Impact of Facebook Essay

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of social networking. Specifically it will discuss the impact of the social networking site Facebook on today’s society. Facebook has become a phenomenon for the social networking set, and what makes that so amazing is that Facebook did not even exist until 2004. Three college students created it to allow other students to network and meet each other, and it has caught on with young people around the globe. What impact does Facebook have on today’s technologically advanced society? It allows people who probably never would have met each other in person to communicate, it creates new relationships and friendships, and it places distance between people who could communicate in person but instead choose to communicate online, instead. It is just another element of society that is interested in sharing information with the intimacy of a close, personal relationship. see more:social network and our young generation Facebook is nothing more than a medium for communication, and yet, it is so much more than that. At a glance, a user can learn everything from what gender a Facebook member is, to what religion they believe in, what school they attend, and their likes and dislikes, all with the click of a mouse. One writer notes how popular the site has become in a short time. She writes, â€Å"When Facebook launched in February 2004, American college students seized the opportunity to have a new social medium† (Lingg, 2008). Today, millions of new visitors join the site every year, and people find relatives, old friends, new friends, and much more as they surf the entries of neighbors, acquaintances, and classmates. While many believe Facebook is a new, trendy idea, it is actually based on a Victorian university tradition, the â€Å"Freshman Facebook,† that introduced the incoming class to students through their photographs. A researcher notes, â€Å"Like its relative the yearbook, th e Facebook is a photographic document created by a community for the purpose of visually defining community life† (Miller, 2007). Many colleges and universities still utilize the Facebook, and the web site’s creators based their name and idea on that old college tradition, they just updated it for a younger, hipper, techie audience. However, compared to other social networking sites, like My Space, Facebook is far less chaotic, busy, and difficult to understand. The pages are neat, easy to navigate, and offer the information in an uncluttered, neat site that is pleasant to look at. Facebook’s effect on today’s society is not difficult to distinguish. Of  course, Facebook’s success has spawned numerous other sites geared to specific age groups and demographics. Another writer notes, â€Å"There are social networking sites for musicians, for mountain climbers, and for particular political persuasions. And with each site, a new community emerges that presumably satisfies the community needs that the members of such a site are looking for† (Fabian, 2008). Facebook has changed the way people communicate, connect with each other, and meet, and all of that is done virtually now, instead of in person. Users can share photos, buy and sell items, and spend hours online communicating with friends and acquaintances. It has changed the way people connect and communicate, but its affect on society goes far deeper than that, and it says something about our virtual society. Experts estimate that many people now spend at least 50 percent of their waking time online (Fabian, 2008). For many, a large part of this time is spent in social networking sites like Facebook. People give up huge parts of their privacy when they post their feelings, interests, and ideas online, and society seems to be becoming much more open to this lack of privacy, in fact, the users of Facebook seem to relish it, adding very personal items to their profiles that anyone who becomes their friend can view. This seems to say that our society is much more open now, and much more open to posting intimate information online, but it also is rather anonymous in a way, because users never see, meet, or touch the person they communicate with, and so, even though they know intimate details, they do not really know the person at all. Writer Fabian continues, â€Å"Facebook and My Space are virtual experiences. People are free to be someone they aren’t. Peer review doesn’t exist. You don’t literally touch anyone–not even by a smile, to say nothing of a handshake. No one is accountable to anyone else. And so forth† (Fabian, 2008). Thus, Facebook is kind of a â€Å"fantasy land† where people can make up anything they want to command attention, they can live an alternative life if they choose, and no one is the wiser. The fact that people accept these profiles at face value, and choose people as friends based on these profiles says a lot about our society. For all our worries about information and identity theft, people are still seemingly naive when it comes to sites like Facebook, where they post intimate details with no thoughts to the consequences. Facebook opens up other questions about today’s society, too. These young people who spend so much time online  networking are not networking in person. Will they develop the social and interpers onal skills necessary to compete in their chosen careers when they spend so much time alone, networking? Do they understand the realities of everyday life, and how the â€Å"real† world works, so they can function and be a part of it? Many experts believe not so much. Another writer states, â€Å"And yet, as a generation, Rose notes, many may not have much historical perspective, or understand how say, government or economic systems work (outside of those who learn details as part of a specific academic path), or get the fact that success for most people isn’t instant† (Bielski, 2007). Society is becoming increasingly fast paced, today’s young people expect everything to be delivered at the speed of the Internet, and sites like Facebook only enhance that feeling of instant gratification and success. In addition, Facebook poses another interesting aspect of today’s society – marketing. Many companies are realizing they have a captive audience on Facebook that spends a great amount of time there, and so, they market their businesses on Facebook. The Canadian Royal Bank is just one business cultivating college students on the site, so it is changing the way advertisers market their products online, and even changing the age range of ads online, as well. As more companies reach out to college students and others on social networking sites, advertising in print and television media may reduce or disappear, because advertisers want the most bang for their buck, and much of that audience is now spending increasing amounts of time online. There is also another great implication to today’s society when the membership of My Space and Facebook are compared. A Blogger discusses a white paper a friend of his has written regarding how social status is quite segmented between the two sites. He writes, â€Å"Which posits that well-to-do, stable American teens with ‘good prospects’ end up on Facebook, while poor, queer, marginal and non-white teens end up on My Space (even in the military, grunts are on My Space and officers are on Facebook)† (Doctorow, 2009). The implications for this separation in today’s society is staggering. In a time when it seems that the anonymity of the Internet would foster more coming together and breaking down cultural barriers, it seems that is not the case and the implications for society are clear – Facebook is not fostering change and acceptance, it is still fostering class and societal barriers that keep people apart instead of bringing them together. In conclusion, Facebook on the surface is a socially acceptable networking site for college students and others to connect, share experiences, and meet old friends. It does say some disturbing things about how our society views privacy, personal information, and how our society is adjusting to the age of technology, and it brings into question what a generation of Facebookers will deal with the challenges of the real world in person, like career, family, and success. Facebook is a popular phenomenon that attracts millions of users each year, and allows people to post profiles, communicate with others, and even locate old friends. It is extremely popular with college students, but it is used my any number of people for a variety of reasons. It has some serious implications for our society. People on Facebook rarely meet or interact in person, so they do not develop good interpersonal skills. They spend so much time online, giving out extremely personal and sensitive information, they may not be aware of some of the important aspects of society, such as the government and economics that they will need to understand to become successful in their careers. We use the Internet so much now that some users may expect all of life to respond as quickly as online sites like Facebook, and they may have trouble dealing with the realities of a career that takes time to establish and gain success. In addition, Facebook and other networking sites are helping to build barriers to commonality in society, something extremely disturbing and with long-term effects.

