Do Not Weep Maiden, for War Is Kind Free Essays

â€Å"Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind,† was written by the poet Stephen Crane. The poem is a bitter and emotional protest of the horrors of war. It gets much of its strength from using simple but highly descriptive words in contrast with innocence, and also through the use of repetition and sarcasm. We will write a custom essay sample on Do Not Weep Maiden, for War Is Kind or any similar topic only for you Order Now The poet portrays bitterness and innocence in the first stanza. It is strongly shown in the lines â€Å"Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind, because your lover threw wild hands towards the sky† (1-2). The maiden is obviously a grieving woman who has received the terrible news of the loss of her lover. It is however the sense of description in the second line which is evoked from the word â€Å"wild† that really describes the awful, vivid moment of death. Constant repetition throughout the poem is also utilized for maximum effect, in particular the deeply sarcastic phrase â€Å"war is kind† and the line â€Å"do not weep† which works well to emphasize the objective of the poem by discouraging the passions of war. The machine of war marches on like a great â€Å"Battle-God† but it is the poor souls who are left behind who suffer. It is the mourning wives, girlfriends and children who are left with nothing but memories of the brave soldiers who have given their lives to the killer machine. The flashiness of war is ridiculed in this poem. Words and phrases such as† booming drums of regiment† (6) and the â€Å"Swift blazing flag of the regiment, eagle with crest of red and gold† (18-19) have a strong, orderly and official glory which is deeply contrasted to that of suffering displayed throughout the poem. The moving tragedy of the story draws to a rapid conclusion with the mother whose humble labor has now produced nothing but a shroud for her son to lie in, along with the other thousand corpses. To further push the point home Crane uses the pronoun of â€Å"your† to directly relate to the reader. In many ways this type of poetry is a type of silent protest of war. It is an expression that has the ability to really get to the heart of the situation as much as a vocal protest. Even if war is an ever present aspect of society, works such as these ensure that its true horrors never fade. By reading such poetry we ensure that even if the brave fallen are gone, they are not forgotten. How to cite Do Not Weep Maiden, for War Is Kind, Essays

Business Plan for Boutique Fashionable Clothes

Question: Describe about the Business Plan for Boutique for Fashionable Clothes. Answer: Business details This business plan is about a fashion boutique and the name of the boutique will be New Look fashion boutique. The New Look fashion boutique is the start-up retail which will sell out the fashionable clothes to women. The New Look fashion boutique will be located in the Singapore which is the famous and popular place for the tourist destination. The primary aim of to open the boutique is to build the well-recognized brand name with the effective expansion plan. Along with this, it is the objective to focus on the online retail market also. The fashion and retail industry is very attractive for the youth so the boutique will focus on the youth. The boutique will follow modern fashion trends and focus on the preferences of the consumers. Based on the taste and preferences of the consumers, the boutique will try to meet the needs and demands of the customers by using proper inventory. The boutique will focus on the style, colours and fits for the women to meet their needs. To provide th e best quality of work will be specialty of the boutique (Drummond, Ensor Ashford, 2012). Products or services The New Look fashion boutique will provide the combination of various clothing for women from recognized name brands. The boutique will provide the wide range of clothes from selected fashion designers. The company will use the modern fashion trend by focusing on the purchasing preferences of the customers. The company will use the inventory to meet the requirements of the customers. Women are very conscious for their clothes and fashion sense so the main products of the company will be casual wear, business clothing, formal wear and jeans. Along with this, company will also offer some accessories such as hats, belts and scarves. Profit will be gained by the sales of variety of products. The pricing structure of the company will be flexible as the company will implement the reasonable prices on the common brands. The company will use value based pricing structure which will provide customer service, quality, style and easy access of products to attract the target customers. At the en d of season, sale, multi-buy savings and promotional coupons will be helpful to implement the strategies. The key message connected with the New Look fashion boutique will be classy, versatile and expensive clothing for women (Jones Hayes, 2008). Mission: The mission of the company is to give a new way of fashion to the consumers in the basis of style and quality. Vision: The vision of the company is to develop the lines of fashion products for men, women and children. This fashion line will include all type of clothes that will meet the expectations and demands of the consumers. Objective: The aim of the boutique is to differentiate itself from other boutiques by providing stylish and quality clothing products to the women. The primary objective of the company is to ensure that customers are happy with their purchasing. So the company will provide the products in all the shapes and size for women. Along with this, the company will make purchasing easy, cheap and efficient for consumers (Hoskisson, 2009). Market analysis Market and structure The company will focus on the women for its products. The current population of Singapore is around 5,399,200 and there are 54% women if total population. So it will be easy to attract the women by providing various types of clothing that meet to the demand of the customers. There are many women who look for the clothes those are both fashionable as well as comfortable. Along with this, the company will focus on the tourists also. Singapore is the popular tourist destination for the travellers across the world. People come here to spend their vacation and they enjoy the shopping also. So, company can be able to take benefits from the tourists. Apart from this, Singapore organizes various events and fares for the travellers which bring many targeted travellers to the country every year. Market trend The fashion boutique is the strong business in the retail fashion industry having different changing styles and changing demands of the consumers. In the past, there were megastores foe the fashion clothes and at that time customer wanted change. The customers always seek for the customer friendly experience of