Treatment of People with Developmental Disabilities Essay Example for Free

Treatment of People with Developmental Disabilities Essay Throughout history people with developmental disabilities were treated as defective or somewhat less than human.   They were placed in institutions and often forgotten, drugged or tortured simply because they were misunderstood.   Jean-Marc Itard began working with people in France in the early eighteen hundreds in a first attempt to train developmentally disabled people.   He later moved to the United States and continued his studies and practice.   The first asylum to treat people with disabilities was opened in 1851. (History 6) The purpose of the asylum was to protect the people from the harshness of society and to educate the people with disabilities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The beginning of the 1900’s consisted of a change to an attempt to protect society from the disabled people by putting them all in institutions.   In the first half of the nineteen hundreds the number of institutions and the number of people in them grew significantly.   The general public treated disabled people as deviants and people that should not be allowed to live among other people (Minnesota, part D).   In 1924 a law was passed that allowed sterilization of people deemed as â€Å"feebleminded†.   This population included epileptics and alcoholics (Longmore 1). By passing this law, the nation demonstrated it was not yet ready to fully accept people with developmental disabilities. Between 1925 and 1950, people began to realize again that the developmentally disabled were harmless to society and were best if they were trained.   This did not keep people from placing their disabled children in institutions or keep doctors from recommending that parents place their children in institutions.   Once a child was diagnosed with a disability, the child was often placed in an already over crowded institution where he was essentially forgotten.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Towards the end of the 1950’s and early 1960’s the views towards disabled people changed again.   When John Kennedy became president he and his sister chose to spend time helping people with disabilities live more productive lives (National 1).   During this time the trend began to change to respecting them and keeping people at home if possible.   From that time, research has gradually increased to study the causes of developmental disabilities to greatly reduce the number of people born with them and when possible reduce the severity of the effects. Because of this the number of yearly cases of people born with severe disabilities has been greatly reduced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the later half of the nineteen hundreds to the present, the trend has moved towards encouraging people to keep their disabled children at home when possible and to educate the children along with average children.   This method helps average children be more respectful of children with disabilities and helps the children with disabilities develop skills more quickly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For many years people with disabilities were treated as less than human and often became the subjects of traveling shows carnival attractions.   When not in shows, they were kept in institutions, where people could pretend they did not exist.   Fortunately in the last fifty years, the public no longer fears disability and are not only more accepting, but willing to assist them.   Society has come a long way towards accepting those who are different, but progress continues and needs to continue to be made. Works Cited: â€Å"A Short History of treatment for People with Mental Retardation†. 11 February 2008 http://www.ahrcnyc.org/pdf/chapter1_history.PDF Longmore, Paul. â€Å"Disability History Timeline† 2002. Rehabilitation Research and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Training Center on Independent Living Management. 11 February 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://isc.temple.edu/neighbor/ds/disabilityrightstimeline.htm National Institute of Child Health and Development. 8 September 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   11 February 2008 Establishment and history â€Å"Parallels in Time† 2007. Minnesota’s Governor’s Council. 11 February 2008 Parallels In Time: A History of Developmental Disabilities

Struggle of Canadian aboriginal students in education

Struggle of Canadian aboriginal students in education The struggle of the Canadian aboriginal people is based in education. The struggle is for them to regain the control of their livelihood as communities and as nations. The aboriginal peoples population has been on the increase for the past decade. Their largest population lives in the main population centers of Canada. The overall education standards of aboriginal people lag behind the overall education standards of Canada. According to Levin, (2009), there are an estimated 40 % of aboriginal people that dropped out of secondary school as compared to 20% of the total population of Canada. For the 20 years, the attainment of education among aboriginal people has improved though still quite low. The growth in numbers of aboriginal people with completed high school in the past decade led to the improvement of their public image. Despite the improvements, aboriginal education is still not much successful (Levin, 2009). Aboriginal education and obstacles to understanding The history of the aboriginal people and the non-aboriginal people dates back many years ago. The non- aboriginal people (Europeans) came to the aboriginals land. They started to coexist with the aboriginal people teaching the non-aboriginal people so many things for effective coexistence. Friendship and peace treaties enabled them to stay peacefully. With the royal proclamation of 1963, the distinction was made between the need for land and the need for the protection of the aboriginal peoples rights. As time moved on, more Europeans arrived outnumbering the native aboriginal people which was characterized by poverty and diseases. With the British war of 1812-1814, the aboriginal people were declined of their position as the allies to the military. This implanted into their heads the idea that the British people were superior than they were. This explains the dominion and assimilation by the non-aboriginals (Levin, 2009). The aboriginal people make up many nations in Canada. These people have unique culture, beliefs and values. Within a specific region, there could be diverse number of people with different and diverse cultures. The Indian act of 1876 imposed oppression against the aboriginal people. The federal government controlled the schooling of aboriginals children (Antone, (2003). Through the system, the government did not educate the children but was rather transforming their minds (Battiste, (1995). The aboriginal children were exposed to forces of cognitive imperialism which are very distractive. This resulted into the children losing the world view, their language and their culture. This caused an upheaval in the aboriginal communities socially and psychologically. The major cultural aspects of the aboriginals were lost. They included the cultural aspects in relation to hunting, fishing, medicine and religion (Antone, (2003). According to Eileen and Tania (2005), the colonialism history dis rupted the aboriginals way of transmitting knowledge. The effect is long-lasting. The original aboriginal education and literacy and the philosophies were historically passed down the lineage by oral means and they wee kept by the old men (elders). The non-aboriginal education programs are characterized by the radio, the TV, and the video games. All these have replaced the traditional aboriginal ways of passing knowledge from one generation to the other (Smith, 1999). The non-aboriginal systems of education have resulted in the loss of respect for the aboriginal traditions and elders and the language. Despite all these challenges that aboriginal education is facing, the elders are trying to find where they belong in the society as they try to bring reinstate the aboriginal culture (Eileen, Tania, (2005). The aboriginal education differs fro the non-aboriginal education in various ways. The literacy levels among the aborigines are quite low with many adults being illiterate. According to Richards (2008), the performance of aborigines in on-off-reserve schools is quite low. Richard (2008) reports findings from the census data that the non- aboriginal young people (under 45 yrs) have high education as compared to older Canadians. He adds that there is a universal demand for high school certificates. More so, there is an increased gap between aboriginal and non aboriginal high school education qualifiers with the gaps more being more pronounced at those levels that are beyond the secondary school (Richards, 2008). The non-aboriginal education system does not uphold the aboriginal language and literacy. The system elevates the understanding of certain foreign competencies as it undermines the competencies of aboriginal education system. This has led to the feeling of low self esteem and inadequacy among aboriginal students hence high school dropout rates and the poor performance. Therefore, the non-aboriginal system of education dos not values the aboriginals language, culture and their traditions (Richards, 2008). The literacy system that is used is foreign and is one of the reasons as to why the aboriginals perform poorly in academic institutions. A holistic approach to this issue will go a great way in solving the aboriginals literacy. The literacy leaning process to be used should include all the aspect of the aboriginals culture including the language. To overcome the challenges, the aboriginal students should be taught by aboriginal teachers using their own modes of teaching like storytel ling, observation and by the use of performed knowledge (Richards, 2008). The implication of the low aboriginal high school education is seen in the productivity levels of Canada. It is also seen in poverty and the racial tension that exists. The fertility rate among aboriginal students is high thus characterized by many school dropouts (La Prairie, 1995). Transition to urban environments The aboriginal people underwent a lot of problems resulting from colonization. The children were forced to under a foreign literacy