Estimating Demand and Forecasting Sales and Sales Force Simulation Essay

Estimating Demand and Forecasting Sales and Sales Force Simulation Summary - Essay Example Sales forecasting is also very valuable when a company is embarking in new ventures such as expansion plans. Sales forecasting is not exact science and many business experts consider it an art. Forecasting methods include both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Jury of executive opinion is a popular forecasting technique. The technique is based on the Delphi method (Estimating Demand and Forecasting Sales and Sales Force Simulation). This technique uses the knowledge of experts in a systematic manner. The experts create a panel in which open discussion and questionnaires are used to find a solution. Biased and tension among the group of experts opinions is eliminated by creating confidentiality through anonymity. In a study realized by Mentzer & Kahn on forecasting techniques they found that after been exposed to long period of times managers preferred the jury of executive opinion forecasting technique over other methods. As a general rule a company should apply the same forecasting technique when realizing an analysis with different data. The advantange is that the anaysis has a strong comparison base due to consistancy across the board. In the case of a sales forecast for entering new markets the general rule does not apply. When a company is the process of gathering data of different markets a lot different paraments enter into the equation. It might not be possible to gather the same type of data from the different markets. Also different behavioral tendencies of a market make alternative sales forecasting methods more suituble for particual situations. In the sales management simulation studied the company analyzing two different potential markets to introduce a beer product found that the two countries had different cultures and consumer tendencies. Different sales forecasting methods were utilized to create a sales forecast for each country. When a company determines its sales forecasting it must also determine the

Psycho Analytic Theorist And The Concepts Essay

Psycho Analytic Theorist And The Concepts Essay This paper discusses about psycho analytic theorist and the concepts of theorist according to the psychology. It also details the influential of Freuds work in the case of psychoanalytic theory and the concept of Freud. This paper explains the importance of Sigmund Freuds work and the suggestions about psychology. It also details how the analysts that followed Freud dissent from did his viewpoint. This paper links the theorist in the psychoanalytic group. It also concludes with this concept by providing the psychoanalytic concepts and how the concepts are relevant to todays culture. Psychoanalytic theory The psychoanalytic theory is the theory that is the dynamic of personality development and the personality development guides psychoanalytic theory. The method of psychoanalytic theory was associated by Sigmund Freud and the analysis of psychology is used to explore unconsciousness impulses, internal conflicts and anxieties etc. The psychoanalytic theory also focuses the concepts of infantile sexuality, transference and the resistance. The psychoanalytic theory is used to learn and behaviours of human being. 1. Sigmund Freud is a great psychoanalytic theorist and his psychoanalytic concepts are used in many ways among the world. The Sigmund Freuds concepts are influential to the people in the case of improving their personality and mental activities. His work was more influential to the people in the case of providing the solution for unconscious, childhood memories, dream analysis, and for the personality development. He had offered the complete explanation about the human condition. Sigmund Freud had given the perfect value to the psychoanalyst in the case of improving the human being activities, personality development and so on (Sigmund Freud, 2007). Human being utilizes the concept of Sigmund Fused in order improve themselves. His work was understandable and detailed for the people and he has written a broad range of subjects such as culture, dreams and religion that shows the Freuds perspectives in order to improve the human being activities. His theories were enormously influential in order to fabricate the culture of human being. His concept is very effective in the case of enhancing the psychology of human being. 2. Freud had believed the behaviour is the one that is driven from the fears and the desires and the behaviour is locked in the unconscious. The psychoanalysts had followed the point of Freud in order to improve the psychology. The psychoanalytic followers are believed that the concept of Sigmund Freud will be used for shaping the psychology environment and life of human being. Freud had made the consciousness thoughts that are very powerful for human beings life. The psychoanalysis is also the part of popular human culture and that was implemented by Sigmund Fraud thats why psychoanalyst noted him as the father of psychoanalytic theory. According to Freuds viewpoint, the psychoanalytic factors are provided effectively hence other analysts are giving the value to his point. Several psychoanalysts are attracted by the effective points of Sigmund Frauds. They are positively affected by the concepts of Sigmund Fraud. The impact of Sigmund Freud is the valuable one in the case of psychological theories. The psychoanalysts are followed the concepts of infantile sexuality, transference, and the superego that are made by the points of Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud is a great founder of psychoanalytic theory for the enhancement of people. His points are also very effective in the case of giving the personality development, motivation and perception to human being. Psychoanalysts are treating Freud as an inspiration for them and they are also following the methods and guideline of Sigmund Fraud to the people. The psychoanalyst concepts are very useful today for enhancing the activities of people in this world. Sigmund Freud was the doctor and he was delivered many psychoanalytic theory books in order to improve the psychological factors. These books are followed by psychoanalysts. 