Civil War the Great Divide - 814 Words

The Great Divide The issue of slavery was discussed in many ways. People talked about the morality of the institution (or lack thereof), the economics of slavery, and the political issues that came about because of it. No matter how it was discussed, the North and South could not agree. Northerners thought Southerners were corrupting the soul of America, and Southerners thought Northerners were hypocrites. No matter which way they looked at slavery, the North and South had two antithetical views that could not coexist in the same country. The first issue that comes up when thinking about slavery is morality. Many Northerners were ignorant of what slavery really meant until escaped slaves moved north and told their stories—stories†¦show more content†¦The South also pitched the idea of the plantation as a happy home. When Jefferson Davis responded to the Emancipation Proclamation he called slaves â€Å"peaceful and contented laborers.† Slavery was an obsolete and antiquate d labor source. It provided cheap but inefficient labor and even though it was America’s biggest source of capital, it was holding America back. The North saw this much better than the South. Politicians had been arguing over slavery since the foundation of America (the 3/5 Compromise in the Constitution). When the cotton gin was invented, plantation owners started to buy more land in the territories in order to grow more cotton. There were two issues that slavery brought up the most: the balance of North/South power and expansion. Political debates were rarely about the actual slaves. Arguments over the expansion of slavery in new states resulted in compromises that solved nothing. Compromises like The Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 solved very little and made people on both sides angry. Northerners were especially startled by the Fugitive Slave Act from the Compromise of 1850. It said, â€Å"all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assistâ⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  People in the north could not believe that arresting a fugitive slave with out having a warrant was being a â€Å"good citizen.† They were insulted. The Compromise of 1850 also madeShow MoreRelatedEssay On American History714 Words   |  3 Pageswords, to reassure that they are the â€Å"right† side. It seems that our country, once embodying hope simply through its name, has grown a divide that even the Grand Canyon couldn’t hope to be compared to. However, this does not mean that the United States is falling apart, and all hope is to be lost in the noise. In fact, this country has a vast history of great divides, that at the time seemed cataclysmic, and in the end resulted in a stronger, more diverse nation. First and foremost, the United StatesRead MoreCauses Of The Civil War1740 Words   |  7 PagesThe Civil War was not an event that erupted overnight or something that no one had seen coming. It was a result of long stemming conflicts. â€Å"The road to civil war was complex and multi-faceted† (Wells, 1). These conflicts kept creating a divide amongst the states in the nation. The divide finally became so great, that the United States split into the Confederacy (South) and the Union (North), and fighting erupted. â€Å" â€Å"The Civil War,† Randall Jimerson observes, â€Å"became a total war involving the entireRead MoreThe Annexation Of Texas And The United States928 Words   |  4 Pagesfollowing the civil war not everyone shared the same views. Throughout the country, people had different thoughts on Texas, and what should be done with the new found territory. Whether it was people of the north looking to prevent another slave state from acquiring statehood, or slave owning people of the south trying to gain leverage in the House of Representatives, people had differing opinions on the topic of Texas. The debate over Texas acquiring statehood was representative of the divide betweenRead MoreOstracism And Discrimination953 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent skin color than them. One huge issue that contributes to the the nation being deeply divided is that discrimination still exists, with people holding opposing views simply because of their race. As shown in these texts, one way discrimination divides the nation is because it leads to ostracism and segregation. In the first few paragraphs of A Quilt of a Country, Quindlen describes how our nation is full of bigotry when she lists different forms of discrimination, â€Å"Slavery and sweatshops, the burningRead MoreThe Civil War Was A Devastating Time For The United States Of America883 Words   |  4 PagesThe Civil War was a devastating time for the United States of America. During this time the United States was divided. The Civil War was a four year long battle. It is known as one of the bloodiest battles ever fought. Consequently it was fought between people of the same country. We were divided between the North and the South. The cause of the Civil War was slavery. The North was against it and wanted slavery abolished. On the other hand the South did not want to part with slavery. Both the NorthRead MoreMany Connections Can Be Made Between The Jewish People932 Words   |  4 Pagessettled into their new home without civil problems up until the early 1700’s. For both, the Jewish people and Americans, Civil War struck their countries. In America, people divided to form the Union, and the Confederacy. They divided and fought for the institution of slavery. This War lasted from 1861 until 1865. The Union Army won the War, achieving their goal towards an anti-slavery United States. However, slavery did not just diminish because of the verdict of the War. Slavery did not completely stopRead MoreThe Spanish Civil War: A Microcosm of the Polarization of European Politics1566 Words   |  7 PagesTo what extent did the Spanish Civil War represent a microcosm of the polarization of European politics between the Right and the Left? The Spanish Civil War is the name given to the struggle between loyalist and nationalist Spain for dominance in which the nationalists won and suppressed the country for the following thirty nine years. However, because of the larger political climate that the Spanish Civil War occurred in, it is impossible to view the war as a phenomenon contained within oneRead MoreThe Battle Of The Civil War1575 Words   |  7 PagesThe Civil war may have been destined to occur and not avoided, as it was the deadliest war in American History. Even the great President Abraham Lincoln tried to avoid the war, but failed ultimately. An analysis of the events that led to the secession of the southern states and the start of the civil war revealed the differences between the North and South. The outcome of the states seceding is a pivotal moment in American History that showed the true divide and is one of the most important historicalRead MoreThe Main Cause Of The Breakup Of The Union1628 Words    |  7 Pagestensions, and political alignments. Combined, all of these conflicts, with slavery at the root, led to the conflicts in the nation that started the Civil War. The issue of slavery caused conflict regarding new territories, economic stratification, and political turmoil. All of these tensions served to divide the nation, North against South, to start the Civil War. Slavery, in itself, was the most predominant reason for the breakup of the Union. It fundamentally divided the Free northern states and theRead MoreShort Term and Long Term Causes of the Civil War Essay978 Words   |  4 Pagesmany long-term causes and short term causes that aided and pushed forward the impending Civil War. The short term causes, however, were the most effective because they happened quickly and completely divided the nation in half. The causes were not only rapid and influential, but they were also all the consequences of the prior, creating an exponential rampage of divergence which led the country straight to Civil War. These short term causes were (in order of first to following): The Kansas Nebraska Act

The Shack Essay - 2386 Words

The Shack The image of God can be interpreted many ways. Most envision Him as a Father Time figure that sits on a cloud thumbing his long, silver beard. Some view God as an uncompromising demiurge, while others choose to believe He is a loving deity with bountiful grace. While some consider the Holy Trinity one being, others believe it to be three separate entities. William P. Young, in his fictional novel, The Shack, takes a very different approach on his view of God. The author personifies the Holy Trinity in terms that very few have ever considered. In the formative years of William P. Young’s life, significant events occurred that shaped his presentation of God. The images portrayed in his book conflict with the belief of many†¦show more content†¦While there are many who denounce this book, even more endorse it and see it as a new way to visualize and relate to God. Roger E. Olson in his book, Finding God in the Shack says these words: The Shack is more than a re ligious novel; it is a true story. It’s not true in the sense that I believe the events described actually happened but in that the story basically fits human experience and what the Bible says. Like Jesus’ parables, such as the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, The Shack is teaching us something. (13) Young simply offers a different image of God. Anyone who understands basic Christian theology will see that Young’s depiction of the Trinity is not one to be taken literally. The Shack is by no means a book of systematic doctrine; it is a story meant to communicate a message about God. Jesus personified God in many of his parables. Luke 15:8-10 symbolizes God as an old woman looking for a lost coin. When the lady found her coin, she invited her neighbors to come and rejoice with her. â€Å"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents† (Thompson). The same logic is used by Young to communicate his personal interpretation of God. He goes out of his way to deny that his portrayal of God as three separate human beings is an accurate presentation ofShow MoreRelatedRadio Shack Report1652 Words   |  7 Pagesin RadioShack in the years2004-2006. As a group of consultants we aim to identify problems facing the comp any. Along with this we will provide solutions and recommendations to these problems based on our assessment. Introduction: Radio Shack is a consumer electronics goods and services retailer that operates about 4400 stores across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, the company also operates about 800 non-branded kiosks (small booths) from whichRead MoreThe Shack981 Words   |  4 PagesI recently read the book The Shack, the book is based on one man’s experience with God after the horrible and gruesome death of his daughter at the hands of a serial killer. The book tries to answer many questions regarding God and his existence some of the questions being the following: where is God in a world so full of tragedy, and does, he use pain and misfortune to change other people? Mack experiences three different forms of God, The Holy Trinity. They change and shape him into a person whoRead MoreThe Shack: Analysis855 Words   |  4 PagesA simple textual analysis of â€Å"The Shack† According to â€Å"The Shack†, William Paul Young had to confront the issue of theodicy; how a loving god could allow such overwhelming pain, suffering and evil in the world he created. The overall thesis of the book seems to states that forgiveness is desirable. Matthew 6:15 states clearly the requirements of forgiveness, â€Å"But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins†. Young takes the time to address forgiveness which will requireRead MoreThe Shack Review554 Words   |  2 Pages When I started to read The Shack by William P. Young, I was expecting a gory memoir of a child who was kidnaped and brutally murdered. But it is so much more. The book goes on to tell the story of Mackenzie Allen Philips, or Mack, who had a drunk for a father that regularly abused him. Over his childhood, he struggled in his relationship with God, which lead him down the path of the â€Å"Great Sadness† after his youngest daughter, Missy, was kidnapped. The so-called serial killer â€Å"Little Lady Killer†Read MoreThe Story The Shack 1462 Words   |  6 PagesChoices, There is Good and There is Evil The first time I read the novel â€Å"The Shack,† I immediately empathized with the main character. The story is about a little girl who was abducted from a camping site and found murdered. Its main story line follows the emotional roller coaster of her father, Mack. Not to give the entire story away, I will not discuss exactly what Mack experienced. However, losing his daughter filled him with so much pain and anger. Mack could not understand how this could happenRead MoreSummary Of The Shacks854 Words   |  4 Pages- Arrive in Florida with around a dozen shacks - Lee Coker and Amos Hicks - Eatonville (name of town) contains only 50 acres of land - Jody pays for 200 additional acres from Captain Eaton - Jody going to build store and a post office on his new 200 acres - Meets a man name Tony Taylor - Coker and Taylor are hired by Jody to build his store while the others search for new residents - Jody is named mayor - Jody buys a street lamp for town - Janie doesn’t like business of store. - She likes when peopleRead MoreThe Shack Character Analysis1716 Words   |  7 Pagesbut with faith, anything prudent and realistic is possible. Mackenzie in The Shack by William Young and the character in the poem â€Å"God, Where are You?† by Daniel Gilbreath illuminates what faith truly is. Through the difficult times these characters experience, faith is what brings tranquility and acceptance in their lives for the events that transpired. The theme of faith is existent or nonexistent in the novel The Shack and the poem â€Å"God, Where are you?† through the depression the characters feelRead MoreKozy Shack Essay1327 Words   |  6 Pages W4200 8-31-11 Business Case #1: Kozy Shack SWOT Analysis of Kozy Shack Strengths: * Fresh and natural products- Kozy Shack produce their products daily, ensuring freshness. They also use high quality ingredients with no preservatives, making their products all natural. This is important because Americans are becoming more and more health conscious. * Kozy Shack made a point to position their products in the market as nutritional, healthy, andRead MoreThe Shack, a Discussion of Symbolism1504 Words   |  7 Pages2/16/09 The Shack: A Discussion of Symbolism The Shack, written by William P. Young, tackles one man’s quest for faith and reassurance in God through several metaphors, parables and symbols. These symbols are used to compare the story religion itself; and from this comparison it is easier to grasp a deeper understanding. However, with this underlying symbolism, it’s possible to over analyze and disregard the fictitious nature of the book. Despite this, there are many symbols within The Shack that areRead MoreManagement Communications Essay2136 Words   |  9 PagesCASE 5-3 Radio Shack Corporation: You’ve Got Mail! The turn of events in Radio Shack’s organization is undoubtedly overwhelming and somewhat harsh; however, much of the madness could’ve been avoided with the help of a communications consultant. This company obviously needed someone to oversee the newsletters or announcements going out to employees. With a communications consultant in toe, he or she could have formulated a better plan, making the turnaround plan clear to all employees. The results

