I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I - Essay Example This may result to inefficient allocation of resources and consumers to change their behaviors towards the market and so there is a need for the government to intervene. What more could happen if two large companies will merge? And these companies happen to cater services that are of importance to our fast moving lives- the telecommunications services? On November 24, 2011, an article entitled â€Å"AT&T Merger with T-Mobile Faces Setbacks† was published on nytimes.com by Edward Wyatt and Jenna Wortham. They talked about the problems that the two mobile companies, AT &T and T-Mobile, are facing with their planned merging. AT&T is one of the largest telecommunications services provider in the United States and even worldwide. Its services include wireless communications, local exchange services, long-distance services, data/broadband and Internet services, video services, managed networking, wholesale services and directory advertising and publishing. In March of 2011, it announced its plan to merge with T-Mobile which is owned by Deutsche Telekom. The former agreed to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. But of course, the merger was subject to F.C.C. approval because the joining of the two companies would have required transfer of licenses to use public airwaves for cellular phone signals and wireless Intern et access (Wyatt & Wortham, 2011). Being a monopoly or even just a big player in an industry yields many advantages and if not properly monitored will affect the consuming individuals negatively. In the case of these telecommunications merger, different sectors from the society are paying close attentions. The Justice Department for example has said that the merger would severely restrict competition, Federal Communications Commission officials have added that AT&T’s confidential filings indicate the merger would eliminate jobs and consumer groups who closely monitored the actions of the authorities said that their combined actions indicated

Surface State in Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3 Nanoflakes

Surface State in Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3 Nanoflakes Result of a study on the surface state in Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3 nanoflakes 4.1 Introduction The recent discovery of topological insulators (TIs) has provided new route for producing low-dimensional relativistic electronic states. The exotic surface states of TIs have attracted the attention of scientists because of their fascinating physical properties and applicability in spintronics and quantum computations [24-28]. The unique surface states were confirmed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on Sb2Te3, Bi2Te3, and Bi2Se3 [29-34]. Magnetotransport studies have also provided a clear picture of the topological surface state and the  ° Berry phase shift [35, 36],which gives rise to the immunity of Dirac fermions to localization. Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 are suitable candidates for TI studies because of their large energy gaps. Eg is approximately equal to 0.3 eV and 0.17 eV. However, the metallic bulk conduction of natural imperfections, such as vacancies or antisite defects in these materials, makes it difficult to probe surface Dirac fermions. Therefore, a high-insulating bulk state is a prerequisite for transport property studies of TIs. Substantial effort has made it possible to examine both the surface and the bulk channels either through electrical gating [36-42] or substitution doping [12-14, 42]. Recently, it was discovered that Bi2-xSbxTe3-ySey (BSTS) is a high-insulating bulk TI. BSTS exhibits a tetradymite structure, a low carrier concentration (2.3 Ãâ€" 1016 cm3), and a large bulk resistivity (8 ÃŽ © cm) because of the ordered occupation of Te/Se in the quintuple-layer unit [12, 13]. However, a reliable detection of surface quantum oscillations is difficult in BSTS flakes because of the inhomogeneous defect [12] and low surface mobility [40]. Thus, the low mobility in a bulk channel plays a crucial role in probing surface quantum oscillations. In this chapter, we report the observation of surface-dominated transport in the topological insulator BSTS nanoflakes. Shubnikov-de Hass (SdH) oscillations study on the 200-nm BSTS nanoflake indicates that the achievement of surface-dominated transport can be attributed its high surface mobility of 2602 cm2/Vs (top surface), 3657 cm2/Vs (bottom surface), and low bulk mobility of 12 cm2/V s, which is a much lower value than those reported [12-13, 40-41]. Besides, the nontrivial Dirac surface state was further confirmed by the weak anti-localization (WAL) effect and the semiconducting to metallic transport transformation as the thickness of the specimen was reduced to the thin film limit, in which a up to 90% contribution from the surface channel was estimated based on the thickness dependence of the electrical conductance and the result of the SdH oscillations. 4.2 Method BSTS single crystals nominally composed of Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3 were grown by melting the mixture of Bi (99.999%), Sb (99.999%), Te (99.999%), and Se (99.999%) in sealed evacuated quartz tubes. First the mixture was slowly ramped up to 750  °C at a rate of 100  °C/h and kept at 750  °C for 12 h. It was then furnace cooled to room temperature at a rate of 100  °C/h. The sample was reground and sintered again. The same procedure was repeated three times to ensure sample homogeneity. Finally, the sample was heated to 800  °C for 48 h, then cooled to 500  °C and annealed for 96 h. The crystal structures of the samples were identified using powder X-ray diffraction and refined using the General Structure Analysis System (GSAS) software package equipped with the EXPGUI interface, as shown in Figure 4.1(a). Transport measurements were conducted using a Quantum Design Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) and six-terminal Hall bar geometric specimens. The nanoflake specimens [Figure 4.1(b)] were mechanically exfoliated and transferred to the Si3N4 (200 nm)/Si substrate. The electrodes of the nanoflake were patterned using standard e-beam lithography and thermal evaporation of Ti/Au. Figure 4.1. (a) GSAS refinement of powder X-ray data of a BSTS crystal. Red circles represent experimental results, the green line represents calculated results, the blue line indicates the difference, and the Bragg peaks of the BSTS are shown by the vertical lines, where Rp, Rwp, and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ £2 represent the goodness factors. (b) The SEM image of a BSTS 160-nm nanoflake. 