3. The theorists are contributing more in the case of psychoanalytic group by providing effective philosophy methods to them. The contribution and the value of theorist are very significant in the case of improving the psychological factors. The psychoanalytical theory is the most influential factor in the case of twentieth century and because the people in the twentieth century needs to have the better psychology theory for their enhancement. The theorists are also the responsible for the implementation of psychoanalytic theory. Hence the theorists are linked with the psychoanalytical theory. The theorists are linked with the psychoanalytic groups by emphasizing the role of unconscious impulses and overcoming conflicts. The theorist are decides the psychological stage, age, virtue that are related with the psychopathology for the psychoanalytic theory. The psychoanalytical group is concentrated in the case of child psychology, treating couples and conducting the family therapy conditions. In this case, the guidelines of psychological theory and the theorists are very helpful to psychoanalytical theory. The theorists and psychoanalytical groups link with the psychoanalytical group in the case of providing the better solution for the human beings problems. The theorists are providing the theories for psychological factors in order to improve mental health professionals and practises. The theorists are also delivering the concepts in the case of handling the feelings, thoughts and actions that are linked with the psycho analytical theories. The attachment theory, transference, and rà ©sistance are the theories that are contributed by the theorist for the psychoanalytical theory groups. The psychoanalytic theory group is depending upon the theorists and the contribution of theorist and hence theorist must link in the case of psychoanalytic theory groups. 4. The three types of psychoanalytical concepts are relevant to todays culture and the modern culture is affected by those psychoanalytical concepts. These psychoanalytic concepts were provided by Sigmund Freud and his concepts very effective to modern world. The three concepts are unconsciousness, resistance and transference and so on. The unconsciousness is the psychoanalytical concept that provides the development of adult emotional problems in the world. This unconscious treatment method is involving in the case of free association of ideas, interpretation by patient, discover the ling buried events. The unconsciousness concept is making the present relationship to patient in the current culture. The resistance is the concept of psychoanalytic theory that was initiated by Sigmund Fraud. It also plays the vital role in the culture of human beings. This resistance is referred to the patients in the case of blocking memories from the unconscious memory. This is related with the modern culture in the case of developing the thoughts and feelings of patients. In this case, the patient can automatically resist the self exploration that makes the comfortable environment to patients. Then the patients can experience the life as happier because the painful emotions can be resisted by this concept thats why this concept also relevant to todays culture (Ruth Stein, 1999). The third concept is the effective one that concept also plays the vital role in the case of current culture. It is the phenomenon that is characterized by unconsciousness redirection of feeling among the human being. The transference is utilizes for better understanding of the patients feelings and thoughts in this world. The transference makes the better positive relationship to the patients hence it is also related with the current culture. Conclusion The psychoanalytic theory and the concepts of psychoanalytic theory were discussed. The concepts of Sigmund Freud to the psychoanalytical theory were described. The relationship of theorists with the psychoanalytical theory was detailed. The contribution of psychoanalyst to the psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud was explained. The three psychoanalytical concepts that are related with the current culture were provided and the supporting points for them were concluded.

Essay --

Interactions in the global political economy always result in outcomes such that winners and losers are produced in each political activity. These outcomes vary from country to country depending on factors governing the country’s economic and political environment. Outcomes here range from monetary and trade policy outcomes to outcomes from crises. It is a widely accepted view that outcomes in the global political economy are, most of the time, a result of economic as well as political factors. One of the influential political factors is concerned with institutions. According to North (1991), institutions act as constraints that shape interactions between politics, economics, and society. Furthermore, political institutions are important in initiating rules about policymaking process, weighing preferences of different interest groups, and determining the extent to which interest groups affect policies (Hiscox, 2008). In terms of trade, demands for trade policies from special i nterest groups are converted into policy consequences that affect how people behave, which in turn determines the winners and losers. In view of regime formation, domestic institutions such as electoral and political systems and the distribution of governmental powers are said to have an influence on multilateral regimes through credibility (Cowhey, 1993). Apart from this, whether a country is likely to implement free trade policies or not also largely depends on the type of political systems that country has; democracy, autocracy, or monarchy. In this essay, I would like to focus on the importance of domestic institutions especially electoral systems, political systems, and veto players in producing the trade policy and crises outcomes in the global politica... ...ther the Democrat party can accumulate enough support to replace the government. If not, in order to end this cycle, there might be a need to reconsider the compatibility of democracy with Thailand’s political structure. As seen, institutions such as electoral systems and veto players are an important factor in determining outcomes in the global political economy both in terms of trade policies and crises. Regarding trade policies, having a democratic regime is likely to bring about economic growth through trade liberalisation. In reference to tackling crises, democracies and autocracies have equal chance of experiencing a crisis; however, a democratic country tends to recover faster because it is relatively easy for the population to replace the unsuccessful leader. Ultimately, strong and stable domestic institutions are the foundation of a country’s development.