Talent Is Overrated Free Essays

Charles Bobb ALS 101 Professor Jeffrey Levine December 2, 2009 Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World- Class Performers from Everyone Else By. Geoff Colvin Senior Editor at Large, FORTUNE Talent Is Overrated† by Geoff Colvin is a motivating book that puts outstanding performance into view. It presents a solid case that great performance does not come primarily from innate talent, or even hard work, as is supposed by most people. We will write a custom essay sample on Talent Is Overrated or any similar topic only for you Order Now The realistic value of the book comes from the practical function of the thesis. In talking about world class figure skaters, he said that top skaters work on the jumps they are worst at, whereas average skaters work on those they are already good at. In his words, â€Å"Landing on your butt twenty thousand times is where great performance comes from. † Each of those hard landings is able to teach a lesson. Those who learn the lesson can move on to the next hard lesson. Those who don’t pay the price and learn the lesson never progress beyond it. In other words, hard work and dedication is necessary but not sufficient in itself for developing higher level performance at any endeavor. All great performers get that way by working long and hard, but hard work and long hours obviously don’t make people great. Many people work long and hard and stay mediocre. The meat of the book describes what the author calls deliberate practice, and presents supporting evidence in a convincing manner. It matters what kind of practice, not just how long and how much sweat is spilled. Supportive on definition of innate talent Before considering evidence for and against the talent account, we should be as clear as possible about what is meant by â€Å"talent†. In everyday life people are rarely precise about what they mean by this term: users do not specify what form an innate talent takes or how it might exert its influence. Certain pitfalls have to be avoided in settling on a definition of talent. A very restrictive definition could make it impossible for any conceivable evidence to demonstrate talent. For example, some people believe that talent is based on an inborn ability that makes it certain that its possessor will excel. This criterion is too strong. At the other extreme, it would be possible to make the definition of talent so vague that its existence is trivially ensured; talent might imply no more than that those who reach high levels of achievement differ biologically from others in some undefined way. Yet those who believe that innate talent exists also assume that early signs of it can be used to predict future success. 1) There are many reports of children acquiring impressive skills very early in life, in the apparent absence of opportunities for the kinds of learning experiences that would normally be considered necessary. (2) Certain relatively rare capacities which could have an innate basis (e. g. , â€Å"perfect† pitch perception) appear to emerge spontaneously in a few children and may increase the likelihood of their excelling in music. (3) Biological c orrelates of certain skills and abilities have been reported. 4) Some especially compelling data comes from the case histories of autistic, mentally handicapped people classified as â€Å"idiot’s savants. † Practice makes perfect The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call â€Å"deliberate practice. † Its activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition. For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers don’t get better. Hitting an eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day – that’s deliberate practice. Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, â€Å"Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends. Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields. In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged10, 000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000. It’s the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance. Tiger Woods is a textbook example of what the research shows. Because his father introduced him to golf at an extremely early age – 18 months – and encouraged him to practice intensively, Woods had racked up at least 15 years of practice by the time he became the youngest-ever winner of the U. S. Amateur Championship, at age 18. Also in line with the findings, he has never stopped trying to improve, devoting many hours a day to conditioning and practice, even remaking his swing twice because that’s what it took to get even better. The business side The evidence, scientific as well as anecdotal, seems overwhelmingly in favor of deliberate practice as the source of great performance. Just one problem: How do you practice business? Many elements of business, in fact, are directly practicable. Presenting, negotiating, delivering evaluations, and deciphering financial statements – you can practice them all. , they aren’t the essence of great managerial performance. That requires making judgments and decisions with imperfect information in an uncertain environment, interacting with people, seeking information – can you practice those things too? The first is going at any task with a new goal: Instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it. Report writing involves finding information, analyzing it and presenting it – each an improbable skill. Chairing a board meeting requires understanding the company’s strategy in the deepest way, forming a coherent view of coming market changes and setting a tone for the discussion. Anything that anyone does at work, from the most basic task to the most exalted, is an improbable skill. Why? For most people, work is hard enough without pushing even harder. Those extra steps are so difficult and painful they almost never get done. That’s the way it must be. If great performance were easy, it wouldn’t be rare. Which leads to possibly the deepest question about greatness? While experts understand an enormous amount about the behavior that produces great performance, they understand very little about where that behavior comes from. The authors of one study conclude, â€Å"We still do not know which factors encourage individuals to engage in deliberate practice. † Or as University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy puts it after 30 years of working with managers, â€Å"Some people are much more motivated than others, and that’s the existential question I cannot answer – why. The critical reality is that we are not hostage to some naturally granted level of talent. We can make ourselves what we will. Strangely, that idea is not popular. People hate abandoning the notion that they would coast to fame and riches if they found their talent. But that view is tragically constraining, because when they hit life’s inevitable bumps in the road, they conclude that they just aren’t gifted and give up. Maybe we can’t expect most people to achieve greatness. It’s just too demanding. But the striking, liberating news is that greatness isn’t reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone. A Mnemonic System for Digit Span: One Year Later. (2002) | * Chase, William G. , * Ericsson, K. Anders| Abstract| With 18 months of practice on the digit-span task, a single subject has shown a steady improvement from 7 digits to 70 digits, and there is no evidence that performance will approach an asymptote. Continuous improvement in performance is accompanied by refinements in the subject’s mnemonic system and hierarchical organization of his retrieval system. (Author). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, (20th), Phoenix, AZ, 8-10 Nov 79. | Talent without deliberate practice is latent† and agrees with Darrell Royal that â€Å"potential† means â€Å"you ain’t done it yet. † In other words, there would be no great performances in any field (e. g. business, theatre, dance, symphonic music, athletics, science, mathematics, entertainment, exploration) without those who have, through deliberate practice developed the requisite abilities Colvin duly acknowledges that deliberate practice â€Å"is a large concept, nd to say that it explains everything would be simplistic and reductive. † Colvin goes on to say, â€Å"Critical questions immediately present themselves: What exactly needs to be practiced? Precisely how? Which specific skills or other assets must be acquired? The research has revealed answers that generalize quite well across a wide range of fields. Talent is overrated if it is perceived to be the most important factor. It isn’t. In fact, talent does not exist unless and until it is developed†¦ nd the only way to develop it is (you guessed it) with deliberate practice. Colvin commits sufficient attention to identifying the core components of great performance but focuses most of his narrative to explaining how almost anyone can improve her or his own performance. He reveals himself to be both an empiricist as he shares what he has observed and experienced and a pragmatist who is curious to know what works, what doesn’t, and why. I also appreciate Colvin’s repudiation of the most common misconceptions about the various dimensions of talent. For example, that â€Å"is innate; you’re born with it, and if you’re not born with it, you can’t acquire it. † Many people still believe that Mozart was born with so much talent that he required very little (if any) development. In fact, according to Alex Ross, â€Å"Mozart became Mozart by working furiously hard† as did all others discussed, including Jack Welch, David Ogilvy, Warren Buffett, Robert Rubin, Jerry Rice, Chris Rock, and Benjamin Franklin. Some were prodigies but most were late-bloomers and each followed a significantly different process of development. About all they shared in common is their commitment to continuous self-improvement through deliberate practice. Colvin provides a wealth of research-driven information that he has rigorously examined and he also draws upon his own extensive and direct experience with all manner of organizations and their C-level executives. Throughout his narrative, with great skill, he sustains a personal rapport with his reader. It is therefore appropriate that, in the final chapter, he invokes direct address and poses a series of questions. What would cause you to do the enormous work necessary to be a top-performing CEO, Wall Street trader, jazz, pianist, courtroom lawyer, or anything else? Would anything? The answer depends on your answers to two basic questions: What do you really want? And what do you really believe? What you want – really want – is fundamental because deliberate practice is a heavy investment. † Corbin has provided all the evidence anyone needs to answer t hose two questions that, in fact, serve as a challenge. It occurs to me that, however different they may be in almost all other respects, athletes such as Cynthia Cooper, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Lorena Ochoa, Candace Parker, Michael Phelps, Vijay Singh, and Tiger Woods â€Å"make it look so easy† in competition because their preparation is so focused, rigorous, and thorough. Obviously, they do not win every game, match, tournament, etc. Colvin’s point (and I agree) is that all great performers â€Å"make it look so easy† because of their commitment to deliberate practice, often for several years before their first victory. In fact, Colvin cites a â€Å"ten-year rule† widely endorsed in chess circles (attributed to Herbert Simon and William Chase) that â€Å"no one seemed to reach the top ranks of chess players without a decade or so of intensive study, and some required much more time. † The same could also be said of â€Å"overnight sensations† who struggled for years to prepare for their â€Å"big break† on Broadway or in Hollywood. | The book adds a few paragraphs or two to the Jack Welch entry in the annals of business history. Neutron Jack† kept people from getting too comfortable, once explaining that it wasn’t 100,000 General Electric (GE) employees he eliminated, it was 100,000 GE positions. His radioactive personality aside, Welch had remarkable success grooming top corporate leaders. The equity value of companies run by Welch’s proteges – including GE, 3M, Home Depot and Honeywell – may well exceed some national budgets, so it is i nteresting to learn what qualities Welch encouraged as a mentor. Welch’s â€Å"4E’s† of leadership help explain how he generated so much value over the years for his grateful shareholders. Krames extracts leadership ideas from Welch’s track record and makes them quick and handy. Although the book is more useful than original, we find that the articulation of the 4E’s, and the profiles of Welch’s proteges make it a solid addition to any business library. Colvin leaves no doubt that by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better†¦ and that includes his reader. This reader is now convinced that talent is a process that â€Å"grows,† not a pre-determined set of skills. Also, that deliberates practice â€Å"hurts but it works. † Long ago, Henry Ford said, â€Å"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right. † It would be â€Å"tragically constraining,† Colvin asserts, for anyone to lack sufficient self-confidence because â€Å"what the evidence shouts most loudly is striking, liberating news: That great performance is not reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone. â€Å" How to cite Talent Is Overrated, Papers