The Granger Laws and the Granger Movement

The Granger Laws and the Granger Movement The Granger laws were a group of laws enacted by the legislature of the Midwestern U.S. states off Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois in the late 1860s and early 1870s after the American Civil War. Promoted by the Granger Movement organized by a group of farmers belonging to the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, the Granger Laws were intended to regulate rapidly rising transport and storage fees charged by railroads and grain elevator companies. As the source of extreme aggravation to the powerful railroad monopolies, the Granger Laws led to several important U.S. Supreme Court cases, highlighted by Munn v. Illinois and Wabash v. Illinois. The legacy of the Granger Movement remains alive today in the form of the National Grange organization.   The Granger movement, the Granger Laws, and the modern Grange stand as evidence of the great importance America’s leaders have historically placed on farming. â€Å"I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural.† – Thomas Jefferson Colonial Americans used word â€Å"grange† as they had in England to refer to a farmhouse and its associated outbuildings. The term itself comes from the Latin word for grain, grÄ num. In the British Isles, farmers were often referred to as â€Å"grangers.† The Granger Movement: The Grange is Born The Granger movement was a coalition of American farmers mainly in Midwestern and Southern states that worked to increase farming profits in the years following the American Civil War. The Civil War had not been kind to farmers. The few that had managed to buy land and machinery had gone deeply in debt to do so. Railroads, which had become regional monopolies, were privately owned and entirely unregulated. As a result, the railroads were free to charge farmers excessive fares to transport their crops to market. Vanishing income along with the human tragedies of the war among farming families had left much of American agriculture in a dismal state of disarray. In 1866, President Andrew Johnson sent U.S. Department of Agriculture official Oliver Hudson Kelley to assess the postwar condition of agriculture in the South. Shocked by what he found, Kelley in 1867 founded the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry; an organization he hoped would unite Southern and Northern farmers in a cooperative effort to modernize farming practices. In 1868, the nation’s first Grange, Grange No. 1, was founded in Fredonia, New York. While first established mainly for educational and social purposes, the local granges also served as political forums through which farmers protested the constantly increasing prices for transporting and storing their products. The granges succeeded in reducing some of their costs through the construction of cooperative regional crop storage facilities as well as grain elevators, silos, and mills. However, cutting transportation costs would require legislation regulating the massive railroad industry conglomerates; legislation that became known as the â€Å"Granger laws.† The Granger Laws Since the U.S. Congress would not enact federal antitrust laws until 1890, the Granger movement had to look to their state legislatures for relief from the pricing practices of the railroad and grain storage companies. In 1871, due largely to an intense lobbying effort organized by local granges, the state of Illinois enacted a law regulating railroads and grain storage companies by setting maximum rates they could charge farmers for their services. The states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa soon passed similar laws. Fearing a loss in profits and power, the railroads and grain storage companies challenged the Granger laws in court. The so-called â€Å"Granger cases† eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1877. The court’s decisions in these cases set legal precedents that would forever change U.S. business and industrial practices. Munn v. Illinois In 1877, Munn and Scott, a Chicago-based grain storage company, was found guilty of violating the Illinois Granger law. Munn and Scott appealed the conviction claiming the state’s Granger law was an unconstitutional seizure of its property without due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. After the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the Granger law, the case of Munn v. Illinois was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 7-2 decision written by Chief Justice Morrison Remick Waite, the Supreme Court ruled that businesses serving the public interest, such as those that store or transport food crops, could be regulated by the government. In his opinion, Justice Waite wrote that government regulation of private business is right and proper â€Å"when such regulation becomes necessary for the public good.† Through this ruling, the case of Munn v. Illinois set an important precedent that essentially created the foundation for the modern federal regulatory process. Wabash v. Illinois and the Interstate Commerce Act Almost a decade after Munn v. Illinois the Supreme Court would severely limit the rights of the states to control interstate commerce through its ruling in the 1886 case of Wabash, St. Louis Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois. In the so-called â€Å"Wabash Case,† the Supreme Court found Illinois’ Granger law as it applied to the railroads to be unconstitutional since it sought to control interstate commerce, a power reserved to the federal government by the Tenth Amendment. In response to the Wabash Case, Congress enacted the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. Under the act, the railroads became the first American industry subject to federal regulations and were required to inform the federal government of their rates. In addition, the act banned the railroads from charging different haul rates based on distance. To enforce the new regulations, the act also created the now-defunct Interstate Commerce Commission, the first independent government agency. Wisconsin’s Ill-Fated Potter Law Of all the Granger laws enacted, Wisconsin’s â€Å"Potter Law† was by far the most radical. While the Granger laws of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota assigned the regulation of railroad fares and grain storage prices to independent administrative commissions, Wisconsin’s Potter Law empowered the state legislature itself to set those prices. The law resulted in a state-sanctioned system of price fixing which allowed little if any profits for the railroads. Seeing no profits in doing so, the railroads stopped building new routes or extending existing tracks. The lack of railroad construction sent Wisconsin’s economy into a depression forcing the state legislature to repeal the Potter Law in 1867. The Modern Grange Today the National Grange remains an influential force in American agriculture and a vital element in community life. Now, as in 1867, the Grange advocates for the causes of farmers in areas including global free trade and domestic farm policy.   Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ According to its mission statement, the Grange works through fellowship, service, and legislation to provide individuals and families with opportunities to develop to their highest potential in order to build stronger communities and states, as well as a stronger nation.    Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Grange is a non-partisan organization that supports only policy and legislation, never political parties or individual candidates. While originally founded to serve  farmers and agricultural interests, the modern Grange advocates for a wide variety of issues, and its membership is open to anyone. â€Å"Members come from all over small towns, large cities, farmhouses, and penthouses,† states the Grange. With organizations in more than 2,100 communities in 36 states, local Grange Halls continue to serve as vital centers of rural life for many farming communities.

17 SAT Hacks to Help You Ace the Exam

17 SAT Hacks to Help You Ace the Exam SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Standardized tests have a reputation for presenting questions in formats that are tricky and confusing. Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to get past all that and take a shortcut to the correct answer? This article provides expert SAT hacks to help you solve SAT questions that might otherwise leave you stumped! Can You Actually â€Å"Hack† the SAT? Well, yes and no. Quick tidbits of advice like the ones in this articlecan prevent you from squandering your potential and teach you how to work with the test to earn the best score possible. However, you can’t rely on shortcuts to arrive at an excellent score if you’re missing knowledge that is critical for understanding essential aspects of the test. Be warned that these SAT hacks, though helpful,are no substitute for in-depth studying, especially if you struggle with the content at a fundamental level.If you think you need prep that addresses deeper weaknesses, you should check out our complete guide on how to study for the SAT. Overall SAT Hacks Here are some tricks you can use on any part of the SAT to help you get through the section and earn the most points possible. #1: Answer Every Question (No Matter What) The SAT doesn’t have a guessing penalty, so you should fill in an answer bubble for every question even if you have no clue what the correct response is.If you find yourself with a few questions left in the section and only 30 seconds on the clock, you should provide random answers for all of them.You never know if you’ll get lucky and answer one or two correctly, and even if you don’t, your score won’t be any lower than if you had left the questions blank. #2: Be Prepared for the Format Knowing what to expect is half the battle on the SAT.When you sit down to take the test, you want everything to look familiar so you can avoid mistakes triggered by stress. At the very least, you shouldreview the timing and structure of the exambefore test day.Taking practice tests with appropriate time constraints is the best thing you can do to alleviate confusion on this front. #3: Don’t Linger on Hard Questions Getting stuck on one question for too long can do serious damage to your performance on the SAT, especially considering the fact that there are only four sections.If you have no idea how to solve a math problem or can’t seem to settle on one choice for a writing or reading question, skip it and move on.You can come back to it after you make it through the rest of the section. #4: Practice Managing Anxiety Especially if you’re hoping to earn a really high score, coming across a problem that stumps you can kill your momentum on the test.To avoid this pitfall, you need to establish coping mechanisms to deal with these moments of doubt without letting them affect your overall performance. Mindfulness techniques are a great tool to have in your arsenal. Check out this article for more tips on how to reduce test anxiety! Imagine you're not taking the SAT. Instead, you're floating on a serene lake under a beautiful blue sky. You still have to stay awake, though. Seriously, don't fall asleep. SAT Reading Hacks Here are a few more SAT hacks that are specific to the content and format of the SAT Reading section. #5: Plan a Passage Reading Strategy Don’t jump into the test without deciding how you plan to approach passages on the Reading section.Are you more comfortable with skimming, or do you like to read the questions first and then go back and reference the passage to locate the answers? Complete apractice Reading section with appropriate time constraints so you can figure out what feels most comfortable for you and makes for the fewest struggles with time management. #6: Take Advantage of Find the Evidence Questions Find the evidence questions on the SAT are a gift because they help make the correct answers to the previous questions clearer.If none of the answer choices for a find the evidence question make sense in conjunction with your answer to the previous question, this should prompt you to double-check your reasoning.These questions remind you that you need to choose answers to Reading questions based on concrete statements made in the passage.If you made any unfounded assumptions, find the evidence questions will alert you to your mistakes. #7: Engage With the Content It’s much easier to get through the Reading section if you develop an interest in what the passages have to say.You’ll also retain more information from the passage when you move onto the questions. To get yourself interested, envision a scenario in which it's absolutely critical for you to remember what the passage says so you can explain it to other people. Imagine that you'll be presenting the information in the passage to another group of students after you finish reading it. "Notice anything different about me? Teehee" Denise, I accept that love is love, but you just met the SAT Reading section a week ago. YOU'VE BEEN HURT TOO MANY TIMES. SAT Writing Hacks These hacks will give you some insight into the way Writing questions work and how you can answer them more efficiently. #8: When in Doubt, Choose