John Calvin Essays (617 words) - Calvinism, , Term Papers

John Calvin There are many people in history who have made a very big impact on their culture, times, and or religion. John Calvin was by far one of these few great people. He had such a big influence in the time which he lived from 1509 to 1564. John Calvin devoted almost his whole life to the promoting of Protestantism and made such a difference that his impact is still seen today in Christianity. Calvin was born in France and was the second son in his family of five brothers. He grew and then decided to go to the famous University of Paris to study to be a priest. His father then had a conflict with the bishop who employed him so he then turned to the study of law. While he was studying in Paris he came across the writings of Martin Luther. His cousin then introduced him to the ideas of reformation. Protestantism began gathering momentum all over Europe. Then by 1533 Calvin began getting involved with the movement. That year Calvin had his salvation experience. He wrote about it later and stated, ?God subdued and brought my heart to surrender. It was more hardened against such matters than was to be expected in such a young man.? Calvin then knew to full fill his place with God he would have to turn away from the Roman Catholic church, so that is exactly what he did. His first attempt was November first that year. He gave a speech just like Martin Luther's, attacking the church and demanding a reform. He figured that if he spoke to the people and educated them on Protestantism then they would be ready to make changes in the Roman Catholic church. It did not turn out his way at all. This resulted in anti-Protestant protests all over Paris, forcing him to flee for his own safety. He roamed Tramontana 2 from place to place and then ended up in Basle, Switzerland. This is where he started his writing. You see John Calvin was considered a quiet, timid natured man. The kind of man who would never fight in disputes. In his time there he really got to do the things he wanted to accomplish out of life. These were to study and learn about God and his holy word. After this he went to Geneva after getting kicked out for his teachings he got invited back to help turn the city around spiritually. He never held a political office in Geneva but he ruled with strictness and sin was punished. He had laws passed to promote Christian behaviour. Persecuted Protestants fled from all over Europe to reside here. One last thing Calvin is known for is his theology. This is put together in a Calvinism. The ideas of the Calvin doctrine are men are completely unable to save themselves with their own works. Salvation is a matter of God's choosing those who will be saved, and that God chooses without any consideration of a man's good works. If someone is chosen of God, there was no way they could ever reject Christ or fail to endure to the end of their Christian life. Finally, he taught that Jesus died only for the people who God chose. This is called limited atonement and is one of Calvin's most controversial doctrines in Calvinism. As you can see John Calvin was truly a great man. Through his writings, speeches, and Calvinism he really reached his goal in life to learn about God and his holy word. John Calvin devoted almost his whole life to the promoting of Protestantism and made such a difference that his impact is still seen today in Christianity. Biographies

rego essays

rego essays When president Clinton was elected as our president he wasnt only made head of one of the most powerful countries in the world but was also made responsible for taking the U.S out of its trillion-dollar debt. In order to eliminate this debt President Clinton and VP Gore proposed their plan to reinvent the government. This plan was presented to the public as REGO and would not only make the government better but also help the U.S eliminate its debts. REGO called for many cuts and losses that politicians and critics did not agree with. In fact many politicians called the proposed savings ridiculous and exaggerated but nonetheless agreed to help. REGO included ideas such as reducing the federal bureaucracy by twelve percent, improving the ability of the social security administration to investigate fraud, eliminating wasteful programs, and having agencies submit a five year budget plan. These proposals, which seemed fairly risky at first, turned out to be a success. For example by improving the abilities of the social security administration, the administration was allowed to investigate wrongful issuance of checks. By doing this fraud was eliminated in the administration and the money could be used towards decreasing the debt crisis. REGO also called to downsize the government by eliminating many federal jobs. Many citizens did not agree with this because some would know people or would be in risk of getting laid off by the government but when taking into accountability that the federal government is the biggest employer in the U.S, it made a lot of sense. By REGO eliminating federal governments employees, the money was used towards the debt as well. REGO wasnt a plan that was highly thought of at first but after the first year it was called a success. By downsizing of government and setting budgets REGO forced the bureaucracy to be more accountable and less wastef ...

