Monday, September 30, 2019

Outsiders Compare and Contrast

The Outsiders book and movie were completely different, but they still had some similarities. Like how they both talk about the lives of the characters, for example the movie doesn’t talk about Johnny’s abusive parents or any of the socs. In the book they talk about bobs and cheery valances life. There are a lot of appearance-related differences. For instance, Dally's supposed to have this lynx-like, almost elfin look with ungreased hair so blonde it's nearly white. Soda's hair is supposed to be dark gold.Pony's hair is supposed to be like Soda's hair but slightly redder. Steve's hair is supposed to be slicked back in very complicated black swirls. Two-Bit's supposed to be tall with rusty hair and exaggerated sideburns. The movie cut out all of the Sandy drama I thought the movie made Two-Bit more serious. He cracked some jokes, but the book made him out to be fiercely playful and whatnot, almost always being wise. The movie placed a bit of emphasis — not much, b ut still — on Dally's necklace, which was nonexistent in the book. In the movie, he wore a St.Christopher medallion. The movie made Soda seem considerably less happy than the book made him out to be — that is, the book made it clear he was naturally a happy person who got â€Å"drunk off life,† but in the movie, he was awfully happy a lot of the time so the audience didn't know this character trait. The movie skims over Pony's illness after the rumble, during which time Randy visits their home. The regular movie edition skips the entire first chapter pretty solidly, but the extended opening does tell you about the first chapter.The movie makes no mention of Soda's horse, Mickey Mouse. It also ignores Soda's past dabbling in rodeo bronco-riding. In the movie, the Socs are from the south side of town and the greasers are from the north. In the book, the Socs are from the west and the greasers from the east. In the movie, when Pony comes home from the lot at two in the morning, Darry shoves him hard and he falls. In the book Darry just slaps him across the face.The movie, understandably, drops some of the banter between Two-Bit and Marcia at the movies. As far as I remember the movie didn't include Dally messing around. Little scenes like Dally terrorizing those kids weren't in the book. The movie showed Dally alone at the store when he held it up, whereas the book didn't describe that. The movie showed Pony's dreams. The movie never mentions that girl who looks good in yellow, the one who called Pony a hood when he whipped out his blade during class to cut a worm.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Childhood Essay

reports that social class plays a very important role in a child’s upbringing because it helps determine the way a child will be raised. In Lareau’s (2003) study she came to the conclusion that there were two different patterns of child rearing: concerted cultivation and natural growth. Concerted cultivation is the child rearing method that middle class parents use focusing on not only caring for their child, but developing a personality by enrolling their children in many structured activities and developing language skills (Lareau, 2003).Natural growth is the child-rearing method that working class and poor parents use to raise their children because there is not a lot of time and money for structured activities and long verbal discussions with the children (Lareau, 2003). Families who practice natural growth child rearing practices need to focus on providing the simpler needs of the child like providing shelter, clothing, food, and water therefore unable to have the structured activities and worry about establishing communication skills. This is important to consider because the way children are raised because this has a social impact.The children that are being raised today will eventually grow up to be a part of their own society; there are social impacts on the current society because of the methods of child-rearing and the consequences that these child-rearing practices are having on children with the way they interact in society, There are benefits and disadvantages to both childrearing methods reported by Lareau (2010) however there are definitive differences in the child’s outcome due to the child’s social class and thus the method the child was raised with.In concerted cultivation children spend a lot of time with adults at structured activities and so they start to communicate with adults as relative equals. The children of concerted cultivation also have longer and more reasoning conversations with their parents which le ads them to the sense of entitlement when dealing with institutions (Lareau, 2003). Children raised with concerted cultivation had a larger group of language skills than children raised with natural growth because they communicate longer and more often with adults.This leads to children raised with concerted cultivation having the ability to manipulate rules and thus deal with institutions easier than those of natural growth, however they also have issues figuring out how to occupy their time because they did not often do â€Å"free play† (Lareau, 2003). The children that are raised with natural growth have less communication skills simply because they have less experience talking to adults (Lareau, 2003).Parents of natural growth have to worry about putting food on the table and taking care of many basic needs so when the children are spoken to its often in short direct phrases, without any room for questioning or discussing. The children who are raised with natural growth a lso do not have that much time spent in structured activities with adults as the children of concerted cultivation (Lareau, 2003). The children who are raised with natural growth developed what Lareau (2003) reported as constraint.Constraint was the disadvantage that natural growth children experience because of their lack of communication skills and the subordination they felt to adults. Children raised with natural growth absorbed their parents feelings of powerlessness with institutions and learned to distrust authority. These differences tend to perpetuate themselves when it comes to differences in child rearing because what class a child is raised in impacts his/her life and then when that child grows up and has children of their own the child rearing practice will most likely be used again if the child grows up to live in the same social class.It is a cycle that continues throughout generations because children usually grow up to be in the same social class they were born into and since the child rearing practices are social class based primarily the children will raise their children as they were raised. After reading Lareau’s (2003) case study I had to do some reflection to figure out with method of child-rearing it was that I was raised in. My family has crossed the line from middle class to working class several times through my childhood, but predominately I feel as if I have been raised using concerted cultivation.My mother and father separated by the time I was seven years old. While at times living with my mother basic necessities were hard to come by because of her poor management of finances, my father always was middle class (I lived with him permanently from age 15 on) and I feel as if I have been raised a middle class child. Since, I was younger I now realize I was active in many structured activities such as: ballet, tap, jazz, girl scouts, youth group at church, choir, bell choir, church plays, cheerleading, cross-country, track, an d swim team.Although I did not always think of the activities I participated in to be particularly hard on my family at the time I now realize with my brother, two sisters, and all of their activates my mother must have found it very hard to transport us all to our different activities. The number of activities I was involved in during my childhood shows proof of my upbringing being concerted cultivation because one of the characteristics of being raised with concerted cultivation is a lot of structured activities such as the ones I participated in (Lareau, 2003).Another concept of concerted cultivation which I know I have also be blessed with in my child-rearing is the better communication skills due to long discussions and reasoning with my parents (Lareau, 2003). Both of my parents have always encouraged my sisters, brother, and me to talk openly and voice our opinions. I did not realized it growing up, but now I understand that the lengthy communications I had with my parents en abled me to have a larger vocabulary, good communication skills, and feel comfortable when talking to authority or adults from institutions.The sense of entitlement I feel due to my middle class upbringing makes sense because of the amount of time I spent in structured activities with adults (Lareau, 2003). The time I spent with adults as a child and the way I spoke to them made them relative equals in my perspective. This is an advantage of having a concerted cultivation middle class upbringing because I do not mistrust authority or feel subordinate to intuitions, on the contrary I feel as if they are to serve me and that I can work with institutions to get both my and the institutions needs met.It makes sense that my entitlement feelings allow me to perform well in college and to communication effectively with all professors or staff at the college because of the experience I had dealing with institutions when I was younger. Another concept of concerted cultivation that I have exp erienced in childhood has to do with social connections. Much like Lareau’s (2003) case study has reported concerted cultivation raised children had weak ties with their extended family.This is true in my upbringing because while I love and sometimes talk to my extended family I seldom see them or would by any means categorize our relationships as strong kinship ties (Lareau, 2003). This I feel has been an unfortunate result of concerted cultivation because I see how some of my other cousins behave towards each other as they are so close talking everyday and meet several times a week for lunch or dinner.I feel this is sad because while I would love to have stronger ties with my extended family I realize it is not a part of the way I was brought up because of my middleclass child-rearing. The concept of my social connections often being mostly in homogenous age groups as a child is very accurate (Lareau, 2003). Because of the activities I participated in and the area in which I lived and went to school I predominately have friendships through activities with children much like I was at the time.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Three Main Components Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three Main Components - Essay Example It is therefore important to understand the functions, structure and how the criminal American criminal justice system works. The criminal justice system three main components charged with different roles that ensure justice and order. These are the police, courts and corrections working synergistically to serve the intended purpose. Police component of the criminal justice system is composed of state and special service police. State police arm is charged with the roles of patrolling highways, enforcing law & order in rural locations and assisting in the investigative function of local police. Special service police ensure law enforcement in institutions such as the transport sector, school districts, housing etc. The court system in the United States is divided into two i.e. state and federal courts. There is in that states have their own independent court systems. Three levels exist in most state court systems which are the court with limited jurisdiction, courts with general jurisdiction as well as appellate courts. Courts majorly are charged with guarding the constitution in addition to assurance of l aw and order. Corrections are those functions of the criminal justice system aimed at rehabilitating offenders. Programs include paroles, probation, and prisons. Prisons are also of two types; detention and correctional facilities. The court system is the most effective component of the criminal justice system when it comes to discharge its duties. This because it involves adversaries; defense attorney and prosecutor work as opponents while defending their clients’ rights. Victims and the state are represented by the prosecutor while accused persons are represented by their attorneys. The courts are at all times mindful of the individual rights of both accused persons and victims as they are guardians of the constitution. They are obliged to follow â€Å"Due process right† as envisaged in the