the Most Concise Answer The shortest answer is often the best answer on the Writing section because good writing consists of saying what needs to be said without any unnecessary fluff.Super wordy answers are usually not the ones you want.Of course, this doesn’t hold true for every single question, but it’s a solid rule of thumb if you’re stuck. #9: NO CHANGE Answers Are Just Like Other Choices Often, NO CHANGE answers are wrongfully viewed as more likely or less likely options than other answer choices in the Writing section. In fact, they’re just as likely to be correct as any of the alternative options. Don’t be afraid to pick NO CHANGE if you’ve double checked your reasoning and determined that it’s the correct choice. #10: Get Rid of Duplicate Answers Sometimes, questions on the Writing section will have answer choices that are so similar to one another that choosing one over the other wouldn’t make any functional difference in the sentence structure. Thismeans you can get rid of two choices in one fell swoop.If they’re essentially the same answers, then neither of them is unique enough to be the correct choice.Here's an example: In this case, C and D are functionally the same answers. They both indicate that the author is about to make a statement that goes against what was said in the previous sentence or sentences. Both C and D can be eliminated (the answer is NO CHANGE for this question). Sometimes answer options are just two halves of the same bad berry. This strawberry actually looks really good though. SAT Math Hacks The SAT has two Math sections, one taken without the use of a calculator and one taken with the use of a calculator.On both of these sections, you can use the following SAT hacksto improve your performance. #: Don’t Ignore Diagrams In many cases, the test will provide a diagram to help illustrate a math problem.These diagrams exist for your benefit, so make sure you pay attention to all the information they give you.Does your answer mesh with the way the diagram looks?If you’re asked to find a dimension of a shape, make sure the relative sizes make sense. Your final answer shouldn’t seem out of whack with what the diagram is telling you. #12: Know the Formulas Although the SAT does provide important formulas at the beginning of each of the Math sections, you’ll be a much more efficient test-taker if you have the formulas memorized.It's a waste of time to keep flipping back to the beginning of the section whenever you think you need a formula to solve a problem. For studying purposes, here'sa list of all the formulas you might need for the SAT Math section. #13: Underline Your Goal To keep yourself on track in the Math section, underline the value that you need to find (and circle it in the diagram if applicable).It's frustrating to confidently solve a math problem and later realize that you had to take your calculations one step further to actually get the answer the question wanted. In many cases, the wrong answers will be answers that you might get if you didn’t complete the solution process or solved for the incorrect quantity. #14: Plug in Answers If you have no idea how to solve a math problem, one way to get around that is just toplug in the answer choicesuntil you find the correct solution.This oftentakes longer than solving aproblem with algebra, but if you have time, it can be a useful strategy. Plugs, not drugs. This is probably a t-shirt by now, right? SAT Essay Hacks The essay is optional on the SAT, but many colleges still require it. Hereare some ways you can improve the quality of your essay with minimal effort. #15: Provide a Clear Thesis The essay graders are looking for an easy way to interpret your essay and understand the points you’re making.The best way to tap into this is to write a strong thesis that falls at the end of the introductory paragraph.Reread the central claim of the passage that’s described in the prompt, and transpose it into your thesis statement. Make sure you sketch out the structure of your essay in your thesis by listing three examples of major techniques the author uses to support his or her argument. #16: Write a Good Intro and Conclusion The introductory and concluding paragraphs are extremely important because graders typically pay the most attention to these parts of your essay.The introduction gives graders a preview of the quality of the rest of the essay and the way you’ll structure your ideas.It also contains your thesis, which is the most critical sentence in the entire essay and is what ties all of your points together. #17: Write More Than One Page Try to make your essay around two pages long.The graders don’t have a specific quota for the number of words they want to see, but they expect you to provide a response that fully addresses the most important components of the author’s argument.It’s almost impossible to do this if your response only takes up one page.Consider whether you’ve really explained what’s going on in the passage, and if necessary add more evidence to make your essay complete. Also, make sure your writing is legible. If you bring a quill to the test, expect some backlash. Conclusion: How to Hack the SAT "Hacking" the SAT is possible to an extent, but you need to understand the content fairly well before you can employ most of these tips successfully. To recap, here's a list of all the SAT hacks listed in the article organized by section: Overall Answer every question Be prepared for the format Don't linger on hard questions Learn to manage anxiety Reading Develop a passage reading strategy Use find the evidence questions to your advantage Engage with the content Writing Choose the most concise answer Remember that NO CHANGE answers are no more or less common than other options Eliminate duplicate answer options Math Don't ignore the diagrams Underline your goal Know the formulas Plug in answer options Essay Provide a clear thesis Write a strong introduction and conclusion Write at least two pages If you follow all these pieces of advice and combine them with in-depth studying, you'll be well on your way to an awesome score on the SAT! What's Next? If you think you need more structured guidance in your studying for the SAT, check out our list of the best prep books released this year. Khan Academy now provides free SAT prep services. Learn more abouthow it works and how to get the most out of these resources. There are also other ways to practice for the SAT online that you may not know about. Read all about the best websites to use for SAT prep! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

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