Efeectiveness of Loyalty Programs in Big Bazaar

| 2011| | MARKETING OF SERVICES TERM PAPER PRADEEP KUMAR. N(M100002MS) | [EFFECTIVENESS OF LOYALTY PROGRAMS IN BIG BAZAAR]| | Contents page no 1. About the company 03 2. Significant features of big bazaar 04 3. Promotion techniques 04 4. Sales Promotion techniques 05 5. Loyalty programs 06 6. Customer experience 08 7. Research objective 09 8. Research methodology 09 9. Hypothesis and testing 10 10. Sampling plan 10 11. Findings 11 12. Conclusion 12 ABOUT THE COMPANY Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarket in India. Currently, there are 210 stores across 80 cities and towns in India. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections. Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, which also owns the Central Hypermarket, and is owned through a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited that is listed on Indian stock exchanges. Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer market. Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 10 million square feet of retail space, has over 1000 stores across 61 cities in India and employs over 30,000 people. The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, Big Bazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include, Depot,Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Fashion Station, aLL, Top 10, mBazaar and Star and Sitara. The company also operates an online portal, futurebazaar. com. A subsidiary company, Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited, operates Home Town, a large-format home solutions store, Collection i, selling home furniture products and E-Zone focused on catering to the consumer electronics segment. Pantaloon Retail was recently awarded the International Retailer of the Year by the US based National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona. Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption space. Pantaloon is not just an organization – it is an institution, a centre of learning & development. Over the years, the company has accelerated growth through its ability to lead change. A number of its pioneering concepts have now emerged as industry standards. For instance, the company integrated backwards into garment manufacturing even as it expanded its retail presence at the front end, well before any other Indian retail company attempted this. It was the first to introduce the concept of the retail departmental store for the entire family through Pantaloons in 1997. The company was the first to launch a hypermarket in India with Big Bazaar, a large discount store that it commissioned in Kolkata in October 2001. And the company introduced the country to the Food Bazaar, a unique ‘bazaar' within a hypermarket, which was launched in July 2002 in Mumbai. Embracing our leadership value, the company launched aLL in July 2005 in Mumbai, making us the first retailer in India to open a fashion store for plus size men and women. STRIKING FEATURES OF BIG BAZAAR * Food bazaar. Electronic bazaar. * Furniture bazaar. * FutureBazaar. com * Amusement zone. * Telecalling services PROMOTION TECHNIQUES * Big Bazaar – Isse sasta aur accha kahin nahi :- Big Bazaar has adopted value pricing in which they win loyal customers by charging a fairly low price for a high – quality offering. * Wednesday Bazaar – Hafte ka sabse sasta din :- In January 2007, Big Bazaar introduced a Wednesday Bazaar concept called â€Å"Hafte Ka Sabse Sasta Din† with the aim to give homemakers the power to save the most on this day of the week. Sabse Saste Teen Din (Big days) :- In 2006 they started a new shopping festival, i. e. Sabse Saste Teen Din on 24, 25 and 26th of January. Big bazaar throwed up to 65% of on each & every products in the store for three days. * Big Bazaar announced The Great Exchange Offer with a â€Å"Bring anything old and take anything new† concept which started from the 16th of Feb 2008 at the Landmark store. SALES PROMOTION TECHNIQUES The various promotional schemes undertaken by big bazaar are as follows: * The punch line of Big Bazaar says â€Å"IS SE SASTA AUR ACCHA KAHI NAHI†. This line gives the feeling that Big Bazaar gives merchandise which is cheapest in the market or in other words the value for money which a customer will be getting here will be more than anywhere else. * Wednesday is the cheapest day. This is done to divert some of the crowd coming on weekends to a relatively free day. Big bazaar advertises Wednesdays as the cheapest day in all the leading dailies across the capital. This offer targets housewives and encourages them to purchase groceries and vegetables because no one purchases vegetables on a weekly basis, they purchase it at least two times a week. * Big Bazaar has announced a unique exchange offer `Bring anything old and take anything new’. Under the exchange offer, old garments, utensils, furniture, plastic ware, newspapers or just about anything will be weighed and valued and customers will be given exchange coupons. There is also a direct exchange on mobile and electronic goods during the period with attractive discounts on new purchases. * Big Bazaar’s `The Great Exchange Offer’ has mobilized more than two lakh families to actually carry the junk of the house and offload it at the nearest Big Bazaar. Retail analysts say that generally February and March are dull months for consumer buying in the country and therefore this kind of a promotion campaign is needed to boost sales during the period. PANTALOON group’s hypermarkett chain, Big Bazaar, celebrated Republic Day as the Maha Savings Day, when shoppers at Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar outlets across the country, were offered merchandise at rock bottom prices. * The Maha Savings Day saw shoppers