Ccot Roman 100-600 Ad

Roman Empire experienced division and unity of the empire with the contribution of religion, and language. The government of the Roman Empire had more or less stayed the same through 100 CE and 600 CE. The system was called the Roman Republic where the male citizens of the Roman Empire elected their leaders. In this system, there were senates, consuls, tribunes, perfects, and an Assembly of all male who were free and were Roman citizenship. During the reign of Diocletian in the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire was greatly impacted by the action of Diocletian. When Diocletian entered his reign, he realized that the Roman Empire was becoming too big for one person to rule and decided that he will split the empire in half into the Eastern and Western Roman Empire in 284 AD, making it more manageable to rule. Although the Empire was divided, the two empires supported and help each other. However, in 376, 410, and 468 CE their northern adversaries had launched an attack on the Empire, which made the empires unable to support one another. As time passed, the division between the empires grew and led to more independence. Later on in 306 AD, a civil war called the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy occurred between the Eastern and Western Roman Empire which lasted for 18 years. The leader of the Eastern half was Maxentius who was power-hungry had planned to kill leader of the western half, Constantine, by creating a rebellion. Because of Maxentius’ lust for wealth, it led to war. In the end of civil war, Constantine won and the empire was united again. However after Constantine’s death in 337, the empire was divided again by his sons. Christianity had a huge impact on the Roman Empire. In the beginning, Romans were polytheistic and believed that the gods were the reason for many things. However Christianity began to spread throughout the Roman Empire and many people began to convert. The emperor Diocletian in 303demanded that they will comply with the traditional Roman religious practices, if not they will be persecuted. Although most of the Christian in their community did deny their faith and worshipped the Roman gods, some Christians would not hesitate to announce their faith in front of a whole Assembly. Though many Christians were persecuted, Christianity rapidly grew because of the nfluence of many great Christians and the benefits of being one such as life after death in Heaven instead of the Underworld. In 313 AD, Constantine announced that Christianity is allowed in the empire in the Edict of Milan. The reason why he allowed Christianity was that before the Battle of Milvian Bridge he saw a cross of light in the sky with words that said, â€Å"By this, wi n! † He placed this sign on every shield and the end of the battle, he won. Not only Christianity was allowed in the empire, but made into the official religion of the Roman Empire by Theodosius in 380. Before the division of the Roman Empire, Latin was the main language of Rome for the Virgil emphasizes it as the source of Roman unity and tradition. Latin was used to write law and birth certificate. However when the empire was divided, the Eastern Roman Empire favored the language of the Greeks considering the fact that many Greeks immigrated to the Roman Empire. With the spread of Christianity, slow diffusion of the Greek language, and the divinity and unity of the empire during 100 AD through 600 AD, it had affected the Roman Empire greatly.

Great Lakes, Great Decisions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Great Lakes, Great Decisions - Case Study Example Political – the political environment for leaded gasoline had changed markedly due to the intense lobbying of environmental groups. Politicians who plan to seek office and those already in office but are seeking re-election have no choice but to listen to advocacy groups. By the end of the twentieth century, various scientific studies have established that lead can really cause adverse health conditions such as brain damage in children, respiratory problems in adults and overall lowering of the air quality (Mead, Wicks, Werhane and Freeman 156). In such a politically-charged atmosphere, not only politicians but businesses as well have to also take into consideration how their products may harm the environment and listen to opinion. A big company like Great Lakes has to exercise its responsibilities as a corporate citizen too. A new operating environment has to be taken into consideration when making strategic plans in business decision making like compliance with stricter emis sion standards as required under new policies by the Clean Air Act (1970) that banned the use of leaded gasoline. Economic – the economics of mass transportation such as private cars and buses has been going in the direction of clean and renewable energy such as ethanol or through the use of lower-rated unleaded gasoline through the use of catalytic converters the prices of which are going down because these previously specialized products are now becoming generic. At any rate, the cost of transitioning away from leaded gasoline is not that expensive as studied by both the World Bank (WB) and the World Health Organization (WHO); the net negative impact on economic growth rates is not that substantial anyway as thought (ibid. 158). Social – people are getting sick from all the lead pollution in the air they breathe and now realized how harmful some of their lifestyles have been on themselves and environment. To such an extent, a growing social movement towards healthy living and health awareness is making the changeover to unleaded gasoline a mandatory strategic move for big busines ses. It is unrealistic for a business enterprise to ignore these social movements which determine to a large extent the buying patterns of consumers. Sooner or later, people would see the healthy benefits of using unleaded gasoline for themselves and their children. Using macro-economic environmental analysis allows business leaders to anticipate future trends (Fleischer 172). Technological – energy production has been shifting towards a renewable and clean energy source for cars such as bio-fuels like bio-ethanol derived from alcohol produced by a fermentation process of the sugar components of plants like sugarcane and starch crops. Shift to clean energy sources has been partly driven by a combination of factors such as peak oil (a realization that fossil fuels production is now on a downtrend due to fast depletion of known reserves which are non-renewable), the political instability of crude oil supplier-countries, the high gasoline prices, concern over the environment and government subsidies for bio-fuels. A shift to renewable energy sources is inevitable as new production techniques lower its costs. Legal – as can be seen from the experience with the markets in developed countries, new environmental regulations and laws pertaining to preservation of the environment are all being strictly enforced such as clean air standards requiring lower sulfur emissions. All those developing

