The superior brand strength of Sainsburys Essay

The superior brand strength of Sainsburys - Essay Example ng Group and the Great Place to Work Steering Group, two inter-dependent research and strategy teams chaired by board members that contribute to the branding model and corporate social responsibility model that brings Sainsbury positive market attention (Sainsbury 2011). These Steering Groups add a new dimension of focus on the governance model, whereby executives and mid-tier managers are involved in establishing policies, models and procedures to enhance brand attitude and personality in important markets. The knowledge and experience brought to the governance model by brand and CSR-related steering groups continues to provide Sainsbury with significant competitive advantages. All branding activities, then, rest on the foundation of revolutionary governance systems. According to the Board of Directors at the organisation, â€Å"We are guided by a ‘materiality’ process which allows us to focus attention on areas of greatest impact and importance. We chart all related s ustainability issues against the level of potential concern and how much the issue could affect our business. (Sainsbury 2011, p.15). The corporate governance team is much more directly involved in brand-related activities critical to market competitiveness and reputation on the consumer markets. Sainsbury understands that the majority of revenues and long-term loyalty needed to sustain market share is involved with promoting internal corporate values and then applying these in a way that is transparent to the consumer in product offerings, CSR activities, and service delivery systems. Rather than allowing managers at the organisation to develop appropriate policies and systems associated with marketing and operations, they are determined by knowledge experts with considerable commercial and business... The brand dimensions of Sainsbury are being discussed in the essay. Sainsbury maintains a revolutionary corporate governance model in which brand-building is a consistent theme in deliberations and strategic analyses of the Board of Directors. Sainsbury is known in important revenue-building markets for its focus on corporate social responsibility, a comparative advantage not found in industry competition. Sainsbury has also received many reputable and important awards for exceeding industry norms in many different areas. Furthermore, the method by which Sainsbury expands its operations is another success factor related to the brand strength of the business. Also related to corporate social responsibility and brand reputation is the level of sponsorship that Sainsbury seeks out to gain more market visibility. As we read the essay, a question rises up. What else provides Sainsbury with brand advantages? Sainsbury is beginning to diversify its product offerings, expanding from simply f ood services to other consumer-based merchandising imperatives. Though Sainsbury is involved in many additional strategic activities related to the brand, the most important dimensions of marketing strategies have been identified. The conclusion shows that Sainsbury is one of the only competitors in this industry that is so highly dedicated to expressing its corporate values for responsible business management, thus it gives Sainsbury a much better brand reputation with critical revenue-producing consumers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Securities and Exchange Commission - Essay Example The International Monetary Fund approximated â€Å"more than $1 trillion on toxic assets and from bad loans† were lost by big western banks â€Å"from January 2007 to September 2009† (Reuters 1). The individual losses and exposures were undisclosed by these institutions in order â€Å"to prevent ‘runs’ on their banks or trading against their positions by their competitors in the markets† which can further escalate their losses (Dobbs & Minyard 1). Hence, what the banks and other companies/institutions did was to refrain from lending money â€Å"among themselves or to other businesses† since they were uncertain as to their trading partners’ financial health and considered that â€Å"the risk of loss was too high,† opting to preserve their cash to compensate for any probable future losses (Dobbs & Minyard 1). The â€Å"sources of liquidity† was said to have desiccated for a number of companies with capital markets failing to perform properly (Dobbs & Minyard 1). This resulted to breakdown and bankruptcies of influential companies or â€Å"land-rich/cash-poor situation† for energy companies (Dobbs & Minyard 1). The global economy then was said to be in recession as â€Å"the financial markets seized† (Dobbs & Minyard 1). ... SEC 1). The federal statutes and rules require companies to have â€Å"full disclosure and transparency† whenever it â€Å"sells stocks or bonds to the public† (Johnson 993), or to supply â€Å"a detailed public disclosure document† to both â€Å"investors and regulators† (Securities Act of 1933  §Ã‚ § 5, 10, 15 U.S.C.  §Ã‚ § 77e, 77j (2006); 17 C.F.R. pt. 230 (2011), whenever private businesses make public offerings (Johnson 993). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviews â€Å"these disclosure documents,† which in the case of Groupon, the SEC they required the latter to revise its disclosures in order to improve their accuracy (U.S. SEC, Letter from Larry Spirgel 1-14). This requirement however is not applicable to private placements wherein â€Å"a company sells an investment outside of the normal public securities markets† (Securities Act of 1933  § 4(2), 15 U.S.C.  § 77d(2); 17 C.F.R.  § 230.506 (2011)), which often times evade examination by federal and state regulatory bodies (Johnson 151). Because these placements are private, they are concealed (Johnson 993) and the issuers tend to divulge â€Å"far less information to investors† than that required for public offerings (SEC v. Ralston Purina Co., 346 U.S. 119, 125-26 (1953) and SEC rule 506 under 17 C.F.R.  § 230.506). Issuers also divulge this information â€Å"only to qualified investors† (17 C.F.R.  § 230.506 and 17 C.F.R.  § 230.501(a) (2011)). â€Å"Regulators and even academics have little or no access to the private placement disclosures† (Johnson 993). Private placements are also said not to be liquid, â€Å"difficult to price,† and bear significant risks (Johnson