system that affected them by far. Through the non-aboriginal education system, the aboriginal children were taught in foreign language that they did not understand. They were also taught foreign cultures and alienated far away from their culture. Though the literacy system, they were taught that their culture is inferior. As a result of that, they suffered from colonialism, many of them suffering from low self esteem. They were characterized by poverty and poor lifestyles (Malatest, 2004). According to Gallant, (2003), the poor aboriginal children were vulnerable to alienation from culture and their society. They also suffered from hopelessness. She argues that the children live in poverty and in a world that is full of violence and racism. The above problems that the aboriginal youth are susceptible to are accompanied by other social problems like high school drop out rates, high suicide rates, high crime rates and poverty rates. In her report, Galant (2003) finds a multitude of problems that the youth experience as they move from the poor rural areas to urban areas. These problems are as a result of colonialism. They include: Problems of lack of identity: This is accompanied by the lack of culture and the native language. With this problem, the youth experience isolation and alienation which make involvement in gang and illegal activities very attractive for the aboriginal youths. These aboriginal youths face the challenge of trying to cope with the many different cultures of the non-aboriginal nature that are very hostile to the aboriginal culture (Galant, 2003). Education: due to poor school attendance be cause of inadequate funding, there are high dropout rates among the aboriginal youths. They end up with low education levels and high unemployment t rates translating to job prospects that are poor hence increased poverty (HRSDC, 2009). Parental care: given the poor settings of the aboriginal families, the parents are busy fending for their children as the children go to school. These parents rarely get enough time for the family. These families are dysfunctional with absentee parents (Evans, 1998). Early maturity: the poor lifestyles hat the aboriginal children lead makes them mature faster since some of them are left to work and feed themselves at tender ages. This makes them mature faster resulting in becoming parents early with poor parental skills (Gallant, 2003). Substance abuse: the aboriginal children who come from many rural places have little parental care. Due to low self esteem and alienation, many become victims of substance abuse. This they take believing that it will reduce the stress and the depression while boosting their morale (Gallant, 2003). Poverty: these children are vulnerable to poverty because of the poor socialization process that they receive. Their parents are poor and are rarely there for them. They are rarely monitored and advised on the best way for the future. The low self esteem they gain frustrates them thus making them lead poor lives (Friedel, 1999). Racism: this is accompanied by discrimination. It really lowers their self esteem and their confidence fostering hostility against their broader society (Smith, 1999). They feel alienated and marginalized. The above problems that face the aboriginal youth require a solution. The solution is not definite. They need support by every body and is comprised of every element that touches the holistic approach to life like recreation, proper parenting skills, good literacy and education standards, readiness for the labor market, transition services in the urban settings, support from the family and the family and very strong backing of the community. Without these support, these young aboriginal people will find it hard to deal with the daily life challenges hence living low quality lives as compared to non-aboriginal youths (HRSDC, 2009). Action plan The transition period for the aboriginal youths is very crucial. This is because it determines the future of a person. What a person gains in his youth will either built on his future or destroy it completely. The urban aboriginal youth face many challenges as seen above ranging from poverty, racism, alienation to poor performance academically. The only solution to these problems can be done during their transition stage as they move from the rural setting to the urban setting. The following are some of the recommended action plans: Establishing of urban centers for the aboriginal youths. These are important because they help the aboriginal youth to come together in a more welcoming environment that is more comfortable than when they are left alone. The place should be free from alcohol and drugs. Gallant (2003) in her report argues that every urban center should have a youth centre that provides a sense of belonging for the desolate aboriginal youths. Through these centers they are able to share their personal experiences freely and have a sense of belonging. The many social-cultural dislocations that the youth have could be counteracted by the youth centers. The aboriginal youth centers act as an alternative to street life since they provide a forum where the aboriginal youths are in a position to interact with their fellow youths, their culture, elders and be in a position to explore the many opportunities that the urban life provides for them (Gallant, 2003). Since the youth centers for the aboriginal youth are very helpful, the federal government should provide funding for their establishment and development. It should do this in collaboration with the respective aboriginal youth representatives together with the provincial counterparts of the government and the aboriginal youth development agencies. These centers should be located in easily accessible areas. This would be a step in helping the future generation of aboriginal youth (Smith, 1999). Establishment of urban aboriginal youth transitional programs Many aboriginal youths move to the city seeking to advance their studies among other reasons like seeking for reemployment. With the move to the city, they are culturally dislocated, powerless and incompetent. Despite the challenges, they are determined top make out a living and better their future. With insufficient t resources and inadequate education, many turn to alternative means of earning a living (Alberta Report, 2001). Accompanied by racism and discrimination, it becomes very difficult for the aboriginal youth to handle these situations in the urban settings. Gallant argues that there is nothing that is such devastating to a young person than the racist claim. The lack of knowledge on the original aboriginal culture together with racism and discrimination are the major aboriginal youth challenges in many urban settings. The effects of all these are manifested through isolation which leads to low self esteem (Smith, 1999). Gallant (2008) argues that there has been scanty attention paid by the government to these problems that are facing the aboriginal youth in transition. Basing on the above problems that are faced by the aboriginal youth in transition, the government should take initiatives to establish major transition services in major Canadian urban centers. This will ensure that the aboriginal migrants to the city are positively supported and proper discretion towards organizations that are appropriate in dealing with transitional issues is given. Services to be provided should include houses, training, provision of literacy skill in English, guidance and counseling among many others. The supervision of the services should be linked to the specific communities that the youth originate. The establishment of the transitional services and centers by the government should be done in collaboration with the rural communities of the respective communities (Prochner, 2004). Creating recreation in sports and arts for the aboriginal youth A recreational ground provides a positive release of excess energy by the youth. Through sports and recreational activities, the youth can be relieved from boredom, drug abuse and drinking. Sports are made with creativity, discipline and team work that enhances the way the youth make goals. This has far reaching results on the future performance and life of the youths. With the many aboriginal youths that migrate to the cities, given their poor backgrounds and settings, there are no recreational facilities that they can afford. The government should increase its efforts in availing recreational facilities to the aboriginal youth in transition. This will lower the vulnerability of the youths dysfunction both physically and socially. According to Gallant (2003), there is a strong relationship between the involvement in recreational activities and anti-social behavior. Lifelong bad behavior is as a result of lacking anything constructive to do. The youth gets more pressure from the peers to engage in harmful anti-social activities. The establishment of these facilities in schools is very essential because such skills are vital for equipping the students with lifelong skills like leadership skills, training and academic tutoring (Smith, 1999). Thus school attendance is mandatory. Through school programs that are fitted with recreational and sport facilities, the healthy behavior of students are enhanced. The government should work close with other agencies in the provision of recreational and sports facilities to schools. In addition to that, in order to cater for the aboriginal youth in transition, the government should establish the recreational and sports centers together with the urban aboriginal youth centers (Gallant, 2003). The centers established by the federal government should be community based and should not have a short term perspective. The projects should be sustainable in the long run and it should be designed for the offering of instructions to the aboriginal youths accompanied by the offering of leadership and training in life skills. Through these programs, the aboriginal youths will be able to overcome racism and discrimination hence building on their self esteem. This will go along way down the life of the young aboriginal people (Alberta Report, 2001). Health and sexuality program for aboriginal teens. Aboriginal homes lack good quality sex education. With the parents rarely at home and not involved in their children affairs, aboriginal youths are experience high rates of pregnancy which also contributes to high school drop out rates. In addition to that, aboriginal