices. Gold is denominated in US Dollar; change in the value of US Dollar will hence reflect the price of gold. The steady depreciation in the value of US Dollar due to the ongoing recession has led to a weak trend in gold in the global markets. If the price of gold is valued higher in any other currency, it shows us that the demand for gold is high and hence increasing its value. The below graph shows the depreciating value of gold due to the depreciation of US Dollar. http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/au0365nyb.gif Even though there is a weak trend in global markets, the price of gold has increased in the Indian markets due to the high pick up on spot demand ahead of the marriage season. The price of gold has gained Rs. 25 from Rs. 28, 245 per 10 grams. ETF in India saw the highest net outflows in last 52 months. Investors observe recovery in stock markets which helped gold prices increasing. This high trend of gold in the Indian market can be explained as an exception to the law of demand i.e. the increase in the price of gold is increasing the demand for the metal. Indians are the biggest buyers of gold in the world. Gold imports reached 958 tons in 2010, and in 2011 gold imports were still high despite the increase in prices. Gold can hence be considered a Veblen good. A Veblen good is one whose demand continues to rise in spite of an increase in its price level. Therefore the normal law of demand is not applicable here. Such goods are known as goods of conspicuous1 consumption because people regard them as status symbols and there is an inherent passion towards this precious metal. A normal demand curve slopes left to right downwards. But as shown in the diagram above, the demand curve slopes upward, and when the price of increases from P to P1, the quantity demanded increases from QD to QD1. Hence, gold can be considered as a Veblen good. Although, the prices of silver is facing a weakening trend in both the Indian and the global markets due to the same ongoing recession. Silver has fallen by Rs. 800 from Rs. 57,700 per Kg in the Indian market and by USD 6.70 from USD 1704.60 in the global market. The below graph shows a fall in the prices of silver in the global market. In the Indian market, silver doesn’t have high value status as much as gold. This is because people do not have a high inherent passion towards silver. Almost all electronics are configured with silver. The precious metal is used in everything from automobiles to alternative energy needs. But due do the reduced off take by industrial units, silver is facing a fall in both demand and its prices. http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/ag0365nyb.gif Even though the weak trend in silver, the demand for silver coins has been the same as the people in India buy these coins for good luck and prosperity. In conclusion, gold and silver are both facing a weakening trend in the global market due to the world economic uncertainties. But, in the Indian Market, gold is having a high trend whereas silver has a weak trend. As gold is continued to be purchased high in India due to its snob value status. A Tighter Regulation 1. Gold and silver are the two most popular commodities traded on Indian commodity bourses. 2. FMC may ask exchange to tighten monitoring and receive weekly data on trade volume. 3. National commodity exchanges say such measures will help strengthen investor trust in the market. 4. The only downside of stricter regulation is that it may reduce bullion trading volumes.

Napster: The Copyright Battle Essay -- Fair Use

Once upon a time a website provided free music through peer-to-peer file sharing. This was a new technology for the public for a several reasons. The price of home computers had declines dramatically and many people could now afford one. Because of the affordability, many people who had never used a computer suddenly found themselves enmeshed in the new media. Not only could people do their e-mail, do paperwork, play games and use all the different applications they now could also share their files with others. Of course, they wanted to share one of our most valued pleasures, our love of music. The public was not aware that this type of file sharing was illegal because it was not clear on the website disclaimer. Most people did not understand United States copyright laws or the concept of Fair Use. It was the golden age of the internet and everyone was happy with his or her new toy. In this paper, I will discuss legal implications of peer-to-peer file sharing. The most famous cas e was the Napster lawsuits. I was interested because I got a cease and desist letter spring 2000. I stopped but I never quite understood what the difference was between file-sharing and recording music off the radio, which I later learned was illegal also. This paper will explore if the current copyright laws provide the protection necessary for intellectual property. If not, does it need to be revised? Can the Fair Use Doctrine and the new technology co-exist in the same world? According to Wikipedia (2011), â€Å"Napster was an online music peer-to-peer file sharing service created by Shawn Fanning while he was attending Northeastern University in Boston. The service, named after Fanning's hairstyle-based nickname, operated between June 1999 and July ... ... such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair: 1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes 2. The nature of the copyrighted work 3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole 4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission. (Fair Use, 1976)

