A Summary of District-Level Downsizing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Summary of District-Level Downsizing - Essay Example Schachter goes on to add that, the state legislators or the democratic and republican governors are on a process to balance their budgets and the bad economic times have forced them to implement a huge cut in the public services arena, where the education sector is the target. The director of the AASA (American Association of School Administrators) confirmed this by saying that addition of the cuts to the end of the stimulus year would see the districts come to a cliff. While reacting to the survey that was conducted by the AASA concerning the school superintendents, the director Domenech indicated that the budget cut value of 5%, which was targeting the administrators, was bound to accelerate. The whole district school administrator spectrum has become the target and vulnerable. The cuts in the education sector that are happening currently in the United States cities are a unique event that has never happened. As the number of the students rises, other educational leaders are guttin g departments such as operations and assessments at the district level to turn the assistant principal position into a species that is endangered. The executive director of the IASA (Illinois Association of School Administrators) attributed the current events to the administrators being a microcosm of the recess in America. According to Schachter, different states have reacted to these events in different ways in as much as the cuts or the layoffs are common in all the involved districts. In California for example the layoffs or down sizing have considerably narrowed down the administrative corridor. Approximately 3,000 administrative posts an equivalent of 17% reduction has been implemented in California. This hardest part of this is that the state of California over the same period managed to loose a total of 20,000 teacher’s equivalent of 6%. Despite of all these downsizing attempts a $4billion cut in California state education aid is looming and if the Gov.Brown’s plan of temporarily raising the taxes of some states is not approved, and then as many as 2000 administrators are going out of their jobs next year. The administrators were targeted first to try and salvage the classroom since the instruction of the students was a priority hence the teachers were spared in California. The Charleston (S.C.) to mention as one of the schools froze the salaries of 3400 teachers and lay off a few. The board of this school is planning to cut between 70 and 60 positions in non-classrooms in the following year. This is according to Bobby Michael, who is the chief operations and financial officer for the county school Charleston. (Schachter, 1) In the state of Texas, the idea of raising the property taxes is not being considered despite the amount accounting for 37% of Texas school budget. The superintendent of Irving (Texas) Independent School District Bedden Dana managed to tap $6.5 million, and another $7million to $10 million of the district’s res erve fund will be taken in the following year to cover the deficit. The Irving district is facing a huge deficit of between $21 million to $31 million and, therefore, the reserves will not be enough to offset the deficits. Schachter is of the opinion that, the district has adopted another method of increasing the size of the class by adding three students at the elementary averaging

The Limits of Efficiency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Limits of Efficiency - Essay Example And so unions formed, and enough of a public outcry was raised to stir Congress to action. The COPE Act sounds like a promise to return to the easier days before regulation in some parts of the cable television and Internet industry. Because it can take months for cable companies to be awarded franchises, this bill sets up a system of "national cable franchising" in Title I (Summary of COPE Act). The bonus is that applications will now be awarded in thirty days. However, this will lead to the elimination of competition, and insufficient media infrastructure in poor communities, and so this bill threatens the access of many to affordable media. As a result, it should not be made into law as it is currently written. It may seem that creating one franchising standard nationwide would be a positive change. As it stands now, cable providers have to work out local franchising agreements with every local government where they want to offer their programming. Because telephone companies want to enter the cable television industry, they also have to go through this maze of negotiation, and one force behind the COPE Act is the telephone companies' complaint that the negotiation process is excessively "burdensome"(COPE Act of 2006). However, for this bill to be fair to all Americans, it should contain more specific requirements for infrastructure. There are currently no requirements for providers to set up infrastructure to all neighborhoods within a particular market, and so people in rich neighborhoods could end up with more choices, and therefore better pricing, than those in poor neighborhoods (COPE Act of 2006). Without this requirement, companies are likely to avoid areas where collections and maintenance costs could be higher, because of higher occurrences of delinquent accounts and vandalism. If one segment of the American population has the chance to receive lower cable prices, then all segments should have that chance. Also, by creating a national set of franchising requirements, this bill takes away the ability of state and local government to regulate the cable industry in the area of consumer protection, giving that ability instead to the FCC, an already burdened government agency that does not have the time to regulate the cable industry's consumer practices as well. The FCC is not currently authorized to order refunds, as state and local governments are - the FCC only has the power to fine companies, and that money just goes to the government - not to the victims (COPE Act of 2006). Another area of concern has to do with public, educational, and government channels, or PEG TV. If cable companies no longer have to answer to municipal and state governments, it will no longer have the incentive to give up channels for public/community access space (Davies). This will even further reduce the amount of non-commercial media available