4.3 Results and discussion 4.3.1 Thickness and temperature dependence of resistance The considerable thickness dependence of electrical transport showed a transition from semiconducting to metallic behavior as the bulk content is reduced, as shown in Figure 4.2 (a). For the thick specimens, the thermal activation energies given by the Arrhenius law were 4.3 meV (140 ÃŽ ¼m), 3.5 meV (49 ÃŽ ¼m), and 2.37 meV (7 ÃŽ ¼m). The smaller activation energy of thinner specimens can be explained by the increasing contribution of surface states [12-13, 40-41]. In 140-ÃŽ ¼m BSTS, a significant deviation occurred below 20 K from the fitting to a three-dimensional variable-range hopping model (3D VRH) with Rxx is approximately exp[(T/T0)-1/4] [13], indicating the existence of a parallel metallic conduction of surface states [the inset in Figure 4.2 (a)]. According to Eq. 4.1, the total conductance G ° of a specimen with a thickness t can be formulated as G ° = Gs + à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ³bt, (4.1) where Gs is the surface sheet conductance, and ÏÆ'b is the bulk conductivity [38,42]. Gs =36.2 (e2/h) and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ³b = 4.14 (e2/h) ÃŽ ¼m−1, which resulted from the fit of thickness dependence of conductance to Eq. 4.1. For a 200-nm nanoflake at 2 K, up to 90% of the contribution from the surface state was obtained, as shown in Figure 4.2 (b). Figure 4.2. (a) Temperature dependence of resistivity for BSTS specimens with thicknesses of 140 ÃŽ ¼m, 200 nm, 160 nm, and 80 nm. The inset shows the fit of 3D variable-range hopping to the 140-lm specimens. (b) Thickness dependence of sheet conductance; the red line is the fit with G ° = Gs + à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ³bt. The inset shows the fitting of the Arrhenius law to the 140-ÃŽ ¼m specimen. 4.3.2 Hall measurements of BSTS To understand the semiconductor-metallic transitions, we focus on the charge transport behavior (Figure 4.3) and temperature dependence Hall measurement results of 160 nm specimen (Figure 4.4). Because of that the thickness seems like to the critical in between semiconductor and metallic transition. In Figure 4.3 (a), we gives three regimes in the temperature profile, one can obtain the nanoflake specimen with 160 nm thick showing metallic behavior which contrasts to its bulk. In the regime I, the bulk conduction dominates, as the temperature decreases the resistance increased which shows a general narrow-gap semiconductor behavior this can be attributed to freezing of the impurity band carrier in the bulk [27]. The regime II reveals a typical metallic behavior signature, the resistance decreases as temperature reduced, this can be explained as reduce phonon scattering and nearly constant carrier density (shown in Figure 4.4 (a)) with a decreasing temperature. In regime III, when the temperature is lower than 10 K, a slightly increases in resistance due to the bulk carriers freeze out [28]. Hall mobility measurements provide more clearly picture to realize the thickness dependence charge transport as shown in Figure 4.4 (b). The reduction in the degree of disorder or impurity of specimens can be obtained in Figure 4.4 (b) that the mobility enhanced as thickness decreased and their different temperature dependence trends. In thinner specimens (160 and 80 nm) the mobility shows monotonically increasing as decreasing temperature, surface dominate transport should play a more important role in this manner. Figure 4.3. Temperature dependence of the normalized resistance of specimens. Figure 4.4 (a) Temperature dependence of the Hall measurement results of 160 nm thick specimen. (b) Thickness dependence of Hall mobility versus temperature curve. 4.3.3 Surface quantum oscillations (Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations) Because successive empting of Landau levels (LLs) provides the nth minima in à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³Rxx, the relation of the LL index n to the Fermi surface cross-section area AF can be described using the semiclassical Onsager equation: 2 ° (n + à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ §) = AF Ä § / eB. For the Schrodinger electron case, à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § = 0, which results in a zero Berry phase. à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § = 1/2 indicates the case of the Dirac fermion of TIs, which results in a  ° Berry phase where the charge carrier is immune to localization. The temperature dependence of resistance for a 200-nm nanoflake shows à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³Rxx as a function of 1/B after a smoothing background subtraction, as shown in Figure 4.5 (a). Two sets of oscillation periods are marked; one with a black dashed line ([(à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³(1/B) = 0.041 T-1]) and the other with a blue dashed line (0.022 T-1) for the surfaces of the nanoflake specimen. The multicomponent nature of SdH oscillations originates from the Fermi-level positions of the two surfaces. If SdH oscillations are as a result of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed with band bending near the surface, the corresponded carrier density differs in an order of magnitude [35] compared to the Hall measurement result [n3D = 3.5 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ´ 101 8cm-3], which is obtained from the fit to low field B ( ±1T) data (Figure 4.5 (b)). Figure 4.5 (c) shows the LL fan diagram plotted in 1/B versus nth oscillation minima in à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³Rxx. The linear fit of the two-set SdH spectrum yields the intercepts of à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § = 0.48  ± 0.3 for Surface 1 and 0.49  ± 0.02 for Surface 2, where à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § values are closer to the theoretical value of 0.5 for ideal Dirac fermions. It is assumed that Surface 2 is the top surface because environmental contamination provides effective n-type doping [17] to the sample, which strongly influences the top surface. The specimens were closely stacked on the substrate to prevent the bottom surface from air contamination and electron-beam irradiation. Thus, the second set of SdH oscillations appears in the lower inversed field, shown in Figure 4.5 (a), which was probably from the top surface. In Figure 4.5 (c), the slope of one set of SdH oscillations provides the cross-section area of the Fermi surface [AF = 4.15 Ãâ€" 1017 m-2], and the Fermi wave number was = 0.0363 and the 2D