Friday, September 27, 2019

Leadership and the Symbolic Framework Assignment

Leadership and the Symbolic Framework - Assignment Example On the other side, when an ineffective leadership is considered, a symbolic leader is compared to a fanatic or a fool who leads through the use of smoke and mirror. This means, the symbolic leader, in this case, will be using false symbols that are ineffective in driving to effective leadership to the people. In an ineffective leadership situation, the leader is one that uses symbols in his leadership option but that only acts as a mirror since the leader does not emulate the symbols they suggest. In such a way, a symbolic leader becomes a leader who does not lead by example to make it ineffective. Symbolic leaders give organizations the view of being a theater or stage to play a given set of role so as to give impressions. Symbols are used by the leaders to catch attentions of the followers. Experiences are framed by the leaders organization by providing logical interpretations of the said experiences. As such, there is a vision that is discovered and is communicated by the leaders. As can be perceived very easily, transformational leadership style is one leadership style that imparts change into the organization. This kind of leadership style uses its characters and the traits of the leader to enforce change on the followers as well as on the organization. As can be seen from the above description of the symbolic framework, transformational leadership style closely parallels the framework. This can be seen from the way the symbolic framework is perceived to be inspirational.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Discussion questions for the week Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion questions for the week - Essay Example A type-II is a direct opposite where the researcher may totally miss out on a possible impacting result or hypothesis and eventually says that there were no critical results. The example of type II error is just the converse of previous example where the result turns out to be negative for a disease but actually the patient does possess it. Many of the time, these types of errors occur because of incorrect methods followed in a research, like incorrect number of sample data being tested etc. Because of the impact produced by these errors which sometimes may result catastrophically, there should be immense attention placed on such predictions to prevent both false positive and false negative results. (Type I and Type II errors, 2004) Statistical significance and practical significance are although based out of data, they have completely different interpretations. Statistical significance provides a relationship between data which may be significant statistically but does not count in as useful way, practically. However, practical significance, as the name indicates, provides a meaningful relationship between the data which may go on to help in identifying or stating a hypothesis. For example, if we consider the number of educated people in a state over a period of time and if it results in such a way that on mean, 60 people are educated out of 100 in one state and 61 people are educated out of 100 in another state. Statistically it provides a lot of difference between two sets of data but on the other hand, there is no significance associated with it practically. (McIntyre,

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Whether Online-Only Degrees Would Be as Effective as Campus-Based Research Paper

Whether Online-Only Degrees Would Be as Effective as Campus-Based University Education - Research Paper Example Online enrolment has grown over the years by almost one million students as compared to previous years. Surveys made in about 2500 colleges have revealed that approximately 5.6 million students were enrolled in online courses in the year 2009 and by 2010 the number went on to 6.1million students. However there might exit some clouds but the sluggish economy continues to drive the growth of enrolment (The Sloan Consortium, 2012). While the growth of online enrolment is substantial but since 2006 the increase in an online course has increased only by 9.7% as compared to 21.1% in 2009. The report by Sloan Survey of Online learning acknowledges that the dip in the growth rate speculates that the increase in online education may lead to ultimate slowing. However, the growth of online enrolment exceeds the growth of overall higher education. Certain disciplines in online education system experienced gains and losses between 2010 and 2011. A major proportion of psychology and education prog rams saw a major decline in enrolment whereas engineering which had the highest proportion of declining enrolment in the year 2010 experienced improvement in the previous year. Online education has become an integral part of most of the education system, colleges, and universities (Lytle, 2011). However, it is true that online programs are flexible and also provides various kinds of benefits but all courses in the education system cannot be enrolled for online courses. Thus the online system education has both benefits as well as drawbacks for the students and the education system as a whole. Power/Knowledge Campus-based education has always had an edge over online education system because of the power it had and the knowledge that it aimed to provide its students. As stated above, everything cannot get online; there still exists subjects which require training and knowledge from the professors and practical training made available by campus-based learning. Although with the rise of internet campus-based education system has not been completely transformed but it is definitely going to have an immense impact in the near future (Scagnoli, 2005).  

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Managing in the service environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing in the service environment - Essay Example The customers ought to be satisfied with what the service providers have. The service providers should be able to keep customers coming back through the services provided (Martin et al 4). Customer service dimensions are crucial in ensuring that there is satisfactory customer service from the service provider to the customers. One major dimension is known as desired service. Desired service entails a blend of what the customer believes can be done and should be done. This draws the hope and expectation of the customers from the service providers. The procedural dimension comprises of systems and procedures that are important in the delivery of products and services. Conversely, personal dimension explains how service providers use their attitudes; behaviors and verbal skills interact with customers. This indicates that there is proficiency in the procedural service, but the personal dimension is weak. Basically, the approach tells the customer that he /she is a ‘number’ in which the service provider is there to process (Martin et al 11). This indicates a service that is extremely personal, but does not have procedural constituency. The approach communicates to the customer that the service provider is trying hard although they are not sure of what they are doing. It is the best approach as it represents quality customer service at both personal and procedural dimensions. It communicates to the customer as having the knowledge to handle its issues through care, and delivery (Martin et al 11). Employee empowerment is important in ensuring that they are in a position to make decision on behalf of the employee in terms of service provision. Moreover, it makes the employee have a sense of ownership, responsibility and to serve customer as per the standards of a given service provider (Martin et al 12). Anticipation entails being able to predict the behavior of

Monday, September 23, 2019

Relatinoship between alcohol anonymous and aclcohol addicted patients Research Proposal

Relatinoship between alcohol anonymous and aclcohol addicted patients - Research Proposal Example Second, heavy drinking is regarded as taking two bottles or more on daily basis for men or one bottle on daily basis for women. The intake of alcohol is known dissimilar effects on individuals depending on age, gender, health status and diet among others. Further, moderate drinking is associated with drinking a maximum of two bottles for men or one bottle of alcohol for women on daily basis. Nonetheless, there are certain categories of people who are disallowed from drinking such as pregnant women, people on medication, under age and people operating machineries. The objective of this research study is to examine the relationship between AA addicted patients who attend AA meeting as compared to those that do not attend the meetings. This research study will concentrate on the AA group through a randomized trial. The trial will be performed and participants’ behavior will be tracked for a period of 6 months to one year. The information generated will be analyzed to examine whet her there is a link between AA attendances. This link will include a P-value less than 0.05 and a confidence interval of 95% and the corresponding relative risk. Introduction Over 2 million people aged 12 or older in the U.S. received treatment for an alcohol problem in 2009 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2010). Alcohol, ethyl alcohol and ethanol are intoxicating substances that depress the central nervous system and has effects on the functioning of the body. The effects depend on the quantity and number of times taken. When taken, they act as stimulants in the body and may affect the rate of alertness on an individual. Researchers have pointed out that alcohol use is risky to the health of individual causing ailments such as cancer, heart diseases, pregnancy-related complications, headache among others. Alcohol is a drug that is common and taken by many people nationally and globally. Drinking alcohol problems has been attributed to risk factors such a s steady drinking on a regular basis, social and cultural factors. According to CDC, between 2001 and 2005, about 1729 deaths due to excessive drinking were recorded in Virginia. Out of this number, about 1260 were male while 469 were female. Over the same period, the number of deaths due to excessive recorded in the US was 57,852 of which 57,852 were male while 22,522 were female (Curran, 2008) Critical Analysis Kingree and Thompson (2011) examine association between two types of AA participation namely: meeting attendance and having a sponsor. This study recruited 268 participants from three treatments programs in South Carolina. Although the authors did not provide a conclusion nor confidence interval nor relative risk for this study, the main finding that is interesting is that P-value was use to provide analysis to explain that abstinence from alcohol is significant. Nonetheless, the article did not have conclusion and other necessary closing remarks that are crucial for the re aders and future research. Kell Et al (2011) examine the relationship among AA; spirituality/religiousness and alcohol use found that AA leads to better alcohol use outcomes, by enhancing spiritual practices. This study collected 952 males and 774 female and followed for 15 months. This study was conducted in a randomized control trial Caucasian man. Also, P- value was providing for data analysis, but no relative risk or confidence inte

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Economic Issues Simulation Paper Essay Example for Free