Effect of privatization on performance of public corporations

Effect of privatization on performance of public corporations Stock exchanges anywhere in the world provide a platform for investors and capital raisers to come together and get what they want. They assist in trading of stocks and bonds. Apart from that, it can be viewed as a liquidity providing platform. For this purpose, the stock exchange has to have a set of rules that will govern the execution and clearing of trade. Some of the responsibilities of a stock exchange are also enforcing standard rules to reduce transaction costs and monitoring of the trading to prevent manipulations like insider trading. A share or stock company model does issue shares of stock that are available through one or more stock market exchange. Shareholders purchase the shares of stock and become part owners in the company. This is a highly desirable status for many companies, as it can help generate significant amounts of revenue that make it possible for the company to grow in ways that would not be possible if the corporation remained privately held. Etukudo (2002) notes that capital markets transfer funds from savers to investors in productive assets such as plant and machinery as well as to providers of services. Capital markets also provide a mutually beneficial bridge between those who have short-time horizons and companies and projects with longer prospects. In addition, enterprises are provided with equity capital through the stock market, short, medium and long-term debt is made available through the bond market, and short or medium-term debt is provided through the banking sector. The financial intermediaries in all these transactions constitute the financial service sector and while the constituents of the sector and their relative importance vary from country to country, they generally include banks, stock exchanges, brokers and insurance companies. 1.1.1.2 Privatization of public corporations Boubakri and Cosset (1994) note that privatization has turned into a major phenomenon for the developed world as well as the developing world, particularly so over the last decade, with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) being privatized at an increasing rate. Ramamurti, (1991) note that the objectives of privatization are numerous. Country studies show that these objectives include improving government cash flows by redusing subsidies and capital infusions to SOEs, promoting popular capitalism through a wider ownership of shares, restraining the power of trade unions in the public sector, redistributing incomes and rents within society, satisfying foreign donors by reducing the governments role in the economy and especially enhancing the efficiency and the performance of the SOE sector based on the rationale that the private sector outperforms the public sector. Privatization in the 1990s led to the sale of 207 enterprises. Kenya Airways (KQ) was rated the most successful privatization venture in Africa. The Government has earmarked 33 companies for full or partial sale, these include; the National Bank of Kenya (NBK),the Kenya Commercial Bank(KCB), the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), KenGen, Kenya Petroleum Refineries, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Telkom Kenya and Kenya Railways Corporation. The methods of sale will range from concessioning, sale at the Nairobi Stock Exchange, and securing strategic partnerships with major players in the relevant sectors. 1.2 Statement of the Problem A study by Boubakri and Cosset (1994) examined the financial and operating performance of newly privatized firms in developing countries and noted that findings in for developing markets could be different from those of developed countries because the capital market may not play its monitoring role. To take account of the possibility that some of the differences between preprivatization and postprivatization performance could be due to economywide factors, the authors used performance measures adjusted for market effects in addition to unadjusted performance measures. The results were generally less significant when they adjusted the performance ratios for market effects. The authors thus concluded that this evidence brings to light the importance of considering a benchmark against which the performance of sample firms can be compared. Limi (2003) studied the influence of the level of economic development on the post-privatization growth rates in public infrastructure within the telecommunications industry and found that although privatization generally spurred network expansion in terms of telephone main lines by 4.4% in medians (5.4% on average), the performance improvement was dependent on the level of economic development. It is only the low-income and lower middle-income