Disc - Essay Example 1 book (246), there is a gender bias that exists in virtually every aspect of science instruction This results in the under-representation of women in related industries, including education, which only serves to further the problem. Methods to overcome this issue must therefore be focused on removing the bias from the classroom, rather than attempting to eliminate a non-existent weakness among females. This is no easy task, as inequality has permeated practically all fields of science and math, requiring the evaluation of everything from the delivery of education to the validity of the information that is presented. Removing the gender bias in classroom science can (and should) be addressed in many ways. Including a feminist pedagogy to the instruction approach will help to identify problem areas that need to be altered, while ensuring equal considerations to famous females in the field provides a tactical approach. These methods should help all students by setting the example that they do not need to fit a particular stereotype in order to succeed in science and

Research Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Report - Essay Example There have been many incidents reported regarding the struggle of survivors and the lack of government attention on the matter. The lack of food, shelter, medication and capital to begin a new livelihood are the predominant reasons. This report on the cyclone will state scientific data and issues on the occurrence, The extent of damage to life and property , the details of the aid received, the response in terms of aid and statement and intervention of the globe and the Burmese government’s take on the disaster. The report will include valid data regarding the damage to life and the aid sent by the US and the UN countries , reports and news from various renowned papers across the world, and statements of officials, economists, governments , NGO’s and the victims themselves. Extent of damage1.1 : In the report â€Å" Seeking justice for Burma† the author professor Michael A. Newton stated : â€Å"On 2nd and 3rd May 2008 Tropical cyclone Nargis struck Burma battering the 209 kilometer per hour 130(mph) winds at 3.7 meter 12 foot storm surge. IT devastate most of Southern Burma especially the densely populated Irrawady (Ayyerawady) Delta, and the country’s most populous city Rangoon (Yangoon). The U.N estimated that the death toll from the cyclone could be â€Å"in the region of 1, 00,000 or even more† with 220,000 people believed missing. Both figures far surpassed the SPDC’s (State Peace development Council) tally which stands at 84530 dead and 53836 missing.†(Newton 4) The figures given by the professor are right as these were the same figures that were published by the USAID on July 9 2008 in Fact sheet no 24, for the fiscal year 2008. This manipulation or underreporting of numbers by the Government of Burma shows their unwillingness to accept responsibility or take blame for the lack of warning given to the people regarding the cyclone. US Aid 1.2 : The USAID report on

Communication case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication case study - Essay Example g the opinions and facts he got from different sources such as reading newspapers, magazines, and books in the library, he even interviewed some people who are really associated with the problem he was dealing with. But the part of saying â€Å" I don’t care who said that† came the problem arising. He was not able to present the information regarding that portion. He should reach them in a manner that is persuasive so that the audience can feel the essence of the message and information he is trying to impart. ]Scott should face the audience confidently and showing dependency and amazingly believing what he got from his sources, but in mentioning what the mayor said regarding the Mexican problem, that’s where the revolts of the people arise. He should not tell that to the people. Because such actions of telling bad things about other people is not good, most probably if you are to gossip that to the public. He must keep the name of the person clean. And he should stay innocent and acted just the mediator and the facilitator of the message. The message itself that will stimulate one’s ears to run their ideas and think logically about the situation. As a speaker, you should consider the feelings of the audience. Always consider them as reactors once you throw words from you. They will probably react on everything you will say. Evidences and statements you gathered will be your defense and source for answering their questions. In communication there is always a producer and a receiver and of course a channel. In here, Scott could be the producer or the channel, because the information came from him and so he uses his self to send the message to the audiences. The audience in Scott’s case reacted violently with what they heard was said by the mayor of the other city. That speaker’s should not say in front of the crowd offensive things. Due to this people around him gave their feedbacks. Scott and his colleagues have a direct connection, but he can easily

Harvard business publishing Essay Example for Free

Harvard business publishing Essay In mid-September of 2010, Emily Harris, vice president of New Heritage Doll Company’s production division, was weighing project proposals for the company’s upcoming capital budgeting meetings in October. Two proposals stood out based on their potential to strengthen the division’s innovative product lines and drive future growth. However, due to constraints on financial and managerial resources, Harris knew it was possible that the firm’s capital budgeting committee would decline to approve both projects. She also knew that New Heritage’s licensing and retail divisions would promote compelling projects of their own. Consequently, Harris had to be prepared to recommend one of her projects over the other. The Doll Industry Revenues in the U.S. toy and game industry totaled $42 billion in 2008 and were projected to increase by 4.6% per year to $52.5 billion by 2013. The market was divided into two broad segments: video games (48%) and traditional toys and games (52%). The second segment was further divided into infant/preschool toys (14.5%), dolls (14.1%), outdoor sports toys (12.3%), and other toys games (59.1%) including arts and crafts, plush toys, action figures, vehicles, and youth electronics. The U.S. market for toys and games was dominated by large global enterprises that enjoyed economies of scale in design, production, and distribution. Revenues were highly seasonal; the largest selling