Economic Issues Simulation Paper Essay The Castor Collins health plan is a health maintenance program (HMO) that was found in 1999 and has grown over the years. The company provides health insurance coverage through a system that involves a network of physicians and hospitals. Castor Collins Heath Plan uses the capitation model to fund its large distributed group of physicians and health care organizations. Castor Collins currently provides health care coverage to 100,000 subscribers and would like to increase their enrollees. It is the responsibility of the Vice President along with his most trusted advisers, Helen Feuerman, Chief Financial Officer, Jonathan Wilkes, Chief Medical Officer, and Adam Hunter, Executive Vice President, Planning and Development, to reach out to new clients; two in particular, E-Editors and Constructit. E-Editors The company E-Editors employs 1,600 individuals, 760 males and 840 females. The employee’s ages range from 35-54. Most of the employees with E-Editors are married so they will need to provide an affordable health care plan for their families. Looking at the kind of work involved for most of the employee’s, Castor Collins found that many of the individuals have a sedentary position. In fact, ninety-five percent of the employees at E-Editors have a position that requires long hours of sitting in front of a computer; the remaining five percent of the employees have positions that require physical activity. A thorough health screening was conducted by Castor Collins. Their findings were as followed, most of the employees who have sedentary positions had problems with their vision. Twenty two percent of the employees had no history of health issues. Twenty six percent of the employees are smokers, most of them revealing that they are considered heavy smokers, although none of employees that smoke reported any respiratory complications. The remaining forty- five percent of the employees are obese. Interestingly, the obesity is due to a sedentary job, poor eating habits, and little to no physical activity. These populations of employees are at risk for severe health complications and diseases. Constructit Constructit has 1,000 employees; 550 being male and 450 are females. The age group ranges from 26-42, and sixty percent of the employees are married. Fifty three percent of the employees have positions that require physical activity. Thirty-two percent of this group has high activity positions and twenty five percent have moderate activity positions. The remaining forty three percent of the employees have sedentary positions. The result from this groups health screening are as followed, thirty-eight percent of the employees have no preexisting health issues and are in good physical health. Ten percent of the employees are smokers. Thirty nine percent of the employees are considered obese, which is a high obesity rate. Some of the illnesses that were reported are digestive disorders, respiratory diseases, injuries, and allergies. Analysis of both groups It is Castor Collins job to find suitable health care plans that will benefit both companies, employees, and Castor Collins while keeping in mind to make it affordable and beneficial to all. They will need to evaluate the potential risks and assess the cost of premiums for both. All members of the team determined the best way for deciding would be best conducted by using the cost-benefit analysis system. â€Å"The cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a set of techniques for assisting in the making of decisions that translates all relevant concerns into market (dollar) terms† (Gertzen Allen, 2007). The team must first consider the age, gender, and profiles of all employees. Secondly, decide the potential health risks, calculate premium and profit. Thirdly, decide what services will be covered and co-payments for these health plans. When taking into consideration the different health profiles of all employees’ obesity seemed to be an issue for both. This alone makes the population at high risk for health issues associated with obesity such as; heart diseases, strokes, and diabetes. E-editors seem to have a higher percentage of obesity and smokers putting them at a much higher risk with health issues. Outcome After evaluating the cost and benefits that go along with providing health insurance coverage to both E-Editors and Constructit, Castor Collins financial team decided that they would only be able to provide health insurance coverage to Constructit and not E-Editors. The reason for this decision is E-Editors have a higher percentage of employees that are at risk for developing chronic diseases. The team went ahead and presented an offer to Constructit and their employees. Castor Collins can offer their employees the Castor Standard plan, which the premium to be charged will be $3,428.00. The reasoning behind choosing this plan over the Castor Enhanced and the Castor Enhanced Minor is the premiums for each employee would be significantly lower than the Enhanced and Enhance Minor plans even though each employee was willing to pay a maximum of $4,000 for their annual premium. Also, Castor Standard does not cover preexisting health conditions, so this would be a low risk investment. Preexisting conditions can cost a company thousands of dollars and in the end not be beneficial to the company’s profits. If Castor Collins were to contemplate preexisting conditions a much higher premium may have to be considered. This is an advantage that can help keep the annual premiums down and still provide many other health coverage services. The premiums that Castor Collins will charge the employees at Constructit are much lower than anticipated, which means a lower profit return. This group is considered a lower health risk group so increasing premiums could create a possibility to make greater returns, but the outcome is still fitting. Conclusion Many hours of planning and development were considered for the final decision of adding Constructit and not E-editors as a client. The team made this decision by utilizing the CBA method and determining that Constructit would be low risk to provide health coverage too. The plan that was chosen Castor Standard will have a lower return but in the long run be beneficial to Castor Collins. The employees at Constructit will be able to afford the health coverage plan and look towards the future knowing they are insured and covered for any emergencies without draining the wallet. Castor Collins and Constructit will begin a rewarding journey that will benefit both companies in the end. The team based this decision on considering all the  necessary health profiles, risks, and premiums and comparing all of the facts between both companies. Reference Getzen, T. E., Moore, J. (2007). Health Care Economics: Principles and tools for the Health Care Industry. Hoboken,, NJ: John Wiley Sons, Inc.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Essay Example for Free

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Essay The conditions causing the psychological condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD has continued to become a puzzle to psychologists. Overtime, the symptoms for ADHD have undergone numerous diagnoses. Although the main cause of ADHD remains unknown, present evidences show that ADHD is genetically acquired (Lilly, 2007). ADHD is a mental disorder characterized by problems of hyperactivity and impulsiveness. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV, inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity are either or both of the two syndromes associated with this psychological disorder (House, 2002). ADHD is one of the most common mental disorders among children in the United States and it is believed that it affects 4 to 5 percent of the children in the country (Coile, 2004). ADHD often affects the school performance of the children. Because of the lack of attention and hyperactivity of children, it is difficult for them to concentrate on learning or educational activities (House, 2002). One of the speculated roots of ADHD is through heredity and genetics. Researches presented that ADHD runs in families. According to the Pediatric Annals, there is a 25 percent chance that the child of an adult with ADHD will also acquire the disease (Lilly, 2007). At present, since there is insufficient evidence on the real and exact cause of ADHD. Most researches consider the genetic explanation of ADHD as the most valid. It is believed that a particular gene is passed on from parents to children; this may be the inherent cause of ADHD. This can be well explained in identical twins. If one of the twins has ADHD, there is a greater risk that other will have it too (Driscoll, 2007). Researches firmly suggest that ADHD occurs in cluster within families. ADHD occurs in biological relatives of children or adults with the disorder, implying the strong hereditary cause of the disorder. An ADHD twin studies found out that identical twins are most likely to manifest symptoms of ADHD, and this finding is consistent in all studies conducted (Joseph, 2006). One of the comprehensive reviews in the twin studies is made by Jay Joseph where he examined the continued misinterpretation on the findings of the twin studies. He firmly believed that the similarities manifested by the twins are not presenting the possible genetic influences on ADHD but this may lie on the environmental factors experienced by the twins (Southhall, 2007). The twin studies are crucial theoretical assumptions. Some researchers claim that the studies are not supported by sufficient evidences. The study merely focused on identical twins, but there are fraternal twins and considered that the environmental factors are equal, there are changes in the findings. Since the evidences is deeply anchored on identical twins who are treated more alike and spend more time together and has a greater tendency to experience confusion and closeness, thus, in a controlled environment, it is expect that the identical twins will correlate higher than the fraternal twins on ADHD measures (Joseph, 2006). ADHD twin studies are based on unsupported theoretical assumption and offer only a possible genetic influence on the symptoms of ADHD. These studies recorded are based more on the psychological bond, more similar treatment and same environment experienced by identical twins than fraternal twins (Joseph, 2002). Another method of study used to discover the roots of ADHS is the adoption study. The difference of this approach on the twin studies is that, it is able to disentangle genetic and environmental influences on psychiatric disorders due to the genes that came from one family and was raised in the environment of another. The rules of hereditary and environmental influences or the nurture and nature influences are relevant in this study of ADHD causes (Joseph, 2002). In this approach, participants are obtained from families with adopted children and families with their biological children, who both have ADHD and same type of families without the psychological disorder. However the research is proven to have a flaw; it is unable to consider the biological parents and relatives of the adopted children. This may contain pertinent information on the genetic influence of ADHD. Therefore, the researchers were not able to make a definite comparison on the foster and biological families of the adopted children. Another flaw of the research is that hyperactivity of the parents is solely based on recollections of the parents if they experienced symptoms of ADHD when they were young. This method and data are unreliable for the having the possibility of giving false accounts (Joseph, 2002). The fundamental assumption of the adoption studies is that ADHD is more prevalent in biological families than in families with adopted children. The studies found higher rates of hyperactivity in children and their biological parents than children with adoptive parents (Joseph, 2002). It is reasonable to dismiss the conclusions of the adoption studies since it did not perform blind diagnoses and introduced a genetically-biased research with conclusions favoring genetics. The control group is unable to serve its purpose if the researchers know the participants related to the cases and which belongs to the control group (Joseph, 2002). Now, psychiatric geneticists see children inheriting a predisposition that will eventually develop into ADHD in the presence of unknown environmental factors which might include viruses and toxins (Joseph, 2002). Though the genetic influences are believed to be the most valid cause of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), they seem to only give possible genetic assumptions and add to the incomplete puzzle of the real cause of ADHD, as the root cause of the psychological disorder targeting most of our children is still unknown.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Product Strategy And Management Jet Airways