countries which can expect a significant positive privatization effect. Thus, it is important to account for economic development in assessing the privatization effects of public infrastructure stocks. From the foregoing it is thus useful to undertake a study to evaluate privatization and performance of public corporations listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange. 1.3 Purpose of the Study or General Objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate privatization and performance of public corporations listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange 1.4 Research Questions or Specific Objectives or Hypotheses This study is guided by the following research objectives formulated to aid in gathering the information regarding the research topic. Review literature on privatization of public corporations in Kenya To determine privatization factors in the Nairobi Stock Exchange To analyze privatization implications on public corporation performance in Nairobi Stock Exchange 1.5 Importance or Justification or Rationale of the Study The information generated by this study will be important for stock markets in the East Africa in understanding the implications of privatizing public corporations. This will benefit stock markets in Uganda, Tanzania and wider Eastern Africa which has the stock markets at their infancy stages. It will also assist policy makers who want to make use of performance measures of the stock market in advising public corporations on privatization prospects that may arise when listing in the stock market. In addition, it will guide policy makers of new baselines to use when determining privatization options for public corporations. Educators too in the education industry will find the information obtained from this study beneficial to their curriculum in imparting knowledge to students and researchers who are researching on the sector and how it can greatly benefit the country. 1.6 Scope of the Study The study will be limited to the Nairobi Stock Exchange for the duration 2008-2010. Nairobi Stock Exchange has about fifteen active stock broking firms with fifty two listed companies. I will focus on five of the stockbrokerage firms and fifteen of the listed companies. The use of the listed firms was due primarily to data availability and reliability because they are required by law to provide end of year financial statements. However, firms that were not listed for the entire period under study were left out of the sample. The study used annual reports that are available at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. 1.7 Definition of Terms 1.7.1 Privatization Privatization means the sale of public utilities to private concerns. 1.8 Chapter Summary This chapter covered the background of the research, the problem statement, the purpose of the study or general objectives of this research, the research objectives, the significance and scope of the research i.e. importance of the study and the definitions of Terminologies used in this research. Further, this chapter has specifically pointed the relevance of the study in regards to public corporations, and how they, in a bid to improve performance, employ a privatization strategy in light of global trends. 2.0 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This chapter will review relevant literature in line with the study objectives. 2.2 Privatization of Public Corporations in Kenya ROK(1965) noted that the establishment of the parastatals was driven by a national desire to (i) accelerate economic social development; (ii) redress regional economic imbalances; (iii) increase Kenyan Citizens participation in the economy; (iv) promote indigenous entrepreneurship; and (v) promote foreign investments (through joint ventures). This desire was expressed in the Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism and its application to planning in Kenya. A comprehensive review of the public enterprises performance was noted by (ROK, 1979) (the Report on the Review of Statutory Boards) that pointed that there was clear evidence of prolonged inefficiency, financial mismanagement, waste and malpractices in many parastatals; and (ROK, 1982) (the Report of the Working Party on Government Expenditures) which concluded that productivity of the state corporations was quite low while at the same time they continued to absorb an excessive portion of the budget, becoming a principal cause of long-term fiscal problem. The enactment of the State Corporations Act was a major attempt to streamline the management of the state corporations. The performance of most of the corporations continued to deteriorate due to the continued reliance on limited public sector financing. Sessional Paper No.4 of 1991 on Development and Employment in Kenya underlined the need to implement privatization and divestiture of State corporations urgently in view of the managerial problems afflicting the parastatals leading to poor return on government investments, the existence of a larger pool of qualified manpower, availability of more indigenous entrepreneurship to permit private sector led economy and the need for non-tax revenue for the Government. The Programme began in July 1992 with the issuance of the Policy Paper on Public Enterprises Reform and Privatization which pointed out that there were 240 commercial public enterprises with public sector equity participation and classified the PEs in to two categories: (i) 207 Non strategic commercial public enterprises which were to be privatised and 33 Strategic Commercial public enterprises which were to be restructured and retained under public sector ownership and control. By the time the first phase of the programme ca me to an end in 2000, most of the non-strategic commercial enterprises had either been fully or partially privatized, liquidated, sold under receivership while the strategic commercial enterprises to be retained under government operation had been reduced to 15 and later to 14 enterprises. The following is a list of privatized public enterprises by PUBLIC FLOATATIONS- Bamburi Portland Cement Co. Ltd, E.A., CMC Holdings Oxygen Ltd, National Bank of Kenya, Kenya Airways, Mumias Sugar Company; by PARTIAL DIVESTITUTRES Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd, Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd, General Motors (K) Ltd, and Housing Finance Company of Kenya. 