Art Final Flashcard

Art Final

Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) - Sociologist Profile

Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) - Sociologist Profile Best known for developing theories of deviance,  as well as the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and role model, Robert K. Merton is considered one of Americas most influential social scientists.  Robert K. Merton was born July 4, 1910 and died February 23, 2003. Early Life and Education Robert K. Merton was born Meyer R. Schkolnick in Philadelphia into a working class Eastern European Jewish Immigrant family. He changed his name at the age of 14 to Robert Merton, which evolved out of a teenage career as an amateur magician as he blended the names of famous magicians. Merton attended Temple College for undergraduate work and Harvard for graduate work, studying sociology at both and earning his doctorate degree in 1936. Career and Later Life Merton taught at Harvard until 1938 when he became professor and chairman of the Department of Sociology at Tulane University. In 1941 he joined the Columbia University faculty where he was named to the Universitys highest academic rank, University Professor, in 1974. In 1979 Merton retired from the University and became an adjunct faculty member at Rockefeller University and was also the first Foundation Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. He retired from teaching altogether in 1984. Merton received many awards and honors for his research. He was one of the first sociologists elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the first American sociologists to be elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1994, he was awarded the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the field and for having founding the sociology of science. He was the first sociologist to receive the award. Throughout his career, more than 20 universities awarded him honorary degrees, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Chicago as well as several universities abroad. He is also credited as the creator of the focus group research method. Merton was very passionate about the sociology of science and was interested in the interactions and importance between social and cultural structures and science. He carried out extensive research in the field, developing the Merton Thesis, which explained some of the causes of the Scientific Revolution. His other contributions to the field deeply shaped and helped developed fields such as the study of bureaucracy, deviance, communications, social psychology, social stratification, and social structure. Merton was also one of the pioneers of modern policy research, studying things such as housing projects, the use of social research by the ATT Corporation, and medical education. Among the notable concepts that Merton developed are unintended consequences, the reference group, role strain, manifest function,  role model, and self-fulfilling prophecy. Major Publications Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)The Sociology of Science (1973)Sociological Ambivalence (1976)On The Shoulders of Giants: A Shandean Postscript (1985)On Social Structure and Science References Calhoun, C. (2003). Robert K. Merton Remembered. asanet.org/footnotes/mar03/indextwo.html Johnson, A. (1995). The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers.

The components of cultural identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The components of cultural identity - Essay Example Their understanding of just how to make a behavioral change happen and maintain it in a sustainable way is impressive. Australian companies do understand the values that underlie beneath a values-based leadership." (Human resource magazine, 2009) One of the Australia’s biggest supermarket chains is Woolworth retailers. Woolworths possess dominant position in the groceries as well as consumer interest in electronics. Woolworths Limited came in to being in 1924, first store at imperial arcade. The company has the logo of â€Å"The Fresh Food People† and it is famous throughout Aussie as key slogan to represent companies’ strategy. On 22 August 2008, Woolworth re-launched its identity as a competitive stance for modern, safer and more likeable brand. Woolworth uses aggressive promotional strategy. Woolworth realizes the importance that promoting the product before its launch in the market. Promotion brings in handsome results and profits. Woolworth makes use of comp onents of culture identity to create and market its products and services. Paragraph # 1 As define by Jamson2007 in his book class differences often define groups of people sharing common values, behavior, attitudes. Though sources of wealth might differ, the rich often share values and behavior similar to others. Woolworth knows that its elite customers value quality above all. So depending upon the demands of its customers, Woolworth creates and markets its products. Woolworth knows that for better quality products the best quality raw materials have to be use. To ensure that its products are quality approved it imposes TQM (total quality management). For special Woolies- production lines the local clothing manufacturers have to separate Woolies production lines from others in their plant. This is for ensuring proper quality control procedures and quality demand requirements. Woolworth constructs its advertising strategy considering the target market. Woolworth target status-consc ious clientele who value their reputation above everything else and measure it in terms of quality at inconsiderate price ranges. For such quality valuing class, Woolworth ensures the strategy of even at a fraction of price gets double the quality.† Such strategy of offering double quality at each penny attracts the upper class clientele, who share common values and behavior and even attitudes. Jameson2007 further points out that the prestige of social class depends on family history, celebrity, or power. As a result, Woolworth tries its best to appeal new target markets using such means. For instance, Woolworth has tried attracting more affluent clientele by introducing new product lines associated with prominent designers or celebrities. A recent example of such is the new advertising campaign of Jupiter Drawing Room in The Cape Town. Woolworth â€Å"W† Collection ads featured well-known business clientele including Seeff Properties' Samuel Seeff, Sasol's Christine Ra mon and other well-known captains of the business industry all proudly sporting the Woolies "W" Collection. It is a great advertising strategy that is been use as a testimonial route because today customers from age groups tend to more inclined towards celebrities and their choices. Paragraph#2 Organizational strategy and decision-making often needs to account for cultural differences related to density or regional

