Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Mortgage Company Business Plan - 8783 Words

Business Plans: Mortgage Company Copyright Notice  ©2006 eNotes.com LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher. For complete copyright information, please see the online version of this work: http://www.enotes.com/handbook−business−plans Mortgage Company BUSINESS PLAN NATIONAL MORTGAGE, INC. 123 N. Main Blvd., Suite 201Seattle, Washington 98108 This mortgage company specializes in lending money to people who have poor credit or who are self−employed and have†¦show more content†¦National will continue to utilize the services from consultants in areas such as planning, budgeting, accounting, general business advising, and law. UNIQUENESS AND DIFFERENTIATION OF THE SERVICE National, Inc. will continue to specialize in serving individuals who have less than perfect credit or who are self−employed and cannot qualify for conventional loans. The company was formed to provide loans to this niche market. The company utilizes the most current technology to enable it to not only provide competitive pricing but also excellent service. In the future, we plan to offer complementary products such as secured credit cards and debit cards, insurance, and other investment tools. It is rare in today s business world to find a true market void. That is exactly what National has done. It has combined the latest in technology with an unfilled need and promises to deliver a high quality product at a competitive price. Our services have limited competition in Washington and even nationally because of the nature of our clients. We have built an excellent reputation in the area and wish to capitalize on it to enter the national marketplace. To reach an even larger marke t we will develop and utilize a web page on the Internet. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION 2 Business Plans: Mortgage Company FUNDS REQUIRED AND USAGE To continue to fund its growth and provide the money for franchise operations, National Mortgage will be seeking $150,000 inShow MoreRelatedSwot Analysis Of Swot Analysis : Swot911 Words   |  4 Pagesbrainstorming tool that helps people evaluate an idea or project for a business or formulate a business plan (Harmon, 2015). It should be noted that SWOT analysis is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The author explained that the purpose of SWOT analysis is to identify how internal and external factors influence a business. The author further suggested that this process will shed light on a business internal strengths and weaknesses- for instance reputation, and externalRead MoreMcbride Financial Services1071 Words   |  5 PagesMcBride Financial Services-Marketing Plan University of Phoenix BSA 310-Business Systems McBride Financial Services-Marketing Plan The first step in any marketing plan should be marketing research. McBride Financial Services will be using a four step plan for gathering research for marketing. The goal of marketing research for McBride is to gather data from local chambers of commerce, visitors’ bureaus, and local realtors concerning the target market: professionals and retirees purchasingRead MoreThe Big Short And Twilight Of The Elites1313 Words   |  6 Pagesbanks, the mortgage brokers, and the consumers were all affected by this collapse. On each level of the system, there were things that went wrong and that could have been changed or could have prevented the failure of the housing market. Before the 1970’s banking was not a business that you went into to make money and it remained that way until Louis Ranieri came around. Louis Ranieri had one idea that changed the housing market forever. His plan was to have a mortgage back security. Mortgage back securitiesRead MoreCountrywide Financial Corporation And The Subprime Mortgage Crisis1183 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Subprime Mortgage Debacle In order to discuss the financial crisis of 2008, a person must understand the history of the mortgage industry. This case study shed light on one of the leading companies in the mortgage industry, Countrywide Financial, helping people recognize the events that led up to the crisis of 2008 by providing a breakdown of the company and showing the range of their operations (Eastburn, 2010, p. 247-262). To help people understand the crisis of the mortgage company, strategiesRead MoreMcbride Marketing Paper1258 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction McBride Financial Service is a mortgage lender based out of Boise, Idaho. The goal of the company is to develop into most brilliant cost mortgage contributor by utilizing modern technology while keeping interest rates low. McBride always wishes to increase its current growth by expanding into five additional states Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming. McBride will also strive toward improving the standard of the company with the traditional loans for purchasing andRead MoreThe Problem Of The Housing Market Crash1213 Words   |  5 Pagesbanks, the mortgage brokers, and the consumers were all affected by this collapse. On each level of the system, there were things that went wrong and that could have been changed that could have prevented the failure of the housing market. Before the 1970s the banking was not a business that you went into to make money. That was until Louis Ranieri came around. Louis Ranieri had one idea that changed the housing market forever. His plan was to have a mortgage back security. A mortgage back securityRead MoreStrategic Plan, Part Ii: Swott Analysis1373 Words   |  6 PagesStrategic Plan, Part II: SWOTT Analysis BUS/475 SWOTT Analysis Today’s business world is one of many challenges; challenges with our Federal Government encroaching upon the business world with regulatory changes and restrictions, challenges with an ever-changing economic climate that seems to swing in either direction and challenges with both political parties that engage in meaningless finger-pointing, rather than looking for solutionsRead MoreMortgage Insurance ( Http )1612 Words   |  7 Pagescom/AIG_Internet/AIG_2014_Annual_Report.pdf) Mortgage Insurance (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/16/us-bankofamerica-mbs-settlement-idUSKBN0FL1B720140716) (http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2015/11/03/moodys-warns-of-negative-impact-in-proposed-aig-br ) (life Insurance)http://www.vault.com/company-profiles/insurance/american-general-life-insurance-company/company-overview.aspx, http://www.vault.com/company-profiles/insurance/american-international-group,-inc/company-overview.aspx Property CasualtyRead MoreCountrywide1127 Words   |  5 Pagesnation’s largest mortgage lenders. It used to hold about 17% of all United State’s mortgage and was listed as #91 among Fortune 500 companies. I chose the case study of Countrywide because it reminds me of the powerful era of the mortgage industry and how it collapsed leading to the chain reaction of economic and financial crisis; creating almost depression symptoms in the housing market, and pushing the economy to the edge of recession. Countrywide was not the only mortgage company that seeked forRead MoreForeclosures: My Familys Experience Essay1137 Words   |  5 Pageshad been trying to pay the house off at a faster rate so had opted for a short term mortgage. Everything was going fine until the bottom fell out when the economy busted. They tried desperately to get their mortgage restructured before their savings ran out the first part of the plan, make an emergency refinance program and suspend DOC stamps and other fees so people who demonstrate need can reduce their mortgage payments before becoming delinquent. The federal government could make a program like

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Summary #18 Example

Essays on Summary #18 Essay AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR Aggressive Behavior Aggressive behavior is learnt and shared from the father to the child since the boys learndirectly by observing the behavioral patterns of the father. In the ordinary and conventional sense, children do not only learn from the things that their parents advice or tell them to do but also emulate from their actual behavior (Rosenthal Zimmerman, 2014). The fact that the father shouts, screams and is even physically violent with the boys put them in a bad headspace emotionally. When the father pushes the boys to the ground, their emotional stability and acumen is shaken and they are left psychologically scared. Thus, as a result, it would be ordinary for the children or the boys to transfer the same type of treatment and violence to the other younger children or people. This stems from the fact that the children are modelled or mentally prepared to reasons that violence either through shouting, screaming or physically manhandling their peers is t he best way of resolving issues and disagreements. Intuitively, the elder children who are manhandled and shouted to transform and do the same to the younger child by lifting him up by his ears while they are screaming at him. The younger child also does not take the shouting in a soft manner and instead also raises his voice to the other older children. It is my humble opinion and respectful li9ne of thought that the younger child also emulates the stance demonstrated by the father relative to violence. Thus, it is fair to mention that the violent and abusive behavior of the father directly affects the children to act in the same manner to all their other counterparts.ReferenceRosenthal, T. L., Zimmerman, B. J. (2014). Social learning and cognition. Academic Press.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Malek bennabi free essay sample

Malek Bennabi Malek Bennabi (1905 1973) (Arabic: dib) was an Algerian writer and philosopher, who wrote about human society, particularly Muslim society with a focus on the reasons behind the fall of musllrn civilization. He Is mostly known for the concept of colonlabllity which Is the Inner aptitude of some societies to be colonized (Black-African particularly). The fall of the Almohad dynasty that ruled North Africa and Muslim Spain marked a new devastating trend of undermining ideas. The lack of new ideas concurrently spurned the death of new civilizations. According to Malik Bennabi, with this, emerged what he coined civilizational bankruptcy. Education Bennabl was born in Constantine. Educated in Paris and Algiers in engineering, he later based himself in Cairo, where he spent much of his time toiling through fields of history, philosophy and sociology. In 1963, after returning to Algeria, he witnessed modern science and technologicalcivilizations fold before his very eyes. This has spurred him to reflect on the question of culture in the early nineteenth century. His approach was simple, not parroting what had been discovered before his time, but ather, searching for what constitutes the essence of culture and the birth of civilization. work From one of his works, Les Conditions de la Renaissance (1948), he defined culture as the mode of being and becoming of a people. This includes aesthetic, ethical, pragmatic, and technical values. When these contents have been clearly defined, only then could various formulations of Ideas be born. The birth of new Ideas equals to a dynamic society that leads to the movement of vibrancy of a new civilization. In another book, The Question of Culture (1954), he said, the organisation of society, its ife and movement, indeed, its deterioration and stagnation, all have a functional relation with the system of ideas found in that society. If that system were to change in one way or another, all other social characteristics would follow suit and adapt in the same direction. Ideas, as a whole, form an important part of the means of development In a given society. The various stages of development In such a society are indeed different forms of its intellectual developments. If one of those stages corresponds to what is called renaissance, it will mean that society at that stage Is njoying a wonderful system of ideas; a system that can provide a suitable solution to each of the vital problems in that particular society. He added that ideas influence the lite ot a given society in two different ways; either they are factors of growth ot social life, or on the contrary, the role of factors of contagion, thus rendering social growth rather difficult or even Impossible. Views He said that In the nineteenth century, the relations among nations were based on power for the position of a nation was dependent on the number of Its factories, cannons, fleets and gold reserves. However, the twentieth century Introduced a new values. This development has not been strongly felt in many underdeveloped countries, for their inferiority complex has created a warped infatuation with the criteria of power that is based on objects. Muslims living in an underdeveloped country will no doubt feel that they are inferior to people living in a developed country. They will gradually realise that what separates people is not geographical distance, but distance of another nature. As a result of this inferiority, Muslims ascribe this distance to the field of objects. They see their situation as an abomination caused by lack of weapons, aeroplanes and banks. Thus, their inferiority complex will lose its social efficacy, leading only to pessimism on the psychological level. On the social level, it will lead to what we have elsewhere called taqdis (heaping-up). To turn this feeling into an effective driving-force, Muslims should ascribe their backwardness to the level of ideas, not to that of objects, for the development of the new world depends increasingly on ideational and intellectual criteria. In underdeveloped countries, which are still within the phere of influence of the superpowers, arms and oil revenues are no longer sufficient to support that influence. Ideas alone can do the Job. The world has, therefore, entered a stage at which most of its problems can be solved only by certain systems of ideas. Therefore, the Arabs and other Muslim countries, especially those that do not possess a great deal of material power, should give more weight to the issue of ideas. [2] He later criticised the Muslim society for frequently falling into an apologetic state, where its members keep on harping on the civilization that once was built by their forefathers. Muslims tend to circle around the archaic archaeological process, digging up past treasures instead of bridging progress with new ones. Muslims today are in a state of disarray. Muslim countries and societies are largely imperialized by the West. This is truly not a failure of Islam, but because Muslims and those in governance abandoned the true understanding of what Islamic values connote. In this, Bennabi again pointed out, after Egypts humiliation in the Six-days war in June 1967, it is the ummahs (global Muslim community) understanding and worldview, its stock of ideas rather than of arms and mmunitions, that needs to be renewed. Obviously corrections need to be rectified. Although looking back to what had been achieved in the Golden Age of Islam is still relevant, what is more important is to be able to appreciate the political values and culture of models and systems implemented by past prophets, re-interpret and apply these to our contemporary society. Enriching the society is part of dynamism in Islam. Colonisation of minds has driven Muslims towards a state of moral and psychological decay. Again in his book, Islam in History and Society (1954), moral paralysis results in intellectual paralysis.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Stock and Rate Essay Example