Product Strategy And Management Jet Airways On a bright sunny morning of May 2011, Naresh Goyal, the founder chairman of Jet Airways was going through the financial reports for the year ended March 2011 while having his regular cup of coffee. Jet Airways had posted losses for the quarter ended March 11 while it had posted a meager profit of 9.69 crores for the FY11 after three years of consecutive losses. The company was thinking of ways to bring the airlines back into consistent profit-making ways. The company currently offered three brands of airline services: the premium service- Jet and the low cost models- JetLite and JetKonnect. The companys main competitor in the premium space was Air India and Kingfisher while it had a lot of competitors in the low cost carrier segment. JetLite had contributed 75% to the groups domestic revenue in the June quarter but a lot of questions were raised about the logic behind operating two low cost models at the same time when such intense competition was there in the segment. Naresh Goyal had to take a decision soon about the future that his company should take in relation to these low cost models. Indian Airlines Industry Pre-liberalization Era At the time of independence in India, there were eight companies were in service within and outside the country namely Tata Airlines (renamed as Air India), Indian National Airways, Air service of India, Deccan Airways, Ambica Airways, Bharat Airways and Mistry Airways. In 1953, the government nationalized the airlines via the Air Corporations Act, 1953, which gave birth to Indian Airlines and Air India. Indian Airlines came into being with the merger of eight domestic airlines to operate domestic services, while Air India International was to operate the overseas services. Furthermore, the Act gave monopoly power to Indian Airlines to operate on domestic scheduled services ruling out any other operator. Air India became the single Indian carrier to operate on international itinerary excluding some routes to the neighboring countries which were given to Indian Airlines. Liberalization and Private Players Entry The services offered by the two state-owned airlines were not up to the mark. So, in the early 1990s, Indian government initiated liberalisation of Indian airlines industry and relaxation in rules and regulations for private players to operate in this industry. As a consequence to this the Air Corporations Act was repealed in 1994 and private players were allowed to operate scheduled services. In 1995, Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Damania Airways, East West Airlines, Modiluft and NEPC Airways were granted scheduled carrier status. But only four operators- Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Jagsons and Spicejet (previously operated as Modiluft) started operations by 1997 and continued to operate. Eventually, by 1998, at least six private airlines, East- West, Modi-Luft, NEPC, Damania, Gujarat Airways and Span Air were closed. The arrival of private players in the aviation industry improved the services offered by the players as competition created an incentive to improve services offered. By 2003, only two private carriers survived to see the sunrise of the new century, i.e. Jet and Sahara. The survival of Jet Airways could be attributed to its sound financial planning and extraordinary management team since its inception. Arrival of Low Cost Carriers In 2003, a major breakthrough happened in the airlines industry when Air Deccan started its operations as Indias first Low Cost Career (LCC). The arrival of Air Deccan gave competition to the extant duopoly of Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines. It also changed the fare structure in the industry from two-way economy and business class fares into multiple options of including check fares, web fares, APEX fares, internet auctions, Special discounts, corporate plans, last day fares, promotional fares etc. Since the entry of Air Deccan, the passenger traffic in the airlines industry has grown tremendously. In the next two years, Kingfisher, Spice Jet, Indigo, Go Air and Paramount also started as LCCs in India. The consolidation phase in the Indian Airlines Industry In 2007, Jet acquired Sahara, Kingfisher acquired Air Deccan and Indian Airlines and Air India were merged to form a single entity named Air India. A comparative account of aircraft movements, passenger count and freight in the first quarter of 2011-12 over that of the previous year is given in Exhibit 1. Company History Jet Airways Company founder Naresh Goyal completed his graduation in Commerce in 1967 and joined the travel business at the age of 18 as a general sales agent (GSA) for the Lebanese International Airlines. From 1967 to 1974 he learnt the intricacies of the travel business through his association with several foreign airlines. In May 1974, he formed his own company, Jetair (Private) Limited, to market other foreign airlines in India. When the Indian government reopened the domestic aviation market to private carriers, it provided an opportunity to Goyal who established Jet Airways (India) Private Limited in 1991. On April 1, 1992, Jet Airways was incorporated as an air-taxi operator in India. It started out its domestic operations on 5th May 1993. With an initial fleet comprising of 4 leased Boeing 737 aeroplanes, Jetairways soon expanded to include international operations with its maiden international flight from Chennai to Colombo. Jet presently connects 52 domestic destinations. Jet strengthened its position as the airline for the business community considerably during 90s. 80%of its passengers were business class passengers who chose its services because of its punctuality and excellent service. 95% of its passengers rated the airline as good or excellent. In March 2004, Jet Airways acquired license to fly over international routes and it presently connects 24 international destinations. Formation of JetLite and JetKonnect On 12 April 2007, Jet acquired Air Sahara for USD 340 million. Air Sahara was renamed as JetLite and was positioned to serve the segment that was emerging to be new customers of airline services offered at low prices. During the recession of 2008, Jet was facing falling revenues. Hence it decided to allocate some of its aircraft from Jet Airways to cater to the LCC segment as purchasing power of people was low at that time. There were regulatory delays in transferring aircrafts from Jet Airways to JetLite as these two had different operator codes. On 8 May 2009, Jet Airways launched a new low-cost brand called Jet Konnect to operate on sectors that had less than 50% or less load factor. Competitive Landscape In the phase from 2003-2006, the entry of Air Deccan marked a new point in Indian aviation: India had its first low cost/no frills airline. By matching aircraft fares with upper class railway fares, this was an era where passenger traffic went up and intense competition among the players started. Spurred by the success of Air Deccan, other LCCs such as Spicejet, Indigo, GoAir began operations. Air Deccan was acquired by Kingfisher airlines and became the LCC called Kingfisher Red. Some of the major players providing competition to Jet today are Indigo and SpiceJet. Kingfisher, which once used to be a tough competitor in the non-LCC segment is now a very weak competitor. Indigo Currently, this LCC is the market leader and the only profitable airline service in India. Their main focus is on on-time performance and service which are main consumer needs. Through this and a whole host of cost cutting measures, they have ensures that they remain profitable. The airline is on an expansion mode to other major cities of the country as well as international destinations. Indigo scores better than the low cost JetLite and JetKonnect on the service dimension. In terms of communication, Indigo ads focus mainly on their own time performance and the hassle-free experience. To break the ad clutter, Indigo differentiated its ads: it came up with an innovative ad picturised on the form of a Broadway musical. The ad also showed uniformed stewards and air hostesses in Indigos blue uniform which was a great way to portray their brand identity.  [1]   Kingfisher Owned by Vijay Mallya, its the most flamboyant airline in India and fares much better than Jet in terms of in flight and on ground services. It is a major luxury airline operating an extensive network and had expansion plans for regional and long-haul services. Currently, it is in bad financial health due to which its flights have been plagued by delays and as a consequence, its image has taken a severe beating. In terms of communication, Flying High was the tagline used in the Kingfisher video ad2 that exhibited liberation and flying through its picturization2. Kingfisher was positioned as a luxury brand and this was conveyed clearly through the video. However, similar to Jet, Kingfisher didnt release any video ad for the low cost carrier (Kingfisher Red) it started operating after acquiring Air Deccan. The luxury positioning of Kingfisher, which resulted in confusion when Red started operations, was one of the factors that was leading to its growing unpopularity. Its future, at least in Goyals point of view, looked bleak. Hence he focussed more on other competitors while strategizing for the future of Jet. SpiceJet It is Indias second largest low cost airline and third largest in terms of market share. It was originally started as Modiluft airways back in 1993 in partnership with Lufthansa. Over the years, it changed hands and got rebranded as SpiceJet and operates as a low cost carrier. SpiceJets communication focuses on the main attributes of the airline: service to unaccompanied minors, option of choosing your own seat etc. But, these features fall either in the categories of basic/performance attributes that any airline should have. SpiceJet hasnt taken any measures in their service to upgrade these features to the excitement category so as to be differentiated from other players. Tipping points in the history Sahara acquisition Spreading wings In year 2005-06, when Air Sahara was exploring the opportunities for private placements of its equity, several airlines like SpiceJet and Kingfisher showed their interest for stake in the company. However the deal couldnt be made because Kingfisher thought the price set was too high given the not so strong financials of Sahara. Later, Jet Airways came into the picture and showed strong interest in buying out the airline. This merger had several strategical objectives behind it: Jet will have a strong position in the Indian Airline industry with almost 50% of the market share. Jet would become the only private carrier to fly international with no competition for 3 years because other carriers were relatively new. And as per regulations, it would have needed minimum of 3 years of domestic operation before going international. Jet would have a complete dominance of parking bays and airport infrastructure. Jet could now easily increase its capacity without expanding supply. The merger happened in 2007 and Jet Airways branded Air Sahara as JetLite and positioned it as low cost carrier to compete against low cost carrier at that time. If we look at this merger strategy from Ansoffs matrix framework, we can say that the move was more of Diversification strategy. This can be justified by the fact that JetLite was positioned as low cost carrier as a new product for Jet (Jet was known as full cost carrier) and they targeted new market segment which was low cost. However, this turning point for Jet proved to be too costly as it moved from a profit-making airline to a loss-maker and hasnt recovered yet. (Refer Exhibit 2 for sales and profit trends). Jet Konnect Another Jet brand In year 2009, when Indian economy was not doing well, the international operations of Indian airlines were affected too. At the same time, Jet Airways was facing stiff competition from low cost carriers and JetLite was not doing well in the domestic market with just around 7% of market share. Thus in the same year, Jet launched low cost brand named Jet Konnect to fight with the low cost carriers on routes with higher passenger load factor. Instead of expanding the existing brand JetLite, the decision to establish a new subsidiary was to avoid the regulatory delays associated with moving excess aircraft from Jet Airways to JetLite which had separate operating codes. Jet Konnect offered no-frill services. Almost 3 years after its introduction, positioning of Jet Konnect seems to be working for the fact that 70% of all the seats that Jet sells in the domestic market come from Jet Konnect itself. But even after the introduction of JetKonnect, the company has been making losses. Thus, though Jet Konnect strategy may have helped Jet to retain its market share near 28%, clearly it failed to make a long term business plan. Issues- Increasing Sales; Decreasing Profits The financials indicate that sales have been increasing throughout the past 12 years, but the profits have not followed the trend. The company which had started to make increasing and positive profits since the internationalization of its operations in 2004, started showing declining profits that soon dwindled into losses after the acquisition of Air Sahara. Recovery from the losses has been very slow. Goyal wondered if this was because of the inability of transferring the synergies from Jets primary business of full service to no-frills service. Brand Confusion Goyal also wondered if having two low-cost brands was a good idea, as it could have possibly led to people not being able to differentiate between JetLite and JetKonnect. At the time of inception of JetKonnect it had seemed like the best option possible to earn revenues in a slowing market and it had to be implemented quickly without waiting for the settlement of legal issues of including Jets fleet under JetLites name. But now, thinking back, Goyal wondered if he had moved too fast. Brand Dilution Jet used to be considered a premium brand offering full services. With the extension of the name Jet to the new no-frills brands JetLite and JetKonnect, Goyal wondered if there has been a dilution in the brands equity. Ideally, JetLite and JetKonnect were meant to be downgraded versions of Jet. Did the market perceive it this way? Or was Jet being seen as an upgraded version of the low-cost carriers (and thus occupying only a second place in the mindspace of the consumer)? Has the extension resulted in cannibalization of Jet? The way forward- Alternatives Entry into LCC segment had started off the loss-making phase for Jet and the introduction of a new LCC brand hadnt helped the company make positive profits. If the LCC segment were to be still operated by Jet, streamlining the product portfolio of the group to offer the guests a single superior in-flight product in the full-service and low-fare categories respectively was the only viable option as seen in the alternatives he jotted down to be