Materials&Manufacturing Report (( car body pressing )) Essay

Materials&Manufacturing Report (( car body pressing )) - Essay Example Dies is used for press blanking to the section and is specific depending on the necessity of the shape of the panel required or if there is justification in the volume of production. Blanks may be sufficient for some panels, trapezoidal, rectangular, or slightly curved shapes to be produced by line or shearing machines. The oscillating shear is a development for use since it is more flexible for the blank preparation with a stroke rate of more than 100 per minute. The blanking line includes; de-coiler, coil handling, flattener or leveller, blanking press, feeder, and stacker for blanks. The function of a corrective leveller is for the removal of; These blanks which are tailored welded for the complex panels are primed through diverse linking processes including; spot welding, laser welding, and mash-seam welding that result into better strength material that is cost effective. Pieces similar or different in gauges or materials are welded together into a single blank before the stamping process. Dense or thin or different strength groupings also result in the reduction of weight. These tailored blanks may reduce the stack tolerance and improve the dimensional accuracy of the vehicle. The inner assembly’s dimensional accuracy of a conventional door covers tolerance in the width of the steel, and the tolerances associated with piercing, stamping, and spot welding reinforcements. The improvement of accuracy is achieved by the minimization if the reinforcements. The dimensional variation of hole location in door panels have been reduced with laser welding of blanks from +/- 0.5 to +/-0.075 mm. Spot welding or seam welding may be used but for a tailored blank, the laser welding blanks are used since they provide three advantages including; However, there is a greater demand of strict control of the butt-joint pressure, the edge quality, and other parameters of laser welding that includes; welding speed, power, beam alignment,

Document analysis Declaration of the Rights of Women, 1791 Assignment

Document analysis Declaration of the Rights of Women, 1791 - Assignment Example It shows what she had to undergo and it is a shame and betrayal for the country. b. We always have to remember this article talks about what happened in 1791, so they way that men think is different than today. The women being talked about in the article seem to be so poor and less empowered compared to the modern woman. As the writer said "Marriage is the tomb of trust and love." Women needed to have more rights in the marriages. At that time women, who were married were taken as a source of impunity while those who were unmarried had feeble inheritance rights. a. This article by Olympe de Gouges was written at a time when women were generally taken to be inferior to men. Men had total dominance over the women and it was the word of the men that ruled in all contexts. Even in the marriage life, men were seen to be powerful than the women. The men were the ones who dictated how the marriages went about. In this historical context, the property that was accumulated during the course of the marriage belonged to the men (Halsall para 4). It was the men who decided how the property was shared. Men determined who inherited what property. In an attempt to correct this Olympe de Goupe came up with women right declaration is order to be able to challenge the declaration of the rights of men. She wanted to push the idea that women were not inferior to men and whatever rights the men had, women were supposed to have the rights too. This, nonetheless, did not go well with the majority who believed that women were not equal to men. b. Olympe de Goupe also wanted to ensure that the marginalized women like the widows were given their rights. This is why she says that â€Å"I would like a law which would assist widows and young girls deceived by false promises of a man to whom they are attached to† (Halsall para 5). This, she say in an attempt to empower the women by advocating for their