Economic Growth and Future of Vietnam

Economic Growth and Future of Vietnam In the trend of globalization, economic integration and participation in the worlds organizations such as: Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) are the opportunities Vietnam cannot ignore in order to absorb the essence of the world and reach the development objectives of the country. Although many judgments have been raised to disagree with the potential economy of Vietnam after joining those global organizations, we are still confident about the growth path of Vietnams economic development. In order to determine the growth rate, we have evaluated GDP rates in recent years (2007- 2010) to show the ability of sustaining financial crisis, and also the speed of recovering the economy after global economic recession. Besides, CPI rates and FDI rates also have been applied in our report which shows the ability of managing inflation or being an attractive investment country among Asian countries. From those reasons, Vietnam can be seen as one of the countries with the highest growth rate in the world, behind only China in the past decade, and this trend will continue to drive positive growth in the future. Moreover, concerning human resources, Vietnam has the advantage of a young labor force that is well- trained and has high educational levels. Also, the dynamics of information technology is on the rise in Vietnam. IT has been one of the highest growth industries in Vietnam over the period time from 1995 to 2008 since many famous software companies were launched into Vietnam. Besides, Vietnam is in the progress of industrialization and modernization in order to keep up with the level of other countries economies. And natural resources can be one of strongest weapons that Vietnam owns. Combined with a stable rise in the economy is the constant transferring of knowledge from multinational corporations, along with innovative ideas and technologies. Thus, it is believed that Vietnam has a high potentiality to become the next Asian tiger, after China and India. Contents page (Jump to) List of table and figures 1. Introduction 2. Main body 2.1 GDP of Vietnam 2.1.1 GDP definition 2.1.1 GDP rates 2.2 CPI of Vietnam 2.2.1 CPI definition 2.2.2 CPI rates 2.3 FDI of Vietnam 2.3.1 FDI definition 2.3.2 FDI rates 2.4 Labor force 2.5 IT industry 2.6 Industrialization and modernization 2.7 Natural resources 3. Conclusion List of table and figures: GDP- real growth rates 5 CPI rates in Vietnam 2009 7 FDI in Vietnam 2010 9 Top 10 investor FDI 2009 10 Labor force ranking chart 11 Introduction As we know Asia has been transformed since the World War II. A remarkable record of high and sustained economic growth has been produced and demonstrated by economic power .The first Asian country recovering from the World War II was Japan. And from Japan, to China, to India, and to Vietnam, sequentially the economic power of Asia has drawn the worlds attention. Each of Asian country has unique factors contributing to its respective economic success. At this time, the economy of Vietnam is a center of attention because it has a stable economy and high level of continuing to drive positive growth, and these are accompanied with strong development of science and technology. In fact, Vietnam has taken on a vigorous drive to reform its economy. The reforms are directed at developing major industries such as information technology (IT), telecommunications, financial markets and creating a good business environment for investors (FDI). And we can see that the results are a stable economy with rapid growth rates and the presence of many multinational companies in Vietnam. But most importantly, there is a substantial change in Vietnams economic structure after becoming a member of the WTO, which is to transform from an agricultural industry to industrial and service industries. If Vietnam remains economically stable and continues to drive positive growth. Vietnam is highly hoped to be the next Asian Tiger, and also can become one of the fastest growing economies in the world like China. Main body The economy of Vietnam has been growing year by year at a vigorous pace after becoming a member of the WTO since 2007. Many ideas have been raised to keep this continued growth path. But we still have some drawbacks to deal with in the coming years. In this report, we will focus on analyzing GDP, CPI and FDI rates and other factors, which provide us with an overview of Vietnams current position. GDP of Vietnam GDP definition GDP is the abbreviation for Gross Domestic Product, which shows the total value of goods or services produced in a country in a given year. Put simply, GDP is the total household spending, business investment, government spending plus the difference between exports and imports. GDP rates The percentage of Vietnams GDP can provide us with an overview of our current level of health