Applied Concept Paper: Critical Thinking Structures for Business Ethics Essay

Executive Summary The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate my understanding of the previously mentioned fundamental concepts and capability in order to relate them to the actual business world through applications of my critical thinking skills. Key concepts such as ethics, social responsibility, whistle-blowers, sustainability, stakeholders, and environmental stewardship are mentioned in Chapters 3 and 4 of (Wheelen, 2012). This paper discusses recent articles regarding ethics in the Atlanta Public School Systems, a violation of the code of ethics by the former HealthSouth CFO back in 2010, and Wal-Mart’s latest ethics controversy. In addition, this paper targets important concepts such as social responsibility, sustainability; environmental stewardship and how they affect the stakeholders of Patagonia Clothing Company, Carlportland, U.S Silica and Lucky Stone Company. These companies have proven themselves to be in the forefront of sustainability initiatives through their everyday practice s. From this research, I learned that adhering to the Code of Ethics in the business world is important on many levels. It guides all managerial decisions, creating a common framework upon which all decisions are founded. In order for companies to fully meet their social responsibility, they should have in place a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical and human rights concerns into their business operations and core strategy. Furthermore, the concept of sustainability has come to the vanguard of the global understanding that economics, environmental health and human well-being are interconnected. This ultimately demonstrates that generating high-quality products in a responsible way increases brand reputation, competitive advantage, and most importantly financial success. Abstracts * Investigation into APS Cheating Finds Unethical Behavior Across Every level This article talks about how across the Atlanta Public School system (APS), staff members worked in secret to cheat on testing results. The report accuses top district officials along with school teachers and administrators, of wrongdoing which had been happening for years. In some schools, cheating became a routine, a part of administrative duties during the annual state examinations. It grew into an organized crime of falsifying test results for children who could not score high enough to meet the district’s self-imposed goals. In addition, Beverly Hall, former superintendent, and her top aides, lied to top investigators, destroyed and altered public records, tampered with information, and misled police to avoid taking responsibly for their unethical behaviors. This resulted in a culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation in the APS. * Former Health South CFO Talks to Business Students About Wo rkplace Ethics This article discusses the ethical challenges that many CFOs face in the workplace. Aaron Beam, former HealthSouth CFO, served prison time for forging the company’s finances and breaking the code of ethics. Beam warned students of the ethical dangers in today’s workforce. He mentioned why accountants and CFOs get trapped into lying, and feel intimidated by their superiors. In this article, Bean touches on many important points, such as, how money changes people, how having more personal possessions does not guarantee happiness, and most importantly, how we need to stand by our principles and ethics all the time. After spending three months in the Montgomery jail, Beam learned his lesson; he wrote a book, opened a lawn service business, and decided to share his experience with business students in universities across the nation. * Wal-Mart’s Ethics Controversy This article debates how an employee ended up jobless after following the Wal-Mart ethics guidelines. Chalace Epley Lowry started working for Wal-Mart in January of 2006, and after a few days at the job, she witnessed unethical behavior from the VP of her department. Lowry suspected that Ms. Williams, the VP of Corporate Communications might have traded inside information about the company’s stock. She questioned it and filed a formal complaint with her immediate supervisor; she thought that it was the honorable thing to do. In return, her identity got disclosed to the offender, making it uncomfortable in her position since Mona Williams was effectively her boss. Also, she got a lower performance review, and when she complained, she was told to find another job. * Patagonia: Blueprint for Green Business The above article is the story of how Patagonia, an outdoor-clothing and equipment firm, and its founder, Yvon Chouinard, took his passion for the outdoors and turned into a successful business. By conducting business in a non-traditional way, Chouinard created a company with a different outdoor style that makes $270 million in yearly revenues. This organization is among one of the first in America to provide onsite daycare, as well as both maternity and paternity leave, and flextime. Patagonia reuses materials, questions growth, ignores fashion, makes goods that last, and discontinues profitable products. With a laidback atmosphere for employees, its production is at full capacity. Mr. Chouinard’s biggest dream is to turn Patagonia into a totally sustainable, ECO friendly company, where people enjoy coming to work, and he can sleep well at night. * Pursuing Sustainability Business Initiatives, a Large Business In this article, the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) recognizes their large producers’ member companies, which are pursuing sustainability initiatives through their everyday practices. The first one, CalPortland Company, one of the major producers of Portland cement, has been pursuing environmental stewardship for years. The second one, Lucky Stone Company, one of the largest family-owned and operated aggregates companies in the U.S, has an excellent environmental reputation. And the third one, U.S. Silica, is a leading producer of industrial minerals which recently adopted a formal sustainability policy. This article also emphasizes what these companies have in common and highlights the benefits companies will obtain by making sustainable decisions now. Concepts Ethics is defined by the textbook as the consensually accepted standards of behavior for an occupation, a trade, or a profession. There is no worldwide standard of conduct for business people. This is especially true given the global nature of business activities. Cultural norms and values vary between countries, ethnics groups and even among geographic regions (Wheelen, 2012). A Code of ethics specifies how an organization expects its employees to behave while on the job. â€Å"A code of ethics, (1) clarifies company expectations of employees conduct in various situations and (2) makes clear that the company expects its people to recognize the ethical dimensions in decisions and actions.† (Wheelen, 2012). Whistle-blowers are defined by the author of the textbook as those employees who report illegal or unethical behavior on the part of others. Even though the Sarbanes-Oxley Act forbids firms from retaliating against anyone reporting unethical acts, 82% of those who uncovered fraud reported being ostracized, demoted or pressure to quit (Wheelen, 2012). The concept of Social Responsibility as it is explained in the textbook proposes that a private corporation has responsibilities towards the society that extend beyond making a profit. Many business people have agreed upon the main responsibilities of a business, which are Economic, Legal and Ethical. Being socially responsible does provide a firm a more positive overall reputation (Wheelen, 2012). Sustainability may include more than just ecological concerns and the natural environment. It can also include economic and social aspects. In the business environment, in order for a firm to be sustainable, it must be successful over a long period of time; and it must satisfy all of its economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities (Wheelen, 2012). Stakeholders are a large group of people with interest in a business organization’s activities. This group gets affected by the achievements or failures of the firm’s objectives (Wheelen, 2012). Some examples of Key Stakeholders are: creditors, directors, employees, government agencies, shareholders, suppliers, unions, and the community where the business operates. Environmental Stewardship refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Environmental stewardship defined in simple terms as â€Å"dealing with man’s relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it† (Leopold, 2013). Analysis The article about the APS unethical practices touches on one important concept: Ethics. For years the Atlanta School District produced gains on state curriculum test by cheating on student’s exams. Years of misconduct took place at all levels of the organization, from the top of the chain of command to the Superintendent’s office. The cheating prevented many struggling students from getting the extra help they needed (Vogell, 2011). It also created an atmosphere of stress and deception among school employees. Top investigators in the case came up with three possible reasons that cheating flourished in APS. 1. The district set unrealistic goals, and pensions and raises were based on the test results. 2. Because the target test results rose every time the school reached the goal, the pressure rose. Cheating was, therefore, the only way to obtain the results. 3. The top officials refused to accept responsibility. However, I disagree with those three reasons. Just because g oals are unattainable, that does not mean we have to act unethically. Once the cheating started, it could not be stopped. It collapsed on itself, as lying usually does. If top leaders refused to take responsibility, it was their choice. We, as individuals, have to be responsible for our own actions. Teachers are responsible for helping students become better members of society; this includes teaching them good citizenship skills. There are always grey areas in professional codes of ethics because there are many areas that are subjective. Personal integrity and honesty are required by all who agree to follow a code of ethics. If an educator observes someone practicing unethical behavior, it is his/her duty to report such behavior through the proper administrative channels. In the article that talks about the former CFO of HealthSouth, Aaron Beam, he warned students about the ethical challenges that are in the workplace. I especially enjoyed this article because it touches an important subject, the code of ethics. Even the most ethically-aware professionals find their standards challenged on a daily basis . As accountants, part of the code is to represent the public interest, and sometimes that may mean putting it ahead of the company’s interest. As a CFO, that duty is heightened. In addition, the first people employees look to are the CEO and CFO to see if they have a real commitment to ethics. If they behave unethically, employees are likely to do so as well. A respectable CFO must be able to stand up to his/her boss with integrity and to speak unpleasant truths when necessary. Not only can inappropriate behavior lead to compliance failures, fraud, and theft, but the consequences can adversely affect employee morale and the firm’s reputation. An ethical framework is built by making the right choices in the little things. â€Å"Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching† (annonymus). In the third article about Wal-Mart, we see an employee who is following the company’s code of ethics and acts as a Whistle-blower when she suspected an unethical act was committed by her department head. It is important to note that â€Å"Wal-Mart prides itself on having one of the strictest and most st ringent ethics policies in the retail industry† (Gogoi, 2007). However, that was not true in this case. Instead of rewarding Ms. Lowrey for such a heroic act, her identity got exposed, and she was encouraged to find another job within the company in 90 days. She even experienced a lower performance evaluation after the incident. She felt disappointed to see the way an ethics complaint was handled by a corporation like Wal-Mart. Most of Wal-Mart scandals are perpetuated by a culture of silence. Rather than addressing the concerns that are affecting workers across the country, Wal-Mart has attempted to silence those who speak out for changes that would help the company, workers, and the community. As front line Wal-Mart workers are facing hardships, the company is making almost $16 billion a year in profits. Meanwhile, the Walton Family (heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune), are the richest family in the country. All of this has taken a toll on Wal-Mart’s image. Some people will not shop at Wal-Mart because they do not want to support a company t hat they perceive is unfair to its workers. Reading about Patagonia got my attention, since I have purchased their outdoor products without really knowing the company’s history. This unique business is conducted upside down and inside out. Decades before recycling became a common practice, Patagonia was already reusing materials. The company’s founder believed in putting the Earth first, by attaining sustainable practices, while making unbelievable profits ($270 million in revenues yearly). This company would not release toxins into rivers or chase endless growth. All of Patagonia’s products are produced with the highest level of quality and manufactured in the most socially responsible way. Patagonia became the first company in California to use renewable sources, like wind and solar energy, to power all its buildings and one of the first to print catalogs on recycled paper. With a payroll of 350 employees, the boss greets them by name. At the sweatshops facility, workers overlook a playground of the comp any’s day care facility. The people that works there are anything but slackers: â€Å"it was impressive to see how involved in sustainability their employees are,† said Matt Kristle, a senior vice president of Sam’s Club (Casey, 2007). In addition, the owners agree to keep Patagonia privately held and say no to anything that may compromise their values. Also, a good portion of the company’s profits is being donated to grass roots organizations, $26 million since 1985. As a company, all of the stakeholders are really committed to doing the right thing. That is why Patagonia serves as a blueprint for future businesses that want to follow this path. In the last article I chose, there are three companies within the same industry that pursue sustainability initiatives through their everyday practices. They all agree that environmental stewardship and social responsibility can interact to increase stakeholder value as well as shareholder value, (Schlett, 2011). U.S Silica, CalPortland and Luck y Stone voluntarily assist their communities in resolving the issues that affect them. For example, CalPortland, does material donations for the City of DuPont’s war memorial. Lucky Stone collaborates with the James River Association to create a spawning reef for the endangered Atlantic sturgeon species. U.S. Silica’s effort to protect an endangered turtle species near Pennsylvania plant is admirable, as well as helping feed local homeless people once a month. By helping their communities to resolve social issues, these companies are helping themselves by increasing brand value and reputation, improving their license to operate, and reducing their risks. Conforming to environmental laws is not enough anymore. Consequently, pursing environmental stewardship elevates an organization into the â€Å"Risk Management† category. And that, when implemented together with social responsibility initiatives for greener products and processes, moves the company into the â€Å"Business and Sustainable Development.† A good example of that is that all three companies have been working through their environmental management systems to go beyond compliance by implementing Best Management Practices. By encouraging a culture of environmental and social stewardship, these three large producers are at the forefront of sustainability, and as a result they are recognizing financial and sustainable success. Conclusion After carefully analyzing all the articles, I came to the conclusion that all those concepts are intrinsically related. It is important to understand that business ethics go beyond legal issues. Ethical conduct builds trust among individuals and in business relationships, which validates and promotes confidence between people. One of the principal causes of unethical behavior in organizations today is overly aggressive financial or business objectives. Abusive or intimidating behavior is another of the most common ethical problems for employees. Making ethical choices is sometimes the most difficult thing, especially when the one losing out is you or your business. Yet, for the greater good and the sake of mankind, one has to look at business as well as personal ethics and evaluate them periodically. All professions have a set of values that are the cornerstone of their belief system and the foundation of their practice. A Code of Ethics is important on many levels. It sets the â€Å"tone from the top† of the company’s culture. An effective Code of Ethics establishes the ethical expectations for employees and management alike and sets forth the mechanisms for enforcement and consequences of noncompliance. There are four dimensions of social responsibility: economic, legal, ethical, and voluntary, including philanthropic. Earning profits is the economic foundation of any company, and complying with the law is the next level. However, a business whose sole objective is to maximize profits is not likely to consider its social responsibility, although its activities will probably be legal. Sustainability is the balance between people and the environment. Air, water, and land are all impacted by the behavior and actions of human beings, but these impacts can be controlled. The challenge for companies in the twenty-first century is developing an environmentally responsible strategy that keeps them ahead of the game, helping them maintain an advantageous position in the marketplace. It is not enough to simply check boxes, publish a sustainability report, or reduce waste in factories. Companies must be truly innovative in terms of how they manage their relationship with the environment. Works Cited Casey, S. (2007, May 29). Patagonia: Blueprint for Green Business. Retrieved from http://cnnmoney.com. Gogoi, P. (2007, July 13). Wal-Mart’s Latest Ethics Controversy. Retrieved from http://www.Bloomberg Businessweek. Leopold, A. (2013, January 31). Aldo Leopold Quotes. Retrieved from aldoleopold.org: http://www.aldoleopold.org/greenfire/quotes.shtml Schlett, W. (2011). Pursuing Sustainable Business Initiatives, a Large Business. Stone, Sand & Gravel Review , 44-48. Vogell, H. (2011, July 26). Investigation Into APS Cheating Finds Unethical Behavior Across Every Level. Retrieved from http://www.ajc.com. Wheelen, T. L. (2012). Strategic Management and Business Policy: Towards Global Sustainability (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.