Bank of England Quantitative Easing(Benefits and consequences) Dissertation

Bank of England Quantitative Easing(Benefits and consequences) - Dissertation Example On the other hand, such a reaction may be just what the UK and US need in order to prevent a deflationary spiral as a result of the financial crisis. If the first round had no detrimental effects, the question remains as to how far is right, because a second round may go further into creating inflationary pressures than expected. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not QE could be a viable means of implementing monetary policy to address the present financial morass. Findings arrived at are tentative, because of the relatively short time the quantitative easing policy has been implemented, which spans only about two years for both the US and the UK. For Japan, on the other hand, while QE was implemented for a full five years, the results are inapplicable to the present situation because QE was meant to address Japan’s negative inflation rate already registering for several years, which is entirely different from the threat posed by the present crisis on UK and t he US. Acknowledgment Table of Contents Title Page 1 Abstract 2 Acknowledgement 3 Table of Contents 4 Chapter 1: Introduction 6 1.1 Background of the research topic 6 1.2 Objectives of the study 7 1.3 Research question and subquestions 8 1.4 Scope and limitations of the study 8 1.5 Ethical considerations 9 Chapter 2: Review of related literature 10 2.1 Background of quantitative easing 10 2.2 Quantitative easing as implemented in the UK 12 2.3 Viewpoint of the sceptics 19 2.4 Viewpoint of the enthusiasts 21 2.5 Modest impact assessment 22 2.6 Other Econometric Studies 23 Chapter 3: Methodology 24 3.1 Research strategy 24 3.2 Data description 24 3.3 Data gathering methodology 24 3.4 Analysis of data 25 3.5 Limitations of data and analysis 25 Chapter 4: Case study – US and Japan 27 4.1 Quantitative easing in Japan 27 4.2 Quantitative easing in the United States 33 4.3 Comparison among the US, UK and Japanese QE 38 Chapter 5: Results, analysis and discussion 40 5.1 Analysis of v ariance with log of monetary base and log of long-term interest rate as variables 40 5.2 Analysis of variance with monetary base and long-term interest rate as variables 43 Chapter 6: Conclusion 46 6.1 Summary of the dissertation 46 6.2 Findings of the study: answers to the subquestions 46 6.3 Conclusion: answer to the research objective 47 6.4 Recommendations for future research 48 References 49 Appendices 53 Chapter 1 Introduction 1. 1 Background of the research topic Quantitative easing is a process which the central banks often consider as a last resort to inject liquidity in an economy, without caring for its own quantity of reserve assets (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 72). Often banks opt to buy off all government securities in circulation in the open market in their aggression, without preferring to fix any target rate of retaining their money reserves (Baumol & Blinder 271; Marta & Brusuelas, â€Å"Quantitative Easing†). Such an unorthodox st rategy, as quantitative easing, helped to bail out economies like Japan at a time when it was undergoing its worst phase of liquidity crunch. The method helped the nation to revive from its plight through enhancing its monetary base significantly, though meanwhile the government had to face immense deficits in their budgets (Organisation

Patient confidentiality Essay Example for Free

Patient confidentiality Essay As a member of the health care team, one has to be equipped with not only the skills and the knowledge regarding one’s area of specialty, but most importantly on how to deal with the patients and their family members. There have been several studies that showed how substantial the impact of health care staff interaction is with the patient and the family members on the patient’s recovery and in the overall outcome of the patient’s health. In dealing with situations wherein the family member of the patient is speaking quite loudly and demanding answers, one can address the situation by answering the questions of the family member, but first to tell her to calm down and after which you will be able to understand and answer the questions. In addition to that, you can also remind her that the safety and prompt administration of care to her daughter is the priority, so to be able to get there, the x-rays have to be taken as soon as possible. Also, tell her, in the most respectful way, that the other patients are bothered by her and this will cause anxiety, not only to the other patients but to her daughter as well, so if she can still take a hold of herself and compose herself so the x-ray can take place. As a technician, it is also one’s duty to explain the method and the rationale behind the x-ray procedure to alleviate the sixteen-year-old’s anxiety. Also, it would be helpful if you will tell her that routine x-ray is needed by some people with certain disorders and as a requirement by employers in some institutions and that it does not cause illnesses for those who have their x-rays taken routinely, at most twice a year. Tell her that this procedure has helped diagnose what is wrong with people who have their bones injured and that this will help visualize what has gone wrong in her body.

Theme of Suffering in Musee des Beaux Arts by W.H. Auden Essay examples

A poem is a great way to express your feelings as well as get your point across. Each poet tells their story but sometimes it isn't so easy to figure out what it is trying to say. There are occasions where you have to break that poem into pieces and figure the story behind that selection. These individual pieces come together like a puzzle to teach you the lesson it intended to teach. The different pieces in the poem we read can give you a general idea of suffering, the idea that people undergo pain and distress. In the poem 'Musee des Beaux Arts' by W.H. Auden it is under that suffering occurs everywhere while not always seen, however, when seen everyone is apathetic. Within the poem, Auden makes a reference to the Greek myth of Icarus. Icarus falls to his watery grave after flying to close to the sun. ?First the fisherman, shepard and the farmer are on the scene at the time of Icarus? fall, not as he and Daedalus simply soar overhead like gods?. (Ruby Mary K & Marie Rose Napierkowski: 154-155). This line tells us how three men saw them flying as if they were gods. is that the ?failure? of Icarus is of little importance to these living and laboring, that, as a German proverb states, ?No plough is stopped for the sake of a dying man? (Ruby Mary K & Marie Rose Napierkowski: 154-155). As this quote describes the three men did not stop what they were doing to help Icarus who was dying. Two of the men did not see Icarus suffering so they went along with their lives, but the fisherman saw Icarus struggling as the water entered his lungs. The fisherman went along with his life and just let Icarus die. Later on in Auden?s poem he states that . The expens ive delicate ship that must have seen something amazing, a boy falling out of t... ...f the canvas? (Ruby Mary K & Marie Rose Napierkowski: 154-155). In this painting Jesus suffers as he drags the large cross to his execution. Besides for their own comfort there was a reason to kill Jesus. He endured pain and suffering throughout his whole journey. From all of the people in the painting you can see that there were people who witnessed his suffering, but they were withheld from helping by the torturer and ?the torturers horse?. Breughel painted ?human position? and ?how it takes place?. Each of his three paintings depicts W.H Auden?s idea of people and their relationship with suffering. W.H Auden?s ?Musee des Beaux Arts? there are many allusions to others suffering. These examples all help to support the moral of his poem. Suffering is all around us, yet we still do nothing to stop it. This illustrates his point by showing ignorance in all people.