discussed with his strategy team. Merge JetLite and Jet Konnect; brand it as JetLite. Merge JetLite and Jet Konnect; brand it as Jet Konnect. Merge JetLite and Jet Konnect; brand it as a different new brand. Exit the Low Cost Carrier segment to overcome brand dilution. The next day, he put forth these to the team and asked for a solution to the issue at hand and a suggestion for the way forward. Analysis- Arriving at a solution After the meeting with Goyal, the strategy team split themselves into sub-groups: one analyzing the communications of Jets brands and one conducting market research to understand peoples brand associations with respect to Jet. They aimed to view the current position of the brands with respect to the value as well as price perceived by the market. Communications of Jets brands Jet Airways A set of formal ads was released in 2007, without any celebrity attraction [  [2]  ]. These ads focussed on the various attributes featured in the three classes of air travel, without any voice-over. The tagline used was Change the way you fly. This was followed by a set of TV Commercials (storyboards in Exhibit 3) released in 2008, starring Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, for the First Class, Premiere Class and Economy Class of Jet Airways. The airline was positioned as a service-oriented one that took care of the little things that add to the good experience of the customer. In addition, there were hoardings speaking about connectivity as well as reinforcing the taglines of the video advertisements. An interesting case in point was when Kingfisher took an ambush initiative and put up a hoarding over Jets hoarding (that spoke about Jet having changed and asking people to visit their site to know more); Kingfisher took credit saying that it was responsible for the change. This was followed by GoAirs ambush of Kingfisher and Jet, by putting up a hoarding on top of the two existing hoardings, saying that they havent changed and still remain the smartest way to fly. This campaign resulted in publicity for all three brands. JetLite JetKonnect Not much of advertising was done for these two brands- a possible reason for the confusion between the two, prevailing among people. A few print ads for JetKonnect were released when the airline was introduced (Ref. Exhibit 4-a). One of them had personnel wearing the same attire as Jet Airways personnel. This was aimed at reinforcing the good service quality in JetKonnect (by linking it to the service of Jet Airways) but it resulted in brand dilution and cannibalization of Jet Airways, when a low cost carrier (JetKonnects ads spoke about Low Fares) was perceived to offer an equally good service. The print ad of JetLite (Ref. Exhibit 4-b) reinforced the low-cost feature by displaying the price (Rs. 1001) prominently, for a few domestic routes. Brand Associations Depth Interviews- Depth interviews conducted across six people in the age group of 22-27 who had travelled by Jet Airways, JetLite and JetKonnect. This segment was chosen because they would be part of the major class of air travellers in the coming decades. Questions were posed (Ref. Exhibit 5) to understand their requirements from airlines services and their views on the three brands that Jet had. The respondents could be classified into two major categories: Those who expect comfortable travel and service quality and are willing to pay for these Those who are very price-conscious and do not care much for service The people in the former category associated Jet with comfortable travel and thus preferred it for long journeys; those in the latter category did not associate anything exceptionally good with Jet. Some even felt that they were too high priced for the quality of service they offered. None of the people interviewed had seen the advertisements of Jet Airways with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan starring in them. Some recalled seeing hoardings that spoke about good connectivity and some recalled the attire of the personnel and the logo. All the interviewed people used the online mode of checking prices via sites like makemytrip.com, yatra.com or cleartrip.com. Booking was made by some people at the respective airlines website while it was done by some others at the price checking portal. All were aware of the Jet Privilege Card program but only one was a user of it. Punctuality was a key expected attribute by all interviewees and all gave a positive feedback about IndiGo on that aspect. Jets brands were seen to be neither significantly good nor significantly bad with respect to punctuality. The comfort and quality-sensitive people gave Jet Airways a higher rating than JetLite or JetKonnect, while the price-sensitive people rated JetLite and JetKonnect over Jet Airways. No difference was perceived or observed between JetLite and JetKonnect. Is Jet an upgraded version of JetLite/Konnect (or) is JetLite/Konnect a downgraded version of Jet? From the customers ticket purchase behaviour (all of them used makemytrip.com or cleartrip.com or the likes), it was seen that they would first be shown the cheapest flights first (which is how those sites are programmed to function). Hence, a typical customer would first see JetLite / JetKonnects prices and then see the incremental price to be paid for Jet and then compare the price versus quality / extra features received from the full-service airline. Thus, it was observed that the LCC brands were becoming the anchor brands and Jet was seen as an upgrade. This was substantiated further in the analysis of a survey that was conducted (as explained below). A low-cost carrier being seen as an anchor brand is degenerative to the parent brand as brand dilution occurs and people associate even the parent with the LCCs attributes. Survey A survey (Ref. Exhibit 8 for the survey) of air travellers was conducted to identify the importance of various attributes to people and the rating of airlines on those attributes (Ref. Exhibit 6). This helped arrive at the Market Perceived Quality (MPQ) and Market Perceived Price (MPP) of the airlines relative to one another, which aided our comparative analysis and inferences regarding brand perceptions. Weight attached to attributes The attributes, in the order of importance, was seen to fall into 3 buckets. The first bucket has punctuality with a highest weightage of 21%. The second bucket has flight connectivity, baggage allowance and flight crews attitude, all with weights around 17-18%. The third bucket contains food-on board and in-flight entertainment with weights around 13-14%. (Ref. Exhibit 6-a). Punctuality has always been of paramount importance in any mode of transport. However, the interesting thing is the reduced weights given to the third bucket this was a direct result of the communication strategies followed by the low-cost carriers. Existence of Brand Confusion An MPQ as well as MPP analysis of JetLite versus JetKonnect throws up a score of 1.00, implying that there is no perceivable difference in the minds of the customer in terms of the two brands, leading to brand confusion and dilution. JetLite-Jet: Quality versus Price MPQ analysis (Ref Exhibit 6-e) of JetLite versus Jet shows that JetLite is only 89% of Jet with respect to quality, whereas an MPP (Ref Exhibit 6-f) analysis shows that Jetlites perceived price is 97% of that of Jet. Heence, people can easily perceive Jet to be priced only marginally higher than JetLite for a relatively better offer of quality. Hence they think that Jet is an upgraded version of JetLite. Indigo- Better Quality than Jet MPQ analysis of Jet versus IndiGo shows that Jet is marginally perceived to be of a lower quality than IndiGo, despite Jet being a full-service airline and IndiGo being a no-frills airline. This is indicative of the fact that people perceive punctuality (in which IndiGo excels) to be a very important quality. Thus a relatively new airline has managed to change the weight attached by people to punctuality, by showing them the value it can create for them by offering it. Perceptual Maps Also, based on the interview and survey responses, perception maps were constructed for airlines in India (Ref. Exhibit 7). It is seen that IndiGo offers very good price-value performance with respect to the top three attributes that people expect in airline service. No carrier operated in the Premium price-high connectivity quadrant, as it was not economical to offer full-service over short routes (that offer high / direct connectivity). Current brand name connotations (Lite signifies that it is a stripped down version of Jet; gives a negative connotation to the customer that he/she is losing some services of the original Jet airways) + (Gives the reliability of the parent brand, and the extension Konnect tries to point out to an additional attribute of connectivity, which according to the survey is highly valued) n/a (A name which would not include Jet in it) n/a Parent brand enhancement (A premium product and a stripped down product with the same brand name will lead to dilution) (A premium product and a stripped down product with the same brand name will lead to dilution) + (A name which would not include Jet in it; being a completely independent thing it would not tarnish Jets image with a low cost tag) + (Exiting from the LCC segment and just concentrating on the traditional segment completely eliminates the chances of brand dilution) Anchoring in the mind of the customer -Jet Airways versus LCC brand name (Jet is seen as the upgraded version of Jetlite (the perceived anchor, as shown in the analysis- Ref Exhibit 6-e,f)) (Jet is seen as the upgraded version of Jetkonnect, which is perceived to be the same as JetLite, (LCC is the perceived anchor, as shown in the analysis- Ref Exhibit 6-e,f)) + (With the LCC not having Jet in its brand name the first customer contact with Jet happens with Jet Airways and hence Jet remains the anchor brand) + (Completely exiting LCC, eliminates the whole threat of being anchored as a low-priced brand in customers mind) Recommendations by the strategy team The evaluation of the options indicates that the 3rd option (Merge Jetlite Jetkonnect; spin off with a new brand name) is the most viable, as it scores positively on all criteria. Currently the brands of jet are positioned as in Fig- 2. This can be modified to create a positioning map such that there are two different brands that are clearly separated, with distinct brand names that do not result in brand dilution or confusion. The positioning should be as in Fig-3: cid:[emailprotected] Fig 3: Current Jet Situation Fig 3: Jet after brand fusion Operational Recommendations for both brands of the company Punctuality- This is the most important attribute to the customers. Hence this has to be provided by both the full-service as well as the low-cost service airlines. Otherwise they would soon lose out to IndiGo. Connectivity- The new LCC brand should aggressively increase the number of directly connected locations to compete with IndiGo and SpiceJet. Communications- Clear and distinct communication strategy should be developed for both brands. For example, crew attire, colours in the print ads and such visible brand elements should be distinct, to avoid brand dilution. First Class Ad1 The description of the features such as a comfortable lie-flat bed, personal wardrobe, table for two and a door (that provides privacy) is done by a voice-over, accompanied by the visuals that show the protagonist experiencing them in an imaginary place of luxury, correlating each scene with the experience inside the flight. The comfort and luxury are communicated effectively and the ad ends with a tagline- Filled with the little touches that count and a written line displaying More than 400 international flights per week. Economy Class Ad2 The features- such as more space between rows of seats, more legroom (with a special leg-rest) and a cushion for back-rest- are shown as being enjoyed on board a flight by the protagonist, while a voice-over describes each one. The ad ends with a tagline Its the little touches that go a long way and a display of the words More than 400 international flights per week. Premiere Class Ad3 The features such as wider seats and more space for passengers are shown figuratively with a widening of a sofa on which the protagonist is seated and pushing the sofa down the room to create more space between the protagonist and another person. The features of a lie-flat bed and direct aisle access from all seats are shown in an in-flight environment. The possible absence of a figurative comparison for a lie-flat be  [3]  d could be to avoid confusion with the first class ad. The ad ends with the tagline Its the little touches that make a big difference and a display of the words More than 400 international flights per week. How frequently do you travel and for what purpose? While working- once in 3 weeks; purpose was official 12-13 times per year; personal(going home vacation) Once in 4-5 months; personal Do you have any preference for specific purposes; if so, why? Official- jet (to take advantage of frequent flier); Personal- Whichever is the cheapest(except Air India) Indigo over spicejet because of timely departure and arrival; likes jetlite as well because of the same reason; doesnt prefer jet because of food (as that adds to cost) Indigo any day- both personal business; punctuality is the best What comes to your mind when we say Jet ? Logo, nothing else High price. Jet was good once upon a time; Now, Jet doesnt give value for the amount charged Nothing premium; in-flight entertainment doesnt always work; food is the only differentiating factor, but it doesnt matter to me What 3 attributes make you choose JetLite over Jet Airways? Only Price Price, Punctuality (think Jetlite is better), Newer seats Only Price What 3 attributes make you choose Jet over JetLite ? Wont prefer; cost sensitive Will chose jet over jetlite in case there is no jetlite flight in that route+ if Jet travels quicker (can accept price that is higher by a max of Rs 1000) Only if I am not paying for it Have you seen ads of Jet? Remembers Hoarding; connects to (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) ; (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) flights to NY/SA; airhostess dress color; Yes; havent seen them in recent times; doesnt remember much Not recently; Kingfishers ambush-known due to prior academic input How do you book your tickets? Online-search for yatra coupons; Book the cheapest mode Check prices through makemytrip; book through the travel agent. Doesnt trust giving the card no. in the website Cleartrip.com site only Do you know about Jets loyalty programme? Yes; registered but didnt get the card /make use of it Heard about the reward points system from other people Yes; not a member as I dont fly regularly Do you perceive any difference between JetLite JetKonnect? If so, what? No Not much; jetlite has been more punctual and more sophisticated air crew; no change in food options No