Total Quality Management in Education System

Question: Discuss about the Total Quality Management in Education System. Answer: Introduction Managing people is an essential skill that needs to be taken up by any business organization in order to manage the employees effectively. Team and teamwork plays an important role in any business organization. However, working in team does not necessarily highlight the fact that there is teamwork, within the team. This assignment highlights the discussion in the article by Callaghan and Thompson (2004), that focuses on the call centre industry. The report describes how call centres work in teams, yet without much teamwork. The issues that might be faced by the organization, in management of people due to the lack of teamwork in call centres have also been discussed in this assignment. Discuss how the organisation of call centre work into teams does not necessarily mean there will be teamwork. Working in teams is an integral part of any business organization. This facilitates the work, along with enhancing the productivity of the employees (Chicu et al. 2016). Working in team and assisting the teammates helps in improving the quality of work in the organization as well. However, working in teams does not necessarily mean that there is teamwork within the team and among the members. Call centres are an important industry in UK and Australia. This is an environment in which the people work in team, but the task is based on individual capabilities and skills, with very less scope of teamwork (Crowley et al. 2014). The work in a call centre is mainly technology based with interaction with the clients and customers using information communication and technology (ICT) systems (Van den Broek et al. 2004). The employees have individual systems with computers and required ICT supports such that they are able to communicate and work with the clients (Ebrahim 2015). A team is perceived as a collection of 10-12 members, working towards achievement of the same goal, and having dependencies on each other (Goebel et al. 2015). The team members have a common working time as well as a common working strategy, and each members has to abide by the agreed upon ways of working. Moreover, in context of teamwork, the efforts of each of the members assist in achievement of a single goal (Crowley et al. 2014). However, while considering call centres, the employees work in different shifts and in weekly rotation basis. Members of the same team have working hours flexibility and in different shifts. Moreover, each individual employee has a specific goal to achieve with the skill that the particular employees posses. Thus, a call centre has very limited opportunity of teamwork. As contradicted by (Van den Broek et al. 2004), the view presented above might not be always true. There is much scope of teamwork in call centres for development and training. While the training needs of each of the employees are identified, teamwork and assistance among each other might result in enhancement of the skills of the employees (Van den Broek et al. 2004). Moreover, there is much scope for exchange and sharing of information among the employees, regarding the issues faced by the customers. Moreover, while one of the employees has faced similar situation, assistance might be sought from that employee, to deal with similar situations in a better way. Moreover, as argued by (Hopper et al.2014), there is scope of discussion and assistance among the employees regarding the use of a particular technology, thus enhancing teamwork among the call centre employees. As argued by (Chicu et al. 2016), call centres mainly present a wide scope of individual work and a similar kind of work is done every day, by the employees. This routine work among the employees reduces the scope of teamwork (Crowley et al. 2014). While considering a banking sector call centres, some of the employees deal with the customers transactions and balance, while others deal with problems and issues that the customers face (Hu and Liden 2015). However, the employees who deal with the account deals and the one dealing with the customer complaints are fixed. Thus, their work is largely a routine work with least scope of variety and teamwork. Even if the employees exchange information, it is of least importance to the other employee of a different domain. Thus, the scope of teamwork is reduced. Another reason why working in teams does not necessarily mean teamwork in case of call centres is the dependency on the ICT. The information and communication systems of the call centres are the major assistants to the employees. All queries are answered by the extensive use if ICT itself. Moreover, the ICT systems usually stresses upon self-service by providing help options and menus (Crowley et al. 2014). Thus, even if a call centre employee needs assistance, the employee prefers referring to the computer and Internet systems rather than taking assistance from the teammates. Thus, reducing the scope of effective teamwork in call centres. However, as the employees are recruited one of the essential criteria that is tested for is the quality of being team players. The quality of being a good team player is sough while the recruitment process is done (Van den Broek et al. 2004). However, in reality the members work as pseudo-teams rather than actual teams. Thus, the fact is clearly highlighted that though call centre workers work in teams, yet does not need actual teamwork. The solutions are provided by the extensive use of ICT, rather than seeking help from the team members. To what extent does this pose a problem for people management, and what are the key issues in maximising the benefits of teams and teamwork for both employees and the organisation? Problem in people management due to lack of teamwork: Team and teamwork plays an important role in enhancing the management of the people in the organizations. In case of call centres, the employee work in teams but does not exhibit much teamwork. This might impose a major issue in management of the people. The normative behaviour of the employees of the call centre leads to the explanation that while the employees work in teams, teamwork is also necessary in management of the people efficiently (Crowley et al. 2014). While working in teams, the employees are used to work in a collaborative manner along with supporting the needs of each other and empathetic behaviour. Thus, while management of the employees; these qualities assist the management to ensure positive organizational behaviour as well as organizational citizenship behaviour (Van den Broek et al. 2004). However, in context of call centres, since the employees do not engage in much teamwork, hence it is difficult for the management to ensure positive workplace environment along with ensuring organizational citizenship behaviour (Procter and Radnor 2017). The positive organizational citizenship behaviour is achieved with successful teamwork among the employees. Thus, the problems due to the lack of teamwork include lack of efficient management of the employees along with lack of positive workplace environment (Turner 2014). Moreover, the fine qualities in the employees that are developed due to effective teamwork is also not available among the employees, thus resulting in mismanagement of the people. Thus, in order to have an efficient management, it is essential to exhibit teamwork among the employees (Crowley et al. 2014). Lack of teamwork reduces the rate of employee retention and employee satisfaction in the organization. However, in case of call centres, the scope of teamwork is reduced and might result in mismanagement of the workforce of the organization. Key issues in maximising the benefits for employees and organization: With the lack of teamwork among the teams, the organization faces various issues in maximizing the benefits to the employees as well as the organization (Crowley et al. 2014). The key issues that are faced in maximizing the benefits for the organization are as follows: Lack of OCB: With no teamwork among the members of the call centre employees, lack OCB. This is because the employees do not develop the qualities to empathic learning and support among themselves, thus failing in development of the OCB (Mawer 2014). Since this behaviour is a prompt one, hence, it is developed from effective teamwork. Lack of efficient management: Due to the lack of efficient management of the in the organization, the employee retention might be reduced along with degradation in the productivity (Potosky and Duck 2014). Thus, the efficiency of the management of the employees is reduced due to the lack of teamwork among the teams (Van den Broek et al. 2004). Lack of socialization: With lack of effective teamwork, socialization among the employees is not achieved and results in lack of positive workplace environment (Massenberg et al. 2015). The key issues in maximizing the benefits of the employees include the following: Absence of team identity: Due to lack absence of teamwork, the employees of the call centre might feel the absence of team identity or team leader (Maxwell 2013). This lack of identify and lack of teamwork might result in lack of motivation and commitment towards the assigned task. Difficulty in decision-making: Due to the lack of teamwork, the employees of call centres might face difficulty in decision-making. Though it is true that in case of call centre employees most of the solution is obtained with the use of ICT, however, there might be some decisions that would need assistance of the team members (Kozlowski et al. 2015). Thus, lack of teamwork would result in difficulty of the employees. Lack of effective communication: The lack of teamwork