and growth of economy. The chart above shows that in 2007 the GDP of Vietnam was 5.3 percent, and in next two years there was a sharp decline in GDP figures, only reaching 6.2 percent and 5.3 percent in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Here are a few reasons for this: The first reason was due to exports. Vietnam has been very successful in developing industries for export, but in the year of 2009 the demand for exports was significantly reduced. The exports of Asian countries have fallen at the alarming rate because consumers in the U.S., Europe and other markets were cutting down on expenditures. The second reason was caused by consumer spending. With the unemployment rate increased (due to problems arising in areas of manufacturing exports) and reduced employees income due to high inflation in 2008 (22%), households spending money was cut down. The third reason was because of investment. Investment growth rates in recent years were resulted from cash inflows of FDI into Vietnam. But with the credit crisis and global economic recession, capital flows were affected severely. Those were some obstacles which occurred in a few years ago. As compared to other Asian countries, the economy of Vietnam had already recovered and improved much faster in overall of GDP performance by the end of 2009. And now we are in the process of developing the economy for 2010 and the years following. Vietnams GDP growth rate is forecast to be around 6.5 % and 6.8 % in 2010 and 2011, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest report (2010). And the first signal of increasing GDP was exposed in the first quarter of 2010, according to Ministry of Planning and Investment(2010): The GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2010 increased 5.83%, which was higher than for the same period in 2009. As a result, it is believed that the GDP of Vietnam increasing in next few months could be feasible. And we hope that the efforts of improving GDP rates of Vietnam will never stop in the coming years. 2.2 CPI of Vietnam 2.2.1 CPI definition CPI is the acronym for Consumer Price Index which is a measure the level of inflation. It measures change in the cost of a fixed basket of products and services, including housing, electricity, food, and transportation, over a given time period. And the CPI published monthly is also called the cost-of-living index. 2.2.2 CPI rates The chart above shows what happened to CPI in each month of 2009, we can see that the consumer price index increased to 1.38 %, the highest percent during the year. Inflation rate is a key driver leading to a high CPI rate. In 2008, there was a huge impact of inflation on consumer prices; CPI was 22%. However, this number was no longer repeated in 2009 because the government devoted more efforts to bring down the inflation level; as a result the CPI rate was 6.9% and much lower than the previous year. So, the CPI rate is largely dependent on the inflation rate. From that, we can have a deeper understanding of how the trend of CPI flows by analyzing the inflation rate. And an increasing inflation rate or CPI rate can be caused by some of following reasons: The factor which created the base of increasing CPI in 2009 was to increase fuel prices from 30 August. ( General Statistics Office) A variety of prices of construction materials increased over the year. Other factors pushing the price were higher price for some essential goods or services, such as: medicine, food, transportation, electricity, water and so on. Higher gasoline prices have also contributed to the increasing CPI rate. From the above reasons will form a picture of the variation of cost of living since then to help financial professionals recognize the potential for inflation to be at risk as a decline in the economy? So, one of the top priorities Vietnam has now is to manage to keep inflation rates within a special range or targeted level. According to ADB (Asian Development Bank) report (2009): the inflation rate in Viet Nam in 2010 is forecasted to be around 10%, and the government is applying a tight monetary policy to keep the inflation on target which is lower than 7%. Here are some current typical methods being applied: Increasing interest rates to encourage more deposits. Controlling credit lending activities to limit cash outflow. Tightening money in production and consumption. Limiting expenditures for the national budget. With those methods, the government is quite confident to forecast that in 2010 and 2011 the inflation rate will be 7.8% and CPI rate will be stable at 8.3%. 2.3 FDI of Vietnam 2.3.1 FDI definition FDI stands for Foreign Direct Investment which can be seen as a component of a countrys national financial accounts. Foreign Direct Investment is the investment of foreign assets into domestic structures, equipment, and organizations. However, it does not include foreign investment into the stock markets or bond markets. And FDI is thought to be more useful to a country rather than investments in equity of its companies. This is because equity investments or so called hot money which can leave at the first sign of trouble, whereas FDI is durable and generally useful whether things go well or badly. 2.3.2 FDI rates According to a survey conducted by the Asian Business Council, Vietnam was ranked third for investment attraction among Asian nations in the 2007-2009 periods, after China and India. And in 2010, the general rate is still good in the first quarter. In the chart we can see that there are many multinational companies investing FDI in Vietnam in 2009. So, lets take a look at 2009. Total capital of FDI was about 21.48 billion USD, in which 16.34 billion USD was for newly licensed projects (76% contribution, 839 projects). The top three provinces attracting FDI in Vietnam were: Vung Tau, Quang Nam, and Binh Duong. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were ranked number #7 and #8 accordingly. However, the number of licenses granted by those major economic hubs of Vietnam was almost 537 licenses (64% of total new licenses granted in Vietnam). According to the CEO of ANZ bank (2010): FDI always finds a way to somewhere investors feel safe, in recent years Vietnam has been a country where FDI flow is increasing steadily and highly. In 2010, FDI target is forecasted to increase by 10% compared with 2009, according to the Foreign Investment Department. Thus, we can see that Vietnam is still capable of attracting outside investments at a very high level after the global economic recession (2008), especially in FDI. 2.4 Labor force China 807,300,000 India 523,500,000 United States 154,300,000 Indonesia 112,000,000 Brazil 93,650,000 Russia 75,700,000 Bangladesh 70,860,000 Japan 66,500,000 Nigeria 51,040,000 Pakistan 50,580,000 Vietnam 47,410,000 Labor force ranking chart Vietnam is considered a country with a huge number of workers. According to the figures above, we can see that Vietnam is in a position, which is nearly within the top ten highest countries in the world. As you know, one of the major attractions for manufacturing industries to come to Vietnam is the labor force. Because Vietnamese workers have met both the quality of a labor force, which is well educated and hard-working. In addition, wages that companies pay them are lower than by 30% compared with China and India. Thus, Vietnam has the advantage of a labor force, which is well-trained and cheap. However, after joining WTO there are some challenges in human resources when foreign companies have launched into Vietnam: There is more competition forcing local companies to be more proactive and consistent in making any actions or decisions. Getting a better remuneration package at foreign companies has attracted better skilled workers. This forces local companies to adjust their remuneration scheme. Getting more flexible time at foreign firms has enabled people to work more comfortably and efficiently. Thus, this also forces local companies to adjust their time- table to keep workers away from transferring to foreigner companies. Moreover, in the context of the current globalization in businesses, Vietnam is still facing a major problem which is the lack of a higher level of human resources, such as CEO, CFO, CIFA, so on. Of course, the Vietnamese Government understands the importance of these issues which need to be overcome as soon as possible. According to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan (2009): There are several reasons why the qualifications of Vietnamese laborers are still quite low. And he also stressed that: The act of disregard for vocational training is a great barricade for educational development in Vietnam. Therefore, the policies of government support in promoting its human resources are being conducted more extensively, such as improving quality of education, especially for tertiary education and vocational training. So as a result, in the next few years, hopefully Vietnam will have a higher number of workers with high- quality skills in order to attract more and more foreign companies investment, and also be able to compete with skilled and knowledgeable foreigners working in Vietnam. 2.5 IT industry IT is always considered as the most interesting and dynamic industry, so Vietnam wants to strengthen its impacts. The value of IT for developing countries can be seen as an important tool to accelerate the process of international integration and help the government have more capacity in governance. Also, people in that country can have an easy access to information and knowledge from all around the world. Local businesses can definitely reduce costs and improve their operational performance by using modern technology. According to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (2009) :The Government of Vietnam promises to support multinational IT corporations in the way of building and developing their brand names in Vietnam, at the same time to encourage the application of IT in all parts of social life to create a dynamic IT market. Information Technology in Vietnam has accelerated rapidly in recent years. In 2008, IT market growth still remained strong, reaching 23%. And in 2009, it was estimated at over 20%, equivalent to $ 6.26 billion (in 2008 it was $ 5.22 billion). In particular, sales in the electronic industry and hardware industry were estimated at 4.68 billion dollars, up by 14%. And the software industry also had an estimated growth rate of about 30% with total revenue of $ 880 million. The numbers above show that the IT industry could still remain at a very high level even though it was strongly affected by the economic recession in 2008. Besides, with the participation of many big companies in various parts of IT, for instance: Intel, ADM, Dell, Sony, and Samsung, combined with the development of local IT companies such as FPT, HIG or CMC. Vietnam hopes that its IT industry can be soon become a core economic industry, which plays an important role to enhance economic performance. 