got deals they have never seen or heard before. The offers spread across categories from electronics to utensils, from apparel to furniture and also food. For example pressure cooker for Rs 299, two Ruf n Tuf Jeans for Rs 499, and a M otorola C115 for Rs 1,399. Big Bazaar usually runs a full page advertisement on Saturdays and Sundays in all the leading dailies communicating various offers. This is done to attract crowds on weekends because most of the people usually shop during weekends. * Pantaloons retail India limited provides Green card, this Green Card is passport to a whole new world of exclusive benefits and privileges. These includes: * Instant discounts for every time you shop at Pantaloons. * Exclusive shopping days to get hold of latest merchandise. Regular updates on collections and promos via catalogues, sms and email. * Special invites to the most happening events. * Extended exchange periods and complimentary drops for alterations. * Exclusive billing counters and much more. * Big bazaar in association with ICICI banks has launched loyalty cards for the customers. They are: * ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Silver Credit Card : It gives you the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Gold Credit Card :The card brings to you more reasons to save and earn rewards on its usage. It gives you all the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. * Shakti Card Shakti is a credit card for housewives. You need not submit income proof. Simply show your Big Bazaar bill of more than Rs. 500 and a lifestyle proof like club membership card, health club card etc. And get your ‘Shakti’. You can use Shakti at all the Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar outlets * T24 In June 2010, Future Group in partnership with TTSL rolled out a mobile service called T24 for its customers. As part of the offer, customers were rewarded with free talk time for every purchase above Rs. 500 made at Future Group shopping outlets across all formats and locations. LOYALTY PROGRAMS * Big bazaar in association with ICICI banks has launched loyalty cards for the customers. They are: * ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Silver Credit Card : It gives you the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. * ICICI Bank Big Bazaar Gold Credit Card :The card brings to you more reasons to save and earn rewards on its usage. It gives you all the benefits of regular cards and additional features to make your shopping not only enjoyable but also a way to save more with Big Bazaar. * Shakti Card Shakti is a credit card for housewives. You need not submit income proof. Simply show your Big Bazaar bill of more than Rs. 500 and a lifestyle proof like club membership card, health club card etc. And get your ‘Shakti’. You can use Shakti at all the Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar outlets * T24 In June 2010, Future Group in partnership with TTSL rolled out a mobile service called T24 for its customers. As part of the offer, customers were rewarded with free talk time for every purchase above Rs. 500 made at Future Group shopping outlets across all formats and locations. CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE The customer experience among the big bazaar customers is comprised of the following Components: POPULATING THE CUSTOMER PROFILE: To create the Ideal Customer Experience, Big Bazaar populates the Customer Profile with the relevant information . the customers who are having very similar buying patterns in the big bazaar are populated and an analysis is done so as to find the preferences of the products of these groups, including various promotion strategies and offers. DELIVERING AND RECEIVING VALUE AT EACH CUSTOMER INTERACTION: Big Bazaar views each interaction as a golden opportunity to deliver value through its products, services, and processes, as well as to receive valuable information from the Customer in the form of feedback. CUSTOMIZING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: By understanding an individual’s needs, it creates the Ideal Customer Experience by Customizing the products, services, and processes to meet the Needs of the individual customer RESEARCH OBJECTIVE * The objective of the research is to find the effectiveness of loyalty programs in BIG BAZAAR ,i. e whether loyalty programs attract customer attention or not in todays competetive scenario . * To find out the increase in customer loyalty by measuring various factors. * To find out customer’s reactions to various loyalty programs and change in their purchase decision due to these programs. To analyze customer’s expectations from retail format like convenience store in terms of offering of loyalty programs. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research problems:- consumer’s reactions and expectation from loyalty programs of convenience store format, Big Bazaar. †¢ Research methodology: Exploratory method †¢ Descriptive research: is a type of research conducted when we have to find out the frequency with which Something occurs. This research is guided by initial hypothesis. HYPOTHESIS AND TESTING Hypothesis testing for this report has evolved around formulating a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis as regards to the percentage of population availing the loyalty programs H(o) Null Hypothesis :Mostly 70% of the population would be Availing the loyalty programs carried out by Big bazaar. H(T) Alternative Hypothesis:- Less than 70% of the population Would be availing the loyalty programs carried out by Big Bazaar. At 5% level of significance I tested the above mentioned hypothesis as per the results obtained. The Chi-Square test has been taken up as the selection criteria for the above mentioned