youths experience involvement in drug and substance abuse (Alberta Report, 2001). This contributes to the high pregnancy levels and school drop out and poor academic performance. Due to this, the federal government should initiate programs that alleviate the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. This will lower the number of children borne with fatal alcohol syndrome. The governments initiative should both be in rural and urban settings so the aboriginal children in rural and urban areas benefit. The federal government should also increase federal funding towards the initiative to reduce fetal alcohol syndrome among aboriginal youths (Alberta Report, 2001). In addition to the above, it is observed that there is very little use of contraceptives among aboriginal youths. This can also explain the high pregnancy rates which translates to high poverty rates. All these are accompanied by high unemployment rates among aboriginal teens. The federal government through its health minister and community based organizations for aboriginal youths should implement a public awareness policy that targets aboriginal teens. This policy should target to address the problems of sexual health of aboriginal teens hence promoting sexual practices that re healthy. The federal government should also set aside sustainable funding for the programs (Gallant, 2003). Gang life: coming up with better alternatives. Given the poor background setting for the aboriginal youths, as they move to the urban setting they become vulnerable to anti social activities which also are criminal in nature. The youths are usually discriminated. The gangs are readily acceptable for them since they provide for them a sense of belonging and identity since the youths are desperate. Though these gangs, the youths feel greatly empowered with renewed purpose and belonging. According to Carol, (1995) the aboriginal youths that live deeper inside the city are more vulnerable to engaging in criminal activities. They are also prone to processing of justice. Therefore, gangs do provide protection for them and thus giving them safety. They accord them the basic needs (Carol, 1995). It is recommended that the federal government while working together with the municipal and the provincial administration should help in the identification and provision o safe house for the aboriginal youths in urban centers. This will help them leave the gangs and engage in better life (Gallant, 2003). Alcohol and Substance abuse Many aboriginal youths in transition to urban life abuse substances like alcohol, solvents and smoking. This is one of the most risky lives. According to studies, aboriginal youth are six times riskier in abusing alcoholic substances than heir non- aboriginal counterpart. The federal government should come up with programs that help the aboriginal youth not to indulge in drug abuse. An example is the NNADAP program put in place by first nations. The program should be target all aboriginal youths both in rural and urban settings. Sustainable funding should also be provided by the federal government. In addition to that, there should be treatment centers that provide treatment for cases related to substance abuse. These centers should be age specific (Alberta Report, 2001). Training and Employments for the Aboriginal Youth Many aboriginal youths posses low education levels due to the poor backgrounds they come form. They rarely complete high school. With low education, many end up being jobless. Thus many aboriginal youths risk being unemployed (Smith, 1999). Being unemployed is risky for the youths as they are likely to engage in antisocial activities. The federal government should set up programs that will reduce the aboriginal youth unemployment. Given the fast population growth rate of the aboriginal people, the government should move fast in bringing Canadas shrinking labor force to the required levels. The barriers to employment of aboriginal youths include factors like little job experience, low education levels among the aboriginal youths, lack or inappropriate skills among the youth, high transience and mobility levels amongst the aboriginal youths and poverty and discrimination (Smith, 1999). To solve the above obstacles, the federal government should initiate employment and entrepreneurship programs for the aboriginal youths. These programs will help them develop the necessary skills, and experience fro the required jobs. All those programs that are undertaken to help alleviate the youth unemployment should have a long term perspective. Therefore, the federal government should not only initiate but sustain the programs through sustainable funding and increased human resource development. In addition to that, the partnership of transitional urban aboriginal youth and the private sector employers should be encouraged by the federal government and the stakeholders (Gallant, 2003). Provision of professional development Aboriginal education requires the use of professional development for it to come out successful. The aboriginal youth have suffered so much under the non-aboriginal education system. They have undergone the torture of the mind with many negative thought being implanted in their minds (Gallant, 2003). They were taught using foreign language that they do not understand well. They were alienated further from their culture and their traditions. Through this, they faced racism hence discrimination. The discrimination they faced affected their self esteem that they lost focus in life. They are still suffering from neocolonialism since their parents still believe that they are inferior to the non-aborigines. With this mentality, they are poor lacking a sense of direction in life (Tunison, 2007). There needs to be established a special education program that caters for aboriginal children. Aboriginal youth face many challenges as they study. Coming from a poor background where parents struggle to feed ad take them to school they face a lot of hardships. The parents cant afford better schools to take them. At the schools that they are taken, they are taught the non-aboriginal literacy where they are further alienated from their culture. As they move to urban settings, they are faced with the challenge of racism and lack of identity which leads to discrimination. Through all these tribulations, the aboriginal education is characterized high drop out rates, truancy and poor performance in academics (Kanu, 2005). There is very little parental involvement in the education of their children. According to the Ministry Of Education (2005), parents have an important role to play in the education of their children. They assist their children in doing home work, provide them with good parenting and also get involved at school projects and trips for their children. They should help the school in the better management of their children. Aboriginal parents are too busy that they find no time to spare for their children. Since parents also advice their children and influence their future life, the youths from aboriginal backgrounds do not experience that. This explains the poor performance at school, poverty, truancy, involvement in gang activities and high school drop out rates. The children lack a sense of belonging (Ministry Of Education, 2005). Since the system of education for the non-aboriginals does not favor the aboriginal children, the government should initiate the curriculum that favors the aboriginal students and culture. The government should also engage trained aboriginal teachers to teach aboriginal children. This is because they best understand the aboriginal culture and language (Gregory, et. al. 2008). This will break one of the barriers of poor performance among aboriginal children. More so, the government should develop aboriginal schools in urban areas that are exclusively for aboriginal students. This will reduce the instances if racism and discrimination hence the self esteem for the children will be raised resulting not only to better academic performance but also better future life. The government should come up with guiding and counseling programs that support secondary school going aboriginal students (Alberta Report, 2001). The outcome of poverty in aboriginal families is poor parental responsibility with many parents not taking part in the up bringing of their children. The children, due to low self esteem indulge in many antisocial activities that ruin their future. They engage in alcohol and abuse of substances in addition to participation in criminal activities. Their parents also do not know their culture. The future of the aboriginal people lies in the employment of professionals to come up with a system that suits them. The new system should make use of aboriginal teachers to teach aboriginal youths. Conclusion The aboriginal people are the natives of Canada. With coming of the Europeans, the aborigines were marginalized. They were imposed to foreign culture and education system that doe not value the cultural and the language of the aboriginal people. They were taught in foreign language that they did not understand. Through the non-aboriginal literacy programs, they were taught that they are inferior to Europeans. As a result they became inferior and poor. Their children performed poorly in schools. During the transition stage where the aboriginal youths move to urban setting, they experienced many problems that range from high school drop out rates, truancy, high rates of pregnancy, racism and discrimination and involvement in antisocial behavior. All this conditions accompanied b a very low self esteem impact negatively on the aboriginal children and they end up leading a very poor lifestyle. The federal government should engage in several activities to save the aboriginal people. It should work in collaboration with other community groups in the establishment of urban centers that care for the aboriginal youth in transition. Through the centers, the youths engage in sports and other recreational activities that will boost the self esteem of the aboriginal youth hence improving their future. It should also establish training centers and initiate awareness for the aboriginal youth in terms of drug and substance abuse, and sexual and health behavior. With these the aboriginal youth will contribute much to the labor force in Canada. All these programs that are initiated by the government should have a long term perspective otherwise, they will not be effective.