Social Media and Sports

Has social media’s impact on the professional sports world been positive or negative? Social media has made a massive impact on our culture. One of the areas that has not been affected is professional sports. In today’s world, professional sports teams and players from around the world use social media to connect with their global fan bases. Sports teams attempt to build a larger, stronger fan base by engaging fans through social media sites. Additionally, social media sites allow professional athletes to increase their marketability.However, they can also severely damage their career, personal life, and their ‘brand’ if they do not handle their social media interactions with care (Van Schaik). Twitter and Facebook allow teams and players to be interactive and personal with fans. They can use these platforms to not only deliver basic team news updates, but to share information about autograph signings, charity events, or ticket specials too. One of the most important aspects of any sports team is that they have a loyal, growing fan base that feels like they are valued and appreciated. Therefore, these fans will stand by their team through thick and thin.Social media provides the perfect opportunity for that. Sports teams and athletes are becoming more and more efficient at using social media to create a positive impact on their team and their fan’s. One of the positive impacts of social media on professional sports is the ability to share news and information with fans through it. Social media websites are beginning to replace sports radio and cable networks as the dominant places to find the latest breaking sports news. It seems more and more sports fans are turning to the internet for the latest sports news, updates, and information about their favorite teams or players.More specifically, fans are utilizing social sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, fans are 10 times more likely to check Facebook or Twitter for their sports news than sports radio. Also, an overwhelming 81% of fans prefer the Internet for their sports information over any other platform (Blakley). Fans just are checking social media before or after the games either. More than 80% of fans interact via social media while watching games (Altobelli). I can attest to these statistics because I am one of this growing majority. There are a few reasons I choose to use the Internet and social media for my sports news nstead of sports radio or TV. First off, with social media and the Internet I am able to find information about my favorite player or team instantly. With TV or sports radio, you basically have to take the information as it is given. For example, ESPN chooses to focus on teams from major cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. Very rarely will I be able to find daily updates on an injured Minnesota Twins player by watching Sportscenter. Instead, I can click on over to the Minnesota Twin’s Facebook page or Twitt er and find daily injury updates. Another upside to social media in this situation is that it is up to the minute information.Most sports radio shows or cable networks discuss what happened yesterday in the sports news world. Social media is constantly updating so there is a plethora of new information always streaming. Lastly, I prefer social media over the other forms of sports news because they are readily available to me. Sports radio and ESPN are not always as mobile as I would like. I am not able to take Sportscenter into the car with me. Also, I do not have a reliable sports radio station to listen to in my area. At times I can get KFAN from the Twin Cities, but not on a consistent basis.Therefore, any sports radio news updates come about once an hour and are quite brief. Additionally, I spend a lot of time at my girlfriend’s cabin during the summer months. At her cabin, they only have a few basic local channels. ESPN is not available. As a result, I turn to social med ia and my cell phone for sports news. Rarely do I miss a beat because of the efficiency and accuracy of the social media websites. Social media has already made a giant impact on how sports information is shared with fans. It is only going to keep growing as technology spreads and more fans get familiar with smart phones and tablets.Another way social media has affected the sports world is by bringing fans closer to the game. As a sports fan, I can agree that fans always want to feel closer to the game. That is why people still pay ridiculous ticket prices to attend ball games instead of watching them on TV in the comfort of their living room. Fans have an urge for that connection and closeness. They want to feel apart of the game. Social media sites provide teams and players the unique ability to directly connect with their fans. It used to be the closest you got to a favorite player was a post-game radio interview.Now, you can follow them on Twitter and have rare insight into thei r everyday world. Players use sites like Facebook and Twitter to give fan’s a behind the scenes look at what happens at home, in the locker room, and on the sidelines. Social media gives pro athletes the chance to interact and share data with fans in a way that was not possible in the past. Fans used to only know about a player from what they read in the paper or saw on TV (Van Schaik) . Now, fans can find out what their favorite player ate for breakfast or what music they are listening to.Fans have yearned for this kind of accessibility for years and now it is becoming a reality. I actually have friend’s that make it a daily ritual to check their favorite player’s Twitter. Actually, being able to follow players and coaches is probably the biggest reason why I created a Twitter in the first place. I love the inside look into their personal lives. It is very cool when you find out how much you do or do not have in common with them. One of the highlights of my Twi tter career was when I tweeted Kevin Love after a Timberwolve’s game and congratulated him on his performance and the team’s win.A few minutes later, I received what is called a â€Å"retweet† from Love basically saying thank you. I was blown away. It meant a lot to me to know that Kevin Love took thirty seconds out of his life to tell me, some nobody fan, thank you. It is almost as if social media has taken the place of autographs. Before, you wanted players’ autographs, now you want players to say something back to you on Twitter (Blakley). Social media is a great way for athletes to communicate and engage with fans. It allows players and teams to share information with them before it has been filtered by the news media.Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental in raising the profile of athletes in every sport. It allows them to give a personal perspective on all aspects of the competition, seemingly unhindered by various PR and marketing machines. Wh ile the majority of social media’s impact on professional sports has been positive, there is definitely a negative side that should be discussed. In the early age of social media, some sports leagues had trouble regulating player usage of it. People who grew up long before the Internet age govern most sports.This creates a problem when they try to tackle the issues surrounding sports and social media (Westhenry). First off, there was the problem with players actually posting on Twitter immediately following and even during their games. League officials found social media to be a distraction to their player’s. Accordingly, the NBA and NFL implemented policies that limited when players and staff could use social media. The NBA’s policy bans the usage of social media from 45 minutes before tipoff until after the players have fulfilled their other media duties following the game.The NFL stretched it to 90 minutes before and after games (Westhenry). The other major i ssue surrounding social media and sports is controlling what athletes post or say. Athletes are and should have the freedom to share their personal opinions and ideas through social media. In fact, it should be encouraged for them to do so. Like I’ve stated before, fans have a desire to feel connected with players and love that â€Å"uncensored† feeling. However, if not handled with care, social media has the potential to seriously damage a player’s private life, athletic performance, and possibly their career.All it takes is a split second of poor judgment and one senseless social media posting for a major incident to occur. Many athletes fail to remember the impact their social media activity can have. Others fall victim to the dangers of being provoked by obnoxious fans. When athletes dispose of their frustrations and anger online without thinking over the consequences, the results are rarely good (Van Schaik). While there are numerous examples of this happen ing, I will only share a couple. To begin with, we can look at the case of Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back Rashard Mendenhall.He posted controversial comments on his Twitter following the death of Osama bin Laden that caused him to lose an endorsement contract. Mendenhall had previously stirred up a controversy when he posted his opinion about the 9/11 attacks (Westhenry). More recently, there was the case of San Antonio Spurs forward Stephen Jackson. He was fined $25,000 for threatening another NBA player via Twitter (â€Å"Jackson Fined for Tweet about Ibaka†). Countless athletes fail to learn from the lessons of others. It is frustrating to me as a fan to see player after player get in trouble for something they said on a social media site.Many athletes fail to recognize the importance of their social media channels to their sponsors and their teams. Also, some seem to think that because they are using social media that it permits them to forgo traditional media p rotocol (Van Schaik). An athlete’s words reach far beyond just their fans and followers. They impact colleagues, friends and their family. One foolish tweet can instantly turn into a scandal with the capability to damage the athlete, their team, and their sponsors (Van Schaik). A big component here is sponsors. Many sports superstars are actually brands in themselves.They represent their team, league, city, fans and sponsors. It is important to note that while some of their income comes from their sports contract, a lot of their money comes from being a public figure (Van Schaik). Creating the wrong headlines and wrong type of publicity can cost an athlete not only thousands in fines, but millions of dollars in sponsorship money too. Every single athlete has to be aware of the social media pitfalls and consequences. While many stars have been forgiven for their online troubles, the problem is that the commonness of such mistakes is growing.If the trend continues, it will sure ly damage the positive impact that these communication platforms have had on professional sports (Westhenry). I feel that the best way for the sport’s world to handle these issues is through education and guidelines. Social media is still in its infancy. Therefore, leagues and teams must educate their players on social media and how to use it. As social media becomes a larger part of everyday life for millions of people around the world, people will also become more educated about how social media works. This will help alleviate some of these issues (Westhenry).Lastly, leagues and teams need to develop a social media code of conduct for their athletes. For example, if a player would get suspended for cursing or ranting at a team press conference, they should have the same consequences for a social media outburst. If they would get fined for complaining about officials to a TV camera, do the same if they complain about them on their Twitter (Westhenry). Like I stated before, t he more athletes and sports teams use social media, the more educated they will become. With a little common sense, some education, and a few regulations, these negative social media issues will fade away.Sport’s fans love social media. This can be illustrated by the millions of followers athletes have on networking sites. Moreover, athletes themselves seem to truly love social media. It allows them a platform to step away from the normal interview cliches and really have some freedom in what they say. Sites like Twitter and Facebook allow fans to get to know their favorite athletes on a deeper, more personal level. The increasing use of social media in the professional sports world can have a substantially positive impact on a player and an organization.While there is criticism surrounding its usage, the positives are overwhelming. There is no doubt that sports has and will continue to benefit from social media. Works Cited Altobelli, Diana. â€Å"The Rise of Social Media i n Professional Sports. † 1 SEO. N. p. , 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. . Blakley, Julie. â€Å"Sports and Social Media. † Postano. N. p. , 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. . â€Å"Jackson Fined for Tweet about Ibaka. † NBA. com. N. p. , 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 012. . Van Schaik, Thomas. â€Å"Professional Athletes on Social Media: Why Some Get Fans and Others Fines. † Sports Networker. N. p. , 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. . Westhenry, Rowanne. â€Å"Sports Stars on Twitter: Marketing Geniuses or Massive Twits? † Bleacher Report. N. p. , 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. .