might result in lack of communication among the employees. Lack of effective communication gives rise to misunderstandings and misinterpretation among the employees (Crowley et al. 2014). The lack of effective communication is not desirable at a workplace, since this degrades the productivity, along with reduction in the positivity of the workplace (Van den Broek et al. 2004). Inability to resolve conflicts: Teamwork enhances qualities among the employees such as providing assistance, empathetic working, motivating each other and resolution of conflicts (Sallis 2014). Thus, lack of effective teamwork results in inability to resolve conflicts. Since the employees do not work in team, hence, the employees do not feel the urge of resolution of conflicts. Lack of development of team spirit: Team spirit is effectively developed during teamwork among the employees. However, lack of effective team work results in lack of development of team spirit (Levi 2015). The team spirit is an effective quality that needs to be developed by the employees such that they can work efficiently. Lack of responsibility: Working as a team enhances the quality of being responsible for the tasks assigned. However, lack of teamwork among the employees result lack of development of the sense of responsibility (Van den Broek et al. 2004). The sense of responsibility is not developed without active teamwork. However, in case of employees of call centre, teamwork is not exhibited, due to the limited scope of teamwork (Van den Broek et al. 2004). The above mentioned issues are the key factors that hinders the problem of people management. These issues also hinder the maximization of the benefits of the employees as well as the organization. Conclusion Management of people is an effective activity in the business organization. Teamwork has a key role to play in the management of the people. The article highlights the fact that working in teams does not necessarily mean teamwork. The scenario of call centres have been highlighted in this assignment where the employees work in team but does not exhibit teamwork. The key issues that have been identified that hinders the maximization of the benefits of the employees as well as the organization includes lack of enhancement of productivity, lack of employee satisfaction, lack of development of team spirit as well as the sense of responsibilities. Thus, it might be concluded that working in teams does not necessarily mean that there is teamwork among the employees. For the employees of call centre, there is least scope for teamwork, as the employees have personalized duties and are assisted by the ICT. Thus, with reduced chances teamwork, the employees work in teams but do not exhibit tea mwork. References Chicu, D., Valverde, M., Ryan, G. and Batt, R., 2016. The service-profit chain in call centre services.Journal of Service Theory and Practice,26(5), pp.616-641. Crowley, M., Payne, J.C. and Kennedy, E., 2014. Working better together? Empowerment, panopticon and conflict approaches to teamwork.Economic and Industrial Democracy,35(3), pp.483-506. Ebrahim, N.A., 2015. Virtual RD Teams: A New Model for Product Development.International Journal of Innovation,3(2), p.1. Goebel, J., Guo, W. and Chong, K., 2015. A Team of Experts or an Expert Team: Interdisciplinary Teamwork and Perceptions of Palliative Care Quality (S742).Journal of Pain and Symptom Management,49(2), p.429. Hopper, A.D., Kiersma, M.E., Sheppard, L., Chen, A.M., Frame, T.R. and Gryka, R.J., 2014. Evaluation of Student Expectations of Team Members and Teamwork. Hu, J. and Liden, R.C., 2015. Making a difference in the teamwork: Linking team prosocial motivation to team processes and effectiveness.Academy of Management Journal,58(4), pp.1102-1127. Kozlowski, S.W., Grand, J.A., Baard, S.K. and Pearce, M., 2015. Teams, teamwork, and team effectiveness: Implications for human systems integration.The handbook of human systems integration, pp.535-552. Levi, D., 2015.Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications. Massenberg, A.C., Spurk, D. and Kauffeld, S., 2015. Social support at the workplace, motivation to transfer and training transfer: a multilevel indirect effects model.International Journal of Training and Development,19(3), pp.161-178. Mawer, G., 2014.Language and literacy in workplace education: Learning at work. Routledge. Maxwell, J.C., 2013.The 17 indisputable laws of teamwork: Embrace them and empower your team. Thomas Nelson Inc. Potosky, D. and Duck, J.M., 2014. Forming teams for classroom projects.Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning,34. Procter, S. and Radnor, Z., 2017. Teamworking and Lean revisited: a reply to Carter et al.The International Journal of Human Resource Management,28(3), pp.468-480. Sallis, E., 2014.Total quality management in education. Routledge. Turner, M.E., 2014.Groups at work: Theory and research. Psychology Press. Van den Broek, D., Callaghan, G. and Thompson, P., 2004. Teams without teamwork? Explaining the call centre paradox.Economic and Industrial Democracy,25(2), pp.197-218.

Judo Stategy Essay Example

Judo Stategy Essay In each of the four cases, does the entrant or challenger (i. e. Softsoap, Red Bull, supermarkets, Freeserve) have a competitive advantage when they market? Would they if the incumbents imitated their product offerings immediately? Softsoap According to the time of the case, bar soap is the product which is the market leader until late 1977, Minnetonka release Soap Machine that is the first time to have liquid soap in the market and continuously launch Softsoap in 1980. Softsoap entered to the market as the first mover, gain a competitive advantage and become to the market leader. However, competitive advantage of Softsoap is not able to preserve the market share when it is attacked by big players in the market as PG and Armour-Dial which are produce the liquid soap after. Red Bull Red Bull has a competitive advantage in term of focusing on the specific market and distribution strategy. It focus on the energy drink segment which has a small percentage from soft drink industry. They success in access to the consumer which is Red Bull assess that big player as Coke and Pepsi are probably not come to play in this category. Moreover, using its own distribution network can build brand image and it’s the easy way to keep Red Bull uniqueness. Supermarkets In U. K. Petrol Price War case, supermarkets had the competitive advantage but they are not sustainable because it’s depend on gasoline price and the location. Lower price gasoline was the factor to persuade customers to the store while the authority of setting gasoline price was the major gasoline retailers. We will write a custom essay sample on Judo Stategy specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Judo Stategy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Judo Stategy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Freeserve Cutting price is not quite a competitive advantage, in case of Freeserve, it effort to provide service in low price expect to outcome AOL while AOL not only be internet service provider but also provide content valuable as interactive news, entertainment shopping, information, email service and so on. It’s probably that Freeserve was operating in on loss by too low of service fee. 2. In the Softsoap and Red bull cases, what kept the incumbents from fighting back aggressively, at least initially? In case of Softsoap and Red Bull, the big players as PG, Armour-Dial, Lever Brothers and Colgate Palmolive (Softsoap Case), Coke and Pepsi (Red Bull Case) penetrate their market share and have a strong brand. It’s quite too risky to fighting back aggressively because it probably damage their current brand, decreasing brand image, decreasing the market size by cannibalize to current product and maybe lesser profit from fighting because of more spending on promotion and advertising for launching new product. 3. In the case of the UK petrol war, how do you think the supermarkets expected the major gasoline retailers to react to their entry? Was this expectation reasonable? In U. K. Petrol War case, I think supermarkets expected the major gasoline retailers to react their entry because the sales volume and revenue of supermarket was high or low depend on gasoline price which was controlled by major gasoline retailers. The expectation is reasonable because it’s the only one way the gasoline stands compete is price. When price war occurred, in one area where compete in price, the petrol station in that area have the same low price, leading to loss in profit margin. Moreover, the variety of consumer behaviors, consumers may prefer the convenient in filling up the gasoline then ignore to find the lowest gasoline price and sometimes it’s not reasonable to save a few money for lower gasoline price by the wasting time. 4. In the Freeserve vs AOL case, which consumers do you think are most readily switching to Freeserve? How can AOL retain these customers? Because of the low price of Freeserve, it probably gain the customers who are price sensitive as teenagers who get low income and don’t pay attention more to value-added service while AOL was the higher price but providing more than internet accessing. Ways to retain AOL customers are create network effect in order to create high switching cost by build up special things which create community among the users such as instant messaging, provide contents which is the strength of AOL service such as interactive news, entertainment, information, shopping, email service and so on. Last but not least, AOL is the largest internet service provider, It can communicate this strength point to users to rely on AOL then they will not switch to freeserver.