shopping. In present days, women are working and they seek different wears ford all purpose such as business wear, and casual wear. So the demand of the clothing will always be high in the market. Many things are changing in the clothing industry and now consumers wants to buy the clothes for all the seasons. To stay connected with the needs and requirements of the consumers, company will establish internal team to collect the feedback given by the important customers. The New Look fashion boutique will work on the strategy of buy now, wear now. It has been seen that there are many companies in the retail industry who are using domestic plant to fulfil the small orders. (Mounc ey Baker, 2009). Market segmentation with target market The New Look fashion boutique is the company having the business to consumer strategy. Females are the main target of the company. So, the company will also attract the younger women by some special products such as scarves, handbags etc. There will be products to target the young generation. In present time, customers value uniqueness, quality, services and convenience. Pricing is the important factor while consumer is taking decision to buy something. Company is planning to target female between the ages of 20 to 40. Within this group, there will be no restrictions of colour and background of the consumers. The customer of the New Look fashion boutique will be someone who will be able to pay worth price for the quality products. The target group of the company will be those women who will be able to spend the worth money for the quality clothing. There are many female consumers who are interested in buying the clothes having different patterns and designs. So, there will be easy fo r the New Look fashion boutique to attract its target customers by providing best quality and designs to them. Buying behaviour of consumers The buying behaviour of consumers plays an important role in the success or failure of a particular company, brand or product. It ensures the company that the market strategy which is adopted by the company to gain success is beneficial for the customers or not. In case of the consumer behaviour, consumers give the preferences to those products which are easily accessible for them. In case of the New Look fashion boutique, the company will try to provide those products that will match the needs or demands of the consumers in the affordable price. Because of best quality and affordable prices, customers will be easily attracted towards the clothes. The buying behaviour of the consumers is based on the prices of the products also. High prices of the clothes can distract the consumers and their buying behaviours. So, the company will set the prices of products that will meet the needs of the consumers. Competitors analysis Strength: The strength of the New Look fashion boutique is that it will provide unique and different shopping experience with excellent customer services. Along with this, company will be on such location from where the products can be easily accessible by the consumers. There is more strength for the New Look fashion boutique that it has large and wide customer base because it is targeting women in its segmentation. The company has the chance to understand and experience the fashion industry because it is new in the market it will get lots of opportunities to expand its business. Weakness: Although it is good for the New Look fashion boutique that it is new in the industry and it may get many opportunities to learn and experience the business. But this is also weakness of the company. Fashion market is large and it is very difficult for the company to satisfy the demands of the consumers. There are established competitors in the market who are operating the business of clothes. There are also some associated with the opening of new boutique that it might be successful or not. Customer and value proposition The company will attract the younger women by some special products such as scarves, handbags etc with clothes. The customer of the New Look fashion boutique will be someone who will be able to pay worth price for the quality products. The target group of the company will be those women who will be able to spend the worth money for the quality clothing. So, the company will try to provide those products that will match the needs or demands of the consumers in the affordable price. The company will also launch a professional and effective website from which the customers can see the products and company can sell out its clothing products across the world (Payne Holt, 2008). Marketing strategy For the New Look fashion boutique, there is the need to draw unique marketing strategy from the beginning. The boutique will not only manufacture the unique clothes but also will promote the clothes with unique strategy of marketing. The company will plan to establish the partnership with the other retailers by increasing and creating brand awareness. In the marketing strategy, the company will hire a local firm that will help in making and implementing strategic marketing plan in a cost-effective manner. The marketing message, slogan and logo of the company will be able to depict the idea of generation of the boutique (Marcer, 2012). The goal of the company is to keep the marketing budget to no more than 5% of the gross annual sale of the products. Along with this, the company will develop its connections in all the important places. The partnership with other retailers will be helpful for the company to conduct the local events and target the customers. The New Look fashion boutique is currently trying to expand the business in local community. The advertisement for the local community will include huge local print advertisement and media coverage, direct mail marketing, and different campaigns. The large amount in the budgeting plan will be allocated for the print and broadcast media (Lymbersky, 2009). Launch strategy The company will conduct a grand and excited opening of the new boutique. With the help of the local firm and other retailers, the company is planning to do a grand opening of The New Look fashion boutique. The message for the opening of the boutique will be send through the different media. The print advertisements will be given in the top magazines of the country to gather the people. For the message, internet will be the best option for the company. The New Look fashion boutique is planning to launch a website also. The company will launch a professional and effective website from which the customers can see the products and company can sell out its clothing products across the world. The reason of launching the website is that in future it is assuming the best marketing channel for the company (Glowik Smyczek, 2011). Along with this, there is one mire strategy while opening the boutique. Company will charge $100 as the entry collection at the grand opening and it will continue t hroughout the week. The contacts with