season in the United States coincided with the winter holiday period. Within the toy and game segment, U.S. retail sales of dolls totaled $3.1 billion in 2008 and were projected to grow by 3% per year to $3.6 billion by 2013. The doll category included large, soft, and mini dolls, as well as doll clothing and other accessories. The phenomenon of â€Å"age compression†Ã¢â‚¬â€ the tendency of younger children to acquire dolls that had traditionally been designed for older girls—reduced growth in the â€Å"baby-doll† sub-segment. Competition among doll producers was vigorous, as a small number of large producers targeted similar demographics and marketed their dolls through the same media. Lasting franchise value for a branded line of dolls was rare; the enormous success of Barbie ® dolls was an obvious exception. More recently and on a much smaller ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Timothy Luehrman and HBS MBA Heide Abelli prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. Th is case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting scale, New Heritage also had created a durable franchise for its line of heirloom dolls. But the popularity of most doll lines waned after a few years. New Heritage Dolls By 2009, New Heritage had grown to 450 employees and generated approximately $245 million of revenue1 and $27 million of operating profit from three divisions: production, retailing, and licensing. The production division, discussed further below, designed and produced dolls and doll accessories. The retailing division offered a unique â€Å"intergenerational experience† for grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, centered upon the character histories and storylines of the company’s dolls and delivered through an online website (42%), a mail-order paper catalog (33%), and a network of retail stores (25%). In fiscal 2009, the retailing division generated roughly $190 million of revenue and $4.8 million of operating profit. The licensing division was started in 1998, and represented the company’s newest and most profitable division. It sought to extend the New Heritage brand and capitalize on high levels of customer loyalty by selectively licensing the company’s doll characters and themes to a variety of media that reached the firm’s target demographic of toddler to pre-teen girls. In fiscal year 2009 the licensing division generated $24.5 million of revenue and $14.5 million in operating profit. New Heritage’s Production Division Production was New Heritage’s largest division as measured by total assets, and easily its most asset-intensive. Approximately 75% of the division’s sales were made to the company’s retailing division, with the remaining 25% comprising private label goods manufactured for other firms. Table 1 summarizes the division’s various sources of revenue and operating income. Table 1 Production Division Data: Revenue ($ millions) Operating Income ($ millions) New Heritage’s dolls and accessories were offered under distinct brands with different price points, targeting girls between the ages of 3 and 12 years. The company’s baby dolls were generally priced from $15–$30, and were offered to younger girls in earlier stages of development. These dolls typically came with a â€Å"birth certificate† and a short personal history. Dolls in the higher-end of this category incorporated technology that produced a limited amount of speech and motion. For the 1 The division revenue figures include approximately $95 million of internal sales within divisions which are eliminated when considering consolidated revenue for the company. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 The New Heritage Doll Company was founded in 1985 by Ingrid Beckwith, a retired psychologist specializing in child development and the grandmother of two young girls. Dr. Beckwith believed the dolls produced by the major toy companies did little to develop girls’ imagination or foster a positive self-image, so she created a line of dolls with unique storylines and wholesome themes. Dr. Beckwith’s dolls struck a chord among mothers and grandmothers who also rejected the dated, clichà ©d images portrayed by the popular dolls of the day. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 New Heritage outsourced much of its production to a select number of contract manufacturers in Asia. To ensure product quality and safety, the company maintained a fulltime staff to oversee material sourcing, production, and quality control on site at each of its manufacturing partners. Manufacturing activities that required precise tolerances or proprietary processes, along with all the creative elements (design and product prototyping, for example), were handled in-house at the company’s headquarters facilities in Sacramento, California. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Capital Budgeting at New Heritage New Heritage’s capital budgeting process retained some of the informality that characterized the company’s early years as an innovative startup. As the company grew, deliberate steps were taken to decentralize some of the project approval process and increase spending authority at the division level. However, large and/or strategic spending proposals were reviewed at the corporate level by a capital budgeting committee consisting of the CEO, CFO, COO, the controller, and the division presidents. The committee examined projects for consistency with New Heritage’s business strategy and sought to balance the needs and priorities of each division against practical financial and organizational constraints. The committee also sought to understand project interdependencies and the potential for a given investment to strengthen the whole company, not solely the division proposing it. New Heritage’s capital budget was set by the board of directors in consultation with top officers, who in turn sought input from each of the divisions. The capital and operating budgets were linked; historically, the capital budget comprised approximately 15% of the company’s EBITDA. The committee had limited discretion to expand or contract the budget, according to its view of the quality of the investment opportunities, competitive dynamics, and general industry conditions. Before being considered by the committee, projects were described, analyzed, and summarized in self-contained proposal documents prepared by each division. These contained business descriptions, at least five years of operating and cash flow forecasts, spending requirements by asset category, personnel requirements, calculations of standard investment metrics, and identification of key project