Multinational Apparel Specialist Retailer Marketing Essay

Multinational Apparel Specialist Retailer Marketing Essay HM Hennes Mauritz AB HM or the group, founded in 1947 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a multinational apparel specialist retailer and famous for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children (Larenaudie, 2004). Besides the companys primary and eponymous chain, the group also operates through four independent brands: Collection of Style (COS), Monki, Weekday, and Cheap Monday (HM, 2011a). Growing with the business concept to offer fashion and quality at the best price, by the end of 2011, the group has grown one of the largest global apparel retailers with presence in 43 markets and nearly 2500 stores (HM, 2011a). HM operates within only a single segment: sale of clothing and cosmetics (MarketLine, 2012), which locates the company as a fast-fashion retailer in global apparel industry. High level of rivalry among competitors has been witnessed within the global apparel industry. And the fluctuating price of raw materials, unpredictability of fashion trends and increasing demand of real-time update from consumers also pose challenges towards fashion retailers. However, HM, as one of the fast-fashion pioneers, has an outstanding and steady performance over the years. There are various factors contributing to HMs outstanding performance. Combined with the industrys key success factors, it is essential for a fashion retailer to balance cost efficiency with differentiation, have strong brand-consciousness and global expansion. Also, the continuously heated corporate social responsibility (CSR) issue remains the key to HMs success. Therefore, this dissertation aims to achieve three goals: To analyse HMs performance based on the global apparel retailing industrys key success factors To competitively analyse HMs position against its competitors, especially Zara (Inditex Group) To reach recommendations for the companys future strategy This chapter serves as a general overview of the paper and aims to help readers with the guideline of thoughts in the dissertation. Chapter Two discusses literature review and methodology. Chapter Three focuses on analysis of global apparel retailing industry with Five Forces Analysis, PESTLE Analysis and Key Success Factors of the industry. Chapter Four is the main analysis of HM, starting based on four key success factors: cost efficiency; brand-consciousness; global expansion; and CSR, followed by competitive positioning of the company, financial analysis, SWOT analysis, and ending with recommendations. Chapter Five is the conclusion of the dissertation. Due to personal limitation of knowledge and reach of resources, several parts of discussions in the dissertation could not be conducted in-depth. No dependable survey and data collections have been conducted due to personal limitation of time and financial support. The dissertation is mainly based on figures and data collected from second-hand resources. Chapter 2: Literature Review and Methodology Literature Review This section serves as a theoretical support for the validity of the analysis of global apparel retailing industry in Chapter Three and analysis of HM in Chapter Four. Industry Analysis The analysis of global apparel retailing industry is conducted with Five Forces Analysis (Chapter 3.2), PESTLE Analysis (Chapter 3.3) and Key Success Factors (Chapter 3.4). Five Forces Analysis developed by Michael Porter illustrates five factors determining the level of competition and profitability within an industry (Grant, 2010). The framework is widely used in industry analysis and is conducted by analysing five sources of competitive pressure: buyer power, supplier power, new entrants, substitutes, and rivalry (Grant, 2010) (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Porters Five Forces framework (Grant, 2010) PESTLE Analysis is a framework to clarify and discuss the external macro-environment that affects an industry which stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors (Nejati et al, 2008). Key Success Factors of an industry is identified by analysing the factors that help a firm survive and thrive within the market environment (Grant, 2010). By analysing two main criteria what do customers want and how does firm survive competition the shared key elements of customer desire and the nature of rivalry could be identified (Grant, 2010) (see Figure 2) Figure 2: Identifying Key Success Factors (Grant, 2010) Combining Five Forces Analysis with PESTLE Analysis, industry environment could be discussed in details in Chapter Three. After the analysis of industry environment, key success factors will be reached by the model to serve as the basis for company analysis in Chapter Four. Marketing Mix Marketing mix model, also known as the 4Ps, is the combination of Price, Product, Promotion and Place, adopted by companies to explore their unique selling points (McCarthy, 1960) (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Marketing Mix 4Ps (McCarthy, 1960) By employing marketing mix model in Chapter 4.2, the unique marketing combination of HM has been analysed. International Product Life Cycle Theory The product life cycle (PLC) theory explains the basic development of products and motivations for international trade (Ajami Goddard, 2006). The theory describes four discrete stages in a product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline (Vernon, 1966) (see Figure 4). Figure 4: Product Life Cycle Theory (Vernon, 1966) The PLC theory has been widely adopted in analysis of international business and trade (Ajami Goddard, 2006). In Chapter 4.2 and Chapter 4.4.1, the theory has been used in explaining HMs product and market select and entry in global expansion progress. Uppsala Model The Uppsala Model suggests that a companys global expansion is a gradual process reliant on market knowledge and incremental decisions (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977; Frynas Mellahi, 2011). The theory is based on the assumption that firms expand globally with logical steps, based on the gathered information from foreign markets, which will lead to greater involvement of market commitment to more international business activities (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977; Frynas Mellahi, 2011). The model is based on two steps. First, when starting foreign market selection and entry, firms normally start expanding to neighbouring countries or countries with small psychic distance (Frynas Mellahi, 2011). Then after gathering experiential market knowledge, the firm expand to foreign markets step by step (Frynas Mellahi, 2011). Figure 5: Uppsala Model (Frynas Mellahi, 2011) The Uppsala Model helps understand a companys choice and plan in international market selection and mode of entry. In Chapter 4.4, Uppsala Model is employed to better illustrate the global expansion strategy of HM. Corporate Social Responsibility The European Commission defines Corporate Social Responsibility as: A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (Commission of the European Communities, 2001) The importances of CSR has been analysed by Porter and Kramer (2006) as follows: Figure 6: Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (Porter and Kramer, 2006) In Chapter 4.5, the theory has been used to discuss and analyse HMs involvement in CSR activities and its effects. Market Positioning A firm can achieve its competitive advantages in either of two methods: either it can supply an identical product or service at a lower cost or it can supply a product or service that is differentiated in such a way that the customer is willing to pay a price premium that exceeds the additional cost of the differentiation (Grant, 2010), which defines two different approaches to achieve competitive advantages: cost leadership and differentiation. Combining the two approaches with the firms competitive scope either industry-wide or single segment Michael Porter has defined generic strategies as follows (Grant, 2010) (Figure 7): Figure 7: Porters Generic Strategies (Porter, 1980) And a firm should focus on either one of the strategies above and avoid stuck in the middle (Porter, 1980). By defining the firms strategy of achieving competitive advantages, the firm could be positioned in the market. Market positioning is about where you are located in the marketplace, largely as judge by customers, compared to the rest (Piercy, 2009) In Chapter 4.6.1, the market positioning theory has been used to analyse HMs competitive positioning within the market and serve as basis to comparative analysis against its competitors. Methodology As to the methodology of this dissertation, phenomenological paradigm is adopted due to the explanatory and descriptive nature of the analysis. Qualitative approach is implemented in the dissertation for that quantitative method requires the collection and interpretation of abundant accurate primary data to make sure reaching reliable conclusions, while the analysis of HM largely depends on secondary data and research group releases and third party opinions. Due to the limitation of my personal knowledge, further research might be needed for more accurate information to be acquired. Chapter 3: Industry Analysis HM operates within only a single segment: sale of clothing and cosmetics (MarketLine, 2012), which locates the company as a fast-fashion retailer in global apparel industry. The following chapter examines the industry with an overview, Five Forces Analysis, PESTLE Analysis and then comes up with Key Success Factors of the industry. 