the retailers will be used for marketing activities. The local firm will promote the opening event in the radio advertisement and local newspaper. Company will focus on low cost publicity by which it can gain advantage in the market. Sales tactics The New Look fashion boutique is planning to generate sales through strategic marketing. The strategy will be for both new customers as well as single-visit tourist customers. There is the referral program for those customers who will refer new customers. Those customers will be rewarded by the company. In the grand opening, the company will plan to conduct a direct mail campaign to target the customers. Through the direct mail campaign, the company will do an in-store mailing program. The direct mails will include around 5000 coloured postcards mailers and every postcard will have 10% coupon. Along with this, the company will provide offers and discounts on the seasonal and occasional sales throughout the year. The New Look fashion boutique will accept also the payments via debit and credit cards. Then return and exchange policy will also be there. Customers can exchange and return the clothes within 30 days of seeing and receipts are must for the exchange. The company will have co- owners and 2 or 3 sales associate for selling the products. For the effective and proper sales, training will be provided to the sales associates. Training is necessary so that they can give advice to customers about the fashion trends. The members in the sales team will earn on hourly basis along with the certain percentage of commission on each sales (Schnaars, 2010). Brand development While launching the New Look fashion boutique, the primary aim of the company is to development the brand image of the company. The brand image of the boutique will convey the message of quality, style and great shopping experience to the customers. For the success of the company, brand will play the important role to distinguish the boutique from the other retailers in the local and international market (Dentchev, 2009). For the development of the brand, the New Look fashion boutique will sell the clothing with the brand name. The company will focus the fashion trends with the preferences of the customers to develop the brand image among the customers. The aim of the boutique is to build the brand name that will be the same name of fashion in the retail industry. To develop the brand name, the company will also give the experience of shopping to the customers through online shopping (Seshadri, 2009). Competitive reaction The New Look fashion boutique will get competitive advantage because it is new in the industry and people will wish to buy the new designs of the clothes. There is no guarantee of the new entrants in the fashion industry, because customers are concerned about their fashion sense. By providing the quality and affordable prices, competitors can easily attract the customers. The same opportunity can be getting by the New Look fashion boutique that by the new and attractive designs, affordable rates and exclusive accessories with the clothes, it can attract the customers more than the competitors. By the outstanding customer services, company can distinguish itself from the competitors in the market. The relationship with suppliers and the other retailers, and exclusive product offering of the company will stop the new entry as the competitor in the market. At the time of new entry of competitors, the company would be established and would be able to compete with those competitors (Prebl e Hoffman, 2009). Product and market development For the product development, the company will work with the other retailers of garments manufacturers and fashion designers. Along with this, company will collect all the required licenses for the business. Once the financing will be secured in the company then it will move ahead for the necessities of the business such as purchasing on inventory, office supplies and retail displays. For the grand opening of the boutique, it will take the help of other retailers industry. The product development strategy is based on the promotion with internet as the internet has become the important part of todays life (Farahmand, 2011). So the New Look fashion boutique will focus to generate a website for the customers. The company will have unique domain name newlookfashion.com. The site will be started developing when the funds will be sufficient for developing the site. Further, the company will plan to hire some web designers for the development. The company will aim to show the clothing produc ts at the time of opening and provide the chance to the customers to show the ability of their purchasing. After some time, the company is planning to add some more products related to fashion such as fashion magazines and newspapers, newsletters, designers interviews and designers advices. Basically, the New Look fashion boutique is trying to establish a community where women can gather and talk about the clothing secrets. Operations plan For the establishment in retail industry, the New Look fashion boutique will operate its business seven days in the week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the time of holidays an special occasions, the timing of the boutique will be extended. In this manner, the boutique needs around 2/3 available space of the building. The remainder space will be used stock and administrative purpose. Along with the owners of the boutique, three or four part time employees will also be hired to serve the customers. The boutique will provide the production to local manufacturers. Along with this, the boutique is planning to connect with the largest warehouse market available in that state. By purchasing the clothes from the warehouses, buyers will be able to see product display and promotional materials with the purchase. The company will hire people for regional sales representatives. Apart from this, company is also planning to conduct fashion trade shows for the women. In case of cost, to control the cost , track the inventory and to manage the stock level in the business operations, the company is planning to set the inventory control system. The inventory control system will include the bar code having related equipments and software. It is the responsibility of staff members to conduct annual audits of inventory and the company can hire auditors from outside if necessary. The accounts and finance of the company will also be maintained by the software (Joshi, 2009). Management team and company structure Organizational structure The New Look fashion boutique is the small business, so the staff will also be small. The owners will have leadership role and quality and they will be responsible for daily operations of the business such as maintaining inventory, buying raw materials, marketing efforts and other administrative duties. There will be the sales staff also to help the owners to secure the sale, general