2.6 Industrialization and modernization Becoming a member of WTO in 2007, Vietnam has been taken a substantial change in its major structure, which is to transform from agricultural industry to industrial and services industries. Or put in another way, Vietnam is in the process of industrialization and modernization. It began to implement the process of industrialization from 2001 and will be finished in 20 years (2020). In the past, Vietnam was just an agricultural country, the percentage of agricultural contribution accounted up to 90% in total GDP. In the 80s and 90s, a new wave of industrialization in Asian countries rose dramatically, especially in Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore, Thailand. It created a new appearance of the economy in Asia. From that reason, Vietnam is now actively opening door to get more exchanges and more cooperation with foreign countries, trying to implementing industrialization and modernization in order to keep up with the economy of other countries, and also make a dream of becoming the next Asian tiger. A good example of the industrialization is that Vietnam is conducting to narrow the scope of the agricultural sector, traditional agriculture is gradually declined in its scale, replaced by modern agriculture (machinery is used more in agriculture production). Here are some major accomplishments have been achieved from 2001 to 2010: In 2008, the proportion of GDP was changed rapidly in its structure (the percentage of agriculture industry was only for 22%, industrial industry was 39.9% and service industry was for 38.1%). Applying science and technology into the agriculture and aquaculture production has been gradually improving. Rural development in Vietnam has been acquired positive levels, such as infrastructure, health and education. As a long- term goal, Vietnam aims to basically become an industrial country which has the modern technical facilities, high standard of living and high quality of products and services in 2020. 2.7 Natural resources With a favorable geographical position, various topography and long coastline (3600km), Vietnam has many various kinds of natural resources, which can be seen as an advantage of the economic development. The natural resources of Vietnam can be divided into seven categories: Land resources: Helping for the agriculture of rice production in promoting its strength. Vietnam is the largest rice exporter in the world only behind Thailand, and also has a suitable land condition to plant high value crops such as coffee, rubber. Vietnam is the third largest coffee exporters in the world after Brazil and Columbia. Vietnam exported rubber approximately $ 1 billion in 2009. Water resources: There is much underground water and mineral water which is suitable for natural mineral production. Marine resources: The number of seafood export is forecasted to reach $4.1billion, increased by 6.8% comparing to 2009. Forest resources: It is important part of ecological environment, Vietnam is trying to protect its forests to keep the air fresh and regulate the climates. Biological resources: Vietnam has a diversity of flora and fauna which can help to produce food, medicine and oil. Besides, Vietnams flora also has some rare wood used for exports. In 2010, Vietnam will try to increase the number of wood exports by 8%- 10%, as compared to 2009. Mineral resources: It is spread across the country to be convenient for the exploitation, but the mining policy should be appropriate to maximize the advantages of each type of resource. Tourism resources: There are many beautiful and exciting destinations in which local and foreign visitors can visit. In 2008, the tourism industry generated revenues up to $ 4 billion, showing the importance of tourism contribution in the economy of Vietnam, according to reports Vietnam Tourism Industry Forecast to 2012. In general, Vietnam can take advantage of those resources to create a good business environment for itself and attract more investments from other countries. However, the Vietnamese government has not managed them well yet, so the natural resources cannot be utilized completely its functions. In order to maximize the natural resources benefits to the countrys economic development, all resources need to be used or utilized efficiently and effectively. 3. Conclusion The growth of Vietnams economy in recent years has attracted much attention of multinational companies, especially in IT fields, including: Intel, Samsung, Sony, Dell, and Cannon, etc, putting their establishment in production facilities and creating a dynamic IT industry. So, Vietnamese companies have a higher chance in absorbing the essence of many innovative ideas and technologies from them. In 2010, Vietnam aims to reach 6.5% in GDP. The change in a positive number of GDP can tell us that Vietnam is on the way of improving the health and growth of the economy after the global economic recession (2008). In contrast, the government is trying to keep the CPI rate stable at 8.3%, and also bring the inflation rate down up to 7%. Moreover, the government also has some plans to create a business environment for investors in order to increase FDI; the more investments in projects, the more our countrys assets will be developed. In the meantime, taking into account the labor force can be thought as much essential as enhancing well-being of economy. And the factor of natural resources also plays an important role in Vietnams economic development. In general, Vietnam is in progress of recovering the economy and getting ready to deal with any obstacles in the future. Now, nothing can stop Vietnam from becoming stronger and stronger; especially since it has been successfully gotten through all of the challenges in 2008 and 2009. So, there is no doubt that Vietnam will be a potential candidate for the next Asian tiger in the coming years.