data. The Chi-Square test which shows the magnitude of discrepancy between observed and expected frequency can be expressed symbolically as X2= Summation of (O-E)2 E Where, O= Observed set of frequencies E= Expected set of frequencies SAMPLING PLAN I selected a sample size of 51 ,I gave a questionnaire and interviewed the samples in the OLD MADRAS BIG BAZAAR in BANGALORE Questionnaire Sample Methods| Random Simple Sampling| Sample size| 51| Primary data| Questionnaire| Interview Sample Units| sampling unit is Noida area. | Source of data| through primary sources| Market survey & area| | Sampling size| 51| FINDINGS * Big Bazaar has been preferred by most of the Households frequently and they use to purchase daily Requirement material from there. While still 15% of People don’t prefer to buy daily requirement items from Organized formats. The data predicts that customers at nearby locations of Big Bazaar prefer to go to there often but it is not a destination for customers every time. * 35% go there oftenly * 30% go there occasionally * 15% go everytime * 20% people go there sometimes * The ratio of customers using loyalty programs floats between 60%-62%. Educated people are giving more Attention to the loyalty card due to the awareness of its future benefits monetarily as well as in getting right information of the production. Most of the custo mers feel satisfied from the loyalty program offerings of Big Bazaar so it has been successful in fulfilling customer’s expectations. While 25% of customers still want to get some more benefits in return of their loyalty to the store. * Customers feel 55% motivated to shop from Big Bazaar due to their loyalty programs. Conclusion In my calculations: The calculated value of is more than the table value. So, the hypothesis is REJECTED i. e. less than 70% of the population is only availing the loyalty program carried out by Big Bazaar. There are maximum customers who are satisfied with the merchandising of the store and they find every product of brand in each category and shelf according to their choices. They are having some complains regarding the future cards. * Customers wait for discount loyalties provided by them but not too much. * Customers are not aware of the benefits of the card. * Many of the customers are not even using any of the loyalty Program. * Store has been a big flop at online shopping centre as people want to touch and select their items before purchase

Relationship Dynamics in The Perks of Being a Wallflower Essay

â€Å"My life is an afterschool special.† These words, spoken by the character, Patrick, summarize the dynamics of the relationships portrayed in the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The movie is a coming-of-age story about Charlie, a boy without any friends, as he enters his first year of high school. While the movie is geared toward young adults, the message portrayed about relationships touches everyone: We accept the love we think we deserve. In the movie, Charlie has a crush on a fun-loving, party-girl, senior, Sam, who is already dating an older boy in college. Though they become close friends and share intimate experiences and feelings with each other, Charlie never asks Sam out. see more:reaction paper about earthquake The movie upholds traditional high school relationship stereotypes from the Sadie Hawkins dance to prom photo shoots but it also illuminates the uniqueness of every close intimate relationship. It is best described by Charlie when he says, â€Å"I know someday our pictures will become old photographs,† like how a moment captured on camera can be seen but never experienced the same way again. Through the dynamics of Sam and Charlie’s relationship, I will show how The Perks of Being a Wallflower depicts a genuine, true love story that represents universal elements everyone experiences in close relationships. Before his first day of high school, Charlie writes, â€Å"I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that can be.† He begins his first day alone, eating by himself in the cafeteria, never raising his hand in class, and keeping his head ducked down in the hallways. One night he decides to go to a high school football game, where he first meets Sam and her stepbrother, Patrick. Together, they watch their school football team win the game and Sam and Patrick invite Charlie to the diner with them afterwards where they talk about their favorite music and what they want to be when they grow up. This act of sharing positive experiences together that benefits the progression of a relationship is called capitalization (Reiss, Carmichael, Caprariello, Tsai, Rodriguez & Maniaci, 2010). Sam and Patrick share the experience of Charlie’s first party, his first school dance, and even the first time he gets high. The most theatrical example of capitalization in the movie is when the three friends are driving home and the song, â€Å"Heroes† by David Bowie comes on the radio and Sam demands that Patrick drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel so she can stand in the back of the pickup truck while blasting the song over the radio. Charlie is so stricken by the feeling of belonging that he looks at Patrick and says, â€Å"I feel infinite.† Sam and Charlie become closer when they offer each other the comfort of knowing that they are not alone. Their relationship grows even deeper when they learn that they can share their experiences and feelings with each other without being rejected. This happens the first time at Charlie’s first high school party. Charlie, while he is stoned, confesses to Sam that his only friend, Michael, shot himself last spring. Sam shares what Charlie told her with Patrick and they later toast Charlie at the party in order to welcome him as their new friend in front of everyone. Charlie looks as if he is about to cry because for the first time, he feels like he belongs somewhere. As their intimacy progresses, Charlie demonstrates his affections for Sam by giving her gifts and offering displays of affection known as maintenance behaviors in relationships (Stafford, 2003). For example, he makes her a mixed tape themed after the night that they drove through the tunnel together even though he couldn’t find the special song that made them feel â€Å"infinite.