maintenance of stock and inventory and assisting the customers. The management philosophy of the company will be based on mutual respect and responsibility. The environment and the structure of the company will encourage the productivity of the business (Cool, Schendel, 2010). Staff member The New Look fashion boutique will hire the sales staff three or four part time employees. And these positions are to be filled and to find the qualified employees is not an issue. The sales associates of the company will be paid on hourly basis. Along with this, they will get commission also. Bonus and offers will also be provided in every year by review the performance of employees annually. The work of owners will be to maintain the public relations within the fashion industry. To maintain the public relations are very important to operate the best marketing plan for the boutique (Cool Schendel, 2010). Resources Estimation in regard to resources is an essential exercise as it provides management with the base for forecasting funding requirements and preparing financial projections (Shim Siegel, 2007). In the case of New Look Fashion Boutique, which is going to engage in the business of manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of the beauty products, the resource requirement is presented as below: New Look Fashion Boutique: Resource Requirements Resources Amount ($) Stores and Supplies 50,000.00 Machinery 500,000.00 Equipments 200,000.00 Labor (30 workers*$3,000) 90,000.00 Office Staff (10 officials*$10,000) 100,000.00 Working capital 500,000.00 Total 1,440,000.00 Further, in addition to the critical resources discussed above, the company would also require posters, postcards, catalogue, brochures, calendars, and flyers. Along with this, the information technology resources comprising hardware and software would also be needed to run and control the business. Financing One of the crucial steps in financial planning is sourcing the fund requirement that is finding out the best possible mix of sources of funds to meet out the capital requirements (Shim Siegel, 2007). In the case on hand, it has been projected that the business would require total funds of $1,440,000 to start up the operations. There are two possible ways to arrange funds amounting to $1,440,000 such as equity capital and borrowings from banks. The equity capital comes in as the contribution of the owners while the borrowings from banks form part of debt of the company. The financial projections in regard to the business of New Look Fashion Boutique Plc depicts that the business is quite promising and high returns could be expected in the coming 2 to 3 years time period. For this business, it has been projected that the founders (owners) contribution in the form of equity will be $550,000 and the rest will be financed through borrowings. It has been projected that the business would require a term loan of $400,000 to purchase machineries and equipments. With this financing arrangement, the gearing ratio of the company for five years has been projected to be 0.95, 0.88, 0.79, 0.58, and 0.43 times (Appendix). The ratio could observed to be decreasing as the business progresses, thus, it could be inferred that the risk will reduce significantly in the upcoming years. Financial projections The financial projections for a start-up business are presented through three essential components of the financial statement such as income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement (Shim Siegel, 2007). The income statement presents projections in regard income while the projections in regard to assets, liabilities, and equity are presented through balance sheet. Further, the cash flow statement presents the projections in regard to inflows and outflows of the cash for a given period of time. In respect of New Look Fashion Boutique Plc, the financial projections have been made by preparing income statement, balance sheet, and the cash flow statement for a period of five years (Appedix-2). The profitability as depicted in the income statement shows that the business is quite promising. In the first year of operations, it is expected to generate a net profit of $206,500 with a net margin ratio of 16.01% (Appendix-2). The profitability is expected to further increase in the year 2017 to $386,330 and to reach at $608,672 till the end of 2020. It could be observed that the profitability of the company is expected to increase three fold in a time period of 5 years. Further, the balance sheet figures shows that the total assets at the time of start of the business will be $1,440,000 which is expected to increase to 2,744,000 in the given time period of 5 years. The increase in total assets will be dominated by current assets (Appendix-2). In regard to the cash flow projections, it has been budgeted that the company will have cash amounting to $86,200 at the end of first year of operations (Appendix-2). The cash will increase with the increase in sales and profitability of the business gradually over the time frame of 5 years. It has been projected that by the end of 2020, the company will have cash amounting to $1,159,507.85 (Appendix-2). Risk and strategic options The aim of the New Look fashion boutique is to provide best quality clothes to the women at the affordable prices. But the company should not forget the risks associated with the starting of the business. There are many risks with the new business operations. Opening the clothing boutique can create the risks for the owners (Lee, 2009). Identified risks There can be many risks associated with the New Look fashion boutique while starting the business in the retail industry. The risk can be related to inventory management, trend, marketing and business. Without proper inventory management, the boutique cannot be able to provide good products to the customers. If the company stocks too much inventory, then company will face loss. There is another risk related to the trend that in the fashion industry, the trends of the fashion are continuously changing. The company must have to change its trends with the changing environment. One wrong step can decrease the brand image of the company. There may be one more risk and that is related to the marketing strategies. A clothing business must have the clear marketing tactics so target the right customers. Strategies options To avoid the risk, there is the need to adopt proper strategy in the market. There can be many risks while a company is going to operate the business in the market. To minimize the risk related to inventory, the New Look fashion boutique can use the inventory management software so that company can be able to track the inventory and will be able to order the right inventory on time. Along with this, the company should update itself about the changing preferences and demands of the consumers. By the merger and acquisitions, and relations with other retailers, the company will be able reduce the operational risk in