Thursday, September 19, 2019

War and Peace Essay: The Importance of Sonya -- War Peace

The Importance of Sonya in War and Peace Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace speculates deeply about history, religious life and human brotherhood. Most readers focus on the characters of Natasha, Prince Andrew, and Pierre. Another character named Sonya, who is an orphaned cousin, is staying with the Rostov family. Sonya is overshadowed by the other characters, however, she is vital to the rounding out of the other characters in the novel. The people she loves most take her life of commitment and sacrifice for granted. The reader is thus also inclined to give little emphasis to her role in their lives and in the novel as a whole. As someone who has essentially nothing, Sonya is willing to give everything she has to those she loves. She gives of herself willingly and thanklessly. This life of sacrifice truly embodies Sonya's generous character. This genuine nature of her character allows her to reveal so much about those with whom she interacts throughout the novel. With Sonya's seeming "simplicity" in the background, Tolstoy fully develops the characters of Natasha and Nicholas. He uses Sonya as a contrast for his heroine, Natasha, and also as a chart of growth for Natasha's brother, Nicholas. Tolstoy even uses Sonya as a contrast to Princess Mary. Here, if one looks deeper, one will find that there is very little contrast at all between the two women. Most importantly, Sonya is an illustration of society's effects on a poor selfless young girl who puts her needs below those of all others. Tolstoy employs Sonya's character in a variety of situations. Without Sonya, a great deal of his novel's depth and richness would be lost. Sonya is first introduced as Count Rostov's fifteen-year-old niece who ... ... all. Just as the characters in the novel never really appreciate all that Sonya does for them, the reader puts very little emphasis on all that Sonya does to enhance the entire novel. Sonya serves as a truly reflective mirror to Natasha who "never needed to sacrifice herself, but made others sacrifice themselves for her and yet was beloved by everybody"(903). Sonya's presence also helps the growth of Nicholas and reveals a great deal about the society in which she lives. The importance of Sonya's character to War and Peace is immense, yet overshadowed by characters deemed more "important" than she. Sonya tends to be put in the background of this novel as she is put in the background of the lives of those whom she loves. Without her Leo Tolstoy's novel would greatly diminished. Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Book of the Month Club, Inc., New York.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

British Policy of Appeasement at the Beginning of World War Two Essay

British Policy of Appeasement at the Beginning of World War Two The First World War was the beginning of a new era in fighting. Weapons and fighting technique had drastically changed, making war much more dangerous. With the predictions for the new weapons including poisonous gas and bigger bombs, Great Britain was very much afraid for its citizens, especially men and women of fighting age. The country wished to avoid war at any cost. The choices of Neville Chamberlain and The Parliament favoring appeasement affected the decisions of other European leaders, such as French Premier Daladier, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and Winston Churchill, and those choices helped Britain enter the war. Many believe that with the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War One, the prelude to World War Two was put in motion. At the time many Europeans, who were still hurting from the war, were not concerned that the restrictions put upon Germany were too stringent. But it gave Germans a reason to elect Hitler to the Chancellorship of Germany in 1933. While Britain tried to ignore the new leader of Germany, they could not ignore him any longer when the Saar Basin voted to return to Germany. As part of its World War I repatriations, the Saar Basin had been given to France because of the territory’s natural resources and such.1 Since Germany had now violated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain, France, and Italy gathered at Strea in Italy to discuss a course of action. Britain and France’s main concern was to keep Italy in opposition to the Germans. When Italy decided to attack Ethiopia, Britain was torn between avoiding war or endorsing the unprovoked attack. They left it up to the League of Nations to make the decision. In this deci... ...Lilly, David. (1994). British Reaction to the Munich Crisis, 1. 6. Rempel, Professor Gerhard. (1999). The Nazi-Soviet Pact. Available: http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/hitler/lectures/nazisoviet.html [Mar. 4, 2000], 1. 7. Paul, James. (1998). Britain in World War Two. 8. Lilly, David. (1994). British Reaction to the Munich Crisis, 1. 9. John L. Snell, Problems in European Civilization: The Outbreak of the Second World War, (Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1962), 6. 10. Rempel, Professor Gerhard. (1999). The Nazi-Soviet Pact, 2. 11. John L. Snell, Problems in European Civilization: The Outbreak of the Second World War, 6-7. 12. Rempel, Professor Gerhard. (1999). The Nazi-Soviet Pact, 3. 13. John L. Snell, Problems in European Civilization: The Outbreak of the Second World War, 9.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Yellow Ribbon Project