3.1 Industry Overview The apparel retail industry consists of the sale of menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, clothing accessories, hosiery and footwear within the global market including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, MEA and Asia-Pacific (MarketLine, 2012). Figure 8: Industry Overview of Global Apparel Industry (MarketLine, 2012) The global clothing retailing industry has witnessed moderate growth in recent years. In FY2011, the total revenue of the industry had reached $1175.4 billion, a 2.7% growth between FY2007 and FY2011 (Figure). In all categorical segments, the womenswear segment remained most profitable in FY2011, representing 51.1% of the total value of the industry (Euromonitor International, 2011). Figure 9: Global Apparel Retail Industry Value; Global Apparel Retail Industry Geography Segmentation (MarketLine, 2012) 3.2 Five Forces Analysis As introduced in Chapter 2.1.1, the market will be analysed from five aspects: buyer power, supplier power, substitutes, new entrants and degree of rivalry. The analysis will take individual consumers as key buyers, manufacturers and wholesalers as key suppliers, and other retailers as players. Figure 10: Forces driving competition in the global apparel retail industry (MarketLine, 2011) 3.2.1 Buyer Power In global apparel retail industry, buyers are mostly individual consumers. As clothing has been recognised as symbols of fashion taste and social status, buyer power is weakened by design patterns and branding of a retailer (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst, 2010). However, the low switching costs of consumers strengthen buyer powers due to various choices on market. Furthermore, apparel retailers are at the end of the value chain. In a market where fashion trends change quickly and unpredictably, they have to offer buyers as demanded. This enhances buyer power. Overall, buyer power in this industry is assessed as moderate. 3.2.2 Supplier Power Major suppliers in the industry are clothing manufacturers and wholesalers, which are normally small to medium sized firms (MarketLine, 2011). In most countries, the supplier sector is fragmented because of the absence of diversity among suppliers (MarketLine, 2011). And further fragmentation is made by the retailers ability to outsource from foreign countries, especially from low-wage and labour-intensive regions such as China and India (Deloitte, 2011). However, the law of national minimum wage in some countries raises the labour power of suppliers. So overall, supplier power is assessed as moderate. 3.2.3 New Entrants Moderate growth has been witnessed in global apparel industry, making less people attracted to the market. However, with low barriers to entry and low requirement to start up a business in the industry, there are high possibilities for individuals to enter. And low switching costs for consumers and lack of variety in product differentiation in the market is beneficial for new entrants to compete. However, in some countries (e.g. the US) the market is majorly occupied by some large corporations from scale economies and strong buyer power (MarketLine, 2011). Regulation in the industry has remained little but recently corporate social responsibility issues have been heated among consumers (Idowu Filho, 2008). These factors prove that new entrants are strong threats. 3.2.4 Substitutes There are no substitutes for apparel. However, major substitute for retailing is to buy clothes directly from manufacturers (Zentes et al, 2011). This option is strengthened by the increase of online stores. Online shopping has been increasingly accepted by consumers (Peck et al, 2011). And by running online fashion stores, large amount of overhead could be avoided. There are still niche substitutes like home-made and couture clothing, or second-hand clothing (MarketLine, 2011). However, substitute threats are assessed as weak. 3.2.5 Degree of Rivalry The global apparel clothing industry is considered as fragmented (Jones, 2006). There are large numbers of small size retailers with the same product differentiation. And with increasing number of retailers expanding products to accessories and other diversities, rivalry in the industry has been intensified. With a moderate growth and low requirement of market entry, a high degree of rivalry has been resulted. In conclusion, the global apparel retailing industry is fragmented with moderate growth, weak threat from substitutes, moderate buyer power and supplier power. Low barrier to entry and low requirement for entrants have resulted in strong threats of new entrants and further led to high degree of rivalry. 3.3 PESTLE Analysis As discussed in Chapter 2.1.1, the macro-environment of the industry is analysed by PESTLE analysis regarding political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental aspects (Grant, 2010). Political As for global apparel retailers, legislations vary among different countries and areas (Cobra, 2011). Every retailer in the industry must follow government regulations regarding goods and labour (Graham Richardson, 1997). And the political stability is also crucial for fashion retailers as it would directly affect their sales situation and asset safety (Aspers, 2010). Economic For fashion apparel retailers, economic trends are crucial for their strong impacts on consumer behaviours and purchasing powers. For example, in 2011, the global economic recession had negative effects on fashion retailers (Euromonitor International, 2011). Because consumers with lower disposable income regard clothing as functional item, while with higher disposable income branding became important as a symbol of social status and fashion taste (MarketLine, 2012). Price fluctuation of raw materials cotton price for apparel retailers has significant impacts on the industry (MarketLine, 2012). Interest rates also would affect sales and high interest rates lead to difficulties to trade overseas (Arnold, 2010). Moreover, currency situation is important as the exchange rate influences the value and trades of retailers (Browne, 2000). Social Increasing attentions from public have been focused on corporate social responsibilities (CSR) of apparel retailers, mainly regarding labour conditions, such as protection of workers rights, maintaining safe working conditions, reasonable wage and no child labours (Idowu Filho, 2008). Also, for global fashion retailers, cultural differences between counties are crucial due to different fashion trends, consumer behaviours, or local customs. Technological The development of technology has enabled global apparel retailers with e-commerce and international trade more effectively (Euromonitor, 2011). And with the implementation of high technology, supply chain has changed significantly with global outsourcing, real-time update, and continuous replenishment (Lopez and Fan, 2009). Moreover, online shopping has been increasingly accepted by consumers, which initiated a new channel for retailers to cut costs by less middlemen and no store rent (Peck et al, 2011). Law Global apparel retailers need to follow different government legislation regarding employment and production (Graham Richardson, 1997). For instance, in some countries, such as the UK, there is national minimum wage to protect employees rights (Low Pay Commission, 2011). And tariffs from international trade are also important for international retailers to abide by. Environmental Environment protection has remained a heated issue among apparel retailing industry, especially issues like chemical restrictions and pollutions during production (Euromonitor International, 2011). It is also crucial for retailers to save energies and materials and reduce environmental impacts during product life cycle (PLC) (Chapter 2.1.3). From the above analysis, global apparel industry largely depends on political stability, government legislation, high-technology, public relations. And fluctuating price of source remains a major challenge to apparel retailers. 3.4 Key Success Factors As introduced in Chapter 2.1.1, Key Success Factors of apparel retail industry is analysed with the Grant model by examining the demand and competition of the industry as following Figure 11: Identifying Key Success Factors of Global Apparel Retailing Industry (Grant, 2010) Therefore, from the analysis above, for a global apparel retailer, cost efficiency is one of the crucial factors for that low cost ensures profitability and efficiency indicates fast responding time to meet demand, allowing fashion and quality at the best price (HMs business concept, HM, 2011a). Brand strategy also plays a key role in apparel retailers success as it facilitates customer loyalty. Differentiation of style in fashion industry positions the companys competitiveness and brand image in the market. Global expansion strategy of an apparel retailer is also essential as choices of global markets and international strategy decide retailers future development, global presence and even profitability (Deloitte, 2011). The continuously heated issue of corporate social responsibility also remains the key to companys brand image among public and future growth. It plays a vital role in companys success due to the heated social issue of environmental protection and labour conditions (I dowu Filho, 2008) In the following chapter, the company will be analysed starting based on key success factors to seek for unique interpretation of HMs performance. Chapter 4: Analysis of HM This Chapter is mainly focuses on analysis of HM, starting by analysis based on four key success factors of the industry, followed by competitive positioning analysis, financial analysis, and SWOT analysis, and ended with recommendations. 