Stock and Rate Essay However, interest is paid semi-annually. If your required rate of return is 10%, what is the value of the bond? How would your answer change if the interest were paid annually? 7) Sharp Co. Bonds are selling in the market for $1,045. These 15 year bonds pay 7% interest annually on a $1,000 par value. If they are purchased at the market price, what is the expected rate of return? 8) You own a bond that pays $100 In annual Interest, with a $1,000 par value. It matures in 15 years. Your required rate of return is 10 percent. 1 . Calculate the value of the bond. 2. Calculate YET Topic: Stocks 9) BBC Ltd paid a dividend of RSI 4 per share at the end of the year. It Is expected to grow by 8 percent each year for the next 4 years. The market price of the shares Is expected to be RSI 60 at the end of 4 years. Assuming 1 2 percent required rate of return of investors, at what price should the shares of BBC Ltd sell? 10)Blackburn and Smith common stock currently sells for $23 per share. The companys executives anticipate a constant growth rate of 10. Percent and an end-of-year dividend of 2. 50. What Is your expected rate of return? If you require a 17% return, should you purchase the stock 11) IBM Industries pays a dividend of $ 2 per quarter, the dividend yield on its stock Is reported at What price Is the stock selling at? 12) Inconstant Growth. Tattletale News Corp.. Has been growing at a rate of 20 percent per year, and you expect this growth rate in earnings and dividends to continue for another 3 years. A. If the last dividend paid was $2, what will the next dividend be? B. We will write a custom essay sample on Stock and Rate specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Stock and Rate specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Stock and Rate specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer If the discount rate Is 15 percent and the steady growth rate after 3 years Is 4 percent, what would the stock price be today? Topic: Capital Budgeting 13) Mutually Exclusive Investments. Here are the cash flow forecasts for two mutually exclusive projects: a. Which project would you choose on NAP and AIR basis the opportunity cost of capital Is 2 percent? B. Which would you choose if the opportunity cost of capital Is 12 14) Lana Industries, Inc. , needs a new lathe. It can buy a new high-speed lathe for $1 million. The lathe will cost $35,000 to run, will save the firm $125,000 in labor costs, and will be useful for 10 years. Suppose that for tax purposes, the lathe will be appreciated on a straight-line basis over its 10-year life to a salvage value of $100,000. The actual market value of the lathe at that time also will be $100,000. The discount rate is 10 percent and the corporate tax rate is 35 percent. What is the NAP of buying the new lathe? 15) Blooper Industries must replace its magnesium purification system. Quick Dirty Systems sells a relatively cheap purification system for $10 million. The system will last 5 years. Do-let-Right sells a sturdier but more expensive system for $12 million; it will last for 8 years. Both systems entail $1 million n operating costs; both will be depreciated straight line to a final value of zero over their useful lives; neither will have any salvage value at the end of its life. The firms tax rate is 35 percent, and the discount rate is 12 percent. Which system should Blooper install? 16) PC shopping network may upgrade its modem pool. It last upgraded two years ago, when it spent $1 man on equipment with an assumed life of 5 years and an assumed salvage value of $man for tax purpose. The firm uses straight line depreciation. The old equipment can be sold today for $man. A new odder pool can be installed today for $Mann. They will have a 3 year life and will be depreciated to zero using straight line depreciation. The new equipment will enable the firm to increase sales by $man per year and decrease operating cost by $1 Mom per year. At the end of the three years, the new equipment will be worthless. Assume the firms tax rate is 35% and the discount rate for the project of this sort is 10%. What is the NAP of the replacement project? Topic : Cost of Capital 17) The market value of your firms equity is $500 million, which is also the value of your total debt.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