Formal Lab Report

Douglas Mitchell Biology 111 Laboratory Report 18 FEB 2013 The Scientific Method Introduction In life, both human and animal, reaction time can mean the difference between life and death. Reaction time is defined as â€Å"the time it takes to react to a stimuli (Norman, 2011). † In humans, hand dominance (left-handed vs. right-handed) can further impact this reaction time. In this case a simple study of reaction time and hand dominance is being used to illustrate the practical application of the scientific method in the laboratory. ObservationHuman reaction times vary person to person and often increase with age. This change in reaction time can have little impact on a person’s daily life, such as when answering a ringing telephone. But this change can also have a dramatic impact when driving, working in dangerous environments, and negotiating busy streets and sidewalks. Literature Search â€Å"Reaction time has been used as a psychological test since the mid-19th cent ury (Deary, 1). † Several studies have been conducted dealing with reaction time and the factors that can affect it.In their study titled â€Å"Validation of reaction time as a measure of cognitive function and quality of life in healthy subjects and patients†, Jakobsen, Sorensen, et al studied and reported findings regarding diminished reaction times and the effect that poor health had on those times. Findings were conclusive that the healthier the individual, the better their responses. Hypothesis Individual’s reaction time with their dominant hand is faster than those with their non-dominant hand. Conversely, there may be no statistically valid difference in the reaction time from one hand to the other. ExperimentTo test the variance in reaction time from dominant hand to non-dominant hand we set up an experiment using a simple reaction time test found in the free marketplace on an Android telephone. This application required the user to touch one of four colo red stars that match the color of an identified star in the upper right hand corner. The subject was asked to repeat this response 20 times and the total time was scored as the reaction time. If a subject made an incorrect â€Å"touch† then their time would continue until the correctly touched 20 stars. The subject would then be ask to repeat this test with their non-dominant hand.To standardize the testing instructions were provided by my team mates and it was decided that the subject would place the device on a flat surface in front of them and use the index finger on first their dominant hand and then their non-dominant hand. Data was collected for 30 random subjects and analysis performed. Data Analysis Data collected from the 30 random subjects was input and the following summary statistics were produced. Dominant Hand Mean Reaction Time (D)| | | 18. 865 sec. | Median Reaction Time (D)| | | 17. 264 sec. | Variance (D)| | | 28. 235 sec. | Standard Deviation (D)| | | 5. 31 4 sec. | Non-dominant HandMean Reaction Time (N)| | | 17. 734 sec. | Median Reaction Time (N)| | 16. 412 sec. | Variance (N)| | | 16. 130 sec. | Standard Deviation (N)| | | 4. 016 sec. | The graphs below illustrate the mean for each hand as well as error with in plus or minus one standard deviation. Conclusion After conducting this experiment and reviewing the data, a few things became clear. One is that age of the subject had a significant impact on results with both hands. This is presumed to be the result of the interaction with a new technology. Younger subjects seemed to grasp the concept of what they were expected to do more quickly.Second, in this case, familiarity did not breed contempt, but it did breed faster reaction times. As subjects became more comfortable with the application they were using, their response times decreased. The later of these two factors had a more global effect on our outcomes, thus disproving our hypothesis in this case. I do not believe these resul ts to be conclusive or authoritative and simply put, more research is needed. References Deary, I. J. , Liewald, D. & Nissan, J. (2011) A free, easy-to-use, computer-based simple and four-choice reaction time programme: The dearly-liewald reaction time task.Behavior Research Methods (Online), 43(1), 258-268. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/920259801? accountid=39001 Jakobsen, L. H. , Sorensen, J. M. , Rask, I. K. , Jensen, B. S. , & Kondrup, J. (2011). Validation of reaction time as a measure of cognitive function and quality of life in healthy subjects and patients. Nutrition, 27(5), 561-570. Doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1016/j. nut. 2010. 08. 003 Norman, Celia (2011). General Biology 111: Laboratory Manual. Denver, CO: Department of Biology, Arapahoe Community College.