surface carrier density was = 1.05 Ãâ€" 1012 cm-2 for the top surface (Surface 2). The second set of SdH oscillations resulted in AF = 2.32 Ãâ€" 1017 m-2 and = 0.02718 , and 0.58 Ãâ€" 1012 cm-2 for the bottom surface (Surface 1). Figure 4.5 (d) shows the fit of temperature dependence of SdH amplitudes to the Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) theory [11, 43].The cyclotron mass mc = 0.075 me is the same as that reported [13]. Once mc is known, we can calculate the Fermi velocity and the Fermi level position to be vF = 5.6 Ãâ€" 105 m/s and EF = 134 meV above the Dirac point for the top surface and vF = 4.19 Ãâ€" 105 m/s and EF = 75 meV for the bottom surface. The high Fermi level position of the top surface is consistent with the results of environmental doping mentioned previously. Due to the multiple component nature, the Dingle temperature is difficult to extrapolate from the SdH amplitude; therefore, Eq. 4.2 is used to fit the resistance data to the LK theory , (4.2) where F is the frequency of SdH oscillations extracted from the slopes of Figure 4.5 (c), the thermal factor is , and the Dingle temperature is [11, 43]. The solid red line in Figure 4.5 (e) shows the optimal fitted results of à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § = 0.5 and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ´ = 1.11 Ãâ€" 10-13 s for the top surface, and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § = 0.35 and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ´ = 1.56 Ãâ€" 10-13 s for the bottom surface. The fitted à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ § values are close to theoretical value of 0.5 for ideal Dirac fermions. According to the Dingle analysis, the scattering time is approximately two to three times larger than that of the bulk BSTS [13]. Mobility is a measure of scattering time; therefore, it is possible to calculate the surface mobility ÃŽ ¼s = 2602 cm2V-1s-1 and the mean free path = 62 nm for the top surface, and ÃŽ ¼s = 3657 cm2V-1s-1 and = 65 nm for the bottom surface. The surface mobility enhancement is consistent with the longer mean free path of the nontrivial topological Dirac state. The surface contribution to the total conductance (Gs/Gtot = 84.8%) was consistent with the results obtained from the thickness dependence of conductance. Take the sheet carrier density into account, n = ns + nb t [44]. The mobility of the bulk channel was 12 cm2/Vs, which is close to the total Hall mobility of the 140-ÃŽ ¼m thick BSTS specimen, 13 cm2/Vs. The low Hall mobility of bulk carriers causes less interference with the surface Dirac fermions; thus, the enhancement of the surface contribution and quantum oscillations was detected in the specimens used in this study. Figure 4.5. (a) Temperature dependence of resistance. à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³Rxx is function of 1/B. n = 4, 5, and 6 are the LLs of the bottom surface; n = 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the LLs of the top surface of the 200-nm nanoflake. (b) Hall resistance versus magnetic field. The red dashed line is extended from the low B ( ±1T) fit. The inset shows the Fermi level positions of the top and bottom surfaces, respectively. BV is the bulk valance band, and BC is the conduction band. (c) The LL fan diagram plotted in 1/B versus the nth oscillation minima in the à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³Rxx. (d) The fit of temperature dependence of the SdH oscillation amplitude to the LK theory. (e) à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚ ³R versus 1/B. The black curve is the experimental data, and the red curve is the fit to LK theory. 4.3.4 Weak anti-localization effect In addition to SdH oscillations, the helical surface state was further probed using the WAL effect on the 200-nm BSTS. The WAL effect in TIs originated from the  ° Berry phase, in which the probability of backscattering was suppressed as a result of the destructive interference of time-reversed paths. The angle field dependence magnetoconductance analysis is shown in Figure 4.6 (a). The sharp cusps of the magnetoconductance in the lower field region are features of WAL. The 2D nature of Dirac fermions associated with the  ° Berry phase, which is dependent only on the perpendicular component of the applying field, was obtained by subtracting the background from the 3D bulk WAL contribution, ΔGxx(ÃŽ ¸,B) = Gxx(ÃŽ ¸,B) Gxx(90 °,B) (5), as shown in Figure 4.6 (b). Figure 4.6 (b) shows that low-angle data merge into a single universal curve [15]. The Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka (HLN) [15] model is used to calculate sheet conductance [27], as given in Eq. (3): , (4.3) where Gxx is sheet conductance, is the phase coherent length, and is the digamma function. The value for à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ (-0.96) and (121 nm) were obtained for the 200-nm nanoflake. For the WAL effect in TIs, the prefactor à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ was equal to -0.5 for a single surface state [40]. The complicacies of topological surface states resulted in an experimental value à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ between -0.4 to -1.5 [38, 40]. In this study, the value à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡ = -0.96 indicated the existence of two surface states. Figure 4.6. (a) The angle field dependence magnetoconductance of the 200-nm nanoflake. The inset is a schematic diagram of the measurement. (b) ΔGxx versus the perpendicular field component (B cos ÃŽ ¸) for various angles. Low-angle data merge into a single curve (the green dashed line) fitted using the HLN model. 4.4 Conclusion In this study, dominated surface transport was observed in BSTS nanoflakes. The thickness dependence electrical transport and the SdH oscillations illustrated that the surface states in the 200-nm BSTS nanoflake contribute to nearly 90 % of the conductance. The achievement of the surface-dominated transport is mainly attributed to the high surface mobility relative to the bulk channel. The observation of SdH oscillations provides clear evidence of surface Dirac fermions. Surface-dominated transport was further confirmed by the WAL effect showing 2D nature of helical Dirac surface states. Moreover, electrical transport transforms from semiconducting to metallic behavior, and mobility was enhanced when the thickness decreased, indicating that surface states plays a crucial role in the thin film limit. The high-insulating bulk state in BSTS nanoflakes provides opportunities for future quantum computation and spintronics applications.