2.3 Privatization Factors in the Nairobi Stock Exchange 2.3.1 Methods of privatization The term privatization has been applied to three different methods of increasing the activity of the private sector in providing public services: 1) private sector choice, financing, and production of a service;2) public-sector choice and financing with private sector production of the service selected; 3) and deregulation of private firms providing services. In the first case, the entire responsibility for a service is transferred from the public sector to the private sector, and individual consumers select and purchase the amount of services they desire from private providers. For example, solid-waste collection is provided by private firms in some communities. The third form of privatization means that government reduces or eliminates the regulatory restrictions imposed on private firms providing specific services. The second version of privatization refers to joint activity of the public and private sectors in providing services. In this case, consumers select and pay for the quantity and type of service desired through government, which then contracts with private firms to produce the desired amount and category of service. Although the government provides for the service, a private firm carries out the actual execution of it. The government determines the service level and pays the amount specified in the contract, but leaves decisions about production decisions to the private firm. 2.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Privatization Etukudo (2002) sates that in sub-Saharan African countries with a high level of illiteracy, public offer for sale of state-owned enterprises has its limitations due to cumbersome formalities in the prospectus as well as complicated application forms, etc. As banking facilities are concentrated in urban centres, the use of public offer in privatization works to the disadvantage of those in rural areas with few banking facilities. On the whole, Etukudo (2002 contends that privatization programmes have led to marked increases in stock market capitalization as well as increases in the quantity and range of issues traded on the market. The stock exchange has attracted a considerable number of players to the market leading to increased competition within the capital market. The structure and function of capital markets affect the availability of capital, influence investment processes and also influence the ways in which business managers who approach investors project the current performance and future potential of their enterprises. 2.4 Privatization implications on public corporation performance in Nairobi Stock Exchange Yarrow (1986) notes that as firms move from public to private ownership, their profitability should increase. First, given that shareholders wish the firm to maximize profit, newly privatized firms managers should place greater emphasis on profit goals Second, privatization typically transfers both control rights and cash flow rights to the managers who then show a greater interest for profits and efficiency relative to pleasing the government with higher output or employment (Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny, 1993). In addition, Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny (1993) state that following privatization; firms should employ their human, financial and technological resources more efficiently because of a greater stress on profit goals and a reduction of government subsidies. Megginson, Nash and van Randenborgh (1994) note that governments expect that greater emphasis on efficiency will lead the newly privatized firm to increase its capital investment spending. Once privatized, the firm should also increase its capital expenditures because it has greater access to private debt and equity markets and it will have more incentives to invest in growth opportunities. Megginson et al (1994) believe the switch from public to private ownership should lead to a decrease in the proportion of debt in the capital structure because with the end of government debt guarantees the firms cost of borrowing will increase and because the firm has a new access to public equity markets. The authors further note that with privatization, dividend payments should increase because unlike governments private investors generally demand dividends and dividend payments are a classic response to the atomized ownership structure which most privatization programs led to. In terms of output Megginson, Nash and van Randenborgh (1994) contend that privatization should increase output because of greater competition, better incentives and more flexible financing opportunities. On the other hand Boycko, Shleifer and Vishny (1993) predicts a fall in output since the government no longer subsidizes the newly privatized firm to maintain inefficiently high output levels. Kikeri, Nellis and Shirley (1992) assert that governments expect the level of employment to decline once the SOE which is usually overstaffed turns out private and no longer receives government subsidies. However, in growing sectors, the newly privatized firm could absorb surplus labor through new capital investment and more productive use of existing assets. 