4.1 Operations Strategy HMs business concept is to offer fashion and quality and the best price (HM, 2011a). To make sure the company follows the leading fashion trends, quality of designing and lead time of distribution are important (Slack et al, 2010). And the offer of best price needs to rely on the basis that cost from each stage has been minimised. 4.1.1 Reduction of Costs Cost-consciousness at every stage remains the key to HMs operations (ZavrÃ…Â ¡nik, 2007). To achieve the growth target with offering best price, HM has a professional buying team (HM, 2011a). The company arranges its buying activities according to decisions from design team (MarketLine, 2011). The buying team achieves lowest cost by purchasing in bulk with the right products from the right market (ZavrÃ…Â ¡nik, 2007). With no factories itself, the company outsources its product manufacturing to approximately 700 suppliers, mostly in Asia and Europe (HM, 2011a). The manufacturing locations are divided by the level of fashion-sensitiveness: the fashion-sensitive collections are normally manufactured within Europe to cut the lead time while the cost-sensitive and sustainable collections are produced in Asia to allow the lowest possible price and achieve economies of scale (HM, 2011a). Furthermore, HM focuses on building long-term relationships with suppliers and manufacturers (HM, 2011a). HM does not own any factories (HM, 2011a), so quality control over the whole process might be a problem. Due to fast responses to fashion trend, there is usually not enough time to perform detailed quality control. Therefore the company has been involved in accusation of poor quality. So, dependable suppliers could not only provide HM with lowest price, but also ensure the quality of products from long-term cooperation and mutual understanding. Moreover, as a fast-fashion retailer, HM has lead time from weeks up to six months (HM, 2011a), which is slower than its strongest competitor Zara (Inditex Group) of maximum 14 days. However, faster responses indicate higher cost, HM focuses on reduction of cost and achieves balance between fast-fashion and price, allowing averagely 30% 50% lower price than Zara (Larenaudie, 2004) 4.1.2 Speed of Responses HM holds the point that the right lead time should be balanced between price, time and quality instead of pursuing merely short lead time (Euromonitor, 2012). However, as a fast-fashion retailer, quick responding to fashion trends, consumer demand and other market changes is still key for the company (Grant, 2010). The company achieves fast responses by integrating downstream and being efficient at every stage (HM, 2011a). HM has a professional design team. The in-house design team, headquartered in Stockholm with over 150 internal designers, focuses on combining inspirations and information from multiple resources such as news, travelling, streetstyle and various exhibitions and catwalks (J.P.Morgan, 2012). This cross-functional designing could ensure the quick response to market change. High technology has also been used by HM to ensure the speed and efficiency of supply chain and enable changes could be made quickly enough and design agreement then could be fasten (Bruce and Daly, 2006). HM has conducted top-class computerised design software and built common IT platform that enables quick information exchange between the process of designing, production and warehouse. The group set only limited stocking area in each store to keep maximum area for display. So the replenishment needs to be backed up by effective distributions according to the daily sales. The immediate sales data communication serves as a strong basis for fast response and efficiency at every stage. With this in-house design and outsourced production process, HM claimed that their lead time could range from weeks to up to six months: fashion-conscious within weeks and sustainable and classics could be months (HM, 2011a), achieving balance between price, quality and time. 4.2 Marketing Mix Strategy After analysing the cost and efficiency strategy of the company, marketing strategy will be analysed first with the companys unique marketing mix (Chapter 2.1.2). Price HM makes effort to differentiate its brand image from other fast-fashion retailers with competitive low price (ZavrÃ…Â ¡nik, 2011). The company makes efforts to offer best possible price in spite of fluctuating costs of raw materials. However, the price range of HM products varies according to designs, current interest rates, and tariffs (Larenaudie, 2004). Product Clothing is the main product for HM. The company offers a wide range of designs for clothing, from classics to basics, to designs following the latest fashion trends. In addition, HM expands product mix to make the most of sales opportunities, such as make-up and costume jewellery at competitive prices, and home furnishings for young households (Euromonitor, 2011). Furthermore, as fashion trends intertwined (Steele, 2011), the new sustainable collection and classics collection enable a longer Product Life Cycle (Chapter 2.1.3) to maximise the design and avoid quick decline. Promotion Marketing promotion is crucial for apparel retailers to build the brand image (Cooklin, 2006). Various methods could be adopted, such as advertising, social media presence, personal selling, publicity, presentations (Cooklin, 2006). For HM, inviting guest designers has been a major attraction to customers (Euromonitor International, 2011). Also, HM has two major fashion seasons annually spring season and autumn season, and two sales season summer sales and the Christmas and New Year season (HM, 2011a). The two sales seasons promote products and attracts more customer visits with even lower prices. Place HM has strong global presence with over 2500 stores by the end of 2011 (MarketLine, 2011). However, the majority of HMs store-based apparel sales come from Europe, with Germany contributing the most, followed by the UK and France (Euromonitor International, 2011). In addition, HM has a growth target to increase the number of stores by 10% to 15% every year (HM, 2011a). But the company does not own any store facilities. By renting store premises the company could achieve flexibility to the best level and make sure store locate at the best possible position. And the company has leading distribution system enabling continuous replenishment based on real-time update sales data (Bruce and Daly, 2006). 4.3 Brand and Multi-Channel Strategy In the fashion retail industry, brand image is crucial in building customer loyalty (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst, 2010). HM is the most important brand for the group and enjoys strong presence internationally. With only limited investment in advertisement on TV, HMs collections with famous guest designers and celebrities have been the major hit to attract customers. From Karl Lagerfeld for HM in 2004, M by Madonna in 2007, Jimmy Choos shoes and bags in selected stores in 2009, to the exciting autumn hit Versace for HM in 2011 and Marni at HM in 2012, the guest collections fully showed attraction to customers, which interlink the price-conscious brand together with great design and quality (Euromonitor, 2011). As a mass-production fashion retailer, HM could raise brand impacts globally by cooperation with celebrities and famous brands to create the feeling of luxury and limit edition for its own customers. By collaboration with HM, luxurious brands could open up customer market with lower disposable income. Figure 12: Images of HMs Collections by Guest Designers and Celebrities (Versace, Madonna, Jimmy Choo) (HM Annual Report) In addition, HM sells not only through store premises, but also over the internet and catalogue books, which with brand strategy, composes together HMs multi-channel strategy. HM has made positive progress by promoting limited online sales globally allowing consumers in areas with no HM stores to purchase online, which boosts global brand image for HM and generates sales (MarketLine, 2011). The company also produces own online webzine HM Life, linking to its online stores and fashion items with latest trends (Euromonitor International, 2012). Furthermore, HM has successfully combined social media strategy to build up its brand and customer loyalty with Facebook page, twitter account, YouTube account and special online social hub (MarketLine, 2011). For example, HMs Facebook page has competitive engagement rate of 2% (likes, comments, share, etc.). And the presence of free smartphone app for its brand is available to keep customers update with new products and sales. Figure 13: Images of HMs Social Media Network: Facebook Page, Twitter Page and Youtube Page (HM, 2012) With the success of clothing, HM further extend the product range to maximise sales opportunities by selling low cost make-up and jewellery and home furnishing (MarketLine, 2011). Following Inditex, the group has transferred into multi-brand channels. Besides HM, the group also has four independent brands, namely COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday, allowing the company expand its network further and avoiding saturation in European market (Euromonitor, 2011). However, these brands still only have limited presence globally. 4.4 Domestic and Global Strategy With a unique strategy and clear brand identity, a fashion retailer should then develop its global expansion for further growth. The global expansion strategy and process could be better illustrated with Uppsala Model theory (Chapter 2.1.4). 