Analysis Of Mercadonas Internationalizing Economics Essay

Analysis Of Mercadonas Internationalizing Economics Essay Mercadona is a 100 Spanish-owned Distribution Company within the supermarket segment. It is the largest chain of supermarkets in Spain. The executive President is Juan Roig. They have the SPB ´Ã‚ ´ policy, which means in Spanish Siempre Precios Bajos ´Ã‚ ´ (Always Low Prices). They are able to offer SPB because they buy their products directly from the sources, setting up long-term agreements with manufacturers. This Model is called `The Total Quality Model ´ (Mercadona, 2010). Recent research on retailers (Esade, 2011), shows that Mercadona is the leader in the ranking of house brands that are preferred by the customers. STATEMENT ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL PROFILE: Mercadona has establishments in many cities in Spain but has no presence overseas. In spite of the crisis, the profits of Mercadona are still growing, and they are strong enough to start internationalizing. Mercadona has increased its turnover an 8% up on the previous year and grew 4% in sales per floor area. It is possible to continue advancing and growing, even in the highly adverse times we are living in ´Ã‚ ´ (Juan Roig, Annual Report 2012). The process of internationalization of the leader supermarket network in Spain started a few years ago. Applying a strategy is very difficult and requires studies of the different target markets. Mercadona is a LSE (Large Scale Enterprises according to the EU definition) with more than 250 employees. LSEs characteristics (Sirkeci and Cawley 2012, p.5) are mainly risk-averse, focus on long-term opportunities, capacity to take advantages of economies of scales and scope and use advanced techniques for finding information. RATIONALE FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION: According to Svend Hollensen (2007, p.5), international expansion provides new and potentially more profitable markets; helps increase the firm ´s competitiveness; and facilitates access to new product ideas, manufacturing innovation and the latest technology. Mercadona is a mature and potentially global firm which capability to internationalize. It is prepared for globalization, basing in the nine strategic windows of Solberg (1997). (See appendix 2) ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS TARGET MARKETS: To decide the target market is important to consider the geographic the physic and the cultural distance (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977 cited in Hollense, S, 2007, p.244). According to the geographic distance, the nearest markets are Portugal, Morocco, Italy and France (Brief summary in appendix 3). Analyzing the physic distance, Italy is the nearest one because the culture is very similar. Portugal is also very similar, but is geographically so near than before or after, Mercadona will have presence there and it is not necessary to study the market. Analyzing Morocco is also very similar but the religion is different and this factor may difficult the expansion. France is discarded based on the physic distance and the competitive rivalry. We just have Italy, and according to Mercadona ´s characteristics this is the most interesting country (El Confidential, 2012), a very close country psychologically and geographically. The protectionist regulation could be avoided by acquiring a super market chain of the country. Mercadona has a group there, directed by Francisco Espert, which is managing purchases from suppliers and studying the characteristics of the local sector of distribution (Carlos Herranz, 2012). Mercadona is trying to find the best partner for the internationalization, maybe acquiring Esselunga ´Ã‚ ´ (A. Caparà ³s, 2006) which is very similar as Mercadona. But is so much similar that would be very difficult to change the present culture. (add other approaches to analyse the target markets) ANALYSIS OF THE CHOSEN TARGET MARKET- ITALY: Italian retail market has several key characteristics are for example highly fragmented and a limited international presence (see appendix 3). Recent research on Italy ´s Grocery (Euromonitor, 2012), grocery retailers had seen their sales increasing by 1% to 122à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ billion in 2011, although grocery retailing stores sales are expected to decline slightly over the forecast period. In spite of the financial crisis, Italy is maintaining as one of the biggest economies in the world and it is consider as a country with high standards for business, investments and trade. Mercadona, if internationalize in Italy, would be on the Northern Italy, in which the population is higher, most of the between 15 and 64 years old, that are the commonly customers in grocery. According to the political and legal factors, Italy has a stable government and nowadays they are removing several bottlenecks to facilitate bureaucratic burdens on citizens and SMEs. Finally, the technology in Italy is developed. Carrefour has self-scanning and self-payment machines, Esselunga was the first Italian supermarket chain in introducing online shopping and Coop uses ZBD ´s epaper. Mercadona will not have problems in introducing its technology in Italy. A deeply analysis of the economy, demography, politic and legal factors and technology is available in appendix 4. COMPETITORS ANALYSIS: If Mercadona decide to internationalize in Italy, It would have to compete with big retailers, like Carrefour and Auchan, and local leaders such as Coop, Conad, Esselunga y Selex. According to Graziella Ascenzi (Expansion, 2012), the Italian retailing market is very fragmented between small and big firms, with regional differences based not only in gastronomy traditions but also on households income. In the north of Italy (Target Market) there are many competitors for Mercadona. Detailed regional ´s competitors research and competitor ´s company descriptions are available in appendix 5. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS: Customers in Mercadona are known as the bosses ´Ã‚ ´ (Mercadona, 2011).Demand is driven by consumer income and demographic trends. In Italy consumers are being more interested in private labels and cut-price promotions. (Grocery Retailers in Italy, 2012). Italian consumers are moving away from expensive expenses and looking for discounted prices. This could be a competitive advantage for Mercadona, whose prices are low. Supermarket retailers have increased the private label range which helps Mercadona to introduce its house brands. Moreover, Mercadona ´s supermarkets have an average retail area of between 1300 and 1500 square meters (Mercadona, 2012), and as it is said in the research, hypermarkets with a selling space of 4,500 square meters appears to struggle to remain attractive and customers are moving towards those supermarkets bigger than 1,200 sp. meters which are often placed in more reachable areas. Here we could consider another advantage for Mercadona ´s strategy. More information is detailed in appendix 6. POTENTIAL POSITIONING: Mercadona has low prices (according to their policy SPB ´Ã‚ ´) and high quality. The main competitor in Italy (Esselunga) is situated very near so it could be more difficult for Mercadona to set up their business, but it is easier for them to face the situation with their `Total Quality Model ´. RECOMMENDATION: In my opinion, Mercadona should internationalize, starting in Italy with which Spain has very similar culture (Mediterranean Food, for example) and geographically is near too. According to a recent research in the Wall Street Journal (see appendix 7), it is strong enough to face the internationalization and the potential competitors that will have. A method could be buying a grocery retailer in the target market and learn of it before the establishment of their own brand. APPENDICES: APPENDIX 1: The company employs over 70,000 people, all of them with permanent contracts. Their goal is to satisfy the daily food , cleaning, hygiene and pet care needs of the more than 4.6 million households that do their grocery shopping at Mercadona every day ´Ã‚ ´. (Mercadona, 2012). It has establishments in 46 provinces in Spain in 15 Autonomous Communities and represents a 13.5% share of Spains total food retail space while contributing to the dynamics of the commercial environments in which they are located. The Total Quality model had been a success in terms of company growth and profitability, sustained by the success of Mercadona ´s high investments in employee training and satisfaction (Mercadona, 2010). SOURCE: adapted from Mercadona ´s Annual Report ´Ã‚ ´ (2011) Mercadona is also well-know because of the good quality of their house brands as for example Hacendado ´Ã‚ ´ that is used for food, Bosque Verde ´Ã‚ ´ used for cleaning products or Deliplus ´Ã‚ ´ for hygiene products. They buy products from a manufacturer and put their own name on the products. SOURCE: adapted from Mercadona ´s Annual Report ´Ã‚ ´ (2011) APPENDIX 2: Source: Adapted from Solberg (2007) Solberg (1997) discusses the conditions under which a company should `stay at home ´ or `strengthen the global position ´ as two extremes. (Hollensen, S, 2007). Mercadona is situated in the window number 6, mature according to the preparedness for internationalization (growth, profit and good basis for dominating the international markets) and potentially global according to the industry globalism (which is determinate by the international marketing environment). APPENDIX 3: The Italian retail market has several key characteristics. It is highly fragmented; The top 10 retailers have generated only 20% of retail sales in 2008 compared to 29% in Spain 43% in the UK. International retailers have a limited presence, although Carrefour, Auchan and Spar have all gained a place within the top 10.  Internet retailing is growing too, but has less presence than in other West European markets, accounting 2% of sales in 2008 in contrast to an average of 5% for the region as a whole (Euromonitor, 2009). Mercadona has a website in which you can buy your grocery and then that will be sent to your home. This could increase the internet retailing in Italy. Cuota+obj+Mercadona APPENDIX 4: ECONOMY: The Italy Economy is one of the most developed with a per capita GDP higher than the EU average (Economy Watch, 2010). Most of the Economy is based in the tourism; because it is the world ´s fifth most visited country in the world due to its history and culture. Because if the crisis the rate of unemployed has been on the rise in the past few years with levels of 8,4% (OCDE, 2010) with a labour force of 25,05 million (International Living, 2012). According with the World Bank, Italy has been categorizes as a country with high standards for business, investments and trade. In 2012, Italy ´s GDP was US$ 1.771,14 a bit lower than past years but it is remained one of the biggest economies in the world during the financial crisis. DEMOGRAPHY: Italy currently has the forth-largest population in the Europe Union and the 23rd-largest population worldwide (Demography in Italy, 2012). The highest density is in the Northern Italy. Milan is the most populated city in Italy with 7.4 million of citizens. About 69% of the population is between 15 and 64 years old (This range of years is the one that buy the most). 