Interview How I became a self-published millionaire

Interview How I became a self-published millionaire Interview: "How I became a self-published millionaire" Joseph Alexander is a writer, a musician, and a professional marketer here at Reedsy. He’s also the co-author of the new book Self-Published Millionaire. We sat down with Joseph to talk about his book, his independent publishing brand, and his journey from private guitar tutor to self-sustaining author - as well as what you can learn from it. Hi Joseph, the title of your book is Self-Published Millionaire, so I guess the first question is: are you a millionaire?Well, yes! As strange as it still feels to say it, I passed the $1,000,000 net worth mark about a year ago, and  £1m not long after. My company will bring in about $800,000 this year in royalties, and this has been increasing by about 10-20% each year for the last 6 years.How did you make that happen?The short version is that I was sitting at home teaching private guitar lessons and writing down what I was teaching. The same questions kept coming up repeatedly, so I decided to write out the exercises I was giving. I stored these on my computer and, lo and behold, I eventually had enough material for a book. A friend told me about KDP and the rest is history. Self-Published Millionaire is now available for online purchase. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave them in the comments below.

How To Make A Content Development Process To Save Time

How To Make A Content Development Process To Save Time Ive been a big fan of trying all sorts of beer ever since I took a trip to Germany for seven months back in 2008. To me, that stuff was going to be the best Id ever taste with the classic pilsners, bocks, and wheat beers. And when I got back to Minnesota, I tried some of the well domestics. Those macrobreweries definitely had their processes down to produce massive quantities of light-bodied stuff. But when I started exploring craft beer- the idea that smaller breweries could produce what I considered to be better quality than most commercial brands- it really got me thinking. Just because big companies are competing with you in your niche, it doesnt mean they are necessarily better at it than you are. Just because big companies compete with you, theyre not better than the quality you produce.And you can apply that idea to your content marketing. Here is how to improve your content development process to take control of your workflow to create content quickly, hit  every deadline, and improve every piece of content you publish to grow your audience. And you can do it all with a scrappy, iterative process that helps startups and small businesses like microbreweries achieve some pretty tasty results. (See what I did there?) How To Rock A Content Development Process That Will Save You Tons Of Time #marketing Get the Templates You Need to Save Time Developing Content Apply the advice in this post with this trio of templates: Content Development Process Guide to build your process, step by step. Blog Post Outline Template to write better blog posts more easily. Content Editing Checklist to self-edit your own work with fewer mistakes. Define The Roles You Need To Develop  Content In Kristi Hines' post on content marketing team structure, she mentions a variety of roles you could include in your content development: Content marketing strategists set the stage with the entire marketing strategy, helping your team understand your audience, the topics you'll cover, and the goals you're shooting for. Content strategists turn the strategy into a game plan complete with understanding what content and channels your team will  use to reach your audience. These people  fill up your editorial calendar with the content your team will develop. Idea contributors are exactly what you'd expect: These are the folks who are listening to your audience and help with unique angles. They have the stories you want to tell, and the ones your audience really cares about. These people could be anyone within your company or even your customers and subscribers. Content creators are the linchpins  responsible for executing your  content strategist's game plan. They are your designers, writers, videographers, and podcasters (among possible others). They are making your content. Content editors make sure your creators fulfill  your content strategist's expectations. They focus on editing for the story of your content, and also on the nitty-gritty grammar stuff. Editors are the ones using your editorial calendar every day, keeping your creators on task, and publishing content as you expect. Content promoters are the magical creatures who amplify what you created to inspire interest in your content. If your content is the party, these folks send the invitations to attend. They use social media, email, forums, and tons of other content promotion tactics to increase your traffic. Community managers monitor the ensuing conversation your content creates. They respond to social media mentions and comments, and help build a strong network of brand advocates. Content analysts check out the stats behind the scenes to know how your content contributes to your goals. They'll check out Google Analytics and Kissmetrics (or whatever analytics tools you use) to help your content strategist plan even better content. This is where that iterative approach- the secret ingredient to your content development process- really comes into play. Now, that may seem like a lot of people. But what you're really looking at here is roles, not titles. These roles make for a very solid content development process, so now you can choose which roles are necessary for your own process and who among your team will fill these roles. A solo marketer could do all of these, or you could divvy them up among your team. Jay Acunzo  recently published a super entertaining post about marketing team structure and how it kind of... well... sucks sometimes. Here's a memorable quote: ...team be huge, team be slow, team is gonna totally blow. As a former Googler, he mentions how Google's sales team is organized into pods to capture the talents of folks  with tons of different skill sets.  And I loved this thought to find the right people for your team  to kick off your content development process in the right direction. Jay says teams should be: Small to be nimble, quick, and focus on developing content  instead wasting time on  office bureaucracy. Complementary to have multiple skills for the different parts of the process. Singular to have one clear goal instead of tons.  Finally get some focus to understand why you're developing content  to collaborate and celebrate when you reach your goal! Shared to work together toward a common mission or purpose. In the end, Jay recommends narrowing the list of roles down to three players, as he calls them: A strategist to provide the vision, lead the team, look at analytics, and plan the content. A producer to be "the artist, because God knows, SOMEONE has to care about quality, craft, creativity, and emotional or intellectual resonance with the audience." I had to include that quote. :) A marketer to promote the content, generate interest, and convert traffic into subscribers and customers. I'm with Jay: We do a lot with a small team  leading our content marketing efforts at right now, and Jay's suggestions  are similar to the roles  we have on our  team.  It helps us move super fast to publish quickly, on time, and consistently. Takeaways: Download the worksheet and choose who among your team will fill each role. Cross off the roles you won't have in your content development process. Meet with your team and their supervisors to help everyone understand their roles and responsibilities, and how you will  improve your processes with this new approach. A Quick Note on Upper Management Getting All Up in Your Business The goal of figuring out â€Å"who does what† specifically curtails upper management from messing with your projects and deadlines. By agreeing as a group of doers and getting your  supervisors all on the same page, y’all agree to give the power to publish  to your strategists. Seth Godin writes about this concept a lot  in his awesome book, Linch Pin  (which you should seriously buy right now if you've never read it): Write down the due date. This is the date you will publish- whether the content's  done or not. Capture every idea about your project, inviting anyone who wants to contribute. Seth says, "This is their big chance." Record every idea in a way everyone can see, ask them to check it out, and let them know this is it- after you get approval, there's no going back. Organize everything into a comprehensive outline of the project now that it's completely approved. This is your project blueprint from start to finish. Take that blueprint to the big guns in your company and final approval from the people with sign-off control. Then ask them, "If I deliver what you approved, on budget and on time, will you ship it?" Don't move forward until they say yes. No maybes, no "I'll know when I see it", nothing other than your yes. Nice job, linchpin. Choose Task-Based Workflows Over Status-Based Workflows Now that you know who on your team will serve in specific roles to help you create your content- and how you'll publish quickly while avoiding office bureaucracy- it's time to develop your workflows. Essentially, you want to meet with your team you just defined to understand how you'll work together to create consistent content that will always hit your deadlines. This is the actual planning of your content development process- understanding exactly how you’ll do this with the resources available to you. Since we’re talking through the experience of an agile startup, keep it simple to error on the side of shipping rather than too many steps that slow down your publishing. Err on the side of publishing  rather than processes that slow you down. #contentmarketingStatus-based workflows make it nearly impossible to understand every task that you and your team need to check off your to-do list before you publish your content. Just think of the typical statuses you see in WordPress: How will you know who is responsible for each status, and what exactly they’re supposed to be working on? Who has the final say before you schedule your content to publish? Nah, there has to be a better way. And there is. Task-based workflows help you dissect all the work that goes into creating a piece of content- whatever it is (blog posts, e-books, webinars, you name it)- to help you choose a specific person accountable for each task, along with deadlines for every task. By dissecting your content into tasks, you can provide a ton of direction to your team to avoid any confusion about who’s doing what and when they need to have their work done. Here’s what a simple task-based workflow looks like any blog post we publish at : When you look at this, it’s helpful in a ton of  different ways: Begin every task with a verb that demands action. Make your tasks super clear by highlighting exactly what the task entails, while also being brief. Assign each task to a specific person who clearly knows they are responsible for helping you create some part of your content. Send  a notification that specifically communicates with each member of your team when you assign them a new task. Set clear deadlines for when you expect each task to be complete. Understand the difference between deadlines and your publish dates. Help your team understand the date on your marketing calendar is the publish date for when your content will be 100% complete, while assigning tasks with deadlines for days or even weeks before the content is set to publish. Remind your team before their tasks are due. Unless you’re that chick from Ex Machina, your team is full of humans. Subtle reminders of task due dates help  those busybodies know when their tasks are due so they don’t forget and accidentally cause your project to miss its deadline. Task-based workflows are especially helpful so you can have multiple team members working on