4 Tips for Writing a Johns Hopkins Essay That Works

4 Tips for Writing a Johns Hopkins Essay That Works SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Johns Hopkins University is considered one of the top-ten national schools in the United States.As the country’s first research university, Johns Hopkins is interested in fostering lifelong learning and research. Though their medical school is perhaps their most famous department, Johns Hopkins has many prestigious programs- and their reputation means admittance is extremely competitive, with just a 13 percent acceptance rate. If you want to join the band of Blue Jays, you’ll need to be a stellar student- and you’ll need to write a killer Johns Hopkins essay. This guide will walk you through the Johns Hopkins supplement, including best practices for answering the prompt, how to plan your essay, and analyzing essays that got other applicants in. Feature image:Matthew Petroff/Wikimedia Commons What Should You Know About the Johns Hopkins Supplement? The Johns Hopkins application is fairly straightforward. You can apply using the Coalition, Common, or Universal Application, which typically have their own essay questions to answer. In addition to whatever essay you choose for your application, Johns Hopkins also asks for an additional required essay of up to 400 words. There is just a single prompt, so no struggling to pick which one will best suit your needs. Johns Hopkins wants to hear about the times when your group work went great. What Is the Johns Hopkins Essay Prompt? Johns Hopkins has just one essay prompt. The prompt focuses on collaboration and teamwork, asking you to think about your own role in working with others. Successful students at Johns Hopkins make the biggest impact by collaborating with others, including peers, mentors, and professors. Talk about a time, in or outside the classroom, when you worked with others and what you learned from the experience. (Up to 400 words). It’s clear that Johns Hopkins values working as part of a team, especially given that it’s a research university. Here, Johns Hopkins is asking you to look at a time when you’ve worked collaboratively with others and think about what you learned from the experience, not just in terms of what you accomplished, but in terms of what collaboration added. Collaboration and being part of a community are hugely important in college and beyond. If you go in with the mindset that you’re there to learn not just from teachers, but from fellow students as well, you’re more likely to succeed. In asking you to think about a past project when you’ve collaborated with others, Johns Hopkins is also asking to see your understanding that great achievements are rarely the product of one single brilliant mind. Demonstrating that you know working together achieves great things in your essay signals to Johns Hopkins University that you’re ready to be part of a thriving, intellectual student community. Don’t fall into the trap of feeling like your experience is only worthwhile if you managed to invent something totally new or change the world. The focus here is on what you learned, not what you achieved- if your most important moment of collaboration is you and your siblings getting your house clean before an unexpected visit from your grandparents, that’s okay! Focus on what you learned from it, like dividing up tasks, taking breaks, and supporting one another. Whatever you choose to write about, it should answer the essential question of what you learned and why collaboration was important. This essay, though short, can also be another space for the school to learn more about you- if you’ve worked collaboratively in any extracurricular activities, now’s a great time to discuss it. Johns Hopkins wants to get to know you through this essay, but be wary of focusing on your own importance. Talk about the lessons you learned, the skills that you gained, or the way that others supported you, but avoid writing about how you did all the work and that that’s why you were successful. That’s not in the spirit of collaboration- and if your grades and test scores are up to snuff, you won’t need your essay to do that legwork for you. That doesn’t mean to downplay your achievements- by all means, if your work as school newspaper editor won your high school lots of awards, mention it! But unless you wrote, photographed, and edited the entire newspaper yourself, it’s not only your achievement. Consider how others contributed and factor that into what you learned to make your essay stronger. There's no wrong way to celebrate a successful essay. Johns Hopkins Essays That Worked Even with a guide, it can be hard to figure out exactly what Johns Hopkins is looking for in their essays. Thankfully, the college posts successful essays on their website- complete with admissions office comments- giving you the chance to look through Johns Hopkins essays that worked. These examples are responses to different prompts, so they do some things quite differently. But reading through them can give you valuable insight into what Johns Hopkins University values in an essay, such as a cohesive look at each applicant and a creative frame for each topic. "Time to Spin the Wheel" Add the fact that I was raised in a Bengali household and studied Spanish in high school for four years, and I was able to add other exotic words. Sinfin, zanahoria, katukutu, and churanto soon took their rightful places alongside my English favorites.And yet, during this time of vocabulary enrichment, I never thought that Honors English and Biology had much in common. Imagine my surprise one night as a freshman as I was nonchalantly flipping through a science textbook. I came upon fascinating new terms: adiabatic, axiom, cotyledon, phalanges†¦and I couldn’t help but wonder why these non-literary, seemingly random words were drawing me in. These words had sharp syllables, were challenging to enunciate, and didn’t possess any particularly abstract meaning.I was flummoxed, but curious†¦I kept reading....†¦and then it hit me. For all my interest in STEM classes, I never fully embraced the beauty of technical language, that words have the power to simultaneou sly communicate infinite ideas and sensations AND intricate relationships and complex processes.Perhaps that’s why my love of words has led me to a calling in science, an opportunity to better understand the parts that allow the world to function. At day’s end, it’s language that is perhaps the most important tool in scientific education, enabling us all to communicate new findings in a comprehensible manner, whether it be focused on minute atoms or vast galaxies. Romila’s interest in language is introduced at the very beginning, but the essay takes a surprising turn midway through. Because she focuses on language, we’d expect that she’s interested in pursuing a literature or writing degree. Instead, her interest in language helped shape her love for biology. What works particularly well in this essay is that it demonstrates Romila’s unique background as a language-loving biology major of Bengali heritage. She doesn’t need to declare her diversity; it’s demonstrated through each unique facet of her personality she brings up. As the admissions committee comments below the essay, Romila also does a wonderful job of showing her interest in interdisciplinary learning. It’s not just that she loves linguistics and biology, but that she sees a clear line from one to the other- she loves both of them and the ways that they flow together. It’s unlikely that you have the same experience as Romila, but keep these things in mind when writing your own essay. How can you use your essay to discuss your educational aspirations? Does the work you’ve done with others fall into interdisciplinary learning? That can be as unconventional as an edible presentation on nuclear physics or as simple as understanding that your soccer team was made up of people with different skills and positions, and together, you won the championship. "And on That Note" While practicing a concert D-flat scale, I messed up a fingering for a low B-flat, and my instrument produced a strange noise with two notes. My band teacher got very excited and exclaimed, â€Å"Hey, you just played a polyphonic note!† I like it when accidents lead to discovering new ideas.I like this polyphonic sound because it reminds me of myself: many things at once....Even though my last name gives them a hint, the Asian students at our school don’t believe that I’m half Japanese. Meanwhile the non-Asians are surprised that I’m also part Welsh. I feel comfortable being unique or thinking differently. As a Student Ambassador this enables me to help freshman and others who are new to our school feel welcome and accepted. I help the new students know that it’s okay to be themselves.There is added value in mixing things together. I realized this when my brother and I won an international Kavli Science Foundation contest where we explained the math behind the Pixar movie â€Å"Up†. Using stop motion animation we explored the plausibility and science behind lifting a house with helium balloons. I like offering a new view and expanding the way people see things. In many of my videos I combine art with education. I want to continue making films that not only entertain, but also make you think. Like Romila, Curtis’ essay uses an introductory framing device- his experience in playing a polyphonic note- to transition into a discussion of all the ways that he is multiple things at once. Demonstrating his multiple interests is part of why Curtis’ essay succeeds so well, but most of these examples aren’t just examples of contradictions or subverted expectations. They show other things, too, like the way that other people see him (Asian students don’t believe that he’s half Japanese, non-Asian kids only see him as Asian), his interest in different fields leads him to create unique projects, and his experience in being different allows him to be welcoming to others. Curtis’ writing is lively without getting lost in the metaphor. The framing device is clear, but it doesn’t come up so much that it feels too focused on the idea of a polyphonic note. The essay would work just fine without the metaphor, which means his points are strong and sound. According to the admissions office notes, Curtis’ essay stood out in part because of the way it shows his ability to think across disciplines. Creative thinking is a huge asset at a research university like Johns Hopkins. Like Romila’s essay, this interest in interdisciplinary learning shows that he’ll be a good fit for Johns Hopkins. You wouldn't build a house without a plan- don't write your essay without one, either! 4 Key Tips for Writing Your Johns Hopkins Essay Because the Johns Hopkins supplement has just one prompt, you’ll want to do your absolute best on it. That means getting started early and giving yourself plenty of time to polish and refine your work to its finest. As with all college essays, you’ll want to go through multiple drafts and seek feedback from others to make sure your essay is as strong as it’s possible to be. The earlier you start, the more time to you have to whip in into shape! #1: Brainstorm Remember all those exercises your high school teachers had you work on, like mind mapping and freewriting? Now’s the time to bust them out. Look at the prompt and write down as many short answers as you can think of, no matter how silly they might sound- you don’t have to use them if you don’t feel strongly about them! If you spend some time writing down all your ideas, you can choose the one that speaks most strongly to you rather than getting midway through an essay before realizing that it’s not what you really want to be writing about. #2: Be Specific Specificity is extremely important. With just 400 words, you need to make sure you’re using your space wisely. Tie your idea directly to Johns Hopkins University rather than speaking in generalities. Look through their course catalog and club offerings and try to connect some of them to your aspirations. Because the prompt asks about collaboration, try to envision yourself in those spaces, accomplishing your goals thanks to your classmates’ support. #3: Get Feedback Once you’ve gone through a draft or two, it’s time to turn your precious essay over to someone else for feedback. Find people who you trust to give you honest and helpful critique; if they’re too harsh, you’re not going to want to use their advice, and if they focus too much on praise, you might not end up with anything to change. Look to teachers or other people who have experience with writing- preferably not parents, as they’re a little too close to you to be objective- for good advice. #4: Revise Let all that feedback sit for a while before you sit down to revise. Sometimes, our initial response to feedback is to either implement all of it or reject all of it, neither of which are necessarily the best way to improve an essay. Consider the feedback you receive and find a middle ground between their recommendations and your voice and goals. It’s okay if you don’t agree with some of it, but do be sure that you always ask yourself why someone might not have understood your meaning- if clarity’s an issue, you can address that even if you don’t agree with someone’s suggestion. What's Next? A good essay is just one part of a successful Johns Hopkins application. Take some time to make sure your GPA, ACT, and SAT scores are up to par, too! Need some additional help in writing a great college essay? This guide has all the tips and tricks for turning your ideas into essays! The college application process can be long and confusing, especially when you're applying to a competitive school like Johns Hopkins. This expert guide to college applications will give you all the tips and information you need to create a truly spectacular application! Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Friday, November 22, 2019

The Nevada Silver Rush

The Nevada Silver Rush Some of us keep watching the skies, as the old movie told us to do. Geologists watch the ground instead. Really looking at whats around us is the heart of good science. Its also the best way to start a rock collection or to strike gold. The late Stephen Jay Gould told a story about his visit to Olduvai Gorge, where the Leakey Institute digs up ancient human fossils. Institute staffers were attuned to the mammals whose fossil bones occur there; they could spot a mouse tooth from several meters away. Gould was a snail specialist, and he didnt find a single mammal fossil during his week there. Instead, he turned up the first fossil snail ever recorded at Olduvai! Truly, you see what you look for. Horn Silver and the Nevada Rush The Nevada silver rush, which began in 1858, may be the truest example of a gold rush. In the California gold rush, like those before and after, the Forty-Niners swarmed into the land and panned the easy nuggets from the stream placers. Then the geologic pros moved in to finish the job. The mining corporations and hydraulic syndicates thrived on the deep veins and low-pay ores that the panners couldnt touch. Mining camps like Grass Valley  had a chance to grow into mining towns, then into stable communities with farms and merchants and libraries. Not in Nevada. Silver there formed strictly on the surface. Over millions of years of desert conditions, silver sulfide minerals weathered out of their volcanic host rocks and slowly turned, under the influence of rainwater, to silver chloride. The climate of Nevada concentrated this silver ore in supergene enrichment. These heavy gray crusts were often polished by dust and wind to the dull luster of a cow horn- horn silver. You could shovel it right off the ground, and you didnt need a Ph.D. to find it. And once it was gone, there was little or nothing left beneath for the hard-rock miner. A big silver bed could be tens of meters wide and more than a kilometer long, and that crust on the ground was worth up to $27,000 a ton in 1860s dollars. The territory of Nevada, along with the states around it, was picked clean in a few decades. The miners would have done it faster, but there were dozens of remote ranges to prospect on foot, and the climate was so damnably harsh. Only the Comstock Lode supported silver mining by large combines, and it was depleted by the 1890s. It supported a federal mint in Nevadas capital, Carson City, which made silver coins with the CC mint mark. Mementos of the Silver State In any one place, the surface bonanzas lasted only a few seasons, long enough to put up saloons and not much else. Ultimately producing lots of ghost towns, the rough, violent life of so many Western movies reached its purest state in the Nevada silver camps, and the economy and politics of the state have been deeply marked ever since. They dont shovel silver off the ground anymore but sweep it instead, off the tables of Las Vegas and Reno. Nevada horn silver seems to be gone forever. Scouring the Web for specimens pans out nothing. You can find silver chloride on the Web under its mineral name of chlorargyrite or cerargyrite, but the specimens arent horn silver, even though thats what cerargyrite means in scientific Latin. Theyre little crystals from underground mines, and the sellers seem apologetic about how unexciting they look. Still. Take a moment to imagine  the thrill of stepping back into this period of American history and picking up chunks of silver right off the surface of the ground, like so much gravel... and gaining a fortune.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Disclosure of fair value information in the corporate annual report Essay

Disclosure of fair value information in the corporate annual report - Essay Example The manner in which businesses are run in the UK markets is monitored and controlled through policies that touch on ethical business relationships, fair representation of financial statements, and fair valuation of company’s worth. While corporate operations are regulated in order to attain an ethical business environment, various other regulations are conducted to ensure that financial and accounting approaches of the business are transparent to attract genuine interest from investors and other stakeholders (Martinià ¨re, 2007). Within the UK marketplace, IFRS 13 is considered the law governing fair value information which is a vital set if information required to value a business entity. The IFRS 13 is responsible for fair value measurement and provided guidelines on how companies should measure their fair value (Deloitte UK, 2013). However, since the financial and accounting field has various approaches to valuing assets and business’s net worth, the IFRS 13 conside rs fair value at the exit price and makes use of fair value hierarchy to value an entity. Valuation using the fair value hierarchy is market-based and is not entity-specific (Demski, Lin, & Sappington, 2008). Entity specific measures tend to consider the type of business and the owner of the business. However, fair value hierarchy makes use of market-based approach to value assets and business’s worth. Additionally, the approach of considering the exit price aims at showing how much the business entity or company would be worth in its current market if were to close at the moment of valuation (Song, Thomas, & Yi, 2010). Under the UK regulations, fair value is defined as the prices acquired from an asset sale or in transfer of liability in a systematic transaction among market participants at the date of measurement. Based on the market value, fair value considers active markets which are defines as