98,4% of the population is able either to read or to write. There are different religions, predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community. (Kmike, 2012) POLITICAL AND LEGAL FACTORS: Italy has been a democracy since the end of World War II. It is a republic in which the president is elected by popular vote. Italy has a  bicameral  legislature consisting of a 315-member Senate and a 630-member Chamber of Deputies. Taxation in Italy is quite a complicated issue because there are numerous taxes that each citizen has to pay. Moreover taxation is high, representing 43.3 percent of the GDP. However, the number and quality of the public services are some justification for high taxes, and measures to simplify the tax system have been introduced since 1998.  Income tax  accounts for 34.9 percent of total tax revenues, while  value-added tax  (VAT) contributes 35.4 percent. In addition, local governments  levy  other  indirect taxes. (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2010) For a long time, larger chains were discouraged by the difficulty of gaining planning permission for larger format stores, but this has become easier since the reduction of planning guidelines in 1998 (Euromonitor, 2009). The current administration has removed several regulatory bottlenecks to economic activity which could increase GDP growth by around 0.3%-0.4% per year over a decade, easing bureaucratic burdens on citizens and SMEs (OCDE, 2012). TECHNOLOGY: Mercadona does not skimp in technology and it was the retailer in Spain using the scan barcodes and it owns automated logistics warehouses just outside Madrid (Computers monitor deliveries from suppliers and organise shipments to stores). Mercadona also has online shopping available at their website. In Italy, competitors use technology too. For example, Carrefour has self-scanning and self-payment machines, Esselunga Sharpens its Pricing Strategy with Oracle ® Retail Planning Platform and it was also the first supermarket to introduce the online shopping (Oracle, 2012), and Coop has introduced de ZBD ´s epaper reflecting the technological style ´ of their shops (Retail Systems, 2010). APPENDIX 5: Mercadona ´s competitors are detailed here for the different parts of Northern Italy: In Lombardy, the market is dominated by Esselunga with a 27,7% of the market share, followed by Carrefour and Auchan (10%) andCoop (8%). In Veneto, Selex is the leader with a 33,3% of the share. Far away it is followed by Despar (10,9%) and Coop (9,5%). In Piedmont Carrefour is the first supermarket with a share of 20%, in second position is Coop (18,7%) and with a 12,6% of the share it is Selex. In Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Coop controlled the 27,9% of the grocery, followed by Despar (23,3%) and Selex (10,6%). In Trentino-Alto Adige Agorà ¡, Despar and Coop covered respectively a 31,4%, 24,5% and 22,3% of the share. Finally, in Valle d ´Aosta the C3 group owners a 39,7 per cent of the market followed by Carrefour with a 27,5% and Conad with a 17,1%. COOP: Their vision is Together to the top. It motivates them to do our very best in every way, each day. Their corporate profile expresses how they perceive their work: close, diverse, distinctive, innovative and partnership-oriented. (Coop, 2012) leitbild_pyramide-en ESSELUNGA: Esselunga is a leading Italian grocery store chain, with supermarkets and hypermarkets in northern Italy. The Italian grocery chain has long been rumoured to be a takeover target of foreign retailers because it operates in some of the richest regions in Italy. The company has been busy opening new stores and remodelling existing locations. Founded in 1957,  Esselunga is owned by Supermarkets Italiani S.p.A., and controlled by its  founder and Chairman Bernardo Caprotti and  family.  (Hoovers, 2012) CARREFOUR: Over the past 40 years, the Carrefour group has grown to become one of the worlds leading distribution groups. The worlds second-largest retailer and the largest in Europe, the group currently operates four grocery store formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets, cash carry and convenience stores. The Carrefour group currently has over 9,500 stores, either company-operated or franchises. Carrefour ´s three values are: Committed, Caring and Positive that bring them closer to their customers and consumers and reflect their personality. (Carrefour, 2012) In the figure they are briefly explained the five forces of the Porter Model that could be related with Mercadona. APPENDIX 6: In Mercadona, the customers are referred as The bosses ´Ã‚ ´. The Italian consumption has raised 1,6 percent year to patterns seen before 2007. But the spending is falling down (In 2008-2009 it decreased until 1999 levels) because of the recession. Spending less on vacations, food and clothing have brought overall spending to the levels seen in 1999. The Euro zone ´s third largest economy is recovering from its post-war recession. (Deepa, B. 2011)