risks and milestones. Financial Analyses Financial analysis began with operating forecasts developed with oversight from New Heritage operating managers. Revenue projections were derived from forecasts of future prices and volumes. Fixed and variable costs were estimated separately, by expense category. Forecasts of working capital requirements were likewise vetted by line managers, who paid particular attention to a project’s requirements for various types of inventory. Forecasts for fixed assets and related depreciation charges were developed in cooperation with analysts reporting to the controller. HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] $75–$150 price range, New Heritage produced a line of heirloom-quality dolls and accessories. These were designed to appeal to older girls and to convey a sense of cultural and family tradition among grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. The heirloom dolls had more elaborate accessories and personal histories. Finally, the company offered a line of high-end dolls based on fictional â€Å"celebrities,† each associated with a charitable cause and embracing more contemporary fashion trends. These dolls targeted girls in the so-called â€Å"tween† age range of 8–12 years, and also were priced from $75–$150. Like the heirloom dolls, celebrity dolls also came with more elaborate stories and accessories. 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting New Heritage assigned discount rates to projects according to a subjective assessment of each project’s risk. High-, medium-, and low-risk categories for each division were associated with a corresponding discount rate set by the capital budgeting committee in consultation with the corporate treasurer. Assessments of each project’s risk were made at the division level, but subject to review by the capital committee. Factors considered in the assessment of a project’s risk included, for example, whether it required new consumer acceptance or new technology, high levels of fixed costs and hence high breakeven production volumes, the sensitivity of price or volume to macroeconomic recession, the anticipated degree of price competition, and so forth. In 2010, â€Å"medium†-risk projects in the production division received a discount rate of 8.4%. High- and low-risk projects were assessed at 9.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Projects that created value indefinitely, given continuing investment, were treated as going concerns with a perpetual life. That is, NPV calculations included a terminal value computed as the value of a perpetuity growing at a constant rate. However, to preserve an element of conservatism, the capital committee generally insisted on relatively low perpetual growth rates – lower than New Heritage’s historical growth and lower than near-term growth forecasts for a given division. Investment Opportunities in the Production Division Emily Harris was focused on two of the production division’s most attractive current proposals. The first involved expanding the successful Match My Doll Clothing Line to include matching allseason clothing for tween girls and their favorite dolls. The second involved a new initiative, the Design Your Own Doll line, which employed web-based doll-design software to let users â€Å"customize† a doll’s features to the customer’s specifications. Match My Doll Clothing Line Expansion The Match My Doll Clothing line originally consisted of a few sets of matching doll and child clothing and accessories for warm weather. It quickly became successful after the daughters of a few celebrities were spotted and photographed wearing items from the line, and girls’ magazines included some of the line in â€Å"what’s hot to wear† sections. Given recent publicity, Marcy McAdams, the brand manager responsible for the line, believed the timing was perfect to expand. Specifically, McAdams proposed to create an â€Å"All Seasons Collection† of apparel and gear covering all four seasons of the year. She expected the new offerings to be at least as profitable as the existing line, since its current popularity would make it possible to maintain premium prices. She also hoped to take advantage of off-peak discounts offered by some suppliers and contract manufacturers as they tried to smooth their capacity utilization. In the same fashion, McAdams argued the expansion would help reduce, or at least not exacerbate, the seasonality in New Heritage’s sales and earnings. BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Operating projections for a given project were used to develop cash flow forecasts that would underpin calculations of net present value (NPV), internal rates of return (IRR), payback period, and other investment metrics. Cash flow forecasts were intended to capture the incremental effect of a proposed project on the firm’s cash flow for each year within the forecast period. That is, each project’s cash flow forecasts excluded non-cash items, such as depreciation charges, and nonincremental items such as sunk costs (i.e., costs that would be incurred regardless of whether a given project was undertaken or not). The cash flow forecasts were computed on an after-corporate-tax basis, but excluded all financing charges. Some elements of the cash flow forecasts were prepared with assistance from treasury analysts, but most of the necessary adjustments were well understood by division staff. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 To exploit the current popularity of the original Match My Doll Clothing line, especially given the fickle nature of children’s fashion trends, McAdams believed the opportunity had to be exploited without delay. Her investment proposal contained relatively large outlays for RD, market research, and marketing to maximize the probability of quick acceptance and longer-term success for the follow-on line. Upfront investment expenditures are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 Match My Doll Clothing Extension Outlays The RD and marketing expenditures would be deductible for tax purposes at New Heritage’s 40% corporate tax rate. The property, plant and equipment was expected to have a useful life of 10 years; the associated depreciation charges, shown in Exhibit 1, were based on the modified accelerated cost recovery system (â€Å"MACRS†) allowed by the IRS. Working capital requirements, shown in Table 2 for 2010 and in Exhibit 1 for subsequent years were based largely on recent historical experience with the original Match My Doll Clothing line. Finally, given the proven success of Match My Doll Clothing, Harris believed the project entailed moderate