Odysseus is an Epic Hero :: essays research papers

People are heroes in different ways for different reasons. American soldiers are heroes because they fight boldly for their country. Corrie Ten Boom is also a hero because she took risks and saved hundreds of Jews. Abraham Lincoln is another example of a hero because he fought for what he thought was right and helped free all slaves. Similarly, Odysseus, the main character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, possesses all of these characteristics and many more, making him a true epic hero. First of all, Odysseus is brave and courageous, giving him the initiative to fulfill his goals. One example is when Odysseus confronts Skylla. Odysseus purposely â€Å"made [his] way along to the foredeck—thinking to see her first from there† (Homer 217). If he was scared, he would have hidden underneath the deck. But instead, Odysseus goes out to face the beast. Odysseus knows that Skylla is immortal and cannot die, yet he is brave enough to confront her. Next, Odysseus fights the suitors, who are courting Penelope in his palace. The suitors greatly outnumber Odysseus, but Odysseus still chooses to fight even though the odds are against him and he is able to win. He stands up against those who do wrong. Having the courage to fight, Odysseus defeats the suitors and fulfills his goal of regaining his palace. If Odysseus was a coward and did not fight, then the suitors would have eventually won Penelope, resulting in Odysseus losing his palace and his wife. Ma ny people have bravery and courage, but not many use it, as Odysseus does, to achieve their purpose. Secondly, Odysseus has great self-control, which allows him to deeply contemplate his decisions. Moments before Odysseus falls asleep, he spots a â€Å"covey of women laughing as they [slip] out†¦to the suitors’ beds† (Homer 375). Seeing this, Odysseus is angered and wants to kill every one of the suitors right then and there. But Odysseus retains his self-control and does not strike yet. At that moment, if he did strike, he would have lost because he would not have been prepared. He retains all his anger for the final battle with the suitors. In that battle, Odysseus is fully prepared and ready to fight, resulting in all the suitors’ deaths. Next, when Antinoos throws a footstool at Odysseus, â€Å"Odysseus only [shakes] his head, containing thoughts of bloody work† (Homer 326).

Early Childhood Education Field Essay -- Education, teaching, elementa

Introduction Due to an increased demannd for standards and accountability in the early childhood education field, policy makers have increasingly turned to the development of effective professional practice among early childhood educators (ECEs) as the predominant approach in securing better outcomes for children. ECEs have thus found themselves under increased pressure to develop professional practices through professional development which has been demonstrated to have a profound impact on children’s holistic development and their performance prospects in society. This essay will focus on the development of effective professional practice among ECEs. The paper will critically evaluate the importance of developing professional practice among ECEs, how it is developed and the application in ECE’s practice. The essay will highlight how professional practice and core beliefs of ECEs are shaped by factors such as professional and personal identity, beliefs and values and regulatory d ocuments and bodies. Development of Professional Practice The importance attached to the development of effective professional practice among ECEs can be seen in the Professional Support Coordinators Alliance of South Australia (PSCSA’s) definition of professional development. The PSCSA defines professional development as â€Å"continuous learning that enables practitioners to affirm existing understandings as well as acquire new skills and knowledge and thereby remain up-to-date with evolving developments in the field (PSCSA, 2008, p17).† The report also considers the development of professional practice among ECEs as any endeavor to improve service delivery to the families and the children that they are contracted to provide the service for. This def... ...n The development of effective self practice among early childhood educators has become an increasingly important aspect of quality management and improved service delivery in the ECE sector. The significance of professional development for ECEs is that it enhances the acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions as well as the application of this knowledge in professional practice. Professional development is mainly through continuous learning and training and is dependent on the educator’s core personal and professional values and beliefs. These beliefs are shaped by publications of regulatory and professional bodies and through constant self reflection and evaluation. This then enables ECEs work on their beliefs that shape their professional practice as regards mode of teaching and also professional relationships with family and community.