Parsons Chairs and Parsons

Parsons Chairs and Parsons Parsons Chairs and Parsons Parsons Chairs and Parsons By Maeve Maddox The first time I heard the term parsons chair I immediately imagined that the name derived from some quaint country custom of seating the visiting preacher on the best chair in the parlor. Not so. The Parsons chair takes its name from its place of invention: the Parsons School of Design founded in Paris in 1921 by Frank Alvah Parsons. According to an article on a site called Modern Dining Chairs, The parsons chair is virtually always crafted of hardwood, and features a slightly curving, squared backrest and legs. They are usually featured with slipcover upholstery that entirely covers the legs and gives the chair a solid, monumental appearance. This slipcover is optional or absent on many recent models. Furniture retailers don’t seem to agree as to the spelling. You can find Parsons chair, parsons chair, Parson chair and parson chair. Until a chair design expert corrects me, I’ll go with Parsons chair in recognition of the fact that the name comes from a proper noun. However, since Parsons is not a commercially-registered word, Im sure that parsons chair cannot be considered incorrect. The word parson meaning â€Å"clergyman† derives ultimately from the same Latin word that gives us person in the sense of â€Å"human being.† The word entered English from Anglo-Fr., O.Fr. persone curate, parson. Person may have come to mean the person in charge of the local church by shortening the Latin phrase persona ecclesiae person of the church. I suppose that a pronunciation variant turned person into parson. The word parsonage, â€Å"house for the parson,† is documented from the 15th century. The word parson occurs in several English expressions. One that I find amusing is the parson’s nose, a reference to the fatty tail end of a cooked chicken or turkey. My granny used to gross us out by eating that bit. She may have called it the pope’s nose. Here are some other words used to refer to personnae ecclesiae. chaplain clergyman cleric curate pastor preacher priest minister rector vicar Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Is She a "Lady" or a "Woman"?Time Words: Era, Epoch, and EonThrew and Through

Marketing - Second Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing - Second Assignment - Essay Example l services Employment in wholesale & retail trade Toledo 47% 31% 46% 44% Cleveland 22% 27% 16% 27% Fort Wayne 16% 11% 19% 5% In the first part of the assignment, I have observed that cities have higher numbers of employment opportunities compared to the suburbs. The number of employment opportunities is progressive relative to the distance of a town from the city center. Cities have the highest numbers of employment followed by close surrounding areas with distant areas recording the lowest numbers of employment. ... The high numbers of employment opportunities are as a result of the government and private companies preferring establishing their businesses in areas where there is plenty supply of labor. On the other hand, businesses may be established in suburbs because of the low cost of land relative to the city center where land ownership is very competitive and very expensive. In the second part of the assignment, the newspaper article reports of a situation whereby UBS is making plans to relocate to Manhattan where it was originally located in the early 1990s. Business owners and employees of the firm are concerned about the firm relocating from Stamford where it is considered to have the largest number of employees. Business owners are worried because the relocation of UBS could mean loss of business. Most of the businesses rely heavily on the presence of the company in the area. On the other hand, employees are worried because the relocation of UBS to New York means that they would be payi ng more for transport to their place of work. However, UBS had made the decision to move to Manhattan because the city had a lot of young talent that could work for the organization. This would see UBS employees moving to the city to secure employment. The observations made are consistent with the Alonso model to the extent that majority of job seekers prefer working in the city as opposed to suburbs. Employers on the other hand consider locating their business in the city because they expect to maximize profits despite incurring high costs of rent. Cities rank higher in the number of employment opportunities than suburbs and most of the jobseekers prefer living in the

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Case Study Example Basing on this, this paper has developed a SWOT analysis of FedEx. A SWOT analysis is a managerial strategic program aimed at analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization so that decision makers can enact policies basing on information at hand. From the DI case, the weaknesses of the organization are highlighted, and in all, they are internal, and based on employees negligence. This report will highlight that. The table below shows the SWOT analysis of the organization. Political instability in various countries and regions of its interest might affect its operations. For example the Arab Spring crises that started in Tunisia to Egypt that led to overthrow of these governments through mass participation. Poor judgment by its employees on appeasing aggrieved clients can lead to customer dissatisfaction for example Poor customer relationship skills witnessed by the supervisor sending chocolates instead of offering an apology to aggrieved customers. Loses arising from inefficiency of their services through paying of refunds and compensations to clients for expenses arising from the company’s negligence. For instance DI lost $ 600 in paying trade booths which were to be used for showcasing the undelivered goods (McDougall and Charles, 48). Risk negative publicity and therefore affecting their profitability due to their inefficiency in handling DI shipments. This is portrayed by Anita Kilgour expressing her disappointment and unhappiness at how the organization handled her orders. From this analysis, we can conclude that FedEx is a strong company with minimum weaknesses in its operations. It is also a technology oriented company and because of this, it is a market leader in provision of courier services. Despite its strengths and position in the market, the company can improve on its weaknesses by improving on the terms of the money back guarantee system, to give

Formal Analysis of Gao Jianfu (1879-1951)s Buddhist Pagodas in Burma Essay

Formal Analysis of Gao Jianfu (1879-1951)s Buddhist Pagodas in Burma - Essay Example In 1939, Gao Jianfu was one of the Chinese artists who founded the Awakening Art Academy. The main purposes of the academy were to produce skilled artists who could document the war crimes in form of paintings, and to host art exhibitions in the southern cities of Macao and Hong Kong (Hung 148). During his time, Jianfu not only spearheaded establishment of national art academies, but also produced iconic paintings of ruined cities and buildings. Succeeding sections of this paper contains formal analysis of two paintings on the theme of ruins and destruction by Jianfu. In one painting on page 151 of the chapter The Birth of Ruins, Jianfu uses ink and color on paper to depict a Chinese city in ruins. On page 153 of the same chapter, there is a painting by Jianfu depicting the burning of the Afong Palace. With respect to the painting of a city in ruins, Jianfu work shows the architectural remains of two adjacent buildings, clustered debris on the ground, and white and orange smokes soaring up to the skies. The city in ruins painting contains diagonal lines. Edges of the destroyed walls are diagonally aligned with respect to the ground. In addition, debris and smoke streams are tilted with respect to the ground’s horizontal and vertical planes (Hung 151). Similarly, the painting of Afong Palace depicts dust, ashes and smoke rising in a tilted manner. In both paintings, Jianfu employed the use of diagonal lines to convey a feeling of instability. Diagonally represented structures means they are either unstable, or are wobbling from the effect o f instability (Whitney 58). By using diagonal lines, Jianfu wanted to concisely represent the destroying effects of Japanese invasion in the city painting, and the detrimental state of the Afong Palace in the second painting. With respect to the formal analysis concepts of shape and form, Jianfu depicted both paintings in three dimensions. By viewing the city ruins and the Afong Palace painting, one