Ethnicity and Soccer :: essays research papers

Ethnicity and Soccer: The effect of non-English speaking immigrants on the establishment of soccer in Canberra in the 1950s and 1960s. Abstract: Soccer in Canberra as a sport had died prior to the war. The advent of Australia’s new immigration policy after 1945 saw a solid influx, over the next two decades, of non-English speaking Europeans to Australia and through their input they assisted in the re-emergence of soccer as a main sport in the region. From the Baltic states to the Southern Europeans of Greece and Italy, the change to the Canberra landscape was quite dramatic; soccer was one that benefited significantly. In the days prior to the second world war ethnicity evolved around that of Scottish and non-Scottish when dealing with the sport of soccer in the region. In all the records of those who played soccer up until 1933, there was only one non-British player even though a number of Italians and others were working in the district. When Australia opened it’s migration policy, after 1945, to include those from a larger number of non-English speaking backgrounds, many moved to Canberra to help build the Capital during the construction boom of the period. Yet this did not create the harmony that was hoped for. Familiarity was essential to post-war immigrants. Australian culture was alien to new arrivals and Australians were at best indifferent to immigrants and sometimes antagonistic to the newcomers. A long-held Australian distaste for anything not British also helped drive immigrants into self-contained communities, their organisations serving as bulwarks against the British-Australian majority. Soccer clubs in immigrant communities were an instrument through which all elements of life could be sustained. They enabled individuals to interact, establish patronage links, support networks and social contacts. They were institutions which could be used to create tightly-knit communities and they were valued as a way of retaining the support of the youth. There was a continuing fear among older immigrants that their children would abandon their heritage in favour of Australian ways. (1) Following the second world war, soccer in the district did not return until 1948, when a team participated in the Goulburn competition. The sport moved back to Canberra in the following year although competitions were rare, and reporting of these even rarer. In those few years following the recommencement of play, soccer teams comprised of mixed ethnic origins, yet team names were still mainly geographical. In 1951 four teams entered a competition – Turner, Ainslie, Capitol Hill and Olympics.

Gagne’s Nine Events

The process of learning is an on-going event that occurs in each stage of human development. Human beings acquire a great deal of their personal qualities and characteristics through a variety of different learning methods. Through the work of educational psychologist Robert Gagne, a better understanding of learning and instruction can be found. Gagne presented the idea that there are different types of learning and that different instructional methods are needed to accompany these learning types in order to achieve the desired learning outcome.In recognizing learning as a process composed of several phases, Gagne created the Nine Events of Instruction. Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction are a series of steps to be followed during the instruction phase, often said to be necessary for learning to occur. The work Gagne produced is considered the primary research and contributor to instructional design and training.Robert Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction can best be desc ribed as an instructional design model utilized to organize strategies within a lesson. The Nine Events of Instruction include: Gain Attention, Inform the Learner of the Objectives, Stimulate Recall of Prior Learning, Present the Stimulus Materials, Provide Learner Guidance, Elicit Performance, Give Feedback, Assess Performance, and Enhance Retention and Transfer. Gagne firmly believed that effective learning involved a series of events.The instructor begins by gaining the learners attention and from there he/she will use â€Å"†¦a series of steps related to the development of learning expectations, introduction of stimuli, and recall of related ideas to move concepts from the student’s short to long-term memory† (Zhu & StAmant 2010). The events are completed successfully when the learner is able to apply what they have learned to new situations outside of the classroom. This is often seen within workplace training, where the employee applies what they have learne d in training to their job.The Nine Events of Instruction were created to work in conjunction with the cognitive stages associated with the adult learning process (2010). Prior to the development of the Nine Events of Instructions, Gagne performed an in-depth examination of learning and its conditions. The foundation for the events model can be found in his book, The Conditions of Learning. To better understand the Nine Events of Instruction it is important to examine the work documented in this book. Learning, according to Gagne, is â€Å"†¦a change in human disposition r capability, which persists over a period of time, and which is not simply ascribable to processes of growth† (Gagne, 1977, p. 3). Learning, in its most basic form, is a change in behavior. This change may be brought upon by a change in attitude, interest or value and is often due to an increased capability for some type of performance. To be classified as change it â€Å"†¦must have more than mom entary permanence; it must be capable of being trained over some period of time†¦it must be distinguishable from the kind of chance that is attributable to growth, such as a change in height or the development of muscles through exercise† (p. ). With a clear definition