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Service Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Service Marketing - Essay Example From the report it is clear that a service is an activity or benefit that one party can offer to another which is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. In the goods continuum the distinction between products and services is far from clear as one traverses from tangibility to intangibility. The lack of distinction is particularly prominent mid way through this continuum where tangibility and intangibility may gel indistinguishably. However the fact remains that the tangibility dimension of the offering is a critical distinction and can identify a service offering. For instance, in a hotel stay once the stay has been completed nothing tangible is left with customer for preservation except experience, hence hotel stay is a typical person processing service offering. This study stresses that services are not physical. They can neither be possessed nor seen or felt. The tangible indicators of service are few, if any, and they are not good enough indicators to reduce consumer uncertainty. This increases the work of service marketers who must diligently determine how to effectively communicate the service process and the final outcome the consumer will receive -most importantly the quality. The production of the services can't be separated from its consumption. For instance, the production and consumption of a medical examination happen together. One can not store services for future use.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Life and Margaret Atwood Essay Example for Free

Life and Margaret Atwood Essay This quotation was taken from Margaret Atwoods story, Homelanding. This story recounts many aspects of human existence from an outside view, as if it was being told to an alien race. This story tells about human appearance, sex (both difference and the act of), sunbathing, sleeping, death, and many other human functions in a scientific way. This story takes a step away from the normal way of describing these objects. For example, Margaret Atwood talks about eating and describes it by saying I destroy and assimilate certain parts of my surroundings and change them into myself. Most people who have had human contact their whole life consider eating putting food in their mouths, chewing, and swallowing. This quotation at the beginning of the story shows that the author knows that she is writing this for a human audience. She starts this off with the line, Where should I begin? This is more of a conversational style that draws the reader into this as if she was talking directly to the reader. The human reader is supposed to take the role of the alien race. The reader has to take a duality of being both a human and from an alien race who has no knowledge of anything human. The next line restates this with, After all you have never been there; or if you have you may not have understood the significance of what you say or thought you saw. An alien race would never have been to earth, yet the human reader has spent his whole life on earth if never stopping to think of the significance of what he is seeing. The next line is: A window is a window, but there is looking out and looking in. This can be seen in all the number of times that someone sees something in someone else that the person does not see in himself. For example, often a teacher is responsible for helping a student develop a talent that was there but the student did not know that he had it. This story is attempting to do the same and show the reader characteristics that mankind has but do not know it has. In the next line, this is reiterated with the statement, The native you glimpsed, disappearing behind the curtain, or into the bushes, or down the manhole in the mainstreetmy people are shymay have only been your own reflection in the glass. This shows the reader is the reflection in the glass and is seeing a portrait of himself in the story. Storytelling is often used to teach a lesson to the reader or listener. One of the most read examples of this is the Bible. Jesus often spoke in parables to help teach lessons to his listeners. This story attempts to make us take a step away from  ourselves and see ourselves in a different light so we could possibly understand ourselves better.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Offreds Narrative Technique in The Handmaids Tale Essay -- Handmaid

Offred affects every single aspect of "The Handmaid's Tale", so, in order to understand her narrative technique better, her character must also be considered.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Offred is nostalgic, she longs for her pre-Gilead past with which she still identifies very strongly. She is, however, realistic in her longing; she knows that the past was not perfect, that it was no utopia, but she just longs for a situation preferable to her present one, "...We lived, as usual, by ignoring...". Another strong reason for to long for the past is that she was basically happy there, she had a daughter and a lover, both of which she was removed from by the Gilead regime. Her longing for the past is bittersweet, although it has many memories for her, not all of them are happy. Also, whenever she thinks of the past, she is reminded of how awful her present situation is, she is reminded of what she has lost. Perhaps that is why she refers to the past as "...the other time...".   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She is also a fighter. She is determined to survive, to "last" through Gilead, no matter what it takes. The important distinction here is between survival and rebellion; Offred will only go so far in defiance of the regime, while she is prepared to stretch the rules with an insignificant Guardian on the road into the town, she limits herself, describing it as "....a small defiance of rule....like the candy I hoarded, as a child..". When it comes to serious defiance, she draws a definite line, " "No. I can't" " she says when the doctor offers to impregnate her, "The penalty is death". Perhaps that is what Offred is really afraid of. Death is her real fear.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to keep herself sane, Offred has invented several survival mechanisms, games w... ...ve technique.    Works Cited and Consulted Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Anchor Books: New York, New York, 1985. Conboy, Sheila C. "Scripted, Conscripted, and Circumscribed: Body Language in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." Anxious Power: Reading, Writing, and Ambivalence in Narrative by Women. Eds. Carol J. Singley and Susan Elizabeth Sweeney. Albany : State U of New York P, 1993. 349-62 Fitting, Peter. "The Turn from Utopia in Recent Feminist Fiction." Feminism, Utopia, and Narrative. Eds. Libby Falk Jones and Sarah Webster Goodwin. Knoxville : U of Tennessee P, 1990. 141-158. Garlick, Barbara. "The Handmaid's Tale: Narrative Voice and the Primacy of the Tale." Twentieth-Century Fantasists: Essays on Culture, Society and Belief in Twentieth-Century Mythopoeic Literature. Ed. Kath Filmer. New York : St. Martin's, 1992. 161-71.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Analysis of Willie Stark’s Life as a Politician Essay

Can it be right to do wrong? Can we have a square circle? Can we move backwards and forwards at the same time? During Plato’s time (c. 429-347 B.C.) a long discussion had begun and carried throughout the Middle Ages that affirmed that the ruler ought to embody noble ideals and values. This tradition focuses on the virtues of justice and mercy as essential for good government. However, during the Renaissance period the author Niccolo Machiavelli turned away from these traditions and considers in The Prince what is necessary to be successful in a corrupt world. Machiavelli proclaims in his book The Prince, â€Å"A man who wishes to make a profession in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore, it is necessary†¦to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case†. Essentially, it is the situation at the moment that determines which actions are necessary. For Machiavelli, the goal is success, not the virtue or vice of the act. He does not advocate that the successful prince should always violate the rights of others but, rather, calculate what course of action will enhance the strength and vitality of the state. In the book All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, the character Willie Stark is similar to the prince; he exemplifies and exercises Machiavelli’s ideals. In All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, Machiavelli’s ideals are dealt with through the political career of Willie Stark, a man that was transformed from an idealist to an opportunist because of power, a man who ultimately was assassinated, but not before he could achieve the goodness he sought to make possible. Willie Stark, the son of a farmer, began his political career when becoming the County Treasurer of Mason City. As the Treasurer of Mason City, he was an idealist, guided more by ideals than practical considerations. Willie Stark remained an idealist up until he discovered the truth about politics. He than started to believe that goodness derives from evil because there is nothing else from which to make it. This idea comes from the mature, disillusioned Willie, who had become a tough-minded politician after losing his first political job and after discovering he was manipulated by the bosses who wanted to split rural votes. After he learned about the scheme and analyzing the situation, Willie Stark realized what Machiavelli’s theory proclaimed, â€Å"A man who wishes to make a profession in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good†. Willie encountered and experienced the â€Å"grief among so many who are not good,† he encountered Harrison and his men and their political methods to try and win an election which was all made possible by corrupt men, bad men. This was a turning point in Willie’s career and life since he how believed, â€Å"Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud.† As he sees it, goodness is not an inherent human characteristic. People, basically, are prone to corruption and evil. Goodness has to be made. Because of the scheme Willie’s blindfold he had as an idealist was gone and he now knew that politics were not at all what he though it to be and that he had to change the way he was conducting his political campaign if he was to get anything done around here. Although Willie withdrew his name from the ballot for the Governor race, he still came out of that ordeal as a winner. Stark exposed the dirty tricks of Harrison and his men and in the process gained support from the public, therefore leading to his ultimate election for Governor the second time he ran for the position. By this time Willie, â€Å"learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He exposed to the public the corrupt men of Harrison who coerced him to run for Governor only to be â€Å"used and abused in the process;† by blowing the whistle Willie became a bad man who turned against the people who helped him come into the political spot light. Instead of being seen with bad eyes, the public sympathized with him. With all the sympathy he gained Willie managed to win the race for Governor. Once Willie became Governor he became an opportunist because of the lack of support he received and because his power was growing. Willie essentially started off as a man who rose to power by offering to save the people from their distress, during his struggles, he became corrupted by power. Willie became corrupted because he realized that in order for him to help out the people he wanted to help out the most, he had to play a â€Å"little dirty†. He was forced to bribe the state legislators in order to get his bills passed; he even went as far as blackmailing some in order to achieve his goals. Willie Stark exemplifies Machiavelli’s discourse, â€Å"to learn †¦ not to be good †¦and not use it, according to the necessity of the case†. He was vicious and ruthless at times to his enemies and then he befriended those who opposed him within the state legislator. He learned when it was appropriate to be good to people and when it was necessary to be bad to people according to each situation because he could not afford to unbalance one with the other since both were essential for being a great governor. Willie Stark was an opportunist because of power. As Machiavelli’s theory stated one must use the knowledge of when to be good and when to be bad, â€Å"according to the necessity of the case,† and when the situation presented itself, Willie was ready to follow accordingly. When the plan to build a hospital presented itself, Willie wanted to keep the hospital clean, he did not want politics involved with the hospital especially , corrupt contractors. That is why Willie did not want to give Gummy Larson, a corrupt contactor to build his hospital. In this case Willie became a bad man who turned on a man that was much like him. Both had been involved in dirty politics, but now Willie chose to be a bad man in order to keep his hospital free from corruption and politics. While dealing with this situation, Willie also chose to be a good man by trying to persuade Adam Stanton, a romantic and idealist to be the Director of his hospital, but when Adam refused the offer, Willie indirectly used incriminating information about his father, a former governor who was involved in a bribe and cover up, in order to convince him to accept the position. Ironically, Adam Stanton, the man Willie wanted to Direct his hospital ended up assassinating him. In return Willie’s men ended up killing Adam. Both were destined to kill each other since they were complete opposites, one was a man of ideas and the other was a man of fact. In the end, by the author of All the King’s Men adhering Willie’s life to Machiavelli theory of how a ruler should govern and obey by; Willie life was destined to become righteous and end up dying because of it. Willie wanted to help out the poor by building a school house, a hospital for the poor, and reworking the state’s tax structure in favor of the poor. But by the means he achieved these goals were wrong and bad which ultimately lead to his death. Even a man who wants to do good things, but uses bad methods ends up paying a harsh price for being bad while trying to do some good. In conclusion, Willie Stark was a character of good intentions who becomes tainted by the system. He was a human being who had dreams, a family he loved, and passions he yields to, among them a desire for power. The author, Warren shows Willie as a man torn between his visions of an ideal society and stark reality- what it takes in the real world to fulfill one’s dreams. Willie sacrifices his ideals for action. He is a man of stark fact, and he wants results. In the end, Willie reevaluates his life’s goals. But it is too late for change. Willie is not given a second chance. For Willie’s political activity is much like Machiavelli political activity which is like a game of chess with its rules, its proven gambits, and its successful strategies. The master player knows how to exploit the weaknesses and blunders of his opponents to maximum advantage. The goal is finding the best move, the move that wins. The qualities needed to win may be judged as vices by others, but, as Machiavelli puts it in The Prince, they are â€Å"the vices by which you are able to rule.† The crimes committed in order to preserve one’s country are â€Å"glorious crimes.† Willie essential would have believed, â€Å"a multitude is more easily governed by humanity and gentleness than by haughtiness and cruelty,† the point is that a wise ruler does whatever is necessary.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Popular Culture Essay Essay