different tasks at the same time, which is slightly lost with status-based workflows. Those steps above are exactly how we do it at , too, and it really works for us. Communicate Efficiently With An Agreed-Upon Tool The five  parts of  your task-based workflow may sound like a lot of manual work. But it really depends on the tools you use as a team to manage your content development process. When Raven Tools wanted to improve their process to eliminate endless emails, they focused on implementing one clear source for communication. Spoiler alert: That source- as a marketing project management tool- is . Task manager: Define as many workflows as you need for the different types of content you use in your marketing strategy. You can then easily assign those tasks out to your entire team with clear deadlines super fast. Comments: Raven Tools was able to send 75% fewer emails  because of . Comments keep your project record right in the tool you’re using for your content development process, which helps you work even more efficiently. Notifications and reminders: When you assign tasks or leave comments, your marketing calendar pushes an email notification to remind your team to check on the project. The day before any task is due, your calendar automatically sends an email to remind your team members to knock out their tasks. Dashboard: It’s rare that you’ll only work on one project at a time. So it’s nice to see a dashboard of all the comments and tasks that are due on specific days to keep a to-do list of your projects right in your marketing calendar. When you use one tool for communication, you avoid endless emails, maintain a calendar of record, and generally quit herding cats. While using as your marketing calendar  is a great way to manage your content development process, you can rock this advice with any project management tool: Agree as a team to communicate with tools that help everyone stay involved and see your progress. Avoid long email forwards to prevent missing copying someone and eliminate confusion overall. Because, seriously, those get crazy. Maintain one version of the truth for your marketing projects. Consolidate your project management tools and content calendars to better understand your deadlines, manage multiple projects at once, and easily see your progress toward completion. Manage Multiple Projects At Once While Nailing Every Deadline You experience  a learning curve every time you take on a new project. For example, if you’re adding blogging to your list of marketing tactics, you have an entirely new process to learn as you get started. So take your time. When you start any new project, quantity isn’t the goal. Consistency isn’t important if what you’re publishing is junk. Here's how we do it at : Do one thing well. Actually,  as we like  to joke, "Don't half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing." It's silly, but there's a lot of truth to that. Set your deadlines like Seth Godin suggested earlier, ship on time, then reflect on what worked, what you could do better next time, and what you should stop doing. Once you have your process  ironed out for that one thing, add in another project. And do it slowly, just like you perfected your first project. Plan time to reflect on your growing pains as you add more projects to your to-do list, reviewing again what's going well, what you could improve, and what you should quit doing. So start slow and build your publishing momentum as you learn something new, building toward publishing more content consistently. At first, you’re perfecting your content and workflow process to build the expertise you need to publish even more. Recommended Reading: How to Learn New Marketing Skills in 11 Simple Steps (Backed By Science) Organize Your Content Development And  Naming Conventions While everyone on your team could create content differently, it’s much more efficient to have one version of the truth for the tools you use in your content development process. You might be a bit surprised that a huge majority of the team at doesn’t even have Microsoft Word on our computers, so we opt for Evernote instead. Here are a few reasons why Evernote is awesome for blogging and marketing: You can use Evernote for anything. We use different notebooks for marketing strategy, managing larger projects like new feature releases, and actually creating our content. It’s so dynamic that we use one tool for so many use cases that we decided to integrate Evernote right into to help other marketers like us plan and create content better than ever. You can capture your content ideas and inspiration wherever you are. Use Web Clipper and Evernote Helper to save ideas from the content you’re perusing on the Web, rock Skitch to take screenshots and mark them up with text and arrows, email your thoughts directly into notes and notebooks with the syntax "Note Name @Notebook Name #Tag Name !YYYY/MM/DD", scan handwritten notes right into Evernote notes, send pictures from your phone into Evernote, and even highlight text in Kindle and see the quotes you highlighted right in Evernote. Whew! Evernote is perfect for distraction-free writing to help you write blog posts faster than ever. I’m writing this post in Evernote right now with instant messaging and emails turned off, social media shut down, and really no apps to distract me from getting these ideas out of my head. I love to open up the posts I’ll reference in tons of tabs before I start writing to have inspiration at my fingertips, and then I'll turn off the Internet to avoid  getting sidetracked with anything else other than writing. Evernote is helping me do just that. Oh yeah, and I’m on an airplane- so I can use Evernote  anywhere, online or off. Takeaways: Narrow your content development tools down to a few your entire team has access to. Choose the tools that match well with your team’s working styles (ex. if your team is always on the go, that means you need tools that don’t require immediate Internet access and are mobile-friendly). From here, Meghan Frazer has some great advice to help you in your file and folder naming conventions. The ultimate goal is simplicity and helping you and your team find the information you need when you need it. So Megan suggests avoiding special characters other than hyphens or underscores, using the ISO date standard for dating your file names (YYYY-MM-DD), and using descriptive keywords to be able to find your information quickly. This is an example of what Meghan says a great file name might look like: 2015-10-31-ContentDevelopmentProcessHalloweenDiagram.jpg I’d take this a step further with a couple common conventions SEOs use for naming their files:  Lowercase every word while separating every one with a hyphen and no underscores. If you don’t need the date, eliminate it, and focus purely on the keyword of the file itself. content-development-process-halloween-diagram.jpg Whatever you decide for your naming conventions the point is this: Collaborate on a team and understand where you save content and how you name your files, folders, and notebooks so everyone can easily find the information they need quickly. Tip: Use  tags in Evernote for similes of  the keyword you use in your note name. When you search, tags will help you find the information faster. Ex. "passwords" could also be "logins". Plan  To Develop  Better Content Than Anyone Else In Your Niche Well, that’s kind of a scary headline. But Brian Dean and Austin Kleon have some awesome advice that will help you do just that! Austin is an author who  has an awesome approach when it comes to creating content: Steal like an artist.

Seven Things To Do When You Dont Feel Like Writing

Seven Things To Do When You Dont Feel Like Writing Seven Things To Do When You Dont Feel Like Writing Seven Things To Do When You Dont Feel Like Writing By Ali Hale Sometimes, you’ve got an hour or two free – but you don’t feel like writing. All the advice in the world on becoming inspired or getting self-disciplined just isn’t helping you. For whatever reason, you know your ability to string together a new article or story is temporarily absent. This needn’t be a problem: there are lots of writing-related activities that you can usefully get on with whilst waiting for the muse to reappear. Here’s just seven of them: 1. Grab your notebook and start brainstorming Sometimes, a lack of ideas can cause you to get stuck. Maybe you want to write, but you’re not sure what to start on. Find your notebook and a pen, and start scribbling. Mind-map, write a list, use pretty colors – it doesn’t matter. Just get as many ideas down as you can. Once you’re past ten or twenty, you’ll start reaching the creative, original ones. 2. Read some great writing advice Daily Writing Tips is a good place to start. 😉 But there are lots of other blogs out there devoted to all aspects of writing – and hundreds of different books that could help you. Look for something aimed at writers in your genre (poetry, science-fiction, article writing, academic journals, etc). Don’t just skim through a load of advice, though: take a note of any points which make you think â€Å"aha!† and scribble down ideas of how you can apply them to your own work in progress. 3. Organise your writing files This is one writing chore I always put off: organising my files. If you have bits of your novel in a dozen different places on your computer (emails to yourself, Word documents, notes in your journal software, bits you keep online in Google docs†¦) then get it all sorted out. If you’re a freelancer and write for dozens of different markets, start a folder for each. That way, you’ll know exactly what you need to invoice for at the end of the month. 4. Create a portfolio of your writing If you don’t already have one, start a portfolio of your writing. Get together some of your best pieces from the past few years (published or unpublished) and, ideally, put them into one folder on your computer. If you have the online rights to them, you might want to put them onto your website or blog. Now, when you’re writing to editors and agents, you’ll be able to respond straight away if they ask to see samples. And if you’re applying for college-level courses, you’ll have some great examples of your work to include with your application. 5. Research some markets If you’re aiming to be published, you need to do some homework to find out which magazines, websites or publishing companies might be interested in your work. There are lots of ways to do this. You could search on Amazon for books in your genre and see who published them (Amazon lists the publisher on the book details page). Or you could use one of the many websites devoted to writers’ markets – try Jacqui Bennett Writers Bureau for short stories and Ralan’s Webstravaganza for a huge listing of markets. Also check with Writers’ Market or, if you’re in the UK, the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook to make sure that company is accepting submissions. 6. Send out some short stories or articles For those of you who know the markets you have in mind – send them some of your work. Proof-read that story languishing on your hard-drive, print it out (double spaced, nice white paper), write a cover letter to the editor, include a self-addressed envelope with return postage, and pop the whole lot in the post. Many markets accept emailed manuscripts, but check the submission guidelines first. 7. Read some great fiction Finally, if all else fails, just put your feet up with a good book. Choose an author who you love, and luxuriate in their prose – but keep half your mind on figuring out why exactly you love their writing, and spotting what techniques they use. Alternatively, pick up something you wouldn’t normally read, and cast a critical eye over the ways in which the style differs from your usual favourites. You’ll almost certainly learn something. What writing-related activities do you get on with when you’re lacking the energy to write? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?The Difference Between "will" and "shall"Confusion of Subjective and Objective Pronouns