† Charlie also offers to help Sam study for the next SATs after he sees how disappointed she is when she receives her scores. Charlie’s self-disclosure and efforts to display affection encourages Sam to share the more private parts of her life without fearing she will be rejected by him. Sam’s moment of self-disclosure is after the Christmas party, when she invites Charlie up to her room for the first time to give him a thank-you present for helping her study for the SATs. On her desk is an old typewriter with a bow for Charlie, because she knows that Charlie wants to be a writer s omeday. When Charlie sees the gift on her desk, he says with disbelief, â€Å"You got me a present?† The glow of happiness off of Charlie’s face demonstrates the physiological reaction of expressing gratitude in relationships. Acts of gratitude are known to significantly increase relationship satisfaction (Demoss, 2004). Not only does Sam display gratitude towards Charlie, but she lets him into her room, her private space where none of the other party guests had been invited to go. In a moment of closeness, after Charlie confesses he’s never kissed a girl, Sam shares with Charlie that her first kiss was when her dad’s boss molested her at the age of ten. Charlie responds with validation, telling her that the same thing happened to his aunt Helen and that she turned her life around. When Sam comments that his aunt must have been a great woman, Charlie responds, â€Å"She was my favorite person in the world, until now.† Sam, overwhelmed with tears, tells Charlie that she knows that he knows she has a boyfriend, but she wants to make sure that the first person that kisses him, loves him. Charlie nods, and Sam leans in and kisses him. For the first time she says, â€Å"I love you, Charlie.† And he responds, â€Å"I love you too.† Charlie and Sam do not become a couple, but they continue to teach each other that they are deserving of genuine love. The greater the impact close relationships have on one’s self-image, the greater satisfaction one will receive from the relationship (Mattingly, Oswald, Clark, 2011). Sam and Charlie do this by perpetuating a positive self-image of each other, increasing the happiness they receive from spending time together. Sam does this for Charlie by acknowledging that he is not crazy and that he is someone worth being friends with. Charlie does this for Sam by encouraging her to apply to colleges and offering the emotional support that he believes in her. Sam and Charlie have a genuine concern for each other’s well being. These compassionate, supportive goals are another example of how responsive they are to each others’ needs (Conovello & Crocker, 2011). Charlie doesn’t just give Sam his most beloved gift because he thinks she’s pretty and wants her to like him. He gives her the Beatles record his deceased aunt Helen left him because he truly cares about her, and he wants her to be happy. It is for the same reason Sam gives Charlie his first kiss. They have goals to meet the needs of each other. However, like all individuals and relationships, Sam and Charlie are not perfect. Despite the genuine love and affection Charlie offers her, Sam continues to date her boyfriend who is cheating on her, and Charlie continues to date Sam’s friend, Mary Elizabeth, even though he doesn’t have romantic feelings for her. After Sam finally dumps her boyfriend and Charlie is no longer dating Mary Elizabeth, Sam confronts Charlie and asks him why he had never asked her out. Charlie responds that he didn’t think she wanted him to and that he just wanted her to be happy. Sam replies, â€Å"You can’t just put everyone’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love†¦I don’t want to be someone’s crush, I want people to like the real me.† Charlie fidgets nervously and after a long pause he tells Sam, â€Å"I know who you are,† and he tells her that she’s beautiful and he kisses her. This moment suggests that the impact their relationship had on their self-esteem, brought them both to a point where they could accept the love that the other thought they deserved. Despite all the efforts Sam and Charlie made towards the intimacy of their relationship, the movie does not end happily ever after. The next day Sam leaves for college, and the intimate sexual experience between Charlie and Sam triggered Charlie to have flashbacks of his aunt Helen molesting him as a child and he is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. Charlie is left alone wondering how it is possible to be happy and sad at the same time and how someone he loved and idolized like his aunt Helen could have done something that hurt him so badly. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a love story that is told the way Sam described rock love ballads to Charlie: both kitschy and brilliant. The story uses the general setting of stereotypical high school drama to portray the human experience of close relationships. Charlie experiences the euphoria of first love and also the pain of devastating heartbreak. And just like old photographs, whether the setting was a high school dance or a social at a retirement home, the relationships in this movie are relatable to anyone who views them, while also existing as independent unique experiences that will never be lived the same way twice. Even though the movie doesn’t end with Charlie and Sam as a happy couple, it still ends with an uplifting scene reuniting Charlie, Sam, and her brother, Patrick. Charlie is standing in the back of Sam’s pickup truck while they drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and his voice narrates, â€Å"I know these will all be stories someday and our pictures will become old photographs, but right now, this is happening.