the market. Key milestones From the above business plan, it has been seen that the primary aim of to open the boutique is to build the well-recognized brand name with the effective expansion plan. The boutique is new in the market so it has to set some key stones for the success of the business. The goal of the company is to keep the marketing budget to no more than 5% of the gross annual sale of the products. Along with this, the company will develop its connections in all the important places. With this, the company is expecting to earn of $ 285,000 from the annual sales in first year. References Cool, K., Schendel, D., (2010), 'Performance differences among strategic group members', Strategic Management Journal, 9(3) , pp. 207-223 Dant, S. P., (2009), Ownership Structure in Franchising: The Effect of Transaction Cost, Production Costs and Strategic Considerations, the International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 6(1), 5375 Dentchev, N., (2009), Corporate Social Performance as a Business Strategy, Journal of Business Ethics, 55(4), pg. 397 412 Drummond, G., Ensor, J. Ashford, R., (2012), Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control, (4th) London: Palgrave Macmillan Farahmand, N. F., (2011), Organizational marketing planning by management educated managers, African Journal of Marketing Management, 3(8), pp. 178-187 Glowik, M. Smyczek, S., (2011), International Marketing Management: Strategies, Concepts and Cases in Europe, Page 301, (4th), New York: Physica-Verlag Gruca, T. S. Rego, L. L., (2009), Customer Satisfaction, Cash Flow and Shareholder Value, Journal of Marketing, 69, 11530 Hoskisson, R., (2009), Business strategy: theory and cases. (6th), UK: John Murray Jones, R. M. Hayes, S. G., (2008), The UK clothing industry: Extinction or evolution? Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8 (3), 262-278 Joshi, A. W., (2009), Continuous supplier performance improvement: Effects of collaborative communication and control. Journal of Marketing, 73(1), 133150 Lee, G. K., (2009), Relevance of organizational capabilities and its dynamics: What to learn from entrants product portfolios about the determinants of entry timing? Strategic Management Journal, 29, 12571280 Lymbersky, C. (2009), Market Entry Strategies: Text, Cases and Readings in Market Entry Management, (5th) Australia: Christoph Lymbersky Marcer, D., (2012), Marketing strategy: the challenge of the external environment. (5th) London, Washington: Sage Publications Mouncey, P. Baker, S., (2009), The market researcher's manifesto. International Journal of Market Research, 45 (4), 415433 Payne, A., Holt, S., (2008), Diagnosing Customer Value: Integrating the Value Process and Relationship Marketing. British Journal of Management, 12 (2), pp 159 182 Preble, J. F. Hoffman, R. C., (2009), Competitive Advantage through Specialty Franchising, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 15(1), 6477 Schnaars, S., (2010), Marketing strategy: a customer-driven approach, (5th) Huntington, New York: Free Press Seshadri, S., (2009), Sourcing strategy: principles, policy, and designs, India: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd Shim, J.K. Siegel, J.G. 2007. Handbook of Financial Analysis, Forecasting, and Modeling. CCH.

Productivity Tips for Writers

Writing takes time – how much time depends on how efficient you are. We aren’t going to waste yours with fluff and nonsense. We are going to get right to the point – here are productivity tips and tools that specifically address the unique demands of writers. Productivity Tips Here are eight tips that are bound to help you increase productivity: 1. Have a Plan of Attack When you sit down to work, you should know what you’re going to work on. And saying, â€Å"I’m going to work on my writing,† doesn’t cut it. Have a specific plan. Are you going to write an essay? Are you going to write a post? Choose a single project and work on it. 2. Do One Thing at a Time If you multitask, you will mindlessly jump between different activities. Not only that, but you will rarely complete any of those activities – at least not complete them successfully. Do one thing at a time. Put all other activities on a to-do list and come back to them later. 3. Give Yourself Deadlines If you give yourself all day to complete a project, it is going to take all day. Give yourself deadlines and abide by those deadlines. 4. Do it Once and be Done Proofreading once is good. Proofreading five times is bad. Don’t be a perfectionist. 5. Accept the Obvious Writer’s block happens. There isn’t much that can be done about the unfortunate situation either. Just accept the fact. Don’t waste time staring at a blank computer screen. If you can’t write today, fine. Do something else. Reply to comments. Do some promotional work. 6. Get off Facebook! For many writers, internet connection and self-employment are a deadly combination. Most of us relish the fact we don’t have a boss. However, the accountability of someone looking over our shoulder does come in handy. In the absence of a boss, you’ll have to monitor your own actions and limit your mindless surfing. A five minute break every few hours is fine. However, more than that is just a waste of time. 7. Organize your Email Inbox Not all email messages are created equal. Some are more important than others. To make sure you attend to the most important first, set up automatic filters. You can route incoming messages to client specific folders. Set up tags for all submissions via your blog’s contact form. Then, you can address all similar subjects at once. 8. Take Your Job Seriously Most writers rejoice because they have managed to escape the demands of a 9-5 job. There is a lot of flexibility in the hours we work. That being said, we still have a job to do. Your writing will suffer greatly if you are up all night partying. Remember coffee can only do so much. It can’t provide a clear mind or smooth thought process. Productivity Tools Let these tools make you even more productive: Dictionaries and Thesauruses Sometimes even the most genius writer needs a bit of help. Check out various dictionary extensions for Google Chrome or download Wordweb Pro. Organize Your Thoughts Sometimes we have too much stuff rattling around inside our brains. Luckily, there are various brain dumping technologies available. Simply jot down your thoughts and be done. Store ideas for future blog posts. Make a note of an article you want to read. Many of these apps sync across various platforms so you never have to be without. For example, check out Evernote. Share Files Whether you are sharing with yourself or a virtual assistant across the country, it makes life easier when files can be accessed from anywhere. Use file sharing tools like DropBox or Google Docs. You can get to your files no matter where you are; after all, you never know when inspiration will strike! Do you have a productivity tip or tool we left off the list? Tell us about it!