2.5 Empirical experience Jones, Jammal Gokgur (1999) undertook an impact study applied to 81 privatizations (covering not just infrastructure firms but a range of firms already operating in competitive markets (in agriculture, agro-industries, tradable and non-tradable sectors) in Cote dIvoire and concluded that firms performed better after privatization and that they performed better than they would have had they remained under public ownership. The study also found that the set of transactions as a whole contributed positively to economic welfare, with annual net welfare benefits equivalent to about 25% of pre-divestiture sales. These results stemmed from a number of effects, including increases in output, investment, labor productivity, and intermediate-input productivity. 2.5 Chapter summary The chapter highlighted the different studies that sought to address the research gap. Chapter three will point out the methodology to be used in the study. Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction This chapter will discuss the research methodology that will be used as the basis of this study. The chapter will also discuss the population of study, sample frame and sampling techniques, data collection methods as well as data analysis and data presentation methods to be employed in the study. 3.2 Research Design The research design employed in this study will be empirical in nature and will be aimed at delivering answers to the research questions outlined in the problem statement. 3.3 Population and Sampling Design 3.3.1 Population The population involved in the study are four privatized public corporation that have listed on the NSE. Population refers to the entire group of people, events, or things of interest that the researcher wishes to investigate. Population forms a basis from which the sample or subjects for the study is drawn. 3.3.2 Sampling Design and Sample Size Methods that we will use in our paper to analyze the operating and market performance are descriptive statistics for evaluating the post listing share price performance and the financial ratio analysis using the accounting data to evaluate public corporation performance as well as their risk and return relationships profile. Documents will collected from the organizations resource center, individual file record, libraries of various universities, company reports, company newsletter and other printed materials (e.g. newspaper cuttings, journals, text books, conference reports, articles, training packages) that were made available for the purpose of the research. 3.4 Data Collection Methods In order to achieve the set objectives, I will collect data from the Nairobi stock exchange database and from the financial statements of the individual companies under study. The collected data will be captured in form of tables. This will be used to capture performance of privatized public corporations listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. 3.5 Research Procedures 3.6 Data Analysis Methods This study will use the quantitative method of data analysis. The quantitative analysis is applied using descriptive statistics. According to Denscombe (1998) descriptive statistics involves a process of transforming a mass of raw data into tables, charts, with frequency distribution and percentages which are a vital part of making sense of the data. Data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program and presented using tables and pie charts to give a clear picture of the research findings at a glance. 3.7 Chapter Summary The chapter describes the methodology that is to be used in carrying out the study. The chapter has also indicated that, data will be analyzed using SPSS and presented in inform of chart and tables. The next chapter will present the findings of the research.

Financial Analysis of Scholastic and Daktronics Essay -- Financial Ana

Evaluating a company’s financial condition can be done by looking at its profitability or its ability to satisfy long-term commitments. These measures can be viewed through an analysis of a company’s financial statements, including the balance sheet and income statement. This paper will look at the status of Scholastic Company’s (Scholastic) ability to satisfy its long-term commitments and at the profitability of Daktronics, Inc. (Daktronics). This paper will include various financial ratio calculations and an analysis of the notable trends. It will also discuss the profitability and long-term borrowing positions of the firms discussed. Scholastic Company is a multibillion dollar children’s book publisher and distributor with more than 9,000 worldwide employees (Scholastic Inc., n.d.). Scholastic leases some of its physical office and storage locations and equipment (as cited in Gibson, 2011). Cornaggia, Franzen, and Simin (2013) noted the reasons firms lease may be the result of a company’s financial distress which prevents sufficient capital being raised to purchase instead of leasing. They also suggested if profitability of the firm is not at issue, leasing can be used to reduce taxes thus reducing borrowing costs. Though the reason for maintaining material lease obligations is not disclosed in its financial statements (as cited in Gibson, 2011), Scholastic’s ability to satisfy its long-term commitments is important for investors, creditors, and management. The long-term borrowing capacity of Scholastic can be determined through an analysis of its times interest earned, fixed charge cove rage, and debt ratios. The times interest earned ratio uses a company’s income statement to assess its ability to meet long-... ... Cited Cornaggia, K. J., Franzen, L. A., & Simin, T. T. (2013). Bringing leased assets onto the balance sheet. Journal of Corporate Finance, 22345-360. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016 /j.jcorpfin.2013.06.007 Damodaran, A. (n.d.). Operating versus capital leases. Retrieved from http://pages.stern.nyu.edu /~adamodar/New_Home_Page/AccPrimer/lease.htm Daktronics, Inc. (n.d.). Our company. Retrieved from http://www.daktronics.com/en-us/about-us Gibson, C. H. (2011). Financial reporting & analysis: Using financial accounting information. (12th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Monea, M. (2009). Financial ratios – Reveal how a business is doing? Annals of the University Of Petrosani Economics, 9(2), 137-144. Retrieved from http://www.upet.ro/eng Scholastic Inc. (n.d.). About Scholastic. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com /aboutscholastic/index.htm

Dorothy Day Essay

Dorothy day was born in1897 in Brooklyn. In the 1910s and late and even late 1920s, she was Bohemian of the Greenwich Village and she was very active in socialist politics, which were very radical at those days (Roberts 15). She was particularly promoting free love, women’s rights, birth control, and rights of labor. After failure of her two common-law marriages as well as an abortion, birth of Tamar Teresa her daughter and desire for her to be baptized made her to embrace Catholicism formerly. Dorothy Day converted from socialist to catholic crusader in the year 1927 (Coles 56). She founded the movement of catholic worker in 1933 together with Peter Maurin who was French itinerant illegal immigrant. The movement of catholic worker adopted a pacifist, anarchist and neutral stance in the 1930s as world’s leaders were drifting towards war. Dorothy Day chose way to live with her faith at a great cost. As she was eighteen years old, together with other two college mates in the Illinois University, she followed her members of family as they moved to the city of New York. She involved herself in the radical politics as she lived at the lower eastern side. There she was working on succession of journals and radical papers. Her compatriots were atheist, communists, wobblies and anarchists. Dorothy joined socialist party while she was at Urbana in Illinois (Stone 33). As the young Dorothy found the life of bohemian exciting, she encountered certain emptiness in her life, a loneliness which stalked her remaining life. Spiritual hunger led her to a disquieting and profound entrance to her life in the year 1917 a time she was imprisoned for a punishment of fifteen days in the prison of women federal after she had picketed white House to present women on the matter of suffrage of women (Kent 93). She spends ten days out of the fifteen days of imprisonment stricken by hunger in an attempt to successfully gain her status as a prisoner of politics. Dorothy was imprisoned for act of civil nonviolent disobedience seven times. Dorothy movement from the square of union to Rome was apologetic and was her conversion from socialist to Catholicism (Jordan, and Day 61). It addressed her communist sisters and brothers, and made also her case to primacy of spiritual rather than material. For Dorothy, church was her only place, which could address her own long existential for a transcendent meaning and provided her a framework, which could help her work for a change as well as serving the poor. As she wrote about the prison, she said that she felt despair as she was in jail for a duration of fifteen days. She also put that life in jail was miserable and unfit for human existence. The misery Day found in jail she said could remain even if the utopia state prevailed or even if the society were being ruled with social justice. She said there is no hope for one to be happy especially in the jail unless the soul and heart of humankind realizes need to have a change (Coles 46). Just like anybody else and many other factors in the experience of America, Day’s conversion was a profound encounter to nature and left indelible mark to her spirituality. It was through and in the sea wondrous mystery that Dorothy came to understand the bountiful God love (Coles 57). God revelation on the nature, together with experience of Dorothy giving birth to Tamar her daughter, served her as entry point in the Christianity. Day said that her conversion was due to overturn of her material world which made her to see seek protection in the God heart since he was creator and could satisfy all hungers of human beings. Day being primarily as a journalist could write in concrete and direct styles as a reporter, and this made her to raise high in the social and economic class and much surprisingly, her spiritual awakening started at that time. She said her life started to change as she was still in her work and started feeling no need of being in her work but should turn to the love of God since he was giver of live and every thing (Kent 102). Day live in journalism was marked with many controversies. However, her experience and interaction with various peoples, and groups as well different social classes frequently put her in awkward position and in clash with the authorities when reporting on what is on the ground. That is, the issues affecting the community. She was