Although there are some parts of popular culture that make it into high culture, popular culture is transient; it describes the way of life, attitudes, and passions of mostly younger people. These views usually change as they age and gain real life experience. This essay will cover culture, popular culture, three major trends in popular American culture and how popular American culture affects personal decision making. Culture is the united design of social understanding, faith, and conduct that hinges on the ability to search for knowledge and spread it to future generations. It is also the ordinary principles, collective customs, and measurable qualities of ethnic, religious, or a community. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2012) â€Å"The soul takes nothing with her to the next world but her education and her culture.† (Plato, 2012) Popular cultural is the understanding and actions of a particular set of people in a particular era. It is also television shows (like Reality TV) or marketable goods (like sagging pants, oversized shirts, hats designed to be worn backward, etc.) made for, or targeted at particular set of people. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2012) In this student’s opinion popular culture comes and goes and only defines an era not its people. Three major trends in today’s society are a digital society, sexual explicitness, and a general lack of personal responsibility. Americans live in a digital society that relies on technology more than personal relationships. We do a great deal of shopping and purchasing online and have become a society where the sexier it is the better. Almost everything on television, in magazines, and even our music have become permeated with sexual overtones and innuendos. Finally, we have a dilemma with the lack of personal responsibility in our country; recently there have been several lawsuits against fast food restaurants for making people fat. Americans need to accept responsibility for our own actions; it was not the fast food restaurants that made us fat, rather it was our decision to eat there that did. Popular American culture affects personal decision making various ways, whether it is the type of food we buy, the music we listen to, electronics we purchase, and even the people we date. In this student’s opinion the Internet is the single most influential popular culture influencer of our time. We use it for everything from dating, shopping, exploring, studying, traveling, relaxing, and so much more. Popular culture  affects us in almost every decision we make. Although there are some parts of popular culture that makes it into high culture, popular culture is transient. This essay covered culture, popular culture, three major trends in popular American culture and how popular American culture affects personal decision making. â€Å"Culture is made of everything that enables man to maintain, enhance or transform without weakening it, the ideal image of himself that it has inherited.† (Malraux, 2001) References Malraux, A. (2001, May 2). UCL – Discours recteur Marcel Crochet. Retrieved from http://sites.uclouvain.be/actualites/dhc2001/drecteur.html Oxford English Dictionary. (2012, June). Retrieved from http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/view/Entry/45746?rskey=BftxmA&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid Plato. (2012, June 4). Here, There, and Everywhere. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201206/whats-after-30-quotes-the-afterlife

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Free Essays on Poety Analysis

â€Å"They Couldn’t stand hating each other for more than 1 day.† This quote from a poem entitled After the Argument is one I believe many couples of today’s society could coincide with. Which brings me to realize the great power in which Love holds. One minute Love will bring two people together and another minute love will tear two people apart. The problem with love is the massive amount of emotion and commitment that has to be involved in making a proper relationship work. Since emotion is a thing no one has control over, it makes it easily possible for a person to hate the one they actually love. Falling in love appears to have grown more complex and problematic with the arrival of the sexual resolution. â€Å"And their sex was a knot untying itself, a prolonged coming loose† A prolonged coming loose? I take this as the couple’s only way to be expressive to each other was threw the act of sex. They used sex as a window to climb threw and pretend that all the emotions of hate, confusion, denial, betrayal, and elusion that couples are forced to face, have just vanished. Although these emotions have been tied into a knot, at anytime they are liable to come bursting out, for emotions are one thing they do not have control over. However which way a couple chooses to escape the harsh reality that comes with all the good things in a relationship, eventually it will just come back to bite them in the ass. For that is why a couple can not stand hating each other for more than one day. The elusion of perfection threw there choice of escape brings them back to that feeling of love. â€Å" She stood beside the bed, looking down at me as if she were dreaming, as if I were a dream.† â€Å" Then she spoke- she said my name- and I, who did not love her, opened my arms.† Now with this couple, I believe the reason in which they will be faced with a problematic and complex relationship is the fact that they are using sex for the elusion of love... Free Essays on Poety Analysis Free Essays on Poety Analysis â€Å"They Couldn’t stand hating each other for more than 1 day.† This quote from a poem entitled After the Argument is one I believe many couples of today’s society could coincide with. Which brings me to realize the great power in which Love holds. One minute Love will bring two people together and another minute love will tear two people apart. The problem with love is the massive amount of emotion and commitment that has to be involved in making a proper relationship work. Since emotion is a thing no one has control over, it makes it easily possible for a person to hate the one they actually love. Falling in love appears to have grown more complex and problematic with the arrival of the sexual resolution. â€Å"And their sex was a knot untying itself, a prolonged coming loose† A prolonged coming loose? I take this as the couple’s only way to be expressive to each other was threw the act of sex. They used sex as a window to climb threw and pretend that all the emotions of hate, confusion, denial, betrayal, and elusion that couples are forced to face, have just vanished. Although these emotions have been tied into a knot, at anytime they are liable to come bursting out, for emotions are one thing they do not have control over. However which way a couple chooses to escape the harsh reality that comes with all the good things in a relationship, eventually it will just come back to bite them in the ass. For that is why a couple can not stand hating each other for more than one day. The elusion of perfection threw there choice of escape brings them back to that feeling of love. â€Å" She stood beside the bed, looking down at me as if she were dreaming, as if I were a dream.† â€Å" Then she spoke- she said my name- and I, who did not love her, opened my arms.† Now with this couple, I believe the reason in which they will be faced with a problematic and complex relationship is the fact that they are using sex for the elusion of love...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Function and Development Questions on ACT Reading