PR Assignment 1 Background Sheet: Generating Yellow Ribbon Project Campaign Awareness 1. About the Organization: Singapore Prison Services Singapore Prison Services (SPS) is a division of the Singapore Police Force that concentrates on the care and rehabilitation of prisoners who have committed social or criminal offences. The organization does not merely concentrate on housing and providing guidance for inmates while they are in remand, it is also dedicated to ensure that no repeat offences ensue. Thus, a major portion of their efforts also concentrate on providing inmates with basic employment skills in hopes of preventing past criminal behaviour from surfacing upon their release into society. This indicates that the SPS provides preventive and after-care measures to maintain former prison inmates compliance with the law as much as possible. (Source: http://www. prisons. gov. sg/about_us. html) 2. About the PR Situation In 2005, SPS services realized that former inmates released into society faced social stigma in the form of negative public opinions of being ex-offenders and are often denied employment or rejected by society. Such public opinions are harmful and repressive. Seitel (1998, pp50) describes Public Opinion as the aggregate of many individual opinions on a particular issue that affects a group of people by forming consensus or popular attitudes and thoughts. The role of the PR practitioner then is to positively influence an individual’s attitude. As seen in the above definition, public opinions represent popular thoughts that can prove an inmate’s re-integration into society a daunting task. Without the means of finding acceptance or a proper means of living, many relapse back into a life of crime, a paradox that can be resolved through a public relations campaign that aims to educate and seek acceptance. As such, the Yellow Ribbon Project as a public relations campaign in a long-term program that sought to change public perceptions of ex-offenders was launched in order to deliver a second chance. In this situation, the SPS has been providing culinary training to a group of inmates in conjunction with Raffles Hotel (Singapore) that has culminated in a cooking competition. A renowned chef has been at helm in training them and he has marvelled at their ability to pick up skills in a short time. The newsworthiness of this initiative begins with prison inmates partaking in a grand cooking competition not unlike the Iron Chef series. Thus, a Media release highlighting the background of the cooking competition and a feature article in the form of a personality profile written by an SPS Public Relations Executive will be provided for the purposes of fulfilling this assignment. 3. Reasons for Using PR Communication: 3. 1 Media Release: It is deemed that to generate positive publicity and awareness of the ‘bizarre’ cooking competition in conjunction with this year’s Yellow Ribbon Project (YRP), a media release will be sent to newspaper editors in Singapore in hope that the story will be printed and generate interest and positive awareness. A media release has been described by Seitel (1998, pp175) as a document of record to state an organization’s official position or to influence a publication to write favourably about the material discussed and stimulate editors to cover a story. As readers tend to perceive news articles with more credibility, it is hoped that the use of a media release information transformed into a news article will fulfil the communicative objectives of the YRP better in terms of reach and credibility than using an advertisement or provision of information on the organization’s website. 3. Feature Article-Personality Profile: For the second communication tool, a personality profile of a former prison inmate who has found moderate success as a food hawker will be written by an SPS Public Affairs executive and published in a local Singapore Newspaper, The Straits Times special edition that covers the YRP in October. In addition, the personality profile will also be posted on the SPS we bsite for maximum coverage. A feature article has been described by Seitel (1998, pp203) as articles found in magazines or newspapers that are the opposite of hard news items, often light, humorous or enlightening. In this scenario, the feature article is utilized to disseminate less newsworthy (there is less news-worth in a story about a former convict turned cook) information in more subtle ways to break misconceptions that ex-offenders, like leopards, never change spots. The feature article is thus useful when less important information needs to be conveyed to the publics of a PR campaign that nevertheless, represents a supporting communication device in meeting campaign objectives. References: Seitel, FP, 1998, The Practice of Public Relations, 7th edn, Prentice-Hall, NY, USA. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (LOGO) INMATES SHOWCASE CULINARY TALENT AT FIRST-EVER YELLOW RIBBON COOKING COMPETITION Singapore, September 9, 2010 – Twelve inmates pit their culinary skills against one another in the Yellow Ribbon Cooking Competition held in Changi Prison Cluster A today. This milestone activity is the first in a series of Yellow Ribbon Project activities in 2007, organised by the Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (CARE) Network. The cooking competition was jointly organised by Raffles Hotel. Chef de Cuisine Jean-Charles Dubois from the hotel’s French fine-dining restaurant Raffles Grill was one of the judges at today’s finals and was also heavily involved in preparing the inmates for the competition. This cooking competition simulates the kitchen environment and challenges faced by professional chefs. Participants were required to produce an original Western-style dish within a strict three-hour limit using predetermined ingredients and equipment. The participants showed promise and a genuine eagerness to learn, and this experience has been rewarding as I have been able to see the improvements they have been able to make,† said Chef Dubois. To prepare participants for the competition, Chef Dubois visited the institutions five times and provided video instruction to introduce the ingredients and cooking methods to the inmates. â€Å"The participation of inmates in this competition further reaffirms their determination to contribute to their families and society. We’re proud to have our inmates’ creation featured at the prestigious Raffles Hotel. Chef Dubois’ contribution to our inmates also shows that the community is willing to take the lead in helping inmates in their rehabilitation and reintegration,† said Mr. Desmond Chin, Chairman, Yellow Ribbon Project Organising Committee. Winning recipes will also be recreated at a special reunion lunch, A Tribute of Love, to be held in three days’ time for winners and their family members. Raffles Hotel will also feature the best dish on a Raffles menu, making it available to her patrons and guests. *ENDS* About Yellow Ribbon Project The Yellow Ribbon Project is a nation-wide campaign to raise the awareness of Singaporeans about the need of inmates, ex-offenders and their families for societal acceptance. For more information, please contact: Jale Byrd, Executive Public Affairs Branch, Singapore Prison Service Telephone: 6565-6565 Email: [email  protected] gov. sg From The Fire Into The Frying Pan By Jale Byrd The bang and clatter you hear when you step into the hawker centre at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 is undeniably a dragon’s roar. Rueburn Liang’s Chia Song Fried Kway Teow stall, which he has operated for the past 13 years, is synonymous with good food. It is also the most prolific stall at the busy food centre. The setup comes complete with a portable television and loud speakers that broadcast the latest soccer and professional wrestling matches. â€Å"Frying a good plate of Char Kway Teow is an art. I bang loudly on the edge of my wok to attract customers to my stall. The TV keeps them entertained,† booms Rueburn, as he gesticulates with his charred spatula. Loud, vociferous and a former Ang Soon Tong (a Secret Society in Singapore) enforcer, you will be inclined to agree. Rueburn is a karate expert plastered with tattoos of flaming dragons over his massive frame, which are made conspicuous with his well-greased white singlet. The missing last finger on his right hand makes the man’s dark, pockmarked face even more intimidating. But lest you get alarmed, Rueburn’s lashings are taken out on his trusty wok, where he conjures mouth-watering plates of delicious, spicy and sinful Char Kway Teow. â€Å"I had to chop off my last finger as a ‘settlement’ for leaving the society in 1987, and a $800 Ang Pow (a red packet containing money, is seen as an auspicious sign by the Chinese),† he reveals without a hint of regret. Otherwise, ‘they’ will never leave me alone. Now, those days are over. Luckily, some of those people respect me, never really give me trouble. † (A secret society member has to sever a finger to maintain his code of honour and pay an ‘exit fee’ to leave the underground organizati on without fear of repercussions) With all his dubious activities, an inevitable brush with the law saw Rueburn put behind bars for nine months. Rueburn broke the arm, skull and penis of a credit defaulter in a savage fight. The bone-breaking experience threw him into the ‘fire’ of Queenstown gaol, a humbling experience for the former gangster. I really got burnt by the prison ‘fire’. We were made to kneel and live in a mini-hell. Sipeh Chor leh (Really Tough) Outside, I was a ‘terror’, but the others were hardened criminals and I seemed like a sissy compared to them. I didn’t want to spend my life strolling in and out of jail. Sio jit pai kow liow! (Getting burnt once was enough) I decided it was good for me to leave the society and turn to a decent living. I was right,† says Rueburn with hindsight. (The criminal slang for serving time in prison is ‘tio her sio’ or getting burnt by fire) Rueburn, who only completed pr imary education, was at a loss. The only decent job he was good at was cooking. His vocation as a military cook in the Singapore Armed Forces during his national service in 1983 cemented his culinary passion and served him in good stead. At the encouragement of his then girlfriend Fion (now Mrs Liang) and some savings, he successfully bid for a hawker stall and set up Chia Song in 1988. However, he learnt to perfect his Kway Teow frying skills only much later. â€Å"Not easy to fry a good plate. True, it looks easy but I had to experiment many times before I was satisfied†¦now, I think I am getting there,† Rueburn says modestly. Getting there? It’s very good already! One of the best in Singapore! † quips Elson Boey, a retired civil servant. â€Å"There is always a long queue during lunch time. I think his secret is in the intensity of his fire. † Hard work as it seems, Chia Song is a labour of love. The couple dedicates 12 hours a day amidst unforgiving flames to create a uniquely Si ngaporean masterpiece. â€Å"The fire must always be strong and the leow (ingredients) must be fresh! Timing is also very important, as you do not want to overcook the dish. Bah You (pork lard) must be used liberally, as it gives that special taste. You only live once ah, so live it good! No need to be so healthy one. † Indeed, words of culinary and hedonistic wisdom. It is lunchtime and an almost scandalous crowd forms. A haze of smoke clouds the sizzling sound of stir-fried garlic as they simmer in a pool of aromatic lard. Chee Seng furiously stirs in his noodles and kway teow into a heated wok smoldering under a furious fire. Within moments, arrays of delicious condiments are thrown into the fray, soaking in the thick flavour. When the rich smell of caramelized sweet sauce wafts under your nostrils, Rueburn has served another satisfied customer. A stolen glance around the hawker centre reveals an assortment of harried but happy workers haphazardly sliding tantilising morsels of Fried Kway Teow down their throats. Echoing Elson’s sentiments is Rachel Tua Kang, an auditor who works nearby. â€Å"Simply fantabulous! My diets never take off, this temptation is too much! † When told, Rueburn Liang brushes off his accolades as if they were burnt garlic bits on his flaming wok, his reddened face warms up into a big grin as he takes another drag of his Marlboro cigarettes. Ying siu nia,† (they are just entertaining me) he jokingly retorts. It is closing time for the busy hawker and he takes a well-earned respite from the day’s backbreaking battle with his wok and emerges at the end of the day with a rosy complexion, no doubt made pink by the tremendous temperatures he has to endure. As Mrs. Liang cleans up the slobber knocker of a hawker stall, Rueburn takes delight in a leisurely smoke. Rightfully, he see ks solace in his daily bottle of bitter-cold ABC stout. Gleefully, he chugs down a glass of the icy brew. Ha ha, these days I only fight with my wok. My life could have turned out much worse! There is no fear of getting burnt now. † As he breaks into another cheerful smile, he bursts into a self-indulgent laughter, as if to remind himself of his good fortune. It is lunchtime again, and Rueburn busies himself over a brilliant hot wok. You might think a fire-breathing dragon was fueling the fire, as the flames turn to a ferocious blue fireball. However, the dragon is above the stove, controlling the fire. He has made the transaction of jumping from the fire into the frying pan.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Skydive Chicago Is One of the United States