risk—that is, about the same degree of risk as the production division’s existing business as a whole. Design Your Own Doll This initiative targeted existing New Heritage customers, many of whom owned several of the company’s heirloom dolls. The company’s research showed that, when asked what features (e.g., appearance, ethnicity, â€Å"life story,† etc.) New Heritage should give to future dolls, loyal customers’ responses had a high correlation with their own personal data. That is, girls wanted dolls like themselves. Further research suggested that many loyal customers would purchase yet another doll if they could customize the doll’s features to create a â€Å"one-of-a-kind† addition to a girl’s or family’s existing collection of dolls. It also promised to increase the girl’s pride in and identification with the doll, both because of their shared features and because of the girl’s participation in creating the doll. This in turn further cemented customer loyalty. The customization process would begin with a new section of New Heritage’s website, where proprietary design software enabled the customer to select physical attributes of the doll such as hair color, hair length style, skin color, eye shape, eye color, and other facial features. The software could combine selected features and produce a photo-realistic image showing the finished doll with user-selected accessories. The customer could zoom in or out on the image and rotate it to see different aspects. The software made it easy to try out different combinations of features and accessories before making a purchase. Elizabeth Holtz, brand manager for heirloom dolls, was very excited about the project. She observed, â€Å"A girl’s relationship with her favorite doll is often partly mommy and partly big sister. Either way, having your doll look more like you is really powerful. And there’s excitement in the experience: exploring the website, naming the doll-to-be, selecting her first outfit†¦even the anticipation of waiting for the new doll to arrive. I really think this is big.† Holtz also believed that the dolls could command a premium price. â€Å"Customers will naturally expect to pay more [for a HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING | BRIEFCASES Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] Initial Expenditures ($ thousands) 4212 | New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting custom doll],† she said. Market research with focus groups revealed significant enthusiasm for the product concept and supported the notion of premium prices. The web-based software tools and order entry system required New Heritage to make significant modifications to its existing technology infrastructure, expand its webhosting capacity, and modify the terms of its third-party service agreements to ensure a higher level of service quality. The majority of the RD expenditures shown below were related to software development, hardware upgrades, and web design. The development time involved, including product testing, was expected to be approximately 12 months. Initial outlays, some of which occurred in 2010 and some in 2011 As with Match My Doll Clothing, the required RD and marketing costs would be tax deductible. Manufacturing equipment had to be ordered by the end of 2010 to be ready for production at the beginning of 2012. While New Heritage had the option to pay for custom equipment in quarterly installments, the firm could get a substantial discount by paying for the equipment up front, in 2010. Figures in Table 3 and Exhibit 2 reflect the discounted cost of the equipment. To support the forecasted level of sales, substantial investment in working capital (primarily work in process inventory of partially manufactured dolls) would be required beginning in 2011. And still more equipment would have to be purchased and installed no later than 2014. In years 2015 and following, investments in working capital and equipment would revert to patterns familiar from the production division’s traditional lines of dolls. To complete development work, Holtz planned to use some of the company’s existing IT staff. The majority of the work would take place during calendar 2011. The number of people and their fully loaded costs are shown Table 4. These costs were not included by Holtz in the initial outlays shown in Table 3 or in the forecasts presented in Exhibit 2. The development personnel Holtz needed were considered â€Å"corporate† resources and were almost certainly available to work on the project. Table 4 Design Your Own Doll Development Personnel, ($ 000s) Application Development Personnel Costs: Web Application Developers Database Manager Systems Integration Specialist Total Cost BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS PUBLISHING Purchased for use on the MSc Business Valuation, at Imperial College London. Taught by James Sefton, from 21-Aug-2013 to 31-Dec-2013. Order ref F211857. Usage permitted only within these parameters otherwise contact [emailprotected] However, even a limited degree of customization increased manufacturing complexity and expense. Further, because of the low production runs and volume, fixed costs on a per unit basis were expected to be relatively high. Consequently, the breakeven volume for the project was also expected to be high. New Heritage Doll Company: Capital Budgeting | 4212 Finally, Holtz needed to give Harris her assessment of the project’s riskiness. On the one hand, Design Your Own Doll had a relatively long payback period, introduced some untested elements into the manufacturing process, and depended on near-flawless operation of new customer-facing software and user interfaces. If the project stumbled for some reason, New Heritage risked damaging relationships with its best customers. On the other hand, the project had a relatively modest fixed cost ratio, and it played to the company’s key strength—creating a unique experience for its consumers. Educational material supplied by The Case Centre Copyright encoded A76HM-JUJ9K-PJMN9I Order reference F211857 Emily Harris still needed to complete her review and financial analysis of the two proposals. McAdams and Holtz were in frequent touch with Harris and both had offered to respond to any questions she might have about the proposals: the business case, the financial projections, the operating details, or anything else. Harris expected that she would indeed have some follow-up questions as she worked through her financial analyses. She also knew that her final recommendation might disappoint some executives within the division, who would scrutinize it closely. It had to be well-supported.