Eye Tracking in Usability Evaluation

Eye Tracking in Usability Evaluation   In this literature review I have talked about experiments conducted on usability of various interfaces and designs using eye-tracking. The authors of the papers focus on various types of eye movements for usability evaluations like saccades, pupil dilation, fixation, scanpaths etc. Based on these measurements the try to infer the point/area of interest of the users, point on entry, the cognitive load etc. about the user. These conclusions help in understanding the mindset of the users which can be generalised to a larger population within the proximity of time and space and help in making recommendations for better design of the interface. Benefits of eye tracking: Eye tracking has many benefits. Using eye tracking methods for usability evaluation one can track how the users interact with a given interface or environment. They help in measuring the effectiveness of a visual element on the interface. The measurements recorded can give an insight into the users mind while making a decision regrading searching or navigating an interface. This can be done by measuring what users are interested in, what they are ignoring and what is distracting them from their current tasks. They help in figuring out the Area of Interest which I a randomly shaped box that may contain some information or object or potential interest to the user. The quantitative data collected through eye tracking gives a visuals representation usually in the form of heatmaps(hotspots) which help in better understanding the results. Eye tracking equipments used now-a-days like Tobii and SMI are easy to set-up, calibrate and handle. They are unobtrusive and p rovided accurate real-time feedback. The fast passed usability testing of the software development industry, test conducted using eye tracking can of valuable and useful input providing benefits what will help the users. Eye Tracking in Usability Evalusation: A practitioners Guide [1] This paper is a general guideline on the use of eye tracking used for usability evaluation. The author talks about the specialists who conduct the study, the metrics used with the testing, the protocol followed to conduct a test. They also talk about when eye tracking can come in handy as compared to the normal usability test which usually include heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, checklist, remoter-usability testing, click-tracking etc. The authors talk about the different types of eye movements that are measured like saccades, fixation, pupil dilation, scanpaths etc. These movements provide a log of the visual attention of a user on the interface. It is also interesting to know that the eye tracking gadgets only track the movement of one eye, usually the dominant eye of the beholder. Saccades: rapid eye movements. Fixation: A linger at a point for more than 300ms. Scanpath: established by the sequence of saccades and fixations. Most of the studies conducted analyzed the fixation pattern. Which can be realized through heatmaps. Red indicates the highest level of fixation followed by green yellow. The areas which are not colored drew no attention. F-Shaped Pattern for reading web content[4] The author says that a eye tracking study was conducted on 232 users on their reading behaviour on webpages. They found a governing F shaped pattern which was undeviating among most of the users. The participants of the experiment were fond to first adhere a long horizontal gaze across the screen, followed by a short horizontal gaze on the area below and finally giving a quick vertical scan of the content of the webpage. Occasionally there were a few cases of an E and an L shaped pattern but mostly F was dominant with variation in the placement of the horizontal bars. These patterns suggest hat usres dont read the text on a website line by line. They like to give a scan to see if any of the content available if of interest or not. Such reading patterns suggest that first paragraph should contain important and catchy information. While scanning vertically users generally users generally read the first two words of the text. Visual Hierarchy and Viewing Behaviour: An eye tracking study[2] The authors of this paper aim to suggest effective improvements in the design of a web page to attract more users and to disperse important information in an effective manner. For this purpose, they have analyzed the gazing patterns of users. The author have tried to decipher the reason behind the F shape viewing pattern by most users which could be due to the arrangements of element on the interface or the task at hand. To test this they used 4 prototypes of a webpage with each having a different visual hierarchy. The prototypes differed in the form of being well structed or not and 2 had images of people and 2 did not. 48 participants were used for the study which were from different field of the industry and each one was given either a searching task or a browsing task on one of the 4 prototypes. Fixation patterns using heatmaps was used to analyze the data. It was found that users fixate more on the part of the page which is above the fold. The F shaped pattern was not apparent w ith any of the conditions as the website was more visually complex as compared to a text based simple website. The well structured and organized pages drew more attention. During searching users tend to gaze in a scattered manner with more focus on the left side of the page where the navigation links are usually located. Browsing is less scattered with few fixations time and is usually defined within the center of the interface. Faces drew more attention only when they were placed above the fold of the page and during browsing. They concluded that these insights into a users viewing pattern can help make better designs for different type of websites to attract users. No subjective ratings were used to access users comfort while dealing with the different types of interfaces. Efficiency Trust and visual appeal: Usability testing through eye tracking[5] The authors conducted a research on the efficiency, trust and visual appeal of a website and made recommendations on what kind of an interface would attract more customers to an e-commerce website and what type of user experience would make a first-time visitor a customer. The author believed that an element of social presence will give a more satisfying experience while navigating an automated website which lack humane warmth. This accompanied with a aesthetically pleasing interface will make the users trust the website more. To test this the authors came up with a set of tasks for the users and two hypothesis which were related to images of people on a website and the visual appeal of a website. 522 users were recruited for an online study and each of them were provided with a different prototype of a website. Users were asked the visual appeal and the level of trust on the website using seven point Likert scales. After performing p on the online study, authors concluded that websi tes with images of people are more visually appealing and in turn elicit a higher level of trust. It was fond that the users conduct the search from left to right. The online study was followed by an eye tracking experiment to confirm the results of the online study. They used a count heat map and a fixation heatmap. 40 were recruited for the eye tracking experiment. The experiment confirmed that images of faces are more helpful in drawing attention. Gender Preferences in Web Design: Usability Testing through Eye tracking[6] The authors of this papers tried to investigate the visual predilections of male and female users. They have tried to detect he noticeability of bricklets(small box containing useful information) based on their background colour images by male and female users. Since men and woman have different notion of attractiveness, an hypothesis was made on the noticeability of the different prototypes of the bricklets. Men have a tendency to like dark colors and women have a tendency to like light color. 36 participants were chosen for the study out of which 17 were male and 19 were female. 4 type of bricklets were designed with dark and light background color and with and without images. Tasks were designed in such a way so that the users were tested on their ability to detect certain kind of bricklets. It was found that both male and female fixate less on images and more on the bricklets without images. Female users were attracted more towards the darker background bricklets and male users w ere not biased towards a specific colour. The study concluded that what users find appealing is not necessary noticeable this was supported by the discrepancy in self report survey and the fixation duration on the bricklets by the users. Generation Y and Web Design: Usability through Eye tracking[7] The aim of the authors of this paper is to come up for better design recommendation for retail web sites to attract the millennial generation also knows as generation Y. This generation poses the strongest internet skills and spend around $200 a year on online retail. An hypothesis is made that Generation Y like large images preferably of celebrities and with search features and as little text as possible. Top 50 retail pages were selected. These pages were ranked on the characteristics posed by them based on the predilections of generation Y. A self report study and an eye tracking study was conducted to compare both the results. 99 participants were selected who possessed strong internet skills for the self report study. 9 participants were selected for the eye tracking experiment. The survey and the data provided by the eye tracking device supported the hypothesis made. Eye tracking in Web Search Tasks: Design Implications [3] The authors of this paper conducted an eye tracking usability testing for a web portal application which was developed by Oracle portal software. Seven users were selected to complete six tasks for the study. The users came across 15 screens while completing their tasks and had to spend around 360 seconds to complete one task. The authors recorded the key presses and mouse clicks on the interface and eye movements like saccades and fixations and the dwell time on the Area of Interest were diligently recorded. Every task started with a set of scenario and required the user to perform them based on his understanding. The results in this study were not in the form heatmaps but rather in the form of screen bitmap files, fixation file and object file. These files were amalgamated to perform data analysis. The study was performed in a very systematic way. The authors studied the eye movements of the users at the task level then at the screen level and then finally at the object level with the focus on Area of Interest. In-depth study was conducted regarding screen visits and distribution. The authors analyzed the pattern for navigating within and between portlets and concluded that there is an inclination for the users to notice the portlets on the left and the upper part of the screen in view. The authors tried to discover a relationship between user action, scene sequence and the data derived from the eye movement. Age-related Differences in Eye Tracking and Usability Performance: Website usability for Older Adults [8]. The authors of this paper conducted usability study of websites through eye tracking to make design recommendations which keep in mind the needs and ease of usability and navigation of older adults. 5 websites were used for the experiment. And a comparison was made on how you and old people interact with the environment. Around 3-7 young adults and 2-3 older adults were recruited. All of them a possessed a working knowledge about using the internet. The participants were given predefined tasks and their fixations were recorded using the unobtrusive eye tracking device. The participants also filled out a questionnaire to report their satisfaction level. It was found that older adults focus more on the center portion of the screen and ignore the information located on the peripheral areas. Cluttered periphery results in performance hindrance for the old users. The ignorance of the edge of the screen can be related to the cognitive decline encountered due to growing age. Older adults we re less accurate and efficient as compared to younger adults. Older adults who are ususally unfamiliar with the environment get easily distracted by unnecessary elements. Seven users are very less as compared to the recommendation of 10-30 participants made by [1]. There were often stements made by the authors that there is presently too little evidence to support the notion [3] suggesting that clearly 7 participants for the experiment was not enough and the results produced can be a threat to external validity. [1] also suggest to recruit 20% more participants in case there are problems with calibiratio of the equipment with the users. [2] used 48 users from different fields of the industry sector age not mentioned. 40 people in [5]. [6] 99 participants were recruited. [8] small number of users. Limits on generalizations made. Users were tested for their visual acuity The users were made to sign demographic, consent and disclosure forms. The authors conducted initial training tasks They used a head mounted system. Although these systems are good for tasks which may require a lot of head or body movement, they are obtrusive. They obstruct a certain portion of the of the field of view of the user and can interrupt a user in hi cognitive process or task at hand as he is constantly reminded of a apparatus being setup on his head. Since this experiment was conducted in 2002 the eye tracking instruments used that time were not technologically that advanced. Therefore, a lot of time and effort went into analyzing the data. Tape recorders were used to capture users comments and a video recorder was also used for in depth analysis. While conducting the experiment it was found that one of the users took very less time to complete the task as compared to others. The authors concluded that users learned about the interface while performing the tasks. But since one of the users showed less reaction to time to the given task at hand the inference suffers from a threat to internal validity because he possessed previous knowledge about similar interface. Threats to generalizibilty as an intrusive setup was used. Dis advantages: tedious, requires extensive data reduction, focus on micro-level behaviours, too much noise in the data. Lots of work required to narrow down on the data that is needed Eye tracking study is usually conducted where results of traditional software usability results are compared with that of the results from the eye tracking derived results. The traditional usability tests are usually done using five point Likert scale. In many experiments authors have concluded that users are inclined towards noticing the upper left side of the interface. It maybe possible that users in these experiments are used to languages that goes left to right and hence are natural disposed to look at the upper left side of the screen. If there experiments were conducted on a subset of population that are used to languages that go from right to left then there could have been different results. Most of the papers have conclude that users tend to ignore important information what is located at the bottom of the page which if below the fold. It could be father investigated that is that information is accompanied with an image of a person then would it attract users or not. While investigating the usability of an interface mostly two types of tasks were used: browsing and searching. This is because it the viewing behaviours of the users change depending on their task. In searching the users try to find a point of entry into a page and then from their he scans the near the point of entry for relevant information. In the heatmap the areas that are red could be the point of entry for those elements of the interface and the yellow and green areas in the heatmap are the surrounding locations where the users try to locate relevant information. Since the search process is majorly influenced by the factors such as, images, color and text. Designers can make use of these factors to guide the searching process of the users A trend was found that larger images attracts more attention as compared to smaller images. This can be used to attract user attention towards information that need immediate attention. Studies suggest that images of people tend to attract more attention. For [2] more prototypes of the web pages could have be formulated and compared to see if that was really true. Heat maps are created using data from several participants and are used to analyze the pattern of fixation on an area on the interface. The findings in [2] are in contrast with the one in [4] where the author has concluded on a dominant F shaped pattern. It can be absorbed what for a text based website with a simple visual hierarchy an F shaped pattern of viewing is more visible but for websites that have a complex visual hierarchy the viewing pattern in more scattered although focusing a lot on the left side if the interface which again is dominated by the users reading style form left to right. Different results will most certainly be produced with users who are habitual in reading from right to left. In general websites with good visual appeal and easy navigation elicit trust worthiness and are major contributing factors towards an enhanced user experience. [5] says that when since images attract attention, can be used to draw users attention to important information below the fold of a page. But the author of [2] contradicts this by saying that even though images of human faces were placed below they fold they attracted very little attention. [5] says that there is no effect of the gender of the image of the face on the website but in [?] notice a lot re spots on the heat map over the images of a female. Also, further studies can be conducted to see male images are more appealing than female image and which gender of the images attract the male users and which gender of the images attract the female users. The analysis of the heat maps performed by [5] was more structured as they used a standardized heatmap. Such a map puts a limit on the number of fixations to be considered as a red zone across different prototypes. Although in [5] the authors conclude that users trust level can be enhanced by the increasing visual appeal it should be noted that visual appeal is not all that matters, functionality of a website also plays a major role. the authors of [5] said that users are attracted toward the area where the images of faces were located but little fixation on the images. This is opposed by [?] where the authors have concluded that generation Y is then to fixate on the images of faces more. Then again the age difference between the participants in [5] was spread out therefore the two papers made contradictory statements. Also, since [5] is making recommendations for a e-commerce website which is mostly used by generation Y they could have narrowed down the are limit of the participants of the experiment. Papers [5] and [2] concluded that images of faces attract more attention but it maybe possible that images of different genre may be more effective. These images when paired with a lowers aesthetic quality webpage may not attract any attention at all. Keeping the ethical issues in mind [],[], and [] did not made the users sign Informed consent form and no information is provided if the participants were briefed or not. [7] suggest that generation Y is more attracted towards images of celebrities. But the study may fail external validity as it has not considered the population of the people who are not familiar with those celebrities. To extend this study a search task could have been given to the users to gain a more indepth understang of likes and dislikes of generation as done ny authorss in [2] and [3]. [7] conducted a research on generation Y but we know that baby boomers are constitute major part of the population that uses the internet. Results form [2], [7] and [5] can be combined to make recommendations for designs that would attract more users and increase user satisfaction. These designs would generally contain more images of faces, important information will be located on top left corner of the screen. To draw attention towards the part of the page below the fold images of celebrities can be used in an effective manner. Most studies concluded that users tend to focus on the left side of the interface but the studies conducted in[8] concluded that older adults ignore the left navigation area. This suggests that younger users who are more familiar with the interface know where to look at for navigation but this lack of knowledge and experience hinder the performance of an older adult. To help out the tease out the age effect designers can do a dual placement where navigation information can be placed in the center and the peripherals of the screen. All the eye tracking studies performed were under a laboratory condition. Here the users are asked to perform task in which they might be interested. These results maybe different in a real world situation when users are performing tasks of their own interest and are aware that the are not being monitored.