a Advantage: * Skydive Chicago is one of the United States’ premier skydiving resorts, serving skydivers ranging in skills from first time jumpers to internationally competitive freefly teams. * Jumpmasters video their student’s jumps. * Students use the feedback these videos provide to identify mistakes. * (student)They often copy their videos onto a personal tape for future reference. * Jumpmasters may also copy well-executed student skydives to the facility’s tape library. Disadvantage: Only in Chicago-Each student in Skydive Chicago’s training program makes a series of progressive training jumps under the direct supervision of a United State Parachute Association Jumper. * Limited -The training program gears each jump toward teaching one or two new skills. * Protection of advantage – All students are given access to the drop zone’s training room and are encouraged to watch video clips in preparation for their next training jump. This step saves jumpmasters, who are paid per jump, considerable time.Jumpmasters also use these videos to evaluate their training method’s effectiveness. – not a good rule to measure.. information system Skydive Chicago’s information system, â€Å"a set of interrelated components, with a clearly defined boundary, working together to achieve a common set of objectives† (INF 620 24), provides several benefits the skydiving student and the company its. Skydive Chicago’s information system assist the skydiving student by allowing the review of his or jump independently, in a flexible interruption and audience free environment.Skydive Chicago’s information system enhances the company itself by enabling the jumpmasters to have more time in their paid capacity, provide examples of ideal jumps, and allows students to separately hone his or her newly acquired skills. Skydive Chicago’s information system allows the supervising jumpmaster, a United Stat e Parachute Association Jumper, to record each of the progressive training jumps of each training program student. The feature allows the students to use the feedback of the provided videos to identify mistakes and independently improve of errors.This component of Skydive Chicago’s information system allows the student to work at his own pace to resolve an identifying issue. This element lets the student progress at a comfortable pace and work on the next flaw after he or she is comfortable with the previous issue. Also, by providing the recorded jumps Skydive Chicago’s information system allows students to review and work on their issues in an interruption-free environment. Students often copy their videos onto a personal tape for future reference; therefore students can also review these tapes away from Skydive Chicago.Having their own copy the jump grants the student the flexibility to review the tapes as they wish including but not limited to home, work, or even th e library. With the ability review the tapes in a distraction free location at their own discretion would assist in the student jumper increasing his skill quicker. By having the ability to review the tapes of their jumps with an audience would assist the student jumpers in subduing his or her insecurities and working on jump issue they are embarrassed of in public.For example, if the jumper had an extreme case of anxiety, he or she can work on relaxing and controlling their breathing for the next jump. Skydive Chicago’s information system the company itself by enabling the jumpmasters to have more time for jumps. The jumpmasters are only paid for the jumps the students perform. By having to provide less instruction to a student, the jumpmaster has more time to participate in jumps; therefore the jumpmaster is working for free when he or she provides instructions and guidance to the student jumper they are working for free.Given that providing instructions and lectures typica lly consume more time then performing an activity the earnings’ rate of the jumper masters are decrease when they are not jumping. Having the Jumpmasters provide tapes well-executed student skydives to the facility’s tape library provides examples of ideal jumps to student and assist as tool to provide a visual effect for a student that does not understand the finding of an issue by a jumpmaster.Also by providing all students access to the drop zone’s training room and are encouraged to watch video clips in preparation for their next training jump. This function also the jumper master to delegate the partial ownership of the ensuring the student is prepared for their next jump to the actual student without leaving the student without anytime of direction. both , provide examples of ideal jumps, and allows students to separately hone his or her newly acquired skills. student in the perform a series of under the direct supervision of Skydive Chicago’sSkydiv e Chicago’s information system the company itself by enabling the jumpmasters to have more time for jumps, provide examples of ideal jumps, and allows students to separately hone his or her newly acquired skills. * Jumpmasters may also copy well-executed student skydives to the facility’s tape library. allowing independent reviewing, interruption-free environment, audience free development. unique challenges to performing any type of deed is the potential lack of an immediate audience, as it is often noted that communication cannot even occur without an audience. ery important to be clear on your instructor’s expectations Location: Determine a location that will allow for an ideal be both inviting and free of distractions support – Place the camera, ideally Remember that you always want yourself to be fully within the frame of the shot, close enough that your facial expressions and any visuals you might use can be easily identified and comprehended but no t so close that you overpower the frame (i. e. you are the only thing in it). Also, it is best if you can have someone film you so that they can make sure that these conditions exist du Leave time at beginning and end.INF 620. McGraw-Hill Create. . a. How can this information system benefit the skydiving student? b. How can this information system benefit Skydive Chicago? c. Draw an Information Systems Model (Figure 1. 19). Fill in your diagram with the information about people, hardware, software, and other resources from this exercise. Be sure that you prepare your Information Systems Model in a software application or tool that can be integrated fully into your MS Word document and delivered to the instructor.Clearly drawn illustrations that are scanned and submitted in . pdf are acceptable along with an MS Word document explaining and supporting parts a and b. Be sure to label your files clearly. Document all sources. a. How can this information system benefit the skydiving stud ent? b. How can this information system benefit Skydive Chicago? c. Draw an Information Systems Model (Figure 1. 19). Fill in your diagram with the information about people, hardware, software, and other resources from this exercise.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Extremism: Political Philosophy and International Political Issues Essay

MANY counterterrorism and security experts believe that extremism and terrorism have a cause and effect relation. If this were true, it would be almost impossible for Pakistan to tackle the issues of terrorism and militancy without effectively responding to growing extremism and radicalism in the country. Countering extremism and extremist ideologies is an important component of the current debate on internal security and counterterrorism. Though extremism has yet to be defined in Pakistan at least there is a consensus in the country that terrorism is a major issue and needs to be addressed on a priority basis. On the other hand, the realm of extremism is very broad, and different segments of society hold diverse views regarding the phenomenon. Let us first take a look at the different views on extremism that are prevalent in the country and then examine the question of breaking its links with terrorism. Extremism is defined in Pakistan in a number of ways, and is used mainly in the political, religious, and social contexts. Political scientists consider it a political phenomenon, triggered by inequality, socio-economic injustices and state policies. In 2008-9, the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based research group, consulted several experts in the fields of political science, international relations, faith studies, science, media and human rights. Their opinion was sought through detailed discussions and a survey on issues of terrorism and extremism. Out of 16 experts, 11 agreed that extremism was a political phenomenon; only three looked at extremism in the light of an ideological struggle, whereas two experts linked extremism to the misinterpretation of religion. The experts also differed on what they considered to be the reasons behind extremism. Most of the respondents pointed out political, social and economic disparities as the main causes of extremism. A similar study that was conducted by the institute in 2009 to collect the views of teachers in madressahs showed that the majority of clerics and madressah teachers believed that extremism was a political issue. However, the respondents believed that regional and international political issues were more important. A large number of madressah teachers also thought that extremism in the country could only be countered if Pakistan distanced itself from the US-led war on terror. Very few discussed the religious and ideological aspects of extremism. They considered Talibanisation to be an outcome of state polices, and the state’s failure to enforce Islamic law in the country. The teachers also expressed concern over the ‘Westernisation’ of Pakistani society. Such narratives are also reflected in public opinion, and policymakers follow the same discourse. Even the debate in the right-wing media reflects the same approach. The opinions of those that are among the first targets of extremism are of obvious significance. Public opinion is shaped by the media as well as by religious and political leaders. It ultimately influences the political trends that a society is witnessing. But signs of confusion are discernible in public opinion with regard to extremist and violent groups. Another survey conducted by the institute to map the political behaviour of the masses revealed that though more than 56pc of Pakistanis acknowledge the services of religious scholars for Islam, over 53pc oppose a political role for the scholars. Public opinion considers the provision of justice and basic necessities as crucial to the exercise of countering extremism. Interestingly, marginalised segments of society including religious, sectarian and cultural minorities, women and those associated with the creative arts appear to hold a different view of extremism. According to the survey, they unanimously defined extremism as imbalanced ideological attitudes — attitudes that were conceived in a state of mind where an individual regards himself as superior to others and acts as an inquisitor. They classified the causes behind extremism as falling under three main categories: the misinterpretation of religion, political, economic and social inequalities and the lack of rational and logical behaviour. Such divergent perceptions on extremism are not surprising as the Taliban in the tribal areas, the Malakand region and adjacent parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa first targeted women, confining them to their homes and banning their entry in markets. Girls’ schools, Sufi shrines, cultural heritage sites and music shops have been torched and bombed. Violent activities and threats by the Taliban brought cultural activities and creative expressions, such as painting and poetry, to a halt in the affected areas. Each segment of Pakistani society has its own viewpoint on extremism and on how to counter it. The prevalence of diverse and often conflicting viewpoints makes it almost impossible for society to generate a collective response to issues of extremism and terrorism. Whereas the intellectuals lay more emphasis on ideological and empirical aspects when it comes to countering extremism, social experts and religious scholars vehemently assert that that is not an effective solution. More comprehensive studies and analyses may yield a clearer answer, but can the state afford to prioritise any particular set of causes said to be responsible for extremism and terrorism? Can the rationalisation of certain ideological, political and socio-cultural thinking patterns provide a quick fix for terrorism? Especially when views on extremism and also terrorism are paradoxical? At the same time, adjusting counter-extremism goals in the narrow operational framework of counterterrorism is an uphill task. Western counterterrorism frameworks cannot help Pakistan. In these frameworks, extremism and terrorism are not separated and a single policy is followed to deal with both challenges. The reason is that the challenge of terrorism in the West mainly originates from parallel societies of immigrant communities there. Adopting such an approach here would be devastating, as terrorism is not a community-oriented phenomenon in Pakistan. The government has to focus on countering terrorism to bring down the level of violence in the country. Until violence in the country is not reduced, both state and society will continue to suffer from the chicken and egg syndrome.