The Mission Movie Analysis

The movie The Mission (1986) staring Robert DiNiero, is set during the colonial time period and sheds light on the Jesuits and their early missions in Brazil. It shows us a timeline of the behaviors of countries such as Spain and Portugal as well as the Jesuit missions. The movie opens with a focus on an Indian village set on the top of a waterfall. This village is depicted from two separate viewpoints, as the viewer is shown a Jesuit Priest named Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) in the beginning steps of attempting to submerge into the Indian culture in hope to eventually convert them to the Jesuit faith.On the opposite end of the spectrum, men from Spain are shown entering a similar village, capturing as many Indians as possible and bringing them back to Spain to sell to others who will turn them into slaves. Each side continues these behaviors throughout the majority of the movie. Over time, you can see the growth of the relationship between the Jesuit Priests and the Indian villages . In addition to providing them with religion, parts of the Jesuits’ successes were achieved in bringing over new world practices to what one would otherwise describe as an uncivilized population.The implementation of simple things such as teaching the Indians how to build soundly structured buildings, laid the foundation of trust needed to have the Indians convert to the Jesuit faith and eventually build a large church in the center of the village. The Jesuits missions have been very successful thus far. However, political negations between Spain and Portugal deviate and the two countries form a treaty outlining an agreement for Spain to concede land to Portugal, which they will use to build their own civilizations and enslave or kill local Indian tribes as well as anyone who stands in their way.A trail is held to determine if the Spain and Portugal have to authority to destroy the sacred work of the Jesuit missions. The judge takes time to explore all the villages that the Jesuits have converted including their oldest mission known as The Great Mission of Sab Miguel. The judge is treated like royalty at every stop he makes in trying to decide but ultimately decides that the villages can be destroyed to make way for the effectiveness of the Spanish and Portuguese treaty.This is met with obvious resistance from the Indians who are overcome with feeling of betrayal from not only their God but also these foreign settlers that they let into their lives. When the Portuguese show up, the Indians are prepared for war but in the end, wooden spears are not a fair fight for guns and swords. The Indians’ villages are torched and those who were not killed were shackled, enslaved, transported back and sold. I feel that as far as movies go, this one did a very good job when is came to historical accuracies.The film makes it seem that the Indians would not have been able to survive without the help of the Jesuits and the mission, which simply is not true. The film also fails to point out the lack of freedom that the Indians had within these missions. In fact, the film at times portrays the exact opposite. Lastly, the film paints the Jesuits as innocent and the good guys throughout the film. I feel this is the most egregious inaccuracy. The Jesuits were not simply there to spread Christianity to people, but rather it was a beginning step in taking over the entire culture and land of the Indian people.I thought the movie was definitely effective. I felt that the film itself was well depicted and gave the viewer a clear understanding of not only the struggle in the area but also the political ripples it caused as it ultimately eluded to the global effect this situation had. I was pleased that things were not disproportionally exaggerated, as is the case all too often in movies; conversely, Roland Joffe does a commendable job of bringing life the words of a history textbook without compromising it’s integrity with the help of Robert D e Niro and Jeremy Irons.

Flourishing of Indian Culture in Gupta Empire Essay

The era of Gupta Empire, which lasted for two centuries on the territories of modern northern India, can be named as a period of economic, cultural and social rise of Indian community. Leadership of the Emperors of Gupta Dynasty was very successful, and there were peace, order and social harmony set up at Gupta territories. Such circumstances favored the development and flourishing of culture and intellectual science in Gupta Empire. Wall-paintings of Ajanta Caves in Deccan demonstrate high level of artistic skills, creativity and imagination of Gupta painters. The main themes of those paintings are religious motifs and daily life of Gupta people. Also, there are magnificent sculptures and powerful statues, which mostly image different Buddhist gods and are still in good state of preservation. Architectural monuments of those times are mostly Hindu temples with towers. This period can be characterized by combining of traditional forms with new aspects in all branches of Indian art. Popularization of Sanskrit language brought to considerable rise in literature. Outstanding Gupta poets Kalidasa, Dandi, Shudaka contributed to Indian literature their poetry, comedies and dramas, in which they used to address to lyrical, religious, epic, narrative and erotic motives. In those times a great number of books and researches were written, both literary and scientific, including famous Kamasutra, the work about the art of physical love. During the Gupta Age a lot of achievements took place in such disciplines, like mathematic, logic, astronomy, medicine, veterinary, and others. For example, a new Gupta numerical system was developed from the Brahmi numerals, which later on influenced Roman decimal system. Gupta astronomers could calculate the duration of the solar year, and Gupta doctors could do a type of operation, which is known now as Caesarian section. Unfortunately, the Gupta Era and its cultural progress did not last long. The main reason of this can be the fall of the Empire as a result of invasions of the White Huns from the South and the West. This caused the split up of the Empire and assimilation of Gupta people into other Asian nations. Nevertheless, a lot of cultural memorials and intellectual achievements could survive and contribute into further development of Indian community and the whole humanity. Bibliography: †¢ Gupta Empire. (2006, February). Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved March 20, 2006, from: . †¢ Gupta Empire in India. (1995, September). Indian Child. A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety. Retrieved March 20, 2006, from: . †¢ Hooker, R. (1999, July 6). World Civilizations: The Age of Guptas and After. Washington State University. Board of Regents. Retrieved March 20, 2006, from . †¢ The Gupta Age. (n. d. ). Today’s India. Embassy of India in Havana. Retrieved March 20, 2006, from: .