Essay --

Animal cruelty occurs all over the world. The human race has a major effect on the natural world, especially animals. Animal cruelty is an example of how man has taken advantage of his power. Those exhibiting cruelty towards animals have been proven to have a tendency to harbor violent psychological problems. Animal cruelty occurs all over the world. Fortunately, many countries have enacted laws and penalties to stop this harsh behavior. There are many anti-cruelty laws in the United States as well as other states. This laws prohibit torturing, beating, mutilating and unnecessary killing of animals. Also, they cover neglecting abandoning or depriving pets or farm animals of food, water or shelter. In 1822 the British parliment passed the Martin Act for animals protection, later on Richard Martin formed the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. But the cruelty to Animals Act was not firmily established until the years of 1849 and 1854. As a matter of fact the word was finally starting to spread throughout Europe and even the United States because of this movement the American Society for the prevention of animal cruelty was later formed in the year of 1866 by Henry Bergin in New York. In addition to this in the nineteenth century many laws were passed both in Great Britain as well as the Unites States to protect the helpless, especially-children, lunatics, and domestics animals, from willful and malicious acts of cruelty. On the other hand, just as there are laws there are many weak laws that have been enforced to protect animals from cruelty. As a matter of fact not only are the laws weak, but they are also rarely enforced. The reason being is because police officers and public presecutors frequently view animal cru... ...althy individual, this is a warning.† There are deep psychological issues that lead to violent crimes against people† (cfawr). What is more shocking is that most animal abusers abuse animals for entertainment of both themselves and others, and to show their aggressiveness. In conclusion the simple of one adopting a vegetarian or minimizing the amount of animal products can prevent the death and suffering of millions of animals. There are many ways that one can prevent animal cruelty, is just a matter or wanting to do so. For example one is not so excited about chores at all, but when some one important is coming one cleans the houses, and leaves it shining, just with this much effort one needs to want to stop cruelty because it this matter is not stopped it could lead to even major problems, one does not know if this could lead to animal extinction.

Evaluation of King David

In both books, Samuel I and Samuel II, King David is depicted as a true, but imperfect, example of an ideal king. When David was first introduced, he was a young boy, but quickly proved himself to be a strong leader, as he defeated Goliath, the giant. But as he takes his role as king, and gets older, his judgment and decisions aren’t always smart ones. I believe as a moral and political leader, King David was a good king, despite his sinful nature, and there is a lot to learn from his kingship. King David’s decisions showed he was a decisive and an effective king. He captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites and took it for his own home. (Samuel II: Chapter 5, 6-7) 6: And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke unto David, saying: ‘Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither'; thinking: ‘David cannot come in hither. ‘ 7: Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. By David going and taking over the city of Jerusalem, it shows how he his a committed leader, and that he wanted to take this city and transform it to the capital of the holy land. In god’s eyes, this must be an extremely powerful act, as David is truly showing his loyalty to Hashem. We can also conclude that by David winning this battle, he must be a strong military leader. Despite some of the eventual imperfections of David, he still defeated his enemies and because of that the nation prospered. One of his great displays of devotion to God would be when he brought the ark from the house of Abinadab to Jerusalem. Samuel II: Chapter 6, 15-16) 15: So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn. 16: And it was so, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, This showed the people of Jerusalem his devotion to God, and he openly displayed his devotion by bringing it openly. David was aware how the Ark of th e Covenant was most sacred and powerful item to his people, so by bringing it to Jerusalem, people would give him more support and recognize him for being a strong religious leader. Even though we study today that this wasn’t the best way for David to prove he is a good religious leader, we still look up to him, as his purpose is what really counts. I believe a lot of us could learn from that, to be more open in our worship and show our devotion publicly to God. I believe David’s heart was in the right place and God knew that, that is why he blessed him in his reign. David wanted to build a house for the Lord, but instead God built a house for him. (Samuel II: Chapter 7, 5-6) 5: Go and tell My servant David: Thus said the Lord: Shalt thou build Me a house for Me to dwell in? : for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. God made a covenant with David in which God promised to make David a great and everlasting dynasty. David showed great devotion to the lord, but fell short of his glory. The lord saw he was whole-heartedly devote d to him and therefore he made an everlasting covenant with David. I believe it was David’s â€Å"good intentions† that God did not see David’s his sinful nature, because God doesn’t expect perfection, just devotion. The fact that David acted in a way that he constantly dedicated himself to God, and tried to do the right thing, is what God saw him for, and we can learn from that because people have a sinful nature sometimes, but God still cares for us. I think it is important to remember David was a human, granted he had responsibilities as a King, but he shouldn’t have been expected to be perfect. Like all humans, he had weaknesses, which got him into trouble. David had several â€Å"downfalls† in his reign. One example of David’s downfalls is when he committed adultery. (Samuel II: 11, 4) 4: And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness; and she returned unto her house. This act is perhaps one of the reasons why people have controversy over David, and if he was a â€Å"good† king or not. I believe it can be compared to that of the incident of our president Clinton. David was a human like Clinton and, given they were leaders who represented a nation, were both human. My point is that pressures are put on those with power and people expect them to be perfect when really they are not that different from us. I’m not saying that what they did was okay, but I’m just trying to understand it more. It was a sin, what they did, but God knew their hearts, and in David’s case the Lord still blessed him. I believe the greatest thing we can observe from King David would be that God called him a king after his own heart. (Samuel I: Chapter 13, 14) But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you The fact that God says this, and understands that David is a man of heart, is the most significant to learn from all of David’s actions. It was the fact that David was willing to confess his wrongdoings and admit his sins, then repent that saved him, and showed God his devotion to him. I admire David’s whole heartedness and I believe that is the most important thing I’ve learned from him.