The massacre of the innocents by Francois Joseph Naves during Essay

The massacre of the innocents by Francois Joseph Naves during - Essay Example The picture has a hidden story and acts as a narrative of the whole massacre event. Firstly, the characters in the picture are in a sorrowful and worried mood. The painter has used the facial expressions to reveal sad moods that prevailed in the city after King Herod ordered the killing of all the male infants. It had happened after his appointment as King of the Jews. From the use of facial characteristics, one can also tell that the female gender suffered from most of the stress after the death of their children. The women and children are hiding from Herod’s soldiers while trying to keep the baby girls silent for their own safety. According to the background, it is because most of the men had either peacefully of forcefully joined Herod’s army after he became the king. From the window, one can also see the soldiers trying to struggle with women so that they would search the houses for male children. Joseph has also used the portrait to show that a prophecy from the O ld Testament had been fulfilled where Christian martyrs had to be executed. It also reveals the fear in the female children most of whom did not understand the whole occurrence. The work can be based on the Bible as the only source. The massacre has been highlighted in the Book of Mathew in the New Testament. He has also used knowledge from the book to reveal his characters in the painting. By analyzing the portrait, one can tell that Joseph was emotionally. Additionally, he also had a specific reason as to why he chose the massacre by King Herod. The physical positions of the characters represent what they were saying based on the Bible. From the portrait, one can tell that Elizabeth is the lay dressed in yellow because after hearing the news on the executions, she hid her child in an ox-stall. On close examination, one can tell that the painting has been worked on by an expert. The clarity of the cloth color and the texture

Convention of architecture Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Convention of architecture - Term Paper Example Objects that are not visible at the plan level are represented using dotted lines on the diagram. The site plan on the other hand contains a structure or group of structures from above without any sections cut. It consists of the property boundaries, road and other ways of accessing the site and nearby relevant structures. A diagram entails the use of symbols or freehand drawing to generate a design logic.it can be modified into a more presentable form with the aim of representing the principles of a design and enhancing communication. Communication at an early stage of designing a complex structure such as a building is vital in ensuring the success of the design since the process involves the input of specialists from different disciplines.1 Diagrams give architects a rough idea of the end product which give insight on the adequate solutions to design problems. Since the finished work would be expensive and time consuming, the use of diagrams saves on costs due to repair and late c hanges in the design of the structure. A cross section is a vertical representation of a vertical plane cut through the object and is viewed from the front. Every detail that is cut by the section line is represented by a line that is bolder than the other representations. Sections provide a correlation between the different levels or floors of a building and other representations within the structure which would otherwise be difficult to comprehend from the plan views. A section can also be represented as a sectional elevation in which part of the building beyond the section plane is seen in the representation. In architectural design, a diagram is a graphic short hand representation of something different from itself. The diagram is understood both as a generative device and as an analytical or explanatory device. 2 The analytical role entails representation of the diagram diverse from the representation of a plan or sketch of a building. Even though a diagram is not considered a conventional structure, it seeks to uncover potentially existing structures of organization that are not evident at the moment. The generative role entails the use of a diagram as a form of representation in a design process and this differs from traditional ways of representing structures in that the diagram offers cognition of the object, real structure and the perceived interiority of the architect. The diagram is regarded as an intermediary in the generation process rather than an explanation or subsequent result. Classical architectural concept of a diagram depicts the diagram as something different from structure and it portrays a belief that structure is static, hierarchical and has an origin point. Breuer in his essay â€Å"where do we stand† 3describes the ‘New architecture’ of Modernism using an ironic phrase ‘maximum simplicity.’ This is in contrast to the diversity of issues and conflicts that influence architecture such as economic and a esthetic trends, conventions and inventions, relationships with customers among others. Modernism is the state of mind which describes the change in man’s attitude towards the abstract world and the cultural, aesthetics, economic, social as well as scientific artifacts. According to Eisenmann, superimposition refers to a vertical layering that differentiates between the figure and the ground while superposition is the coterminous horizontal layering that has no fixed point of origin or ground and where the figure and ground fluctuate between one another. Thus this

Rising Costs of U.S Health Care Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rising Costs of U.S Health Care - Research Paper Example Central to this U.S health care issue is the nursing profession. Registered nurses in U.S health care facilities participate in all activities of the medical process, and they are the largest group of health care experts in U.S medical facilities. As the U.S government embarks on the quest of lowering medical costs through health care reforms, the nursing profession is greatly affected by pressure on health care centers to cut on spending on nurses. The American Hospital Association (2001) showed that hospitals in the U.S had a deficit of 126,000 nurses, statistics that show that a worrying 90% of medical facilities in the U.S do not have enough nursing staff to attend to patients. Left to stand, this deficit is estimated to rise to 400,000 fewer nurses in 2020 (National Health Program, 2008).The elderly and terminally ill are at greatest risk as their life expectancy is threatened with the limited access to nursing staff. Conversely, the nursing profession has become less popular wi th the younger Americans going into and coming out of medical training institutions. Majority of registered nurses in the U.S health care system are above 30 years, and the average age of working nurses is at 43 years in long term care facilities (National Health Program, 2008). This age statistic is expected to go up as the health care crisis makes the nursing profession a declining occupation as compared to other occupations among professional Americans. Fiscal challenges in the U.S health care system prompt organizations.... h care due to medical conditions that become worse when otherwise and with health care insurance easier and less expensive treatments could have been accessed in time. Worse still, advanced medical technology and better prescription drugs are more expensive which translates to more expenses for the Americans who are in need of health care. Central to this U.S health care issue is the nursing profession. Registered nurses in U.S health care facilities participate in all activities of the medical process, and they are the largest group of health care experts in U.S medical facilities. As the U.S government embarks on the quest of lowering medical costs through health care reforms, the nursing profession is greatly affected by pressure on health care centers to cut on spending on nurses. The American Hospital Association (2001) showed that hospitals in the U.S had a deficit of 126,000 nurses, statistics that show that a worrying 90% of medical facilities in the U.S do not have enough nu rsing staff to attend to patients. Left to stand, this deficit is estimated to rise to 400,000 fewer nurses in 2020 (National Health Program, 2008). The elderly and terminally ill are at greatest risk as their life expectancy is threatened with the limited access to nursing staff. Conversely, the nursing profession has become less popular with the younger Americans going into and coming out of medical training institutions. Majority of registered nurses in the U.S health care system are above 30 years, and the average age of working nurses is at 43 years in long term care facilities (National Health Program, 2008). This age statistic is expected to go up as the health care crisis makes the nursing profession a declining occupation as compared to other occupations among professional

Design project management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Design project management - Assignment Example CONCLUSION 16. REFERENCES 1.0 INTRODUCTION Company Introduction and Operations Dar Alarkan is a prominent Riyadh based Company of Saudi Arabia, engaged in the business of design and construction of Real Estate development. It is focused on design, planning and construction of Residential Housing in accordance with Master Plans and catering to Life-style Housing Clients. The choices include developed plots of land, Apartments, and Villas.The Company was set up in 1994 in response to the growing demand for good quality housing from the burgeoning population of Saudi Arabia. The Promoters are six leading business families of the Country with noteworthy experience in the field. During the initial19 months from June 2002, the Corporate status of Dar Alarkan   was of a Limited Liability Company , with a capital of US Dollars 37 Million ( SAR140Million), which ws subsequently enhanced to USD 1.44 Billion( SAR5.40 Billion), via Private Placement and it was converted into a Private Limited Partnership. It became a Joint Stock Company in 2005 .It was enlisted at the Saudi Bourse in 2007. As of 31st  Decenmber 2008, the issued Capital of Dar Al Arkan stood at USD 1.92 Billion (SAR7.2 Billion) consisting of shares of the denominationSAR10 each (USD 2.67). A year later 180 Million bonus shares with par Value of SR10 each were issued to existing share Holders. Retained earnings of past years had funded the above said bonus issue. The spectacular growth of the Company from a Small Scale Real Estate developer to one among the biggest in the Saudi Kingdom was possible only because of the consistent high profitability of operations in the past five years.   Benefiting from the  Ã‚   country’s economic growth, the company has up-scaled its activities. Dar Alarkran is  in the vanguard of those providing  Master-Plan based development of Life Style accommodation in the private sector, in the KSA. The rapidly growing demand from the Middle Class accounts for the C ompany’s Growth tempo The Demographic profile of KSA in 2005 had shown a trend of growth in the youth segment prompting the company to be confident of future growth I demand for its products from a steadily expanding number of new Households in the foreseeable future. At the end of December 2008, the financial position of the company was as below:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Figures in SAR USD EQUIVALENT Total assets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   20.16 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.38 Billion Share holders’ Equity  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   11.74 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3.13 Billion Total Revenues  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.61 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.50 Billion Net Income  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.35 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  627 Million Currently Capital Intelligence Ltd has given the Company Credit Rating,