Stifle, already!

Stifle, already! Stifle, already! Stifle, already! By Maeve Maddox Reader Brad Kruse came across this comment from the reader of a rabidly anti-health insurance reform site: die eisernen Stiefel (the iron jackboots) of Obamistas are methodically and systematicly [sic] destroying the very core of our country. Brad’s question has to do with the German word Stiefel, not politics: What I noticed was Steifel.   As in the old Archie Bunker, â€Å"Stifle yourself, Edith!†Ã‚  Does stifle come from boot, as in â€Å"put a boot in it?† No, there’s no connection between German Stiefel and English stifle. The boot-in-the-mouth image, however, certainly suits Archie’s personality. The word stifle has been in English with the sense of â€Å"to choke, suffocate, drown† since 1387. It may have entered English by way of Old French estouffer, â€Å"to stifle, smother.† The French word in turn may derive from a Germanic source: Old High German stopfen, â€Å"to plug up, stuff.† Archie’s metaphorical sense of the word has been around since 1577. The expression eisernen Stiefel, literally â€Å"iron boot† is usually translated into English as jackboot. A jackboot is a type of strong high boot without laces worn by farmers, motorcycle riders and soldiers. Because such boots were part of the Nazi uniforms in WW II, jackboot has taken on metaphorical associations with totalitarian government. Speaking figuratively, â€Å"jackboot tactics† are brutal and oppressive methods of control exercised by totalitarian dictators. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical Words25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be)Predicate Complements

Book Recommendations for Graduate School in Economics

Book Recommendations for Graduate School in Economics Q:Â  If I want to achieve a Ph.D. in economics what steps would you advise me to take and what books and courses would I need to study to gain the knowledge that is absolutely needed to be able to do and understand the research that is needed for a Ph.D. A:Â  Thank you for your question. Its a question that Im frequently asked, so its about time that I created a page that I could point people toward. Its really difficult to give you a general answer, because a lot of it depends on where youd like to get your Ph.D. from. Ph.D programs in economics vary widely in both quality and scope of what is taught. The approach taken by European schools tends to be different than that of Canadian and American schools. The advice in this article will mainly apply to those who are interested in entering a Ph.D. program in the United States or Canada, but much of the advice should also apply to European programs as well. There are four key subject areas that youll need to be very familiar with to succeed in a Ph.D. program in economics. 1. Microeconomics / Economic Theory Even if you plan to study a subject which is closer to Macroeconomics or Econometrics, it is important to have a good grounding in Microeconomic Theory. A lot of work in subjects such as Political Economy and Public Finance are rooted in micro foundations so youll help yourself immensely in these courses if youre already familiar with high level microeconomics. Most schools also require you to take at least two courses in microeconomics, and often these courses are the most difficult youll encounter as a graduate student. Microeconomics Material You Must Know as a Bare Minimum I would recommend reviewing the book Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach by Hal R. Varian. The newest edition is the sixth one, bu if you can find an older used edition costing less you may want to do that. Advanced Microeconomics Material that Would be Helpful to Know Hal Varian has a more advanced book called simply Microeconomic Analysis. Most economics students are familiar with both books and refer to this book as simply Varian and the Intermediate book as Baby Varian. A lot of the material in here is stuff you wouldnt be expected to know entering a program as its often taught for the first time in Masters and Ph.D. programs. The more you can learn before you enter the Ph.D. program, the better you will do. What Microeconomics Book Youll Use When You Get There From what I can tell, Microeconomic Theory by Mas-Colell, Whinston, and Green is standard in many Ph.D. programs. Its what I used when I took Ph.D. courses in Microeconomics at both Queens University at Kingston and the University of Rochester. Its an absolutely massive book, with hundreds and hundreds of practice questions. The book is quite difficult in parts so youll want to have a good background in microeconomic theory before you tackle this one. 2. Macroeconomics Giving advice on Macroeconomics books is a lot more difficult because Macroeconomics is taught so differently from school to school. Your best bet is to see what books are used in the school that you would like to attend. The books will be completely different depending on whether your school teaches more Keynesian style Macroeconomics or Freshwater Macro which is taught at places like The Five Good Guys which includes the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, University of Rochester, and University of Pennsylvania. The advice Im going to give is for students who are going to a school that teaches more of a Chicago style approach. Macroeconomics Material You Must Know as a Bare Minimum I would recommend reviewing the book Advanced Macroeconomics by David Romer. Although it does have the word Advanced in the title, its more suited for high level undergraduate study. It does have some Keynesian material as well. If you understand the material in this