4.4.1 Market Selection and Entry HM, headquartered in Sweden, started expansion into neighbouring countries Norway (1964) and Denmark (1967) (MarketLine, 2011), and followed by entering other countries and regions (Chapter 2.1.4) (Appendix 1). As introduced in Chapter 2, similar culture or shared borders could all reduce psychic distances between foreign customers and can encourage the companys global expansion (Ghemawat, 2001). Western Europe still witness HMs majority of sales growth, which shows the effects of shorter psychic distances. Following Uppsala model (Chapter 2.1.4), after gathering market knowledge and analysis of potential growth, the company entered global market by acquisitions and with greater levels of market commitment (Appendix 1). With an ambitious growth target of 10% to 15% increase in store numbers every year (HM, 2011a), the company strategically selected global markets and made effort to expand globally step by step. Gradually, the brand established its global name among consumers. However, the dominance of Western Europe leaves HM reliant on this region (Euromonitor, 2011). Economic recession within the Eurozone could influence the sales directly, and saturation would limit HMs further growth potential. At the meantime, the apparel industry in other districts prospers, especially Latin America, with a forecast sales value growth of 25%, where HM is absent (Euromonitor, 2011). Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific is also forecast with high sales value growing potential of 32% and 33% respectively (Euromonitor, 2011). 4.4.2 Domestic Strategy After selection and entry into global market, HM has witnessed strong global growth. Compared with international market, domestic market has moderate performance. However, headquartered in Sweden, HM still possesses large portion of market share (Euromonitor, 2012). The companys sales growth in Sweden remains steady (Figure 14). With strong purchasing power, consumers in Sweden tend to buy clothes for enjoyment over necessity. Most of sales were conducted in store purchasing over the past five years (Figure 1

Acquiring Personal Freedom Essay -- Narrative Memoir Essays

Acquiring Personal Freedom On a cold January day, a performance broke all barriers. The crowd erupted as the curtains opened to reveal the silhouette of a rock legend. The music initiated moves that seemed to defy explanation. Long, sensuous legs captured the audience as they moved with lightning speed while voluptuous red lips seemed to pour lyrics like a fountain. Some people were in shock about who was performing, while some mystified by how the artist seemed to control the stage. The singer was creating questions with every gyration during the unstoppable performance. No one, including me, could believe what was happening on stage. How someone’s attitude can change over a small amount of time. When I entered high school, I was very self-conscience about what I did and how I acted. This mental approach really dampened my creative side and it kept me from doing a lot of things I find fun now. By the middle of my sophomore year, I was ready to do something that would stir things up a bit and get the big wheels turning. Winterfest was only a week away and I, along with the rest of the school, was ready for a little break from the monotonous everyday routine. There was a competition scheduled for Thursday which was between different â€Å"air guitar† performances. I had been to a concert earlier in the year and saw Tina Turner perform one of her most famous songs, â€Å"Proud Mary.† To my mind, the idea of dressing like Tina Turner and performing on stage was absurd. I thought about it for a few days and decided that this could be something that might break the self-conscience chains holding my spirit down. I knew it would be hard and some people might think it a little overboard, but there was only one way to fin... ...ual attire rather than the leather mini-skirt. A glint in my eye seemed to light the way out of the dim-lit bathroom. Today, when confronted with a challenge, I just look back at this experience to help me through it. After I performed in front of the school in a skirt and high heels, some things seem minuscule. By overpowering my self-conscience feelings, I am now able to do things without caring how people might view me. I have noticed that my newly gained social confidence helps me through everything from interviews to relationships. On a cold January day, a performance broke all barriers blocking me from my goals. I did something I had never done and discovered that what others thought would not control my life any longer. On that day, my spirit escaped the bounding chains and set my big wheels in motion with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Graduation Speech: God has Blessed Us Richly :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

As springtime fades to summer and my years in high school draw to a final end, I have often felt within me a gentle beckoning to moments of quiet and thoughtful repose. Here memories of times long past, of friends new and old, of dreams born and forgotten, of affections kindled and discarded so deluge my mind that I am thoroughly overwhelmed by their sweetness so curiously mingled with their sorrow. Then often I turn to gaze pensively at the future, clouded and unsure, yet gloriously bright with hope and expectation. And in these blessed times of sweet recollection and ready anticipation, I have found one enduring joy, one unshakable rock, one sure haven in the unending faithfulness and love of my Lord and my God. Truly, His mercies have been new every morning. He has upheld me with His righteous right arm. "He [has led] me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake." He has broken me that I may delight in Him alone. And when I have fallen, He has clothed me in the garb of His clemency; washed me in the sea of His grace. I know He will keep me in the years to come. Oftentimes in these last months, when I wonder about the future -- where I will go, what I will do, who I will become -- I find a solace in the words of Paul: "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ... to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." I cannot fathom the depth of such a statement -- that He can carry me exceeding abundantly beyond all my greatest dreams, all my highest aspirations, all my wishes and desires and hopes. He can give my life meaning beyond what I could ever imagine. What a glorious hope, what a bright future there is for those in Christ! Yet so many have not found this future. Tonight I feel a tinge of fear, a chill of imminent peril for myself and for you, my dear class. I have no doubt that your discipline will earn great success, for God has blessed you richly with many gifts and talents. Nor do I fear that you will fail in this life or slip into any great evil. I do not even doubt that most of you will remain in the blessed ways of our Lord, learning to love and cherish Him more and more.

The Usage Of A Bandgap Reference Voltage Engineering Essay

A bandgap mention electromotive force is an indispensable constituent of an parallel to digital converter.It is frequently used to provide a mention electromotive force which is compared with others voltages.The bandgap mention used in diverse applications is based on the thought of Hilbiler in 1964 [ 1 ] aˆ‚A bandgap mention electromotive force with low sensitiveness to temperature and supply electromotive force is normally required in parallel or digital circuits. Low electromotive force and low power are two of import design standards in both parallel and digital systems.It been expected that the whole electronics system will be operated down to a individual 1-V supply in near future.The bandgap mention ( BGR ) generators which can be operated under 1-V supply have been widely used in DRAM, falsh memories, analog-digital convertor ( ADC ) and assorted parallel devices.So far many techniques have been proposed to develop electromotive force or current mentions, which can be about independent to temperature and power supply voltage.The bandgap mention is the major design to supply a preciseness electromotive force mention with low sensitiveness to the temperature and the power supply.when CMOS engineerings enter the nano-scale epoch, The demand for battery operated portable equipments will increase.the supply electromotive force has been scaled down from 1.8V ( in 0.18 µm engineering ) to 1.2V ( in 0.13 µm engineering ) , and will drop to merely 0.9V in the following coevals engineering [ 2 ] .In CMOS engineering, the parasitic perpendicular bipolar junction ( BJT ) had been normally used to implement P-N junction of the bandgap reference.But the traditional CMOS bandgap mention circuits did non work in sub 1-V supply voltage.the ground, that the minimal supply electromotive force can non be lower than 1V is constrained by two factors, which is the bandgap electromotive force of around 1.25V in Si, which is exceeds 1V supply.The others factor is the low-tension design of the relative to absolute temperature current coevals cringle is limited by input common-mode electromotive force of the amplifier.These two limitions can be solved by utilizing the resistive subdivision methods, low threshold electromotive force ( or indigen ) device, BiCMOS procedure or DTMOS device.However, those attacks frequently require specialised procedure and word picture which addition fiction cost and procedure stairss. Reference electromotive force generators are required to be stabilized over procedure, electromotive