Function and Development Questions on ACT Reading SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Function questions (also sometimes known as â€Å"meaning in context† questions) make up approximately 20% of all ACT Reading questions (based on my survey of four publicly available ACTs). The ACT Reading will also occasionally have "development" questions, which are sort of like larger-scale versions of function questions (they ask about the structure of the passage or passages). Both function and development questions require you to judge the effect of a phrase in a certain place (as opposed to little picture and vocab in context questions, which are just concerned with meaning). So how do you get asked function questions on the ACT, and what strategies can you use to answer them? Keep on reading to find out! feature image credit: The Thinker by Japanexperterna.se, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. What Are Function Questions? Function questions are those questions that ask you to describe what the effect is of a phrase, sentence, or paragraph in the context of a passage. The wording of function questions makes them seem as if they are asking â€Å"The author [wrote a thing] in order to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Figuring out the right answer to these questions can be problematic, because the way function questions are phrased often makes it seem as if they're asking â€Å"Why did the author do this thing?† Unless you're the author, your immediate reaction is probably going to be "How should I know? I'm no psychic!" (unless you are able to read the author's mind, in which case this test just got a whole lot different for you). A better way to answer function questions would be to rephrase them like this: â€Å"What effect does [this thing] have in the context of [the lines, paragraph, or passage]? Regardless of whether or not I am a psychic?† Another name sometimes used for these questions is â€Å"meaning in context,† which is fine†¦except that they’re not exactly asking about meaning. Rather than asking you what a particular phrase MEANS (which would be an inference question), function questions ask â€Å"what does [that phrase] DO† or â€Å"what is the effect of this meaning in context?† For example, let's make up a scenario where the public transportation in my town was basically shut down for two months due to massive amounts of snow, and just as the trains were starting up again on their normal schedule, there was another snowstorm, prompting me to sing (sarcastically) "It's the most wonderful time of the year." The MEANING of the words "most wonderful" in this context would be "worst" (as in "It's the worst time of the year"); the FUNCTION of the words "most wonderful" would be "to suggest that the speaker actually feels the opposite is true." Like primary purpose questions, function questions usually have answer choices in the form of â€Å"verb a noun† (as in "illustrate the narrator's frustration with the city infrastructure" or "convey the joy the narrator felt in the unseasonable snowfall"); the main difference between the two is that function questions ask about relatively small amounts of text (phrases or lines), rather than entire paragraphs (which are asked about with big picture questions). In fact, having a good understanding of the big picture/main point of a passage can often assist you in answering function questions. Take the following example: you're asked "The phraseâ€Å"live and die depending on her whimsy† primarily serves to..." If you know that the main point is, for instance, about desert life, you’re unlikely to assume the phraseâ€Å"live and die depending on her whimsy† illustrates that there is an insane and murderous empress ruling over every desert on Earth. Instead, it's far more likely that the function of the statement is to support the idea that in the desert, even a small change in the amount of rainfall can have drastic effects on desert life. Here are a few examples of the most common ways you’ll see function questions presented on the ACT (adapted from ACTual ACT questions): â€Å"The quotation by Finck and Cranor in lines 32–41 is used in this passage to support the idea that:† â€Å"The author uses the fourth paragraph (lines 27–33) primarily to:† â€Å"The main purpose of the second paragraph (lines 6–18) is to:† â€Å"The main function of lines 64–66 in terms of the eighth paragraph (lines 59–66) as a whole is to:† â€Å"It is reasonable to infer that the primary reason the author included the information in the eleventh paragraph (lines 59–64) is to:† â€Å"In relation to the first paragraph’s earlier description of the nightmare, the narrator’s comments in lines 10–13 primarily serve to:† Sidebar: Development Questions Development questions involve the same skill set as you use for function questions, but generally ask about larger chunks of text. Instead of asking â€Å"what does this paragraph DO,† development questions seems to ask â€Å"what happens in this paragraph?† In order to lower the possibility of interpretation (and more than one correct answer), ACT Reading usually frames development questions as being about the "author's approach. It's a little hard to explain what I mean in the abstract, so here’s an example: Which of the following best describes the author’s approach to presenting the story of the narrator’s discovery about himself? F. Revealing the narrator’s self-awareness about a trait through a blend of personal reflection and scenes from the narrator’s youth and adulthood G. Starting immediately with a statement of the discovery in the narrator’s voice and continuing with scenes that reveal how the discovery came about H. Describing the physical details of scenes and summarizing their significance in a concluding statement in the narrator’s voice J. Using dialogue in the midst of scenes fraught with tension to indicate what the narrator is experiencing internally For paragraphs, it's possible to ask about the function (you can ask â€Å"what’s the main function of this paragraph†), but it's more difficult to do this for entire passages without the questions turning into primary purpose questions. Development questions differ from primary purpose questions because they're not about authorial intent; instead, development questions are closer to the flip side of function questions. If the above example were a function question, rather than a development question, it might go something like this: The author describes the physical details of scenes and summarizes their significance in order to... A. Present the story of the narrator's self-discovery. Compare with answer choice H and the original question: Which of the following best describes the author’s approach to presenting the story of the narrator’s discovery about himself? H. Describing the physical details of scenes and summarizing their significance in a concluding statement in the narrator’s voice Here are other ways I've seen development questions asked on ACT Reading: â€Å"Which of the following best describes the structure of the passage?† â€Å"The narrator develops the third paragraph (lines 19–29) mainly through:† â€Å"In terms of developing the narrative, the last two paragraphs (lines 67–87) primarily serve to:† â€Å"In terms of the passage as a whole, one of the main functions of the third paragraph (lines 13–19) is to suggest that:† Strategies for Conquering ACT Reading Function Questions Some of the advice below works best for certain ways of approaching the passage, while other advice is useful for everyone, regardless of your passage reading strategy. In the end, you should mix and match strategies in a way that works for you - these are just suggestions to help get you started. Understand What The Question Is Really Asking For me, this is the key component needed to consistentIy answer function questions correctly. This isn't to say that you don't need to know what other ACT Reading questions are really asking, of course - it's more that function questions have the weirdest wording. Often, it seems like you need to read the mind of the author (or character) in order to answer these questions. I can understand why the ACT words the questions the way they do: questions that say â€Å"What does the mentioning of the two events listed in lines 77-79 do† are too open to interpretation, while questions like â€Å"The author uses the events listed in lines 77–79 primarily to" can only have one right answer. Understanding the motivation behind the wording doesn't make the wording any less confusing at first glance, though. So what's the best way to grapple with the wording of function questions? Learn to translate the questions into ones that are actually answerable (i.e. that don't require mind-reading abilities). Here's a sample function question: The author most likely includes the information in lines 53–57 to suggest: Wrong way to rephrase it: Why does the author include the information in lines 53-57? The answer to this question (unless you know the author and/or can read minds) will probably be along the lines of "Because it was his birthday? Because he felt like it? I have no idea." Right way to rephrase it: What does the information in lines 53-57 suggest/do? This is a question that can be answered (in this case, the information in lines 53-57 illustrates Armstrong’s highly developed skills.). Corollary: Answer In Your Own Words For most questions on ACT Reading, it's helpful to come up with the answer in your own words before you look at the answer choices. This strategy is particularly helpful with function questions because the answer choices for these questions tend to be complex, and so coming up with your own answer before looking at the answer choices can help prevent you from getting confused. True, your answer for â€Å"what best describes the transition the author presents in lines 80-84† will probably not be as nicely as the correct answer choice. However, the answer choice you come up with should only include relevant and accurate information, while the wrong answers may have irrelevant information or interpretations that â€Å"COULD be true, I guess." Why do the wrong answer choices include wrong or irrelevant information? Because this is one of the ways ACT Reading tries to trick you – the people writing the questions know that you’re used to trying to see things from multiple perspectives as part of school (which is ordinarily a good thing), when in fact there is only ONE right answer on the ACT. Figuring out the answer in your own words forst, then, makes it a lot easier to find that one correct answer. But how do you find the function of a phrase, line, or sentence in a passage in the first place? Question mark by the Italian voice, used under CC BY 2.0. Look For Context On ACT Reading, sometimes questions give you the specific lines where the information being asked about is located, which is nice (since the passages are so long). Alas, for function questions, the lines that the question gives you are not necessarily the only lines you’ll need to answer the question - sometimes, you just need more context. If you’re having trouble answering a function question, your best bet is to take a look at the sentences before and after the phrase/sentence/lines you’re given in the question and see if that helps make it clearer. On occasion, though, it may end up that you need even more context to answer a particular function question (like knowing the bigger picture/main point/perspective of the text/author). In these cases, if you don't already know that context and are having difficult answering the question, mark it and come back to it after you’ve answered the relevant big picture questions (questions about the paragraph/section the lines in question are in, or even questions about the whole passage). Answer Questions In The Order That Works For You This is a strategy that depends heavily on how you read the passage. You may also decide that this strategy works well for certain passage types better than others. For instance, you might be able to get away with looking at the questions first and skipping around Natural Science passages, but feel like you need to read Prose Fiction passages all the way through before you start answering questions. Basically, don't lock yourself into one way of doing things. That being said, if you read thoroughly first, then answer questions, I really recommend answering big picture questions first, then function and inference questions. It's better to answer questions about larger amounts of text while that text is still fresh in your mind, and starting out with big picture questions first might also give you information/context that is useful when it comes to answering the function questions. If you read quickly enough that you can read all the passages thoroughly and have still have plenty of time to answer the questions, just answering the questions in order is certainly a valid choice, because it lowers the chance that you'll accidentally fill in an answer in the wrong place or miss a question. Because there is so much text to get through on ACT Reading, however, I do not recommend the "read everything through" strategy (and yes, this is coming from someone who reads 60-100 pages/hour). If you start out by reading through all the questions, then going back to the passage, I recommend starting with little picture and vocab in context questions before getting to function questions. The answer to these more focused questions provide you with information about the author and topic being covered, which can assist you in answering function questions; if you do end up needing to know the big picture in order to answer a particular function question, you can always circle it and come back to it later. If you skim through first, then questions, then back to passage, it's best to answer both big and little picture questions before getting to function questions. Why? Well, unless the phrase, sentence, or lines being asked about were in part of the passage you read during your skim (at the beginning or end of a paragraph or passage), you probably didn’t read the necessary information during your skimming. If you're going to skim, you might as well make the most of it by answering questions that would be better served with a quick skim (questions about the passage as a whole and questions about specific details you might have mapped during your skimming). Eliminate Answers The fundamental rule for ACT Reading is that you must eliminate 3 wrong answers. For function questions, the answer choices are often complex, which can make eliminating just one answer choice seem daunting. After all, how can you figure out if the answer is right when there are so many parts of it to check? First of all, if you've successfully answered the question in your own words, you might not even have to worry about eliminating answers – only one answer choice should match yours. If it does turn out you need to eliminate answers, however, you're in luck - complicated answers are actually easier to eliminate, because if any part of the answer choice does not match with the passage, then you can cross it out. Example: Which of the following best describes the structure of the passage? A. A dialogue between two people in which both relate their dreams in an almost equal amount of detail B. An account of the narrator’s perspective on the woman revealed primarily through the narrator’s report of their conversations C. A character sketch of two people as related by a narrator who knows both of them and their thoughts D. A detailed narration of several of the narrator’s dreams accompanied by a description of the woman’s reactions to them Let's say you think the answer is probably B, an account of the narrator’s perspective on the woman revealed primarily through the narrator’s report of their conversations.In order for that to be true, it must pass the following obstacles: Is it an account of the narrator’s perspective? If not, ELIMINATE Is it about the narrator’s perspective of â€Å"the woman†? If not, ELIMINATE Is the information revealed primarily through the narrator’s report (or someone else’s)? If not, ELIMINATE Is the report of their conversations? If not, ELIMINATE As you can see, there are many chances for elimination as you consider the answer choices. For this question, the correct answer, B, passes this test: yes, it is an account of the narrator’s perspective on the woman, and it is revealed primarily through the narrator’s report, which is about their conversations. Function Questions: A Demonstration And now, before I leave you to your practice questions, a full breakdown of answering a function question on ACT Reading. First, the question: The main function of lines 64–66 in terms of the eighth paragraph (lines 59–66) as a whole is to: F. give a sense of proportion to the numbers provided earlier in the paragraph. G. point out the limitations of the evidence provided by the Iowa scientists. H. supplement the paragraph’ s description of the comets with additional details about their size and capacity. J. provide readers with a sense of how old the planet really is. Before I even take a look at the lines (and the paragraph) cited in the question, I’m going to rephrase this question in a way that is answerable: What effect do lines 64-66 have in the 8th paragraph? ...Well, that wasn’t as drastic a change as I expected. Oh well. Time to take a look at the paragraph! Based on their images, the Iowa scientists estimated 20 comets an hour- each about 30 feet or so across and carrying 100 tons of water- were bombarding the Earth. At that rate, they would produce water vapor that would add about an inch of water to the planet every 10,000 years, Frank concluded. That may not seem like much, but when talking about a planet billions of years old, it adds up. Out of this paragraph, here are lines 64-66 (since they don’t specify that you should begin at the beginning of the sentence, I’m including all of line 64 in all its glory): planet every 10,000 years, Frank concluded. That may not seem like much, but when talking about a planet billions of years old, it adds up. My first thoughts: So what do lines 64-66 say? Basically that while the information given doesn’t seem impressive on its own, it actually is when considered over a long period of time. What does that do in terms of the paragraph as a whole? Well, what does the paragraph look like without those lines? Based on their images, the Iowa scientists estimated 20 comets an hour- each about 30 feet or so across and carrying 100 tons of water- were bombarding the Earth. At that rate, they would produce water vapor that would add about an inch of water to the It’s basically just giving information about tiny comets hitting the Earth (with water). If you don’t have lines 64-66, you don’t get the sense that this creates a significant amount of water over time, so the function of those lines is to put the amount of water the comets could have brought to Earth into perspective, I guess. I’ve reworded the question to make it easier to answer and answered in my own words considering the context of the paragraph. Next: eliminating answers. The main function of lines 64–66 in terms of the eighth paragraph (lines 59–66) as a whole is to: F. give a sense of proportion to the numbers provided earlier in the paragraph. Yeah, that seems right – my answer was that those lines â€Å"put the amount of water the comets could have brought to Earth into perspective,† which matches up pretty well with that answer. Let’s just look over the rest of the answers to double check†¦ The main function of lines 64–66 in terms of the eighth paragraph (lines 59–66) as a whole is to: G. point out the limitations of the evidence provided by the Iowa scientists. No, no limitations are pointed out. In fact, lines 64-66 actually bring the information from the first part of the paragraph into a larger context. ELIMINATE. The main function of lines 64–66 in terms of the eighth paragraph (lines 59–66) as a whole is to: H. supplement the paragraph’s description of the comets with additional details about their size and capacity. Hmm†¦it has additional details, but it’s not about the size of the comets at all, so even if capacity is somewhat related (because of the amount of water they could add to the Earth) this answer must be ELIMINATED. The main function of lines 64–66 in terms of the eighth paragraph (lines 59–66) as a whole is to: J. provide readers with a sense of how old the planet really is. I mean, the age of the planet is sort of mentioned (billions of years old), but there’s nothing in lines 64-66 that provide â€Å"a sense of how old the planet really is.† I guess you could try to twist this answer so it works, except F already is a clear answer choice because this question is asking about the MAIN function. So even if A function is that you get a sense of how old the planet is, it’s not the main function. ELIMINATE. The correct answer is F. Comet activity, 21 June by European Space Agency, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. Function Questions: Your Turn To Practice! The following questions are all on the same passage, taken from an official (and currently public and free) ACT: 1. The main purpose of the last paragraph is to: A. reveal the enduring impact of Mr. Marsh’s lessons on the author. B. acknowledge that the author came to doubt some of Mr. Marsh’s teachings. C. describe a typical class as taught by Mr. Marsh. D. present a biographical sketch of Mr. Marsh. 2. The author mentions Melody Maker, the top 20, and articles about musicians primarily to suggest that his: A. early interest in music has remained with him to the present. B. time spent playing music should instead have been spent reading. C. fascination with pop music and musicians gave focus to his life for a time. D. commitment to study enabled him to perfect his drumming technique. 3. Viewed in the context of the passage, the statement in lines 55–56 is most likely intended to suggest that: A. schools should require students to take philosophy courses. B. students can become passionate when learning about science in school. C. schools need to keep searching for ways to tap into students’ deeply held interests. D. students should resolve to take school courses that interest them. 4. The author calls pen and paper â€Å"rudimentary tools† (line 80) as part of his argument that: F. the use of computers has made the use of pen and paper obsolete. G. students should become skilled with pen and paper before moving on to better tools. H. while writing with pen and paper can be pleasant, it can also be physically painful. I. although seemingly simple, pen and paper allow people to perform great feats. Answer key (scroll down when ready): 1. A 2. C 3. C 4. J In Conclusion Function questions on ACT Reading ask you â€Å"what effect does this [phrase, sentence, or series of lines] have, in context,† or, more simply put, â€Å"what does this [phrase, sentence, or series of lines] DO?† Development questions involve the reverse of function questions and ask "What is the structure of this passage/paragraph?" The most important part of answering function questions correctly is making sure you understand what the question is asking. Answer the question in your own words before looking at the ACT’s answer choices. If the lines cited in the question don't provide enough context, look to the surrounding sentences. Depending on your passage reading approach, you may wish to answer function questions after answering other types of questions first. Eliminate three wrong answers What’s Next? Want more practice with real ACT questions? Go to our guide and find links to free ACTs and information about what other official tests are out there. Interested in more ACT Reading skills articles like this one? We’ve got a whole series of articles that cover each ACT Reading skill - be sure to read my articles on main point, little picture, vocab in context, inference, and paired passage questions. Not sure how to finish all 40 questions on ACT Reading without running out of time? Learn about the three different ways to approach the passage on the ACT and figure out what works for you. Are these articles all very well and good, but you need more structured help to reach your ACT goal? Then why not try out our very own PrepScholar test prep platform FREE for five days? Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 23