book, you should do well as a graduate student in Macroeconomics. Advanced Macroeconomics Material that would be Helpful to Know Instead of learning more Macroeconomics, it would be more helpful to learn more on dynamic optimization. See my section on Math Economics books for more detail. What Macroeconomics Book Youll Use When You Get There When I took Ph.D courses in Macroeconomics a few years ago we didnt really use any textbooks, instead we discussed journal articles. This is the case in most courses at the Ph.D. level. I was fortunate enough to have macroeconomics courses taught by Per Krusell and Jeremy Greenwood and you could spend an entire course or two just studying their work. One book that is used quite often is Recursive Methods in Economic Dynamics by Nancy L. Stokey and Robert E. Lucas Jr. Although the book is almost 15 years old, its still quite useful for understanding the methodology behind many macroeconomics articles. Ive also found Numerical Methods in Economics by Kenneth L. Judd to be quite helpful when youre trying to obtain estimates from a model which does not have a closed-form solution. 3. Econometrics Material You Must Know as a Bare Minimum Theres quite a few good undergraduate texts on Econometrics out there. When I taught tutorials in undergraduate Econometrics last year, we used Essentials of Econometrics by Damodar N. Gujarati. Its as useful as any other undergraduate text Ive seen on Econometrics. You can usually pick up a good Econometrics text for very little money at a large second-hand book shop. A lot of undergraduate students cant seem to wait to discard their old econometrics materials. Advanced Econometrics Material that would be Helpful to Know Ive found two books rather useful: Econometrics Analysis by William H. Greene and A Course in Econometrics by Arthur S. Goldberger. As in the Microeconomics section, these books cover a lot of material which is introduced for the first time at the graduate level. The more you know going in, though, the better chance youll have of succeeding. What Econometrics Book Youll Use When You Get There Chances are youll encounter the king of all Econometrics books Estimation and Inference in Econometrics by Russell Davidson and James G. MacKinnon. This is a terrific text, because it explains why things work like they do, and does not treat the matter as a black box like many econometrics books do. The book is quite advanced, though the material can be picked up fairly quickly if you have a basic knowledge of geometry. 4. Mathematics Having a good understanding of mathematics is crucial to success in economics. Most undergraduate students, particularly those coming from North America, are often shocked by how mathematical graduate programs in economics are. The math goes beyond basic algebra and calculus, as it tends to be more proofs, such as Let (x_n) be a Cauchy sequence. Show that if (X_n) has a convergent subsequence then the sequence is itself convergent. Ive found that the most successful students in the first year of a Ph.D. program tend to be ones with mathematics backgrounds, not economics ones. That being said, theres no reason why someone with an economics background can not succeed. Mathematical Economics Material You Must Know as a Bare Minimum Youll certainly want to read a good undergraduate Mathematics for Economists type book. The best one that Ive seen happens to be called Mathematics for Economists written by Carl P. Simon and Lawrence Blume. It has a quite diverse set of topics, all of which are useful tools for economic analysis. If youre rusty on basic calculus, make sure you pick up a 1st year undergraduate calculus book. There are hundreds and hundreds of different ones available, so Id suggest looking for one in a second hand shop. You may also want to review a good higher level calculus book such as Multivariable Calculus by James Stewart. You should have at least a basic knowledge of differential equations, but you do not have to be an expert in them by any means. Reviewing the first few chapters of a book such as Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems by William E. Boyce and Richard C. DiPrima would be quite useful. You do not need to have any knowledge of partial differential equations before entering graduate school, as they are generally only used in very specialized models. If youre uncomfortable with proofs, you may want to pick up The Art and Craft of Problem Solving by Paul Zeitz. The material in the book has almost nothing to do with economics, but it will help you greatly when working on proofs. As an added bonus a lot of the problems in the book are surprisingly fun. The more knowledge you have of pure mathematics subjects such as Real Analysis and Topology, the better. I would recommend working on as much of Introduction to Analysis by Maxwell Rosenlicht as you possibly can. The book costs less than $10 US but it is worth its weight in gold. There are other analysis books that are slightly better, but you cannot beat the price. You may also want to look at the Schaums Outlines - Topology and Schaums Outlines - Real Analysis. Theyre also quite inexpensive and have hundreds of useful problems. Complex analysis, while quite an interesting subject, will be of little use to a graduate student in economics, so you need not worry about it. Advanced Mathematical Economics that would be Helpful to Know The more real analysis you know, the better you will do. You may want to see one of the more canonical texts such as The Elements of Real Analysis by Robert G. Bartle. You may also want to look at the book I recommend in the next paragraph. What Advanced Mathematical