Treetop Forest Products Ltd

Marketing: In business, firm marketing generates the revenues that the financial people manage and the production people use in creating goods and services. The challenge that faces marketing is to generate those revenues by satisfying customers’ wants at a profit and in a socially responsible manner. However, marketing is not limited to business organizations.Whenever we try to persuade somebody to do something: donate to RED CROSS, not to litter the highways, save energy, vote for candidate, we are engaging in marketing; thus marketing has a broad societal meaning and it is applicable not only for profit making but also for not profit organizations. Many scholars define marketing as follows: 1. According to American Marketing Association, marketing is defined as the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers or users. . According to William J. Stanton, Marketing is a system of business activities designed to plan , price, promote and distribute want satisfying goods and services to present and potential customers. 3. According to Evans and Berman, Marketing is the anticipation, stimulation, facilitation, regulation and satisfaction of consumer and public’s demand for products, services, organizations, people, places, and ideas through the exchange process. 4.According to Philip Kotler, Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. Generally, the definition of marketing can be grouped in to two: classical (narrow) definition and modern (broad) definition. Classical Definition: In classical terms marketing can be defined as the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers. This definition is too narrow to describe marketing.It emphasizes the distribution aspect of marketing. Modern Definition: In broade r terms marketing is defined as a system of business activities designed to plan, price, distribute and promote want satisfying products (goods and services) to present and potential customers. In marketing, there are combinations of activities, which start before the creation of a product and don’t end until customers are satisfied. Therefore, product planning, pricing, distribution and promotion are the main activities performed in marketing.Marketing includes anticipating demand, which requires a firm to do customer research on a regular bases so that it develops and introduces products that are desired by consumers, Management of demand which consists of stimulation, facilitation, and regulation of tasks; and satisfaction of demand which involves actual performance, safety, availability of options, after sale service and other factors. From the above discussions, we can conclude the following about marketing: a. Marketing is the business activity concerned with the flow o f goods and services from producers to consumers. . Marketing generates and facilitates exchange c. The concept of marketing lies on needs, wants, and demands of customers. d. Marketing is greater than selling. e. Marketing is an integrated activity. f. Marketing is concerned with customer satisfaction. MARKETING FUNCTIONS The following are the basic marketing functions: 1. Environmental Analysis and Marketing Research: Involves monitoring and adapting to external factors that affect success or failures, such as the economy and competition; and collecting data to resolve specific marketing issues. 2. Consumer Analysis:Involves examining and evaluating customer characteristics, needs, and purchase processes and selecting the group of consumers at which to aim marketing efforts. 3. Product Planning: ( including goods, services and ideas) Involves developing and maintaining products, product assortments, product images, brands, and packaging, and optional features; and deleting falteri ng products. 4. Distribution Planning: Involves establishing relations with distribution-channel intermediaries, physical distribution, inventory management, warehousing, transportation, the allocation of goods and services, wholesaling and retailing 5.Promotion Planning: Involves communicating with customers, the general public and others through some form of advertising, publicity, personal selling, and/or sales promotion. 6. Price Planning: Involves determining price levels and ranges, price techniques, terms of purchase, price adjustments, and the use of price as an active or passive factor. 7. Broadening the organizations' /individuals' scope: Involves deciding on the emphasis to place, as well as the approach to take, on international marketing, service/ -non-profit marketing and societal issues. 8. Marketing Management:Involves planning, implementation, and controlling the marketing program (strategy) and individual marketing functions; and appraising the risks and benefits i n decision making. According to W. J. Stanton and McKarthy, there are eight economic activities in marketing that are broadly classified into three: 1. Exchange: -Buying -Selling 2. Physical Distribution – Transportation – Storage 3. Facilitating /Auxiliary/ – Financing – Marketing research and information – Risk bearing – Product standardization 1) Exchange: It is the process by which parties provide something of value to one another to satisfy the needs of each.The seller provides a needed product Goods Services Seller Buyer Money Credit The buyer offers something in return a) Buying: It is acquisition and procurement of goods for eventual resale or for production of other goods or rendering of services. b) Selling: It is not only just to make sales but also to find buyers, stimulate them, and provide advice and service to buyers. It involves advertisement, personal selling, customer service, publicity, etc. 2) Physical Distribution: Refer s to handling and movement of goods from production area to market center.It consists of a) Storage: It provides proper handling and storage of goods until they are demanded and sold. b) Transportation: It is the shipment and movement of goods from their manufacturing place to the market center /place of sale/. It enables to make goods reachable to the consumers. 3) Facilitating Function /Auxiliary Function: these are functions that facilitate and assist the proper performance of other functions of marketing. It encompasses a) Financing: To carry out business operations smoothly, it requires finance or money. Marketing as a major business activity, leads us to the need for money or finance.Without it, organizations are unable to schedule their operations. The activity of financing involves the proper handling and management of the inflow and outflow of money. Accordingly, finance is defined as the management function, which involves effectively obtaining and using money. Sources of finance include revenue from sale of company products and services, rental of business properties, from sale of stock, or from loan and credit agencies. b) Market Research and information: Managers of businesses do not make decisions on the basis of common sense or intuition. They require information.Therefore, to make marketing decisions and to design effective marketing policies, managers should get information regarding tests, preferences, attitudes and needs of customers; position of competitors, capacity of suppliers and creditors. For the success of business, market research is an important activity that involves gathering, analyzing, and interpretation of data collected regarding the needs of consumers. c) Risk Bearing: Business organizations when they are established, it is with the objective of getting profit, expansion, growth, etc. Nevertheless, they fail to achieve their objectives because of uncertainty