Journal - Essay Example The members of the group try to help each other. If one person cannot do something, another person will try to do it. In return, the first person should try to find a way to do the second person’s task when he or she is available. This type is a 5.5 in Blake and Mouton’s Conflict Grid. We are able to maintain the peace among the group. However, our progress is very slow because each person needs to adjust to the schedule of the other person. So, a task is only finished when someone is free to do it. 4. My style of conflict management depends on the conflict. Sometimes I use collaboration. Other times I use competing and other times I use accommodating. I think one style of conflict management is not perfect in all types of conflict. The style I choose will depend on the people in the conflict and the goal to meet. I think sometimes I have to be firm and decide alone. In other situations, I have to get consider suggestions from my subordinates. In other situations, I have to adjust something while my subordinate also adjusts something so we can meet in the middle. 5. For our group, these factors helped the most: people will accept changes that have a part in planning and changes will be more readily accepted when people are involved in gathering the facts that indicate the need for change. These factors helped because the opinions of all the members were considered. 6. The most helpful of the Ten Commandments of Implementing Changes is Number 9: Communicate, involve people, and be honest. If everyone in the group knows about any changes, they can prepare for it. The least helpful is Number 6: Line up political sponsorship. I think this is not important in making changes. Also, political sponsorship cannot help if many people do not want change. 7. All the persons in my group are Early Majority. They do not accept change easily. I think it is because each person is busy with personal activities. They do not like tasks from

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Management principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management principles - Essay Example developed, it is important to underscore - for the benefit of the managers at MH company - that the global pharmaceutical market continues to grow despite the global financial downturn and that from 1998 to 2007, the global sales have more than doubled. (Griffin, p. 297) As the leader in the industry, there is a great demand for US pharmaceutical products and that international expansion is inevitable. As the business begins to grow, the international market for MH Pharmaceutical’s wheelchairs become more complex and diverse. The importance of a coherent strategy to address this challenge implemented by an equally capable international management division is pivotal to the success and growth of the company. One logical strategy in approaching international expansion is entering into a joint venture with local partners. The local partners could allow entry to a restricted market and at the same time draw on local expertise, capital and labor. This is particular helpful considering the fact that there are differences in the way countries use pharmaceutical products and differences in the regulation by the different governments. Social, cultural and political variables are all coming into play in specific locations for target operations. And so, operating with partners who are familiar with a country’s markets, suppliers, infrastructure, government regulations and customers is invaluable in the cost reduction and the speed and ease of setting up a local operation for marketing and sales. The disadvantage of this strategy is that it is time-consuming, with all the negotiations taking place. In addition, partnership may not also be viable MC company if it is concerned with the expenditures because setting up operations – marketing, sales and distribution - for this option can be costly. If the MH Company management rejects the previous strategy, then it could tap the wonders of technology to reach out to its target market across the globe. The increase of

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Taxonomy of Leadership Theories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Taxonomy of Leadership Theories - Assignment Example The leader should step in clarifying ambiguous tasks, giving employees some control and instilling cohesion and comradeship to a non-supportive team. Leaders choose an appropriate behavior or style. The alternatives of leader behaviors include directive, supportive, participative and achievement-based. They also motivate employees in order to enhance their success (Ross, 2010). Leader member exchange (LMX) theory explains that leaders consider their employees independently and not as a group. The quality of a leader’s relationship with different employees varies. This explains why a leader can relate well with some employees and poorly with others. The theory claims that leaders have in-group and out-group relationship with their employees. Employees included in a leader’s in-group are involved in decision-making and have more responsibilities and benefits (Quinn, 2008). In return, these employees invest more time, effort, and commitment. On the other hand, the formal limits of the employment contract govern the relationship between the leader and members of the out-group. The leader extends support and help to these members but only to the mandate of their duty. In return, members of out-groups carry out their duties but only to the required level. Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership theory explains that the details of specific tasks and the level of maturity of their employees is what should guide a leader’s style of leadership. Leaders’ level of emphasis on either task or relationship with employees varies with the goal they seek to achieve. The theory asserts that leaders use a telling style when instructing employees on what to and the way to do it (Shivers, 2000). Leaders sell their ideas to employees who have a lot of information on a topic of interest. Leaders adopt participatory leadership when they give more emphasis to relationship than to direction. Some instances call for leaders