Percentage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Percentage - Essay Example Percentages are very popular in the sports world, especially in baseball. A recent sports article is entitled, â€Å"Brewers Play Percentages by Moving Infield.† The article explains that what the Brewers have done better so far than any other team is take away hits from opposing hitters (Haudricourt, 2011). The manager accomplishes this by shifting his infielders to one side of the field when a pull hitter comes up to bat. This and other similar strategies managers use is known as â€Å"playing the percentages.† As mentioned, percentages are very important in business. An example of a very important business percentage is gross profit percentage. This number is a key indicator of the current health of a business. Gross profit percentage is total revenue minus total costs divided by total revenue. This number is very useful because â€Å"comparing the company’s GPP at regular time intervals can determine how well the company is performing over time† (ehow, 2010). Percentages interest me because they can be used in virtually every facet of life.

Design project management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Design project management - Assignment Example CONCLUSION 16. REFERENCES 1.0 INTRODUCTION Company Introduction and Operations Dar Alarkan is a prominent Riyadh based Company of Saudi Arabia, engaged in the business of design and construction of Real Estate development. It is focused on design, planning and construction of Residential Housing in accordance with Master Plans and catering to Life-style Housing Clients. The choices include developed plots of land, Apartments, and Villas.The Company was set up in 1994 in response to the growing demand for good quality housing from the burgeoning population of Saudi Arabia. The Promoters are six leading business families of the Country with noteworthy experience in the field. During the initial19 months from June 2002, the Corporate status of Dar Alarkan   was of a Limited Liability Company , with a capital of US Dollars 37 Million ( SAR140Million), which ws subsequently enhanced to USD 1.44 Billion( SAR5.40 Billion), via Private Placement and it was converted into a Private Limited Partnership. It became a Joint Stock Company in 2005 .It was enlisted at the Saudi Bourse in 2007. As of 31st  Decenmber 2008, the issued Capital of Dar Al Arkan stood at USD 1.92 Billion (SAR7.2 Billion) consisting of shares of the denominationSAR10 each (USD 2.67). A year later 180 Million bonus shares with par Value of SR10 each were issued to existing share Holders. Retained earnings of past years had funded the above said bonus issue. The spectacular growth of the Company from a Small Scale Real Estate developer to one among the biggest in the Saudi Kingdom was possible only because of the consistent high profitability of operations in the past five years.   Benefiting from the  Ã‚   country’s economic growth, the company has up-scaled its activities. Dar Alarkran is  in the vanguard of those providing  Master-Plan based development of Life Style accommodation in the private sector, in the KSA. The rapidly growing demand from the Middle Class accounts for the C ompany’s Growth tempo The Demographic profile of KSA in 2005 had shown a trend of growth in the youth segment prompting the company to be confident of future growth I demand for its products from a steadily expanding number of new Households in the foreseeable future. At the end of December 2008, the financial position of the company was as below:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Figures in SAR USD EQUIVALENT Total assets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   20.16 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.38 Billion Share holders’ Equity  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   11.74 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3.13 Billion Total Revenues  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.61 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.50 Billion Net Income  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.35 Billion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  627 Million Currently Capital Intelligence Ltd has given the Company Credit Rating,

Liberation Theology and Marxism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Liberation Theology and Marxism - Essay Example By contrast, Marxism is an earthbound ideology, content to reward or punish those in the here and now based on their support of the ideals of fairness, equality and the distribution of wealth. Both Christianity and Marxism are fundamentally concerned with promoting the general welfare and improving the lives of the vast majority of the world's citizens, yet both have suffered as much damage to their credibility from followers as from opponents. The extreme and selfish proponents of these ideologies have severely undermined their cause through the organization of vast bureaucracies that leave precious little time for doing the real work of making lives easier. At the same time, both Christianity and Marxism have a long history of supressing dissident voices and violently repressing infidel movements. Marxist liberation theology as applied to Latin American countries that were systematically exploited first by and then for European, and later American, interests has long been viewed a s an ideological threat to traditional Christian liberation theology. ... Since Christian liberation entailed not just applying to the needs of the oppressed, but also to inculcating an ideology that coerced followers to view the Church and its leaders as infallible, the only possible conclusion one can make is that is that while it is a contradiction to speak of a Christian Marxist, the contradiction lies in the fact that Marxism is much closer to Christ's original intentions for the human race than the religion that was founded in His name. Pope John Paul II directly addressed the issue of liberation theology during the course of his Papacy; not surprising considering that he had first-hand experience with the worst excesses of the perversion of Marxism as practiced under Soviet-dominated totalitarianism. Recognising that Christianity in its purest form had much in common with Marxism in its purest form, Pope John Paul II wisely avoided condemnation of Marxist liberation theology's desire to find a common ground between Christian charity and missionary work and Marxist economics designed to liberate the working classes. It was not the Marxist preoccupation with the incompatibility of capitalist economics and social welfare that John Paul found objectionable. Rather the Pope pointed to the limitations of Marxist liberation; the liberation was not of human suffering, nor the soul, but merely the liberation of one citizen from an undesirable economic circumstance. The question that Marxism doesn't answer, therefore, becomes what happens after the revolution How do the newly liberation people respond to the destruction of the class system. Even Pope John Paul II recognised that the end of Marxism was not

Social and emotional develop Essay Example for Free

Social and emotional develop Essay To support social and emotional develop and to provide positive guidance As an early Childhood Teacher I promote social-emotional development in my classroom by embedding my teaching practices throughout the day. Remaining sensitive to children’s needs helps them feel secure and confident, and acts as a model for effective social behavior. For example, I usually ask questions to help children find a solution to a social conflict that helps them develop problem-solving skills. I also tend to every day read a story and engage children in a conversation about a socially challenging situation witch serve as a lesson in handling social problems as well as in literacy. Self I greet each child and their parents daily. I provide plenty of praise and encouragement to the children about their activities and accomplishments. This action lets the children know that they are loved, appreciated and special. I help children feel good about them selves and build high self-esteem. I use games, books, songs, finger plays, etc. to help the children learn to accept themselves and others. I provide materials and activities that are age-appropriate so that each child can experience success. I also spend time with the children individually and I make sure they get plenty of hugs and affection throughout the day. Social – I teach the children how to socialize with each other daily. I provide activities and space for the children to play together. We discuss sharing, taking turns and working together in small/ large groups. I interact with the children one-on-one daily and encourage them to interact with each other. I also use games, books, video tapes, songs, pictures, etc. to teach the children about positive social skills. Guidance I try to anticipate negative behavior and redirect it positively into other activities. I provide plenty of materials and space to help eliminate conflicts. I talk to the children whenever they exhibit inappropriate behavior and let them know that we should be kind to our friends. Only positive guidance techniques are used with the children in my care. CS III a – I help children learn to do simple tasks for themselves. Each child has a personal space to keep its belongings. We play games that highlight each child’s name and do self-portraits. I also play â€Å"mirror† games and provide cultural books and materials to help the children learn to appreciate themselves and others. CS III b – I believe that children’s behavior needs to be understood and guided in a positive manner. I do this by example. I tell the children what I expect of them and use positive words to guide their behavior. As a child, discipline methods were just the opposite of what I practice in my classroom. There was no such thing as guidance techniques. Today, I am knowledgeable of child development, and I practice appropriate guidance techniques daily. My children are valued and accepted for who they are. I also use redirection, active listening, proximity control, simple rules with positive consequences and valuing/praising appropriate behaviors to work with all children, including the difficult/challenging child. Reference Social-Emotional Teaching Strategies. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.tkcalifornia.org/teaching-tools/social-emotional/teaching-strategies/