† He acknowledges that the experience of human relationships is something that everyone will experience and that all of the moments shared will become memories, but Charlie shows that the energy that comes from love lives in the moment where you feel like you are the only one who has ever experienced it before. â€Å"That one moment†¦when you’re listening to that song on that drive with the people you love most in this world†¦I swear, we are infinite.† References Canvello, A., & Crocker, J. (2011). Interpersonal goals, others’ regard for the self, and self-esteem: The paradoxical consequences of self-image and compassionate goals. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 422-434. Demoss, Y. (2004). Brief interventions and resiliency in couples. Dissertation Abstracts International: The Sciences and Engineering, 65(5-B), 2619. Mattingly, B.A., Oswald, D.L., & Clark, E.M. (2011). An examination of relational-interdependent self-construal, communal strength, and pro-relationship behaviors in friendships. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1243-1248. Reis, H.T., Smith, S.M., Carmichael, C.L., Caprariello, P.A., Tsai, F., Rodriguez, A., & Maniaci, M.R. (2010). Are you happy for me? How sharing positive events with others provides personal and interpersonal benefits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 311-329. Stafford, L. (2003). Maintaining romantic relationships: A summary and analysis of one research program. In D.J. Canary & M. Dainton (Eds.), Maintaining relationships through communication: Relational, contextual, and cultural variations (pp. 51-77). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

The Greater East Asia War And The A-Bomb Essays - Free Essays

The Greater East Asia War And The A-Bomb Essays - Free Essays The Greater East Asia War And The A-Bomb 3. The Greater East Asia War and the A-Bomb 3.1 The Greater East Asia war Along with expansion of its role as a military city, Hiroshima became a modern city. After the Manchurian Incident, the Shanghai Incident, and the outbreak of the full-scale war between Japan and China, the Japanese army and navy launched an attack on the northen Malay Peninsula and attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 8, 1941 (Japan time). Japan rushed into the Greater East Asia War (the Pacific War). In Hiroshima, a center of military affairs since the Sino-Japanese and the Russo-Japanese wars, military installations were expanded and various heavy industries developed rapidly. In 1942, a Marine headquarters (under the command of Lieutenant General Fumio Saeki) was set up in Ujina, and related units were placed on the coast around Hiroshima City. Later, when the atomic bomb was dropped, these units, located about 4 kilometers away from the city, escaped destruction. They sent out relief squads and took a very active part in aiding the wounded, clearing the dead bodies and cleaning the streets. 3.2 Preparations for the Decisive Battle on the Mainland After the outbreak of the war, the air defense setup of the city was rapidly strengthened and was much stronger than in other cities. However, after Japan, which had been victorious in the early stages of the war, lost the battle of Guadalcanal in 1943, the military situation grew steadily worse, and it appeared that the mainland of Japan would be turned into a battlefield. The army hurriedly prepared for a decisive battle on the mainland. With these preparations Hiroshima was to take on a new role. Japan was divided into two parts; the First General Headquarters was placed in Tokyo, and the Second General Headquarters (under the command of Marshal Shunroku Hata) in Hiroshima, where the headquarters of the Chugoku District Governor-General (led by Isei Otsuka), the highest administrative body commissioned by the central government, was also established. In 1944, U.S. forces occupied Saipan, the last strategic point of the Japanese army on the south Pacific front, and established an air base from which to attack the mainland of Japan. In November full-scale air raids were begun, devastating the cities of Japan one by one. Under such conditions, Hiroshima City began the evacuation of students above the third grade of elementary school and of other citizens whose presence was not essential. With the threat of incendiary bombings, demolition of buildings to make fire lanes was carried out on a wide scale. For the demolition of buildings, volunteer army corps in various places, organized according to the National Volunteer Army Conscription Law, and mobilized students of various middle schools and girls' schools were gathered to engage in the work each day. An evacuation plan for citizens was made in preparation for the outbreak of a major conflagration caused by air raids. The evacuation destination of each neighborhood association was specified in advance in order to avoid confusion. The evacuation of people that had been organized at the outset of the air raids was prohibited near the end of the war in order to secure personnel necessary for air defense. 3.3 Demolition of Hiroshima On August 6 1945, one atomic bomb instantly destroyed almost all of the houses and buildings in Hiroshima. They caught fire immediately and were reduced to ashes. In the case of wooden houses, those which were within one kilometer of the hypocenter were smashed at the moment of the explopsion. Those in the area between one kilometer and two kilometers from the hypocenter were completely destroyed. Those in the area two to three kilometers away were severely damaged. Even houses three to four kilometers from the center of the explosion were badly damaged. In the case of reinforced concrete buildings, the roofs of those near the center of the explosion collapsed. Some of the buildings were flattened and became piles of rubble. A fierce fire followed destruction by the violent blast caused by the explosion. Every building within one kilometer of the hypocenter was totally destroyed by the fire whether it was wooden or reinforced concrete. The buildings located one to two kilometers from the