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Success Of Ebay

The Success Of Ebay eBay.Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, online payment services, and online communication offerings to a diverse community of individuals and businesses in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: eBay Marketplace, Payments, and Communications.   The eBay Marketplaces segment provides infrastructure to enable online commerce in a variety of formats, including the traditional auction platform; and its other online platforms, such as Rent.com, Shopping.com and Marktplaats.nl. Its services include trust and safety programs; feedback forum; safe harbor program; eBay standard purchase protection program; customer support; tools and services; and My eBay, which permits users to receive a report of their eBay activity that includes bidding, selling, account balances, favourite categories, and recent feedback, as well as About Me, which provides users to create their own personal home page. The Payments segment delivers a product for small businesses, online merchants, and individuals that enables them to send and receive payments online. Its services include joining the network, verification of its PayPals account holders, withdrawing money, and trust and safety programs. The Communications segment enables voice over Internet protocol calls between Skype users, as well as provides connectivity to traditional fixed-line and mobile telephones. It offers its software in 23 languages. The company also offers online apartment rental services and comparison shopping resource service, as well as provides an Internet payment platform that allows merchants to authorize, process, and manage online payments. eBay, Inc. was founded by Pierre M. Omidyar in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.   What is eBays business strategy? How successful has it been? What are the problems that eBay is currently facing? The business strategy of eBay is to generate revenue from the fees and commissions associated with its charged to the site to exchange products. The revenue is generated by the people who use the eBay site. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay also collects revenue from direct advertising as well as from various service providers, such as PayPal that increase the ease and speed of eBay transactions ( The wikinvest, 2010). eBay also build on its existing strengths and increase its choice of customized shopping experiences and new monetization models. Properties such as eBay Express, ProStores, eBay Stores, and Shopping.com give eBay entry into the market for new, in-season products (The eBay Inc, Annual Report, 2009). eBays growth strategy focuses on expansion in geography and scope and on continuing innovation to enhance the variety and appeal of products on its sites. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay is now begun developing tools and services that promote e-commerce anywhere on the web. eBay is also having discussion with MySpace to allow eBay listing on MySpace pages. The eBay companys plan has been very successful by economies of scale of eBay due to its large supply of buyers and sellers (Kevin Dickson, 2009). Having a large number of active users as they do, they are able to protect themselves from new entrants to the industry. This retains their market share and provides them with a strong foundation for successful business. eBay is very successful, whereby the company has been profitable and had attracted more than 233 million users by 2006 It has operations in 32 countries. In 2005, eBay users listed 1.8 billion items in auctions. This caused about $50 billion dollars exchanging hands (Catherine Holahand 2007). One of the most successful parts of the company is that it is fully automated. This significantly reduces costs to eBay, keeping net income high. According to Danny Vogeley, 2005 states that, current problems that eBay facing now is based on analysts report that sales growth have dropped from 40 percent annually to 23 percent. New users are no longer joining the site at the same rate they used to join, and there are many of eBays top sellers arent concerned in adding voice calls to their sales models. eBay also has faced is a rising number of buyers who have been defrauded by sellers (Albert, Miriam R, 2002). Customer service is one more problem for eBay and it is mostly due to the size of the eBay company. eBay experiences basically two types of customers, sellers and buyers. Often the need of one customer is not the same as the need of the other (The eBay Inc, 2010). The next problems that eBay is currently facing are resistance by some of its top sellers to its operation of a VoIP service Skype, a aggressive threat to the online auction marketplace in Asia by Yahoo, and maintaining the honesty and integrity of its auction service in the face of tremendous growth and expansion (Jeffrey S, 2006). How is eBay trying to solve these problems? Are these good solutions? Are there any other solutions that eBay should consider? In order eBay to solve these problems, they are trying to improve its sites user experience to keep its loyal customer base happy. It is reducing the clutter of its web page design, especially the home page, which has been described as one of the most confusing and cluttered in the industry. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay is looking to improve product search result and give buyers more guidance in finding the product they are looking for without having to scour through hundreds or might be thousand of listing. eBay also increasingly focused on providing a traditional retail experience or small seller in order to have great income as a result (Nikole Cruise, 2009). The solutions is eBay try to include a great expansion. Growth rates have been hindered by the increase in seller fees, however, these loses have been covered by the expansion into other countries. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). Joseph. T. Sinclair (2007, pp.62) states that eBay has added extra measures of protection. For example, eBay will give extra protection to those buyers that purchase a vehicle on their sites. eBay has also entered into a number of relationships with major competitors such as Yahoo! and Google. Other than that, eBay is banking on PayPal to become the standard payment technique for online transaction (Evan Schwartz, 2001). This has allowed its eBays customers to buy and sell goods and receive payments easily. This has increased the user base of eBays customers. To remain in touch with its customers, eBay has started a program called Voices which brings buyers and sellers together 10 times a year at corporate headquarters (Josh Catone, 2008). This program allows users to talk to management and discuss what the users like and dislike about eBay and make suggestions. eBay has tried to build a channel of communication between customers (Charles  M.  Mayo, 2010) . It enables customers to discuss tips on how to sell and purchase items. It is also creating a component of the website where people can discuss items that people collect and trade. Using these ideas can help to decrease the number of fraudulent transactions. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay is now also looking to improve product search result and give buyers more guidance in finding the products they are looking for without having to scour through hundreds of listing. The solutions that eBay has come up with to resolve various problems seem to be effective. eBay believes that the most vital task of the company is to keep customers happy (Annalee Newitz, 2007). eBay is trying to maintain the selling capabilities of the merchants on eBay as well as the confidence of its customers. An extra solution that eBay have to consider includes helping to avoid fraudulent purchases (Tri Bros Broda, 2006). eBay could act as a mediator between the two parties. It could set rules stating that the purchaser must pay the amount of the item to eBay. Once the item has been sent to the purchaser, the payment will then be forwarded to the seller. What people, organization, and technology factors play a role in eBays response to its problems? People factors that play a role in eBays problems include the company employs and manage diverse kinds of people. The company employs around 15,500 employees. Whereby, the employees of the company have different background and each had different job experiences in the past. Such is done by the company because they believe that these people can give them a unbiased in organization (The eBay Inc, 1998). This makes the company flexible to different kinds of situation to this problem. The next People factor that plays a role in eBays problems is the employees at eBay are extremely well taken care of, and this is an area of pride for the company (Kevin Dickson, 2009). With out a large force of human capital eBay would not be able to function. The focus on employee satisfaction and attitudes is important to achieve the success of the company. People factors include recognizing that there are problems in the company and coming up with the solutions to the problems. People in eBay has to figure out how allocate its 8000 full time workers as eBay purchases new technologies and programs that will be used on the website and that will need support (The eBay Inc, 2010). People will have to talk to buyers and sellers to determine if the companys new services are satisfying the demands of the users. Organizational responsibilities factor play a role in the planning process because an organization is responsible for providing stakeholders with profit or value first and foremost. (Sarah Ganly, 2010). The benefit to the stakeholder to play a role in the decisions of the planning process because the ultimate goal of most businesses is to provide value Organization factors in eBay include having enough employees to carry out the changes to the company. It must be made sure that the organizations business strategy is customized to satisfy new and emerging demands (The eBay Inc, 2009). The organization also needs to have enough finances to fund the purchase of the new programs and services that it may use to respond to the problems (Catherine Holahan, 2007). Within the organization factors eBay has made many advances to aid in their growth. Three operating segments have been designed within the company to handle the commonly used marketplaces, along with the additions of payments and communications (Kevin Dickson, 2009). Marketplaces are made up through the use of eBay auction listings, fixed price listings, as well as the additions of their other online platforms, Half.com, Rent.com, Shopping.com and StubHub. In Technology factors include offered new innovations in the technological sector and introduced new concepts with regards to eBay site (Ina Steiner, 2010). Seeing as, technology rapidly changes the company makes sure they are updated to what is happening and they can adjust to these changes. The company makes sure that the products they have are updated with regards to technology and if new technologies emerge they can compete with these products. eBay summarized its ongoing site operations and underscored its success in scaling to process ever-growing global demand and rolling out advanced features and functions while lowering costs (The eBay Inc, 2001). The company also described its next generation software architecture, which is designed to increase productivity and trading speed as well as allow for greater flexibility in adding new businesses Technology factors include the element and programs that will be run by eBay such as PayPal, Half.com, Shopping.com and Skype. EBay will most likely have to also increase storage space to accommodate the new programs (Kevin Dickson, 2009). EBay will have to develop the technologies and have the programs written that will power eBays new Ad Context program that will compete with Googles Ad Sense program that runs contextual online ads based on keywords that are searched in the website. Will eBay be successful in the long run? Why or why not? Yes, eBay will be successful in the long run. eBay is the worlds largest online auction website (The Buzzle Online, 2010). eBay will stay successful as long as another e-commerce site does not start up that offers better security and seller/buyer service. Their business strategy has already proven to be extremely effective, and they are currently the dominant player in the online marketplace business. As the effort that eBay facing may limit its future growth and expansion, they should always be able to keep at least their current levels of business and resulting profit margins (The Channel Advisor, 2010). In the ways to make eBay to successful in long run, eBay will have to design ways of attracting new buyers to the website so that transactions can continue to take place (Jack Goldstein, 2009). eBay has been investing greatly in VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), but at the moment VOIP is not of necessity considered a mainstream service. This view has been supported in the work of Laudon (2009, pp.308-309). eBay needs to find ways of making this service more obtainable not just to its current users but to people in general. eBay can work with computer manufacturers and supply financial investment to have VOIP technology installed into computers. Beside this, eBay has a large market space spanning dozens of countries. This maintains a large base for customers to sell their products easily and effectively. eBay is trying to apply more interactivity with the purchase of Skype, so that customers and sellers can communicate two-way (Catherine Holahan, 2007). eBay provides a high level of price transparency, the simplicity to which customers can find out prices in a market (Philipp Maier, 2005). eBay has recognised that it is more profitable to work with competitors such as Yahoo! and Google. The ensuing that eBay now shows has generated a source of revenue. Conclusion eBay has always done very well in focusing its companys goals and has been fast in grabbing into opportunities. eBays business model demanded that their viewers needed to be many thousands of consumers, and there should be a balance between buyers and sellers. They actively worked balance the number of buyers with the number of sellers. Envisioning success, they designed their Web site to make it easy for many simultaneous buyers to find items to buy, and for sellers to offer items for sale. They provided sellers with a safe, reliable means to collect what they were owed, while also providing the buyer with a similar safe, reliable means to ensure that what they bought was just as the seller had represented it.   The eBay company should try to branch out to other business opportunities. The company can try to have a personal buying and selling business wherein a company has a visible branch that buys and sells different products and services. Customers who have known the company for a long time will be the first customers of the company in this effort. eBay gives a whole new meaning to the word middle man business. It does this by providing extra ordinary tools to sellers which, lets the seller target their products to the buyers. It also provides buyers with wonderful search tools, to get to the products they are looking for. eBay has made a very powerful platform for both sellers and buyers by being seamless and invisible but at the same time facilitating Customer to Customer relationship.