of learning, one can identify the ways in which learning is brought about. Gagne’s work identifies four elements having to do with learning: learner, stimulus situation, contents of memory and response/performances. For learning to take place, there must be a learner. The learner is a human being whom possesses sense organs through which he/she receives stimulation. Learning will occur when stimulus situation and contents of memory (information previously learned and stored) affect the learner in a way that his/her performance changes.This change in performance ultimately indicates that learning has occurred. It is important to note, however, that it is necessary to show that there has been a change in performance, for the presence of the performance does not always result in learning (Gagne, 1977, p. 4). In understanding learning, to its very core, Gagne concluded that there are multiple levels of learning and that each level requires a different type of instruction in order to achieve the desired learning outcome. Learning takes place throughout a person’s lifetime.In all stages of development a person learns to interact with their surrounding environments. Education at a young age allows individuals to learn basic knowledge and skills such as language and symbol-usage. Once these basic skills are acquired and education continues, people are capable of learning more specialized knowledge and complex skills that will be useful in their areas of interest. Though learning becomes more specialized and focused to the individual as they progress, Gagne determined a common ground among the many instances of learning by identifying five major categories of capabilities that hu man beings learn.The five categories are as followed: intellectual skills, verbal information, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes. Intellectual skills involves the interactions people often learn to engage in by using symbols. As their education becomes more advance, so does their symbol-usage. Verbal information is ultimately the ability to state information or ideas that have been previously learned and organized. Following this learned capability is cognitive strategies, which describes the individual as managing his/her own learning, remembering and thinking.Learning to execute movements through a series of motor acts, such as throwing a baseball refers to the learned capability of motor skills. Lastly, mental states are learned which influence the learner’s choice in personal actions which has been categorized at attitude (Gagne, 1977, p. 27 & 28). Each of these categories require different internal and external conditions. Meaning, learning distinctions a re partly internal, in which they come from the memory of an individual’s previous learning. They are also external, which may be arranged as an aspect of instruction (p. 48).For example, â€Å"†¦for cognitive strategies to be learned, there must be a chance to practice developing new solutions to problems; to learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed to a credible role model or persuasive arguments† (Culatta, 2013). In identifying the categories of learned capabilities, Gagne was able apply this information to the planning of instruction. It is important to understand the various ways in which people learn prior to planning instruction. In understanding what learning is and how learning is engaged will provide the instructor the necessary information he/she needs to address all levels of learning.This is where Gagne’s Nine Events come into play. Each step within this model creates opportunity for the instructor to incorporate various learning methods th at cover all learning types. Gagne understood that having knowledge of the learning process as well as the analysis of human tasks would be essential to designing instruction. Understanding learning and the ways in which people learn is crucial when designing an instruction plan because the instructor must know the various ways in which people learn.It is recognized that there is information far beyond what has been mentioned in this paper that accompanies the development of the Nine Events of Instruction. However, this paper serves to identify the underlying meaning of learning and how knowing what learning is, in all aspects, is important to understanding the Nine Events of Instruction. Though Gagne’s Nine Events have been specifically designed for creating instructional programs, its functions can easily be used elsewhere. As a graduate student in the Communications program I am exploring all areas of communication and hope to one day work within the Public Relations field .During my examination of Gagne’s Nine Events it was easy for me to connect his series of events for instruction to those conducted in Public Relations. While they differ in many aspects, it seemed that a variety of steps within the events of instruction could be used when developing and conducting a Public Relations campaign. Which brings me to why I chose to focus on this particular topic from our formal training discussions. Not only have we utilized Gagne’s Nine Events, on more than one account, but I have also found great interest in its functions and similarities to what I hope to be doing in the future.Designing a Public Relations campaign for a client or an organization involves a series of steps, which are general in nature but become more specific depending on the organization or client in which you are working with. Public Relations practitioners, from the start, need to understand their client in their entirety. This involves extensive research on the clien t, ranging from financials to previous campaigns and employee information. I would link this stage to the Stimulate Recall of Prior Learning step in Gagne’s Nine Events because it involves getting the client to recall information on their business or organization.Ultimately, they are recalling