The debate between Nature and Nurture concerning Gender Essays

The debate between Nature and Nurture concerning Gender Essays The debate between Nature and Nurture concerning Gender Paper The debate between Nature and Nurture concerning Gender Paper The nature versus nurture debate explaining sex and gender has been going on for around a century (AboutGender, 2003). Amongst the three approaches, I find sex and gender theories as the most persuasive, although a part of me is inclined towards biological determinism. I believe that femininity and masculinity is due to biological differences to a certain extent, as there is a difference between female anatomy, hormones and genes and that of a male. Schiebinger (1987, p. 9-70) claimed that women think according to feelings and intuitions while men are more objective. I have to admit that sometimes I make decisions based on what my heart tells me, although there is a conflict with making the right moves. One example whereby I followed my heart blindly is during my application to the National University of Singapore (NUS). Although I knew my grades were not good enough for the Law Faculty, due to my deep interest in that subject I still went ahead to apply it as my first choice. However, what convinced me that there are more shortfalls than merits to this theory is that even up until now, no human behavior has been proven by any researcher to be connected to genetic factors. Furthermore, I have an intention of challenging the notion that men have natural qualities that render their aggressiveness. In Singapore for example, increasing cases of maid abuse have been reported; most of the abuses were inflicted by female employers of foreign domestic helpers. Thus I noted that not only men, women also have the propensity to be violent. Elshtain (1987) further justify my point by asserting that the level of aggressiveness of males vary widely across different cultures and women are expected to be more passive in certain cultures than others. Explaining differences in how men and women behave through biological factors is insufficient, and I prefer sex / gender theories as it focuses on the distinction between sex and gender. There are two biological sexes namely male and female. Gender, on the other hand, encompasses heterosexuals, homosexuals, lesbians and gays. Biologically male babies can grow into any gender and this is due his socially and culturally influenced roles. Sex is biological while gender can be nurtured or developed. I was in an all girls Secondary School, and was exposed to the unconventional behavior of lesbians who are biologically females yet socialized as males. They even went to the extent of adopting a manly name and, walked like males and embodied masculine characteristics. An opposite example is in the article entitled Conundrum: When youre born with the wrong body whereby Julie Peters is a transsexual who dressed in female clothes and can think intuitively yet she was a biological male. As affirmed in the sex and gender article, homosexuals, lesbians and transsexuals argued that their sexuality is inborn and attempts to conform to society will be unnatural. While recognizing that sex is determined by the biological characteristics, gender characteristics on the other hand, is largely determined by social, cultural and historical contexts. In different societies and cultures, men and women are socialized into different roles (Giddens 1997, p. 108). The concept of nurture gains the upper hand in sex / gender theory. Oakley (1972, p. 54-55) did a fine job of illustrating three different New Guinea tribes and the different roles men and women fall into. In the first tribe, the Arapesh, both men and women assume passive roles that resemble the femininity in our own culture. In the second tribe which is Mundugumor, both sexes assume masculinity and both sexes are brought up to be independent. In the last tribe of the Tchambuli, the males behave like our females by gossiping, shopping and wearing ornaments while the women shave their heads and are assertive. In Singapore, women are expected to be graceful while the men are more domineering. In the Malay community here for example, the male is considered the man of the house, and when he makes reasonable decisions, his wife and children have the onus to listen to him. However, I agree with statement in the article that there are difficulties in distinguishing between sex and gender and between biology and social attributes. Giddens (1997, pg 109) criticized sex / gender theories as rigid, whereby society expects individuals to assume assigned roles as males or females. Importantly, I acknowledge that humans are not computers that can be programmed accordingly only by social or cultural characteristics. People can modify themselves, for example in the case of Julie Peters as described in the article following the sex and gender piece. Julie Peters undergone hormone treatments, electrolysis and face waxing to transform herself.