Free African Americans Essay

The Antebellum period had a huge impact on the free African American people. The Antebellum period is the time that is pre-Civil War and post-War of 1812. The United States was expanding to a more powerful nation and slavery was the biggest industry in their economy. During this period of time, African Americans had to deal with many obstacles/adversities as free blacks in all regions of the United States. The regions known as, in the northern, upper south, deep south, and far west regions of the United States was where the free African American encountered different and similar situations and experiences. Throughout history the north always was known as the first region that freed slaves. The northern states didn’t us the same economic methods as the southern states and the far west. They adopted a new way of making money. According to The African American Odyssey, â€Å"Between 1860, a market revolution transformed the north into a modern industrial society. † This new method changed economy for the north until present day. This was a new age of industry and the production of factories. Slavery was not needed as much as the southern states where they had good sun to cultivate and profit from crops such as cotton. Even though this new method lightened the idea of slavery in the north, the freedom for blacks was still limited. Whites did not want to deal with blacks so they enforced new black laws in which resulted in the segregation of school, communities and any other public uses. Free black men had limited voting rights where they barely had any rights to vote. Most of all these black laws impacted the employment level to a low gradient for the free blacks in the north. This battle for employment had many negative impacts on free Black’s ways of life. Families were tarnished under the pressure of providing for their families with the scarcity of jobs. They enforced fugitive slave law where the white slave masters can hunt and recapture runaway slaves from the south. This made life difficult and filled the free blacks with fear because they were more prone to be wrongfully enslaved. Like the south the whites did not want to deal with blacks whatsoever. Irish immigrants were taking all the jobs away from the blacks many blacks had unskilled jobs such as being barbers and shoemakers. The free African American upper south region did have similar experiences as the north but much more were different. Though they shared similar churches family businesses and fraternities the upper south was still separated by the idea of slavery and the different economic methods. The impact of slavery created different communities. The free blacks in the north lived with other free Blacks while in the upper south; the free Blacks lived with slaves. The fugitive slave laws had a bigger impact on the upper south than the north. The free black was definitely more prone to be enslaves. Many sheriffs would harass and arrest free blacks randomly on profiling them as runaway slaves. They did have a tool known as free papers that was proof for their freedom. But these papers were useless most of the time because they constantly had to be renewed. These free papers impacted the everyday life of African Americans because they had to make sure that their papers weren’t stolen, lost, or tarnished. The free Blacks had fewer freedoms. They could not vote at all and they had problems going outside at night. They could not congregate in groups and had no rights to bear arms. Life as a free Black person was tougher than the north because of the low employment rates downgraded again due to the Irish immigrants taking their jobs. Their jobs were different during the antebellum period. Many people were maids and servants and washers. Upper south institutions where tarnished and almost did not exist. Black churches were overran by white ministries and left the black ministers with no opportunities to practice on their careers. Schools were almost absent. They were low funded whereas many blacks in the upper south were left uneducated. There were no schools and no jobs which gave success to the whites on preventing the advancement of the free blacks. Unlike the north and the upper south, the Deep South barely had any free blacks despite the fact that the population of African Americans in the Deep South was enormous. There were many incidents of racial mixing with slave owners and the female slaves. Diversity was there but slavery still kept their children enslaved. They usually had a choice to buy their way out of slavery. Many of the free slaves did not have their own separate identity from the white slave owners. Many of the free blacks were just like the whites. They were accepted in the churches. Many wealthy free blacks were educated due to the establishment of private schools. Unlike the north and the Upper South, they had better skilled jobs such as carpentry and tailors. Many whites began to overlook the success of the free African American In the Deep South and made it even more impossible to live. Unlike the North, Upper South, and the Deep South, the Far West absolutely did not want anything to do with free Blacks. The black laws in the Far West were made to ban all free Blacks from settling in their region. The Gold Rush of 1849 resulted in the migration of many White and free Black men to settle out west in states like California and Oregon. The Far west was known to be more multicultural and have multicultural communities. Many blacks had the same jobs of that the free Blacks from the regions had except for the gold mining. Many Blacks prospered from gold. Slavery was a huge propaganda in the upper south and the whole south in general. It was a reality that all African American whether free or enslaved could not avoid. The northern states were gradually enhancing their advancement in the idea of acceptance and coexistence with the Whites in the US. The north had at least a bit of a head start for the search of equality in the U. S. The conditions of living might have been similar and different in many ways but this time all came to an end once the fugitive slave laws were enhanced. Many free African Blacks were enslaved and wrongfully accused to be slaves. The new laws were undisputed and changed the Blacks’ idea of freedom and fight for equality Work Cited Hine D, The African American Odyssey (2011). Combined Volume, 5th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