of the future.Hence, the chance or the possibility of loss that bus iness face is known as RISK. d) Product standardization and Grading: These are facilitating functions that are used to identify the quantity and quality of production. When goods are standardized and graded neither the buyer nor the seller is required to check each and every part of the product. It saves the time of both buyers & sellers. Standardization enables customers to know that there is always definite or standard quality in a particular package; and grading indicates that a package labeled with grades A, B, or C are always uniform and the same everywhere and ever time.The field of marketing is a crucial one for several reasons: it stimulates demand; a large number of people are employed on marketing positions; it supports entire industries such as advertising and marketing research; all people are consumers in some situations; it is necessary to use scarce resources efficiently; it impacts on people's beliefs and life styles; and it influences the quality of our lives. The s cope of marketing is quite broad and diversified. To perform the marketing functions, marketing Performers are required and they are organizations or individuals that undertake one or more marketing functions.They include manufacturers, service providers, wholesalers, retailers, marketing specialists, and organizational and final consumers. Each performer has a different role. One party usually does not perform all the functions. This is due to costs, assortment requirements, specialized abilities, company size, established methods of distribution, and consumer interests. TASKS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT Marketing managers in different organizations might face any of the following states of demand. The marketing task is to manage demand effectively. The various states of demand and the corresponding marketing management task according to P.Kotler are the following: 1. Negative demand: This is a state in which all or the major parts of the society, dislikes the product and may even pay a price to avoid it. Examples are vaccination, alcoholic employees, dental work, and seat belts. The corresponding marketing task is to analyze why the market dislikes the product and whether product redesign, lower price, or more positive promotion can change the consumer attitudes. This marketing task or activity is known as CONVERSIONAL marketing which tries to change people’s want rather than serve their wants. . No demand: This is a case where target customers may be uninterested in or indifferent to a particular product. For example, farmers may not know about a new farming method; college students may not be interested in taking foreign language courses. Marketing managers are concerned with finding ways to connect the product’s benefits with the user’s needs and interests. This marketing task is known as STIMULATIONAL marketing; it tries to stimulate a want for an object in people who initially have no knowledge or interest in the product 3.Latent demand : Consumers have a want that is not satisfied by any existing product or service. This state of demand where many customers share a strong need for something that does not exist in the form of actual product is called LATENT demand. Examples include the need for harmless cigarettes, more fuel-efficient cars, etc. In this case, marketing managers respond by trying and developing effective goods and services that will satisfy the demand through analysis and measurement of the potential market.The marketing task is called DEVELOPMENTAL marketing and its task is to measure the size of the potential market and trying to develop a new product or service that would satisfy the demand. 4. Falling demand: Sooner or later, every organization faces falling demand for one or more of its products. For example, churches have seen their membership decline, and private colleges have seen fewer applications. The marketer must find the causes of market decline and re-stimulate demand by finding new m arkets, changing product features, or creating more effective communication and the marketing task is REMARKETING. . Irregular demand: It is a state in which the timing pattern of demand is marked by seasonal and volatile fluctuations causing problems of idle capacity and overworked. For example museums are under-visited during weekdays and overworked during weekends. The corresponding marketing task is SYNCHROMARKETING, i. e. , to find ways to alter the time pattern of demand through flexible pricing, promotion and other incentives so that it will better match the time pattern of supply. 6. Full demand: The organization has just the amount of demand it wants and can handle.It is a state where the current level and timing of demand is equal to the desired level and timing of demand. The marketing task is MAINTENANCE marketing and is designed to maintain the current level of demand against changing consumer preferences. The organization maintains quality, and continually measures sat isfaction to make sure it is doing a good job. 7. Overfull demand: It is a state in which demand is higher than the company can or wants to handle. The marketing task is called DEMARKETING and its task is finding ways to reduce the demand temporarily, or permanently.De-marketing involves such actions as raising prices and reducing promotion and service. It does not aim to destroy demand, but only to reduce it. It calls for using normal marketing tools in reverse. 8. Unwhole-Some demand: Unwholesome products such as cigarettes, alcohol, and hard drugs will attract organized effort to destroy the demand or interest in particular product or service. The corresponding marketing task is known as COUNTERMARKETING it is a difficult task in that the aim is to get people who like something to give it up. Marketing manager cope with these tasks by arrying out marketing research, planning, implementation and control. The demand levels and corresponding marketing tasks are summarized as follows : State of demand| Marketing task| Formal Name| 1. | Negative demand| Disabuse demand| Conversional marketing| 2. | No demand| Create demand| Stimulation Marketing| 3. | Latent demand| Develop demand| Developmental marketing| 4. | Falling demand| Revitalized demand| Remarketing marketing| 5. | Irregular demand| Synchronize demand| Synchro-marketing| 6. | Full demand| Maintain| Maintenance marketing| 7. Overfull demand| Reduce demand| Demarketing marketing| 8. | Unwholesome demand| Destroy demand| Counter marketing| 2. 3. MARKETING MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS We have described marketing management, as the conscious effort to achieve desired exchange outcomes with target markets. Now we ask what philosophy should guide these marketing efforts? What weights should be given to the interests of the organization, the customers and society? Very often these interests conflict. Clearly, marketing activities should be carried out under a clear philosophy of efficient, effective, and responsible mark eting.There are five competing concepts under which organizations conduct their marketing activity. 