force and temperature fluctuations and besides implemented without alteration of fiction process.The bandgap mention ( BGR ) is one of the most popular mention electromotive force generators that successfully achieve the requirements.regarding the generators, the demand for the low power and low electromotive force operation is strongly increasing the spread of the battery-operated portable applications.A bandgap mention electromotive force is an indispensable constituent of an analog-to-digital converterIt is frequently used to provide a mention electromotive force which is compared with others voltage. A bandgap mention electromotive force with low sensitiveness to temperature and supply electromotive force is normally required in parallel or digital circuits.there are several methods to recognize a temperature independent voltage.the base emitter junction used as a nucleus constitu ent of the bandgap mention is the most popular approach.the general bandgap mention electromotive force mention electromotive force is described by a additive combination of base-emitter electromotive force. Bandgap mention circuit is widely used to supply stable current and electromotive force mentions in parallel circuits every bit good as in assorted signal CMOS circuits.A stable mention circuit should be robust against temperature, power supply and procedure variations.Sub-1-V mention coevals has got importance due to scaling ensuing in shrinking of MOS dimensions and decrease of power supply to minimise power ingestion. owing to follow Moore ‘s Law, it has become needfully of import to diminish the power in the chip.This puts the restraint on the power dissipation of mention generators.the design of this bandgap besides see for low power operation..In traditional BGR circuit, bipolar transistors and one or more resistances are used.BJTs that are used in BGR are in parasitic signifier in CMOS.resistor occupy big country on the bit and hence addition the cost.on bit tolerance of resistances vary from 20 % to 30 % .So, we have to replaced these constituents with MOS transistors t o better public presentation of BGR and to salvage bit area.The combination of different runing parts like subthreshold, additive and impregnation of MOS suppresses the temperature dependance of electromotive force mention.Aims:To set up a dc electromotive force or current that is independent of the supply and procedure and has a chiseled behaviour with temperature. To plan the BGR that independently to temperature and low noise and low electromotive force To plan bandgap mention that can be successfully operated with sub 1-V supply in standard 0.35 CMOS procedure without particular procedure engineering.Problem statementWhen CMOS technologies enter the nano-scales epoch, the demand for battery-operated portable equipments will increase.The supply electromotive force has been scaled down from 1.8V ( in 0.18 m engineering ) to 1.2V ( in 0.13 engineering ) and will drop to merely 0.9V in the following engineering [ 2 ] .in CMOS engineering, the parasitic perpendicular bipolar junction transistor ( BJT ) had been used to implement the high preciseness bandgap electromotive force references.However, the convential BGR generates a 1.25V mention voltage.Its fixed end product electromotive force limited the supply electromotive force and non suited for sub 1-V supply volateg operation.The ground why the conventional CMOS bandgap mention did non work in close 1-V supply voltage.One is that the bandgap end product electromotive force is about 1 .25V [ 3 ] , which exceeds 1-V supply.The others is that the low temperature electromotive force design of the relative to absolute temperature current coevals cringle is limited by the input common-mode electromotive force of the amplifier.These two restrictions can be solved by utilizing the resistive subdivision method [ 4 ] , low threshold electromotive force device [ 5 ] , BiCMOS procedure or DTMOST [ 6 ] . But, those attacks frequently require specialised procedure and word picture which can increase fiction cost and procedure step.However, the bandgap mention working in low supply electromotive force has a higher temperature coeeficient than that of traditional bandgap reference.This resulted in the development of new temperature compensated techniques such as quadratic temperature compensation [ 7 ] , exponential temperature compensation [ 8 ] , piecewise additive curvature rectification [ 9 ] and resistance temperature compensation [ 10 ] .To implement these advanced mathem atical maps with high truth, the development of the low electromotive force bandgap construction requires precision matching of current mirrors or a pre-regulated supply electromotive force, cascade current mirror [ 11 ] , and pre-regulated circuit are good methods to work out this problem.but the minimal supply electromotive force is tradeoff.Scope of work:A typical CMOS execution of a bandgap mention is shown in Fig. 1. The end product mention electromotive force VREF of the traditional bandgap mention circuit can be written as: Equation 1 trad bgr.bmp Figure 1: Traditional/conventional BGR circuit in CMOS engineering where A1 and A2 is the emitter countries of Q1 and Q2, and VT is thermic electromotive force. The 2nd term in ( 1 ) is relative to the absolute temperature ( PTAT ) , which is used to call off the negative temperature coefficient of VEB. Hence, if a proper ration of resistances is kept, an end product electromotive force with lowsensitivity to the temperature can be obtained. In general, the VREF is about 1.25 V, so that the conventional bandgap mention circuit can non be used in low electromotive force application, such as 1 V. Mention electromotive forces and/or currents with small dependance to temperature turn out utile in many parallel circuits. As many procedure parametric quantities vary with temperature, if a mention is temperature-independent, it is normally processindependent every bit good. If two measures with opposite temperature coefficient are added with proper weighting, the attendant measure theoretically exhibits zero temperature coefficient. The construct of the new proposed bandgap mention is that the two electromotive forces ( which are relative to VEB and VT ) are generated by merely one feedback cringle. The two-stage operational amplifier with p-channel input is used in thisnew proposed bandgap mention. The new proposed bandgap mention is shown in Fig. 2, which uses the resistive subdivision R1a, R1b, R2a and R2b to cut down the input common-mode electromotive force of the amplifier.The dimensions of PMOS devices M1 and M2 are the same.The opposition of R1a and R2a is the same, and th e resistanceof R1b and R2b is the same. Following the KCL at the nodesof V1 and V2 in Fig. 2, the mention electromotive force can be expressed as New Picture.bmp Equation 2 Where and.According to equation below: ) /R4 We can expressed equation 2.The point of Vref-conv is indistinguishable to the conventional mention electromotive force in equation ( 1 ) .In order to accomplish sub 1-V operation, the ratio of R1b/ ( R1a+R1b ) is used to scale down the mention electromotive force level.Therefore, the minimal supply electromotive force of the new proposed BGR can be efficaciously reduced to merely. The new proposed BGR mentions can operated under bomber 1V.The whole complete circuit to recognize the proposed bomber 1V BGR is shown below: New Picture ( 1 ) .bmp Figure 2: Complete circuit for new proposed Sub1V So, from the comparing above, I can clearly cognize what I will make on my ain undertaking, what my range of work.From this, i ‘ll go on the new proposed BGR design that already done but I will seek to minimise the supply electromotive force, temperature independent and noise consequence as possible so the BGR will successfully operated in sub 1-V.

Freas and Geeks Media techniques Essay

How Media Techniques Create Stereotypes in Freaks and Geeks Take a look again at high school stereotypes through the short lived television series from the late 90’s, Freaks and Geeks. Based on the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks, media techniques are used effectively to depict the different stereotypes in high school. The camera shots & movements are used adequately to show the power of the bullies and the weakness of the victims. For example, when Sam Weir is approached by Alan (the bully), at lunch, the camera is pointed upwards towards Alan’s face to make him seem bigger and scarier while the camera would be pointed down on Sam’s face making him seem smaller and inferior to Alan (Kasdan 1999). This example shows effective use of media techniques by using camera shots because the audience can easily depict the two different stereotypes, the bully and the geek. Another way that media techniques are used effectively is through the use of setting. For instance, the â€Å"freaks† of the show are shown hanging arou nd the patio which is a dirty and worn down area separated from the field and other students (Kasdan 1999). This is a clear way for the audience to see the difference from the regular students and the â€Å"freaks† therefore making this media technique effective. These two techniques show how Freaks and Geeks uses media techniques effectively to illustrate the stereotypes one might see in high school. Using media techniques such as camera shots and setting effectively is a task that Freaks and Geeks has accomplished to portray different high school stereotypes. Works Cited â€Å"Pilot.† Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series. Writ. Paul Feig. Dir. Jake Kasdan. DreamWorks, 1999. DVD.