Economics Book Youll Use When You Get There At the University of Rochester we used a book called A First Course in Optimization Theory by Rangarajan K. Sundaram, though I dont know how widely this is used. If you have a good understanding of real analysis, you will have no trouble with this book, and youll do quite well in the obligatory Mathematical Economics course they have in most Ph.D. programs. You do not need to study up on more esoteric topics such as Game Theory or International Trade before you enter a Ph.D. program, although it never hurts to do so. You are not usually required to have a background in those subject areas when you take a Ph.D. course in them. I will recommend a couple of books I greatly enjoy, as they may convince you to study these subjects. If youre at all interested in Public Choice Theory or Virginia style Political Economy, first you should read my article The Logic of Collective Action. After doing so, you may want to read the book Public Choice II by Dennis C. Mueller. It is very academic in nature, but it is probably the book that has influenced me most as an economist. If the movie A Beautiful Mind didnt make you frightened of the work of John Nash you may be interested in A Course in Game Theory by Martin Osborne and Ariel Rubinstein. It is an absolutely fabulous resource and, unlike most books in economics, its well written. If I havent scared you off completely from studying economics, theres one last thing youll want to look into. Most schools require you to take one or two tests as part of your application requirements. Heres a few resources on those tests: Get familiar with the GRE General and GRE Economics Tests The Graduate Record Examination or GRE General test is one of the application requirements at most North American schools. The GRE General test covers three areas: Verbal, Analytical, and Math. Ive created a page called Test aids for the GRE and GRE Economics that has quite a few useful links on the GRE General Test. The Graduate School Guide also has some useful links on the GRE. I would suggest buying one of the books on taking the GRE. I cant really recommend any one of them as they all seem equally good. It is absolutely vital that you score at least 750 (out of 800) on the math section of the GRE in order to get into a quality Ph.D. program. The analytical section is important as well, but the verbal not as much. A great GRE score will also help you get into schools if you have only a modest academic record. There are a lot fewer online resources for the GRE Economics test. There are a couple of books that have practice questions that you may want to look at. I thought the book The Best Test Preparation for the GRE Economics was quite useful, but its gotten absolutely horrid reviews. You may want to see if you can borrow it before committing to buying it. There is also a book called Practicing to Take the GRE Economics Test but Ive never used it so Im not sure how good it is. It is important to study for the test, as it may cover some material that you did not study as an undergraduate. The test is very heavily Keynesian, so if you did your undergraduate work at a school heavily influenced by the University of Chicago such as the University of Western Ontario, there will be quite a bit of new macroeconomics youll need to learn. Conclusion Economics can be a great field in which to do your Ph.D., but you need to be properly prepared before you enter into a graduate program. I havent even discussed all the great books available in subjects such as Public Finance and Industrial Organization.

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You Choose Topic - Essay Example pending on the situation of the company, some issues may carry a sense of urgency while others could be put on the back burner but it must be kept in mind that all ethical issues will need to be tackled sooner or later. An ethical issue which comes up as soon as a company decides to hire or to recruit an individual is the personality of that individual. Since management begins with recruitment and hiring, the two central ethical issues for a company undergoing the recruitment process can be understood as the need to follow anti-discrimination rules and to observe equal opportunity laws (Lockwood, 2005). Simply put, all candidates must be viewed and hired based on their strengths and weaknesses as applicants without any undue weight to their race, age, physical abilities or gender except in situations where such requirements become a part of the job (Alleyne, 2005). As reported by Clarke (2005), even though a lot remains to be done in this particular field there are laws to protect companies as well as individuals from discrimination based on these particular issues. Personality testing on the other hand, is one issue which is not clearly defined by the law and is very easy to circumnavigate during the interview process. In terms of psychology, it is understood that certain personality types are better at certain jobs than others and even though personality itself is complex to define, the generally accepted notion of personality has been the collection of behavioral properties as well as the thoughts and ideas of a person. The earlier work in this field was done by Jung which was later expanded by others. While we may say that person X has a cheerful personality, scientists prefer to classify personality in three models including Factorial models, typologies and circumplexes which are connected with how they perform at work (Clarke & Robertson, 2005). This process can be used to profile candidates but modern discussions of ethics in HR also question if such a