Effects of Exercise as a Treatment for Depression

Effects of Exercise as a Treatment for Depression The objective of the literature review is, to examine research to find if using exercise as a treatment for depression has an effect. Depression affects a lot of people and is commonly treated with medicines and therapy (DeRubies, Siegle, Hollon, 2008) but exercise is rarely used as treatment. The aim of this review is to explore the efficiency of exercise being used as a treatment. Only literature written in English, and published no longer than 10 years ago, (2007) will be used to remain up-to-date. A minimum of 8 main pieces of literature will be used to make the review detailed enough. The main way that articles and journals will be found is from using PubMed. Other sources will also be used including SHU library gateway, Sheffield Hallam Library and ProQuest. The method of this study is to explore different types of study, and explore how they are carried out, and what their results are. These will be concluded in a table and discussed in more detail below. Search used on PubMed Amount of results Effect of exercise as treatment for depression 2664 Effect of exercise as treatment for depression (filtered to the last 5 years) 887 It has been known for a long time that exercise has a benefit for physical health (DoH, 2011) but not must is know about defined mental disabilities. They state that exercise helps to control stress levels but dont state whether it can help with depression and other mental disabilities such as anxiety. Depression can be explained as People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. (APA, 2017). With one in 6 adults in the UK having a mental health problem such as depression and anxiety (Mental Health Foundation (MHF), 2016) it is very prevalent and a lot must be done to try and reduce peoples symptoms. Whilst the MHF state that the prevalence is one in 6, Evans, Macrory and Randall (2016) believe that prevalence is closer to 20% so a more detailed review will be needed to conclude this. 22.5% were reported as women and 16.8% were reported as men, detailed research is needed to be try and work out why this is the case (Evans, Macrory, Randall, 2016). Depression is the most common mental health problem around the globe, closely followed by anxiety (W HO, 2016) showing that is isnt just a problem in the UK. NICE (2016) recommend that exercise could potentially be used as a helpful activity for reducing levels of depression considered mild to moderate, but seem to have limited data to back that up so further analyzing will be needed to be able to conclude this. Main Studies used Study Limitations Conclusion (Silveira et al., 2013) Various age groups were used result in in-conclusive data. Exercise seemed to influence levels of depression but more examining needed to conclude the result. (Kvam, Kleppe, Nordhus Hovland, 2016) Some articles used were likely to accidently exaggerate the effects of the exercise. Exercise can be used as an effective intervention within clinical conditions. (Jaffery, Edwards Loprinzi, 2017) Number of candidates used was limited. As little as 10 minutes of exercise may influence mood levels. (Danielsson, Papoulias, Petersson, Carlsson Waern, 2014) Small sample size. Exercise can have a positive influence. (Carvalho et al., 2011) Very small size. Only 33 used. Moderate exercise may contribute but it isnt statistically significant. (Chandler et al., 2012) The trial took part in one place in the country. Exercise did not seem to have a large effect at all. Silveria et al, (2013) carried out a systematic review exploring the effects of activity on clinically depressed patients. Initially their searches came up with 1288 results, this was reduced to 10. They could conclude, from looking at these 10 studies that exercise has a moderate effect on depression levels. Within these studies, all participants were at least 18 years old. Their results showed a 0.61 reduction in the standard deviation of the 10 studies after initial exercise was carried out. Limitations of this study are that due to the fact the participants had all been diagnosed with clinical depression, it limited the number of participants. Of the studies that were used, 7 studies used only aerobic exercise, 1 used just resistant exercises and 2 used both aerobic and resistance exercises. When the data was analyzed, they concluded there was a 0.61 change in the standard deviation. There was no statistical significance between the aerobic and resistance groups so this data was merged together. This review concluded that exercise could potentially be a good addition to anti-depressants. Kvam, Kleppe, Lykkedrang, Hilde and Hovland, (2016) carried out a similar systematic review exploring randomized controlled trials. The aim was to explore exercise as a treatment for depression. They researched for databases for relevant scientific trials and 23 trials were used. They had a combined total of 977 participants. From these 23 trials, they could conclude that exercise can have a moderate to large effect on depression when compared to control conditions giving a g-value of -0.68. Whilst this is good, upon a follow-up, this had gone down to -0.22 making it largely insignificant. A g value is a way of measuring the differences in standard deviations (McDonald, 2014). Some of the limitations of this could be that some trials may have overexaggerates the results unintentionally. All patients used were clinically depressed so this may not give an accurate representation for most of the population. This shows that exercise may influence depression levels but increase is limited . Cooney et al. (2013) agree that exercise may have an affect but this may be very minimal. They add that there is no evidence to decide if exercise has more of an effect than conventional medicines. Jaffery, Edwards and Loprinzi (2017) carried out a randomized control intervention and the aim was to evaluate the effect of exercise on depression. The way they carried this out was to split the group of 88 participants into 4 groups of 22. Their mood scores and levels of depression were taken before and after exercise had been done using the POMS questionnaire (Mackenzie, 2001). This is a very good questionnaire that helps to work out the levels of certain moods in someone. Jaffery, et al. (2017) state in the table included in the report that report overall mood was increased, lowering the scores on the tables. It was also reported that depression levels were decreased as well. They found that by doing a small amount of exercise (5/ 10 minutes) it is possible to vastly increase mood levels. Dusseldorp et al., (2010) agree with the fact a small amount of exercise could help improve the levels of depression. The main limitation of this study is that it does not have many participants leading to a risk of over concluding that the results are relevant for the population. Danielsson, Papoulias, Petersson, Carlsson and Waern (2014) created a three-armed randomized control trial of evaluating the effect of 2 add-on treatments, exercise and basic body awareness therapy (BBAT) (Skjà ¦rven Sunda, 2015). This trial has 62 participants that were all on anti-depressants (Danielsson et al., 2014). These were then split into 3 groups, 2 intervention groups and 1 control group. The groups had 10 weeks of aerobic exercise or BBAT. The main assessment figures were levels of depression in the candidates. This was measured using the MADRS scale (Williams Kobak, 2008). The results were taken by a blinded assessor so that they could be impartial. The results after the intervention group partook in exercise was a reduction in MADRS score by -10.3. With the highest score being 60 (FDA, 2007), a reduction by 10 is very good. Some limitations of this could be the fact there was a relatively small size of sample and people may have been overly optimistic with how their depression levels had changed. This agrees with the results about that exercise can have a positive effect on severe depression but a lot of persuasion would potentially be needed to motivate somebody to do this. Carvalho et al., (2011) looked at the impact of moderate exercise on depression. This article was a two-armed study. Initially 150 people were interviewed for the trial but this was cut down by random selection to 33 participants. These participants were then put into 2 groups, 11 used just antidepressants and 22 people participated in exercise. The 22 participants taking up the exercise took part in daily walks for 30-45 minutes for 12 weeks. One of these was assisted with a research fellow. The exercise group had an average reduction of 6 .84 on the hamd17 scale (GlaxoWelcome, 1997) This is not very high but it still implies that there is a benefit of using exercise as a treatment for depression. Of the exercise group 25% of the group had remission but there was no way to conclude that this was due to the exercise. There was a very limited amount of people used, with only 33 it is hard to made statistically significant results. Carvalho et al., (2011) concluded that if people stuck to the strict 12-week exercise program it may lead to a lower level of depression alongside with anti-depression tablets. Chandler et al., (2012) explored the effects of forced exercise as a treatment alongside anti-depressants. They used 361 people who had all visited their GP with self-diagnosed symptoms of depression who were then assessed by the GP. All candidates were required to have a score of 14 on the Beck scale (APA, 2016). It was a 2-arm parallel intervention. The main measurement was self-measured depression levels using the beck scale. This was followed up after 4, 8 and 12 months as well as this their depression symptoms were checked 8 and 12 months after. After collating, all of the data and summarizing it, there was no statistically significant change. There was a mean beck score reduction of 0.54. The people within the intervention group reported an increase in physical activity. It was also noted that the exercises had not reduced the number of anti-depressants people were taking. For this information, they were able to conclude that there was no real benefit of partaking in this form of exercise for depression levels. Due to the trial using 361 people it is fair to say this could e an accurate representation of population on a local level. The vast majority of literature found had a limited amount of people being used in the trials. (Danielsson et al., 2014), (Carvalho et al., 2011) and (Jaffery et al., 2017) all used less than 100 participants in their studies. This makes it very difficult to use the data for creating a definitive conclusion. Some of the data that was used was very specific, Silveria et al, (2013) used only research projects that had severe depression and not low to medium depression. This would make the results less relevant for the rest of people with depression but not classed as severe. The purpose of this literature review was to examine if exercise can be used as an effect treatment for depression. From looking at the evidence, over the last 5 years more and more research has been done around this field and this will continue to keep going. The clear majority of the articles that have been viewed above have concluded that along anti-depressant drugs, exercise can have a positive effect on depression. In most cases this just reduced it but in one, some of the candidates lots their depression symptoms all together (Carvalho et al., 2011). Whilst this was the case, many reports very limited improvements in depression levels that were difficult to conclude were solely down to the exercise. References   APA (American Psychological Association). (2017). Depression. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/topics/Depression/ Carvalho, Serafim; Fonte, Daniela; Mota-Pereira, Jorge; Ramos, Joaquim; Ribeiro, Jose Carlos; Silverio, Jorge. 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