CSR – Fast Food Industry

Since the late 1960's and early 1970's, the term â€Å"corporate social responsibility† has come into common. The concept of CSR has attracted considerable attention in recent years. However, CSR may have confused many corporations whether CSR brings benefits to the corporations, whether it is worthwhile to contribute organizational resources to CSR. Different studies have brought different answers to those questions. In the following paragraphs, we will briefly discuss whether CSR are necessary and the effectiveness of CSR. As the competitors have started showing they are socially responsible, it becomes necessary for a fast food corporation to consider the need and importance of CSR if it wants to stay at an advantaged position in the fast food industry. As consumers have more choices due to globalization and consider more today, it may be necessary for a corporation to show it is socially responsible to attract consumers. According to Scalet and Kelly (2010), people are demanding CSR, the market incentives are following consumer preferences for CSR activities and the market is producing it. In related to the fast food industry, Schroder and McEachern(2005) ‘s research suggests that â€Å"Most respondents favoured an involvement of global fast-food companies in CSR, whether in the context of providing healthy choices, assuring animal welfare or the sponsoring of community activities. They also suggest that fast-food retailers for example McDonald’s and KFC should emphasize on customer health, food quality and CSR activities in order to maintain and have new customers. On the other hand, some studies argue CSR may not be helpful in developing corporations’ brand and gaining advantages. Nicola (2007) describes â€Å"awareness of CR policies is low† and â€Å"consumers do not act on their beliefs about CR – they will continue to buy brands they know to be irresponsible. Product quality and consumer fairness are more important than CSR in consumers’ mind, most consumers agree corporations should have CSR, but only one-third of them consider CSR when shopping and not more than 4% would really not purchase a product due to the corporation's ethical policy (Peter 2007). John (2006) mentions Milton Friedman, the famous economist, has said â€Å"few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible†. Corporation should not have conscience like a human being as a corporation's nature is to maximize returns to its shareholder without breaching the law. These perspectives supporting the need of CSR show the consumers today choose our products not only depending on the quality of our products and service, but also depending on our contribution to CSR activities. As the whole market is producing it, a corporation has to fulfill the consumer demand of CSR in order to remain competitive. However, it assumes consumers are rational and act like what they think about CSR. In fact, consumers are not always rational and their consuming behavior may not consist with their thought. At the same time, there are some other perspectives showing the corporation contribution to CSR may be useless in gaining advantages. It strongly states that consumers focus much more on the product quality and consumer fairness, rather than CSR. Even the consumers know the corporation is irresponsible, they would still buy its products. It makes CSR seems to be less important than what scholars have described. However, CSR not gaining advantages to the corporation doesn’t mean not gaining advantages to the society. As a responsible corporation, it should have a conscience to keep on committing itself to CSR activities. These perspectives focus too much on what a corporation can gain from a society, but not on what a corporation can give to the society. Only obeying to the law is not enough for a responsible corporation. In conclusion, different perspectives may have certain strengths as well as weaknesses in their arguments. These perspectives supporting CSR provide a clear picture of the necessity of CSR by showing the consumers’ demand for CSR activities and indicating fast food corporations should have more CSR activities to maintain their competitiveness. However, it ignores the fact that consumers are not always rational and they may behave differ from what they think. Those perspectives questioning the effectiveness of CSR place a strong emphasis on that fact that CSR is not consumers' priority and the role of a corporation is to maximum profits. However, it focuses too much on the benefits of the corporation rather than the benefits of the society as it puts the role of corporations in a too utilitarian position. On the whole, although we understand much about CSR through the process of analyzing different claims, it is still hard to have a clear conclusion on those perspectives as obvious contradictory findings do exist and it may need a further research.

Comparison Between Mitosis and Meiosis Processes

Comparison Between Mitosis and Meiosis Processes Mitosis (along with the step of cytokinesis) is the process of how a eukaryotic somatic cell, or body cell, divides into two identical diploid cells. Meiosis is a different type of cell division that begins with one cell that has the proper number of chromosomes and ends with four cells- haploid cells- that have half the normal number of chromosomes. In a human, almost all cells undergo mitosis. The only human cells that are made by meiosis are gametes, or sex cells: the egg or ovum for females and the sperm for males. Gametes have only half the number of chromosomes as a normal body cell because when gametes fuse during fertilization, the resulting cell, called a zygote, then has the correct number of chromosomes. This is why offspring are a mixture of genetics from the mother and the father- the fathers gamete carries half the chromosomes and the mothers gamete carries the other half- and why there is so much genetic diversity, even within families. Although mitosis and meiosis have very different results, the processes are similar, with just a few changes within the stages of each. Both processes start out after a cell goes through interphase and copies its DNA exactly in the synthesis phase, or S phase. At this point, each chromosome is made up of sister chromatids held together by a centromere. The sister chromatids are identical to each other. During mitosis, the cell undergoes the mitotic phase, or M phase, only once, ending with two identical diploid cells. In meiosis, there are two rounds of the M phase, resulting in four haploid cells that arent identical. Stages of Mitosis and Meiosis There are four stages of mitosis and eight stages in meiosis. Since meiosis undergoes two rounds of splitting, it is divided into meiosis I and meiosis II. Each stage of mitosis and meiosis has many changes going on in the cell, but very similar, if not identical, important events mark that stage. Comparing mitosis and meiosis is fairly easy if these important events are taken into account: Prophase The first stage is called prophase in mitosis and prophase I or prophase II in meiosis I and meiosis II. During prophase, the nucleus is getting ready to divide. This means the nuclear envelope has to disappear and the chromosomes start to condense. Also, the spindle starts to form within the centriole of the cell that will help with the division of chromosomes during a later stage. These things all happen in mitotic prophase, prophase I and usually in prophase II. Sometimes there is no nuclear envelope at the beginning of prophase II and most of the time the chromosomes are already condensed from meiosis I. There are a couple of differences between mitotic prophase and prophase I. During prophase I, homologous chromosomes come together. Every chromosome has a matching chromosome that carries the same genes and is usually the same size and shape. Those pairs are called homologous pairs of chromosomes. One homologous chromosome came from the individuals father and the other came from the individuals mother. During prophase I, these homologous chromosomes pair up and sometimes intertwine. A process called crossing over can happen during prophase I. This is when homologous chromosomes overlap and exchange genetic material. Actual pieces of one of the sister chromatids break off and reattach to the other homolog. The purpose of crossing over is to further increase genetic diversity, since alleles for those genes are now on different chromosomes and can be placed into different gametes at the end of meiosis II. Metaphase In metaphase, the chromosomes line up at the equator, or middle, of the cell, and the newly formed spindle attaches to those chromosomes to prepare for pulling them apart. In mitotic metaphase and metaphase II, the spindles attach to each side of the centromeres holding the sister chromatids together. However, in metaphase I, the spindle attaches to the different homologous chromosomes at the centromere. Therefore, in mitotic metaphase and metaphase II, the spindles from each side of the cell are connected to the same chromosome. In metaphase, I, only one spindle from one side of the cell is connected to a whole chromosome. The spindles from opposite sides of the cell are attached to different homologous chromosomes. This attachment and setup is essential for the next stage. There is a checkpoint at that time to make sure it was done correctly. Anaphase Anaphase is the stage in which the physical splitting occurs. In mitotic anaphase and anaphase II, the sister chromatids are pulled apart and moved to opposite sides of the cell by the retraction and shortening of the spindle. Since the spindles attached at the centromere on both sides of the same chromosome during metaphase, it essentially rips apart the chromosome into two individual chromatids. Mitotic anaphase pulls apart the identical sister chromatids, so identical genetics will be in each cell. In anaphase I, the sister chromatids are most likely not identical copies since they probably underwent crossing over during prophase I. In anaphase I, the sister chromatids stay together, but the homologous pairs of chromosomes are pulled apart and taken to opposite sides of the cell. Telophase The final stage is called telophase. In mitotic telophase and telophase II, most of what was done during prophase will be undone. The spindle begins to break down and disappear, a nuclear envelope begins to reappear, chromosomes start to unravel, and the cell prepares to split during cytokinesis. At this point, mitotic telophase will go into cytokinesis that will create two identical diploid cells. Telophase II has already gone one division at the end of meiosis I, so it will go into cytokinesis to make a total of four haploid cells. Telophase I may or may not see these same sorts of things happening, depending on the cell type. The spindle will break down, but the nuclear envelope may not reappear and the chromosomes may stay tightly wound. Also, some cells will go straight into prophase II instead of splitting into two cells during a round of cytokinesis. Mitosis and Meiosis in Evolution Most of the time, mutations in the DNA of somatic cells that undergo mitosis will not be passed down to the offspring and therefore are not applicable to natural selection and do not contribute to the evolution of the species. However, mistakes in meiosis and the random mixing of genes and chromosomes throughout the process contribute to genetic diversity and drive evolution. Crossing over creates a new combination of genes that may code for a favorable adaptation. The independent assortment of chromosomes during metaphase I also leads to genetic diversity. It is random how homologous chromosome pairs line up during that stage, so the mixing and matching of traits have many choices and contribute to the diversity. Finally, random fertilization also can increase genetic diversity. Since there are ideally four genetically different gametes at the end of meiosis II, which one is actually used during fertilization is random. As the available traits are mixed up and passed down, natural selection works on those and chooses the most favorable adaptations as the preferred phenotypes of individuals.