Judicial Process of the Supreme Court Essay -- American Government, Su

Nature’s Judicial Process in the Supreme Court consists of decision-making; based on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court has the capability to decide all extended cases; it also has the power to ascend under the Constitution, which allows the Supreme Court its jurisdiction in the Judicial Branch of government. The Judicial Process interpret the laws that are established in the Supreme Court; thus, allowing the Court to exercise its power by shifting its system under the Constitutional laws of the United States. Throughout the Supreme Court, many cases have been rejected and are deposed of, but the Supreme Court approves only certain cases. Thus, the Supreme Court reconciles the issue of that specific case, which is then obtained and written by the Chief Justice of the Court as the final conclusion. Cases that are controversial result in great effect in the Supreme Court. For instance, Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 was one of the most controversial cases that the Supreme Court had to resolve; it violated the Equal Protection clause of the fourteenth Amendment. The case that violated an individual right was the case of Gideon vs. Wainwright in 1963, which violated the Sixth Amendment in a criminal case for the defendant. The case of Miranda vs. Arizona in 1966 is another controversial case that the Supreme Court had to base its judgment in order to have the individuals rights read to them due to the violation of the Fifth Amendment. Cases that are controversial have set many concerns throughout the judicial process of the Supreme Court; therefore, the progress of the people in the Judicial Branch was recognized to appreciate how far the Court has advanced and how superior in power the ... ...s considered to be encroachments to the Amendment and the Constitution. When Miranda was not told of his right to silence when asked by an officer, sparked the controversial case that convicted him of violating the Constitution even though the rights of Miranda was never read to him. Despite the fact of his rights, Miranda’s case is an issue that the Supreme Court has not faced yet. However, the case is controversial since one’s right is not informed, so in the Warren Court the affirmation of a criminal was to have his rights read despite being a criminal. If the obtainment of any items that are evident will be confiscated illegally since the right has not been addressed, so the evidence is not valid for the officer to obtain. During the time of the case, the decision was thought to cause more than controversy, but allowing criminals to set foot out of prison.