1. The production concept: This concept holds that consumers will favor those products that are widely available and low in cost. Management of production oriented organization concentrates on achieving high production efficiently and wide distribution coverage. Organizations that appreciate this concept assume that consumers like products that are widely available and accessible at low cost. The production concept is one of the oldest concepts guiding sellers.The assumption that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low price holds in at least two types of situations. The first is where the demand for a product exceeds supply as in many Third World countries. Here consumers are more interested in obtaining the product than in its fine points. The suppliers will concentrate on finding ways to increase production. The second situation is where the productâ€⠄¢s cost is high and has to be brought down through increased productivity to expand the market.Texas instruments provides a contemporary example of the production concept: Texas Instruments is the leading American exponent of the â€Å"get-out production, cut the price† philosophy. Ford put all of his talent into perfecting the mass production of automobile to be down their instruments all of its efforts in building production volume and improving technology in order to bring down costs. It uses its lower costs to cut process and expand the market size. It strives to achieve the dominant position in its markets.To Texas Instruments, marketing primarily means one thing bringing down the price to buyers; this orientation has also been a key strategy of many Japanese companies. 2. The product concept: Under this concept, marketing managers assume that consumers will prefer those products that offer (provide) the most quality, performance, with good features. Managers in this pr oduct-oriented organizations focus their energy on making quality products and improving them over time. These managers assume that buyers admire well-made products and can select, purchase and appreciate product quality.Products oriented companies often design their product with little or no customer input. These managers are caught up in a love affair with their product and fail to appreciate that the market may be less â€Å"turned on. † They trust that their engineers will know how to design or improve the product. Too often they will not even examine competitors products because â€Å"they were not invented here. † A General Motors executive said years ago† â€Å"How can the public know what kind of car they want until they see what is available? † GM’s designers would develop plant for a new car. Then manufacturing would make it.Then the finance department would price it. Finally, marketing and sales would try to sell it. GM failed to ask cust omers what they wanted and never brought in the marketing people at the beginning to help figure out what kind of car would sell. The product concept leads to â€Å"marketing myopia† a focus on the product greater than on the customer’s need. Railroad management thought that users wanted trains rather than transportation and overlooked the growing challenge of the airlines, buses, trucks, and automobiles. Churches and the post office all assume that they are offering the public the right product and wonder why their sales falter.These organizations too often are looking into a mirror when they should be looking out the window. 3. The Selling concept: Under this philosophy/concept/, marketing managers assume that consumers purchase products if the organization undertakes an aggressive selling and promotion effort. Therefore, firms emphasize and direct their effort on promotion and selling of their products. Most firms practice the selling concept when they introduce new products and when they have over capacity. The selling concept holds that consumers, if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the organization’s products.The organization must therefore undertake an aggressive selling effort. The concept assumes that consumers typically show buying inertia or resistance and have to be coaxed into buying, and that the company has available a whole battery of effective selling and promotion tools to stimulate more buying. The selling concept is practiced most aggressively with â€Å"unsought goods,† those goods that buyers normally do not think of buying such as insurance, encyclopedias, and funeral plots. These industries have perfected various sales techniques to locate prospects and hard sell them on product benefits.Most firms practice the selling concept when they have over capacity. Their aim is to sell what they make rather than make what the market wants. In modern industrial economies, productive capacity has been built up to a point where most markets are buyer markets (i. e. , the buyers are dominant), and sellers have to scramble hard for customers. Prospects are bombarded with television commercials, newspaper ads, direct mail, and sales calls. At every turn, someone is trying to sell something. As a result, the public identifies marketing with hard selling and advertising. 4.The Marketing Concept: The marketing concept is different from the above three concepts. Managers under this concept assumes that the key to achieving organizational goals is based on the determination of the needs and wants of consumers and delivering or providing the desired satisfaction more efficiently, and effectively, than competitors. When we compare the marketing concept with the selling concept, the selling concept focuses on the needs of the seller; the marketing concept focuses on the needs of the buyer. Selling concept focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer.Selling is preoccupi ed with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash. Marketing is preoccupied with the idea of satisfying the customers’ needs of the product and the whole cluster of things associated by creating and delivering the product. The marketing concept rests on four main pillars, namely target market, customer needs, coordinated marketing, and profitability. These are shown in figure below – The selling concept Starting pointFocusMeans Ends FactoryProductsSelling ; Profits throughpromotion sales volume The marketing concept Starting point focus meansEndsTarget market Customer CoordinatedProfits through Needs marketingCustomer Satisfaction Here we examine how each pillar of the marketing concept contributes to more marketing that is effective. i. TARGET MARKET: No company can operate in every market and satisfy every need. Nor can it even do a good job within one broad market. Companies do best when define their target market (s) carefully and prepare a tailored marketing program. An auto manufacture can think of designing passenger cars, station wagons, sports carts, and luxury. But this thinking is less precise than defining a customer target group.One Japanese carmaker is designing a car for the career woman, and it will have many features that male-dominated cars don’t have. Another Japanese carmaker is designing a car for the â€Å" town man,† the young person who needs to get about town and park easily. In each, the company has clarified a target market, and this will greatly influence the car design. Societal Marketing Concept: It holds that the organization should determine the needs, wants, and interests of the target markets and deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that maintains or improves the customer’s and the ociety’s well-being. The societal marketing concept calls upon marketers to balance three considerations in setting their marketing poli cies. Originally, companies based their marketing decisions largely on short-run company profit. Overtime, companies began to recognize the long-run importance of satisfying consumer wants, and introduced the marketing concept. Now they are beginning to think of society’s interests when making decisions. The societal marketing concept calls for balancing all three considerations-company profits, consumer wants, and society’s interests.