The nature of relationship marketing in Greek SMEs Essays

The nature of relationship marketing in Greek SMEs Essays The nature of relationship marketing in Greek SMEs Essay The nature of relationship marketing in Greek SMEs Essay Essay Topic: Marketing Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as the process of planning and carrying out the design, pricing, promotion and the distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that will satisfy individual and organizational objectives.(Lancaster, 1998) A study by (Hogarth-Scott et al., 1996) examined how complex the marketing practiced in small business was and how it is used to strategically gain a competitive advantage over a competitor. Carson (1990) in a longitudinal study of small firms in Belfast area has made a strong contribution to the understanding of market practice of marketing in small firms and concludes that marketing is often seen as peripheral to small firms requirements. Research has found some small businesses use sophisticated marketing strategies and others use no marketing. Small business owners are seen as generalists and should not be expected to change to specialists in marketing. In their work Fitchew, Stokes and Blackburn (Jack, 1998) aimed to provide an understanding of what marketing means to small business owners and stated that small firms share a number of characteristics differentiating them from larger organizations. They continued by stating that empirical work suggests that these characteristics lead to a number of marketing problems. To illustrate their point they use the following factors as examples; limited customer base, limited activity, owner/managers marketing competency, lack of formalized planning and evolutionary marketing, and, innovation, niches and gaps. Jack and Bower (Jack, 1998) found that the firms they studied attributed their success to the product/service supplied, their willingness to adopt to and meet customers requirements, helping to build, maintain and retain customer loyalty and building a marketing strategy around their competitive advantage. It follows therefore that marketing is particularly relevant to the small business, the use and application may determine the winners from the losers. The relationship and affinity that many SME owners/managers have with their customer base has frequently been cited as an advantage of the SME sector. For instance Carson (1990) discussed the importance of customer relationships for the small business. Similarly Carson, Crombie, McGowan and Hill (1995) who implied that the best strategy a small business can adopt is to fully appreciate and exploit any existing customer base, prior to attempting an expansion of this base. Similarly, McAuley (Jack, 1998) discussed how important it is for the entrepreneur to be interested in the customer, developing a relationship and building on it over time, not just for the domestic market but also for the internationalization of the small business. This relationship between the firm and the customer is called relationship marketing Thus Shani and Chalasani (1992) define relationship marketing as an integrated effort to identify, maintain, and build up a network with individual consumers and to continuously strengthen the network for the mutual benefit of both sides, through interactive, individualized and value-added contacts over a long period of time Aims The aim of this project is to develop an explanatory theory that will associate certain factors to the effectiveness of relationship marketing in small business in Greece. It will seek to determine how relationship marketing can be practiced by small businesses. It will try to further understand the special features of relationship marketing implementation in small businesses. It will also try to highlight the importance of the entrepreneur in practicing relationship marketing. Research questions 1. If small business in Greece practice relationship marketing 2. How effectively do small business use relationship marketing in Greece? 3. How important is the entrepreneur in practicing relationship marketing? 4. Are there any other elements that need to be considered in relation to small business use of relationship marketing? Plan of Investigation Literature review Surveying 2000 SMEs in 1991 and 1995, the study sought to identify the particular factors which small firm owners-managers believe contribute most to their competitive advantage (Cambridge Small Business Research Centre, 1992; Kitson and wilkinson, 1996). In 1991, the main competitive advantage of small firms was found to be personal attention to client needs, although established reputation, the provision of specialized expertise and product quality were also believed to be important factors. In the marketing domain it is essential for managers and others to keep in close touch with customers to assess their needs and aspirations. It is also beneficial to maintain a long-term relationship with customers. Loyal customers who continue to purchase particular goods or services over time are very attractive to business. The costs of acquiring new customers is considerable and the latter are likely to be more fickle and responsive to marginal additional benefits provided by competitors. Long-term relationships generate a self-sustaining dynamic, which allows each party to weather the storms that arise between interdependent people. (Carson et al., 1995) In 1990s, the topic of relationship marketing has become one of great interest to both marketing scholars and marketing practitioners. In the increasingly mature and complex markets in which organizations are now operating, building relationships and sustaining then are frequently, ore important than customer acquisition. McKenna (1991) offers a more strategic view of relationship marketing by putting the customer first and shifting the role of marketing from manipulating the customer (telling and selling) to genuine customer involvement (communicating and sharing the knowledge). Berry (1993), in somewhat broader terms, also has strategic viewpoint on relationship marketing. He stresses that attracting new customers should be viewed only as an intermediate step in the marketing process. Developing closer relationship with these customers and turning them into loyal once are equally important aspects of marketing. Thus he defines relationship marketing as attracting, maintaining, and-in multi-service-organizations-enhancing customer relationships. A considerable amount of work has focused on the relevance and applicability of relationship marketing to all customers and suppliers as well as the limitations of relationship marketing. Blois(1996) examines the conditions under which a customer is willing to become involved in and then to continue a relationship. The customer must be convinced of the overall benefits of the relationship, so that the advantages outweigh the costs of obtaining similar supplies through discrete transactions. Some researchers have questioned whether relationship marketing practices benefit both customer and supplier. Worthington and Horne (1996) consider whether relationship marketing operates in a mutually beneficial way across customer-supplier with reference to the affinity card industry. Other researchers, such as Murphy (1996), have examined the financial services industry and found that both customers and suppliers benefit from relationship marketing. For the customer a long-tern relationship helps reduce perceived risk in purchasing financial services, whereas for the supplier it allows enhanced retention rates and therefore improved profitability. Other academic work by Palmer (1994) explores the role of relationship marketing in the marketing curriculum and the alternative perspectives of relationship marketing held by a sample of U.K managers (Palmer Mayer, 1996) Unfortunately there is a lack of research of relationship marketing in SMEs sector. In