what they do and what they have done in order to determine what needs to be done, which ties into the objective. Public Relations practitioners also need to become well aware of who their clients audience is. Once they have determined this they need to come up with a way in which they will gain the audience’s attention, just as Gagne proposes in his Nine Events. This is often done through the use of celebrities or community leaders. Assessing performance, too, can be linked to that of what a Public Relations practitioner does.Though they are not testing a person on what has been learned, they are gathering results on what they have done which assesses their performance throughout the campaign and tells them whether or not the campaign was successful. To determine success, results are measured, quantitatively or qualitatively, and compared to the objectives. Lastly, the Enhance Retention and Transfer step in Gagne’s Nine Events can be compared to Public Relations in that they both serve to inform the individual about how the information given to them will affect them and why t is necessary to know the information. The work Robert Gagne produced throughout his lifetime has been heavily used in instructional design and training. Best known for his book, The Conditions of Learning, Gagne provided an in-depth examination of learning in all aspects of its meaning. This book served as a foundation for the creation of the Nine Events of Instruction which attends to the idea that there are many different learning levels, all of which require different instructional methods.In identifying the categories of learning, Gagne was able to produce an instructional m odel that allows instructors to engage in a variety of techniques to meet the needs of all learners. Though Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction were created for instructional design and training purposes, I have found many similarities between his approach and the work a Public Relations practitioner produces. In recognizing these similarities I was interested in learning how the Nine Events of Instruction came to be. Knowing what learning is, in all aspects, is essential to creating an instruction plan.References Gagne, Robert, M. (1977). The Conditions of Learning (3rd ed. ). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc. Zhu, P. , & StAmant, K. (2010). An applicaton of Robert Gagne’s nine events of instruction to the teaching of website localization. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. Retrieved from, http://ezproxy. ithaca. edu:2048/login? url=http://search. proquest. com/docview/633019743? accountid=11644 Culatta, Richard. (2013). Conditions of Learning (Robert Gagne). Instructional Design. Retrieved from, http://www. instructionaldesign. org/theories/conditions-learning. html

Advantages of living in a vilage Essay

There are several advantages to living in villages. To Begin with, generally villages have healthy ‎and pleasant weather, which makes people feel healthy and gives them a lot of energy. Also, ‎the food of rural people is more natural and healthier. Living in a good condition lead to ‎physical and mental health. In contrast, owing to various pollutions, which exist in cities, a vast ‎number of urban people suffer from health problems such as heart disease or breathing ‎problems.‎ see more:life in the countryside essay Moreover, the cost of living in villages is lower compared to cities. Since village life is plain and ‎simple, there is no willing to luxury in this lifestyle and many people who live in villages ‎prepare their own needs. For instance, rural people have a limited number of clothes, all of ‎them are quite simple, and mostly they sew their clothes. In addition to basic needs, some ‎expenses in cities are meaningless in villages, such as daily transportation cost. Another point is ‎that high cost of living in cities compels the people to face too much stress.‎ Last but not least, villages offer a relaxed and joyful atmosphere which most urban people are ‎deprived of. Rural lifestyle is a reflection of living in nature. The beauty of the nature Is ‎completely visible in villages. In addition, the people who live in villages participate in local ‎festivals and celebration that are simple and fun. Relationships in villages are close. Thus, rural ‎people are care for each other. All of these make the village people live happier.‎ There are several advantages to living in villages. To Begin with, generally villages have healthy ‎and pleasant weather, which makes people feel healthy and gives them a lot of energy. Also, ‎the food of rural people is more natural and healthier. Living in a good condition lead to ‎physical and mental health. In contrast, owing to various pollutions, which exist in cities, a vast ‎number of urban people suffer from health problems such as heart disease or breathing ‎problems.‎ Moreover, the cost of living in villages is lower compared to cities. Since village life is plain and ‎simple, there is no willing to luxury in this lifestyle and many people who live in villages ‎prepare their own needs. For instance, rural people have a limited number of clothes, all of ‎them are quite simple, and mostly they sew their clothes. In addition to basic needs, some ‎expenses in cities are meaningless in villages, such as daily transportation cost. Another point is ‎that high cost of living in cities compels the people to face too much stress.‎ Last but not least, villages offer a relaxed and joyful atmosphere which most urban people are ‎deprived of. Rural lifestyle is a reflection of living in nature. The beauty of the nature Is ‎completely visible in villages. In addition, the people who live in villages participate in local ‎festivals and celebration that are simple and fun. Relationships in villages are close. Thus, rural ‎people are care for each other. All of these make the village people live happier.‎