the vast majority of the academic literature we found out about the importance of relationship marketing in firms and especially in SME. But there is very limited research on how a firm can implement relationship marketing and relationship marketing techniques. In this study we will try to understand how relationship marketing is been practiced in the SMEs sector in Greece. Greece could be a very helpful example as personal relations are very important and quite different to U.K Also be aware that effective working relationships emerge: (1) when interacting parties communicate openly and regularly; (2) when a degree of trust develops between individuals and groups; (3) when the parties understand the viewpoint of their counterparts; (4) when non-coercive methods of influence are utilized; (5) when those who interact accept their adversaries have a legitimate right to express their point of view; and (6) when joint decision-making is neither unduly emotional nor hard-headed (Carson et al., 1995). Sample The sampling frame will consist of small manufacturing enterprises in the Attica district of Greece. As Athens, the capital of Greece, is located in Attica, this district contains a high concentration of small enterprises. An estimated population of 4000 SMEs in the district operating in a variety of different manufacturing sectors. ICAP (Greek Business Information Company) will be contacted to generate the sample required from their database. Through the use of stratified random sampling the population is divided into three strata of non-overlapping groups. These are based on the number of employees outlined in the EC February 1996 definition of small businesses. ICAP will carry out three separate searches, draw a random sample from each subset to form the total sample of businesses. Probability sampling will be used to answer the research questions by making inferences from the sample about a population. This sampling technique is used to obtain a representative sample. Overall research design A multi-method approach was felt to be the most suitable for this study as the in depth knowledge of social contexts acquired through qualitative research can be used to inform the design of survey questions for structured interviewing and self competition questionnaires.(Bryman, 2001). The use of qualitative methods would generate information on individual views and opinions and quantitative to facilitate theory testing. The issues of reliability and generability of qualitative research findings can be overcome through the use of quantitative research at the same time. Method-qualitative This was felt to be appropriate to the research strategy, as in depth understanding of a number of small businesses in Greece would be obtained. It would also enable the understanding of managers views and opinions of the implications of relationship marketing strategies. Interviews are the most appropriate method as they are insightful and able to focus on the relationship between marketing and small businesses. The disadvantage is the bias associated with poor questions, not objective interpretation of results and also time consuming. Interview Design The types of interviews to be used are in-depth, face to face as a natural conversation and personal contact can be achieved. They allow exploration, probing of interviewee and story-telling to generate theory. To achieve an equivalence of stimulus the same types of topics will be asked to all participants. The researcher will make sure that the interviewee understands any theoretical concepts used. The final questions will be formed after the literature review. Relevant information on the themes of the interview will be supplied to participants before interviews so they are able to gather appropriate information. This also helps to promote validity and reliability. (Saunders et al., 2000) Data processing and analysis Categorization of the themes and sub themes will be developed when reading the data to identify relationships and patterns. Categories are then named using existing theory and parameters will be implemented so no confusion of what is included. The categories will be analyzed to see how they fit together. Unitizing then takes place when the data is assigned to a category through the dissection of the transcripts. Hypotheses will be developed and tested to identify relationships between categories (Saunders et al., 2000). Method-Quantitative The most appropriate method is a survey. It will allow the collection of a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economically way.(Saunders et al., 2000) It is used to describe population characteristics and to test practices on small business relationship marketing. Other quantitative methods are incompatible with the nature of research and are not selected. The data collection tools consists of questionnaire, structured observation and structured interviews. In using a questionnaire the data is in a standardized form and comparison can be made easily and quickly. Structured interviews and observations were not selected as it was felt that in depth interviews would generate richer information on the topic. Sample The questionnaires will be sent by post to the remaining business from the sample. Questionnaire Design In designing the questionnaire, time will be spent planing, collecting and analyzing the data required, as you are unable to use prompts to explore further and have only one chance to collect the data. Self-completion questionnaires will be used, as they are inexpensive. As the questionnaire is completed independently the answers will not be contaminated or affected by other peoples opinions. The owners of small businesses are unlikely to have assistants so it is felt that they will fill it in themselves. A disadvantage of a postal survey it is low response rates and incomplete data. This can be solved by attaching a covering letter to the questionnaire explaining the purpose of the study will maximize response rates and the importance of completing it along with a pre paid envelope. The questionnaire is designed with an attractive layout, clear instructions and a minimum number of questions. A reminder will be posted one week after the questionnaire to the sample. Data processing and analysis The closed questions will be coded at the design stage. Open questions will be grouped into categories and coded once the questionnaires have been received. A unique identification number will be assigned to each questionnaire to help when checking for errors after inserting data. The computer programme SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) will be used to process and analyze the data. The data is manually keyed and stored in the SPSS worksheet. The advantage is that data can be input quickly with few errors. In using the commands available statistical tests can be carried out easily and quickly. (Tukey, 1997). emphasizes the use of diagrams to explore and understand your data. (Saunders et al., 2000). The results can then be presented in the form of tables and graphs appropriate to the research questions. Ethical issues As an external researcher the main weakness is how to gain access to small business, as it could be difficult to negotiate and time consuming. To overcome this the selected businesses will be contacted by telephone and informed of the study and its purpose allowing them to agree to take part in the questionnaire and interviews. Managers will be informed of the value and credibility of the research. The goodwill of the organizations in allowing access will be relied on. A consent form will be constricted and signed by all those participating. All information will be anonymous, as the study does not need to name participants. Appropriate data protection principles will be put in place to maintain confidentiality and privacy. Due to the anonymous nature of questionnaire unique identification numbers will not be used.

English Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

English Legal System - Essay Example Thus, consistency within the law is both in practice and theory, to a maximum extent is preserved and can be regarded as one of the fundamental demands of the meaning of justice, which is covered by giving equal treatment of like cases, in like manner1. UK can be said to be the birth place of the legal concept namely judicial precedent or stare decisis or ratio decidendi. Now, judicial precedent is widely followed by the common law jurisdictions around the world. The judicial precedent concept is footed upon the rule that once a court has given its verdict in a given background, the analogous verdict should be arrived at in any future litigation where the facts of the cases are alike. The judicial precedent principle is based upon the concept that if a verdict was given by a superior court, then lower court is under obligation to follow it, whereas there is no obligation on the superior court to follow the decision given by a lower court. It is to be remembered that decision given by Lord Atkin in Donoghue v Stevenson2 in 1932 as regards to â€Å"neighbour principle† which has become the reference case for the cases involving ‘negligence’ in the latter period3. A gullible consumer may under proper scenarios recoup damages for harm sustained by a defective product either it be car as held in Andrews v Hopkinson,4 or it may be an underwear as held in Grant v Australian Knitting Mills.5 Likewise , the verdict given in Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd6 also became a precedent in subsequent cases where it was held that a company is a juristic person , has separate legal entity and a company is different from its members.7 In these cases, the courts have considered only the legal principle involved and not the particular facts of the earlier cases. Thus, the legal principle, which is known as the ratio decidendi is the crux portion of the judicial decision which is a binding precedent.8 An obiter dictum in judicial verdict deals with observation made by a judge in the course of litigation, which is not essential for the final verdict and hence is not regarded as a binding precedent. For instance, in R v Howe & Bannister9, it was held by the House of Lords that defence of duress could not be extended to murder crime and this has been regarded as the ratio decidendi of the case. Further, it was observed by the House of Lords, whether the defence should be made available to those accused who engaged in an attempt of murder and observed obiter dicta that the defence of duress should not be made available to the attempted murder also10. It is to be noted that obiter dicta is also referred by other names namely persuasive precedent, which refers to the legal principles observed by the judges which just offer some elucidation on the subject. Thus, persuasive precedents may also emanate from lower courts and also from the verdicts of other jurisdiction11. In R v Gotts12 , the House of Lords was of the view that justification under duress cannot be extended for

National cash Register Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

National cash Register Company - Essay Example It can be viewed that over 300000 NCR ATMs are installed throughout the globe. In order to upgrade ATM’s security, NCR created a software solution to implement in all of its ATM machines. At the same time, Korala Associates Ltd. (KAL) argued to have created a comparable security up-gradation for NCR’s ATMs. For developing such software, KAL has entered into agreement with NCR in the year 1998 (the â€Å"1998 Agreement†). Thus, in order to facilitate such process, NCR had financed KAL a property ATM which involved copyright software known as APTRA XFS (Gehrke & Associates, S.C., â€Å"United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit†). ISSUE: NCR assumed that KAL had obtained access to make unauthorized use of the copyrighted software and claimed that KAL had involved in unlawful copying of APTRRA XFS software. NCR further claimed that KAL has developed its version of security upgradation only by engaging in this unauthorized activity. NCR brought a sui t claiming copyright infringement against KAL (Gehrke & Associates, S.C., â€Å"United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit†). Law: The court stated that the dispute amid the parties not only rely upon the scope of the arbitration clause, but also remains much focus upon determining whether claims would be ruled under the arbitration clause of the contract. ... im to be decided by arbitration because it wanted to seek remedy against the intentional act of breaching its licensing agreement (the 1998 agreement) by KAL and also because infringement of NCR’s copyright in APTRA XFS software which would be dispositive to this claim. It can be affirmed that NCR could have a claim that KAL engaged in unfair competition because KAL indulged in conducting unethical business practices through misusing misused trade secrets and other valuable property information (Gehrke & Associates, S.C., â€Å"United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit†). AMERICAN NEEDLE, INC .V. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (CASE 28.1) FACTS: The National Football league (NFL) includes thirty two independently owned qualified football teams. Every team possess name, logo and colors along with own associated intellectual property. In 1963, the teams created National Football League Properties (NFLP) to build up license and promote their trademarked objects includ ing caps and jersey. NFLP has approved licenses to number of traders allowing them to produce and sell clothes embedding team insignias. American Needle, Inc was one of the licensees. In the year 2000, NFLP approved Reebok International Ltd an absolute ten year license to produce and trade trademarked headwear for entire thirty two teams. Thereafter, it refused to refurbish license of American Needle (Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L., â€Å"Supreme Court of the United States†). ISSUE: American Needle filed a suit in a federal district court claiming that the contract involving the NFL, the NFLP, its teams and Reebok infringed Sections 1 and 2 articulated in Sherman Act. Law: In response, the defendants affirmed that they were unable of work against within the section 1 â€Å"because they are single