never a quitter though. She is recognized for involvement in movements and demonstration, fighting for rights of the poor and the oppressed in the community (Stone 53). The joy of Dorothy Day about the nature was brought in full circle the moment she found herself pregnant and made her life complete. It is also said that it was difficult in overstating the trauma and turmoil she underwent in entering the motherhood and how it could have eventually cost her. Day knew joy as often said her life brought great happiness when she was with Forster even though Day was always a searcher who was ready to take risk (Kent 76). After birth of her daughter Tamar, Dorothy understood her spiritual quest and which began bearing fruits. While walking along the beaches, spontaneous payers offered reflexively, and little did she understand that the spirits were leading her to a Christian church. The entry in the church was inevitable to her just as her losing life with her husband Forster. He never knew her baptism and baptism of her daughter could lead to end of her common-law marriage. Dorothy Day could say the world greatest adventure is spiritual life since she was master in exploring through the wilderness which she was in, as she was expended from that wilderness into the spiritual life (Jordan, and Day 45). She came to realize that God had plans for her and that plans of God prepared her from where she was until she came to receive Him in her life. Day after she been converted to Christian could pray and read Psalter every day, and often for duration of two hours in the early dawn. She could attend mass in almost every day and she could pray rosary at most of her time. Day could guard her herself with only weapon of spirit which are spiritual and corporal mercy works. Daily prayer devotion bore fruit to her to develop sacramental sense. Day had ability which was hard-worn in discerning extraordinary in most human encounters in most ordinary happenings. Day seriously concerned about the poor and also the phrase which stated the poor were ambassadors of the God. Day could approach social issues in a simple manner. Day had hope in the spiritual way of living and she started the work movement of catholic to awaken other people. Day was a catholic laywoman and she did much in legitimizing pacifism as an option for the Catholics members than anybody else. All in all, the conversion of Dorothy Day into catholic is much surprising since is not easy for a prominent person like her in the social party at that time and even a famous journalist and reporter to leave her job and turn to serve the lord. Due to her faith and influence in the community, especially fighting for human right and helping the poor, Day earned much recognition all around the world. Many argued that her deeds and believes would have made her sainted. The Impact she had in many people lives will forever be remembered. Works cited Coles, Robert. Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion. New York: Perseus Books, 1989. Jordan, Patrick, and Day Dorothy. Dorothy Day: Writings from Commonweal. New York: Liturgical Press, 2002. Kent, Deborah. Dorothy Day: Friend to the Forgotten. Cambridge: Eerdmans Young Readers, 1996 1996. Roberts, Nancy. Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. New York: SUNY Press, 1984. Stone, Elaine. Dorothy Day: Champion of the Poor. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2004.

Black Panther Organization Essay

The African American people, living in the United States of America, are one of the minority groups in the country that experience terrible situations wherein they are marginalized. This group of people have been often targeted by acts of violence, racism, bigotry, unfair treatment and other acts of injustice. Every once in a while, there are selected individuals who fought for the cause and the rights of the African American people, individuals like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are familiar names from the black Left. It also included â€Å"radical black theologian James Cone, left-wing black civil rights activist James Forman, left-wing black sociologist Robert Allen, 1960s radical black essayist Julius Lester, and James Boggs, black worker-socialist writer and activist (Mc Cartney 133). † Standing shoulder to shoulder with these individuals who contributed largely to the advancement of the African American cause is one of the very prominent groups that became the vanguard that defended, protected and advanced the cause of the African American people as an organization. And this is the Black Panther. This paper is focused on discussing several important aspects about the Black Panther as a political organization that influenced the society as much as it influenced its individual members, in the process of establishing the social prominence and influence that the group managed to create for itself since its creation and during the time before it declined to power and social clout. The Black Panther History To be able to understand the Black Panther Party better, it is important to know how the organization started, what prompted the formation of the group, how it rose to social prominence, how it managed to recruit more members and grow in numbers, the goals and ideas of the Party and how it eventually affected the society. While there are historians who would talk about the chronological development inside the Black Panther Party to attribute to the beginnings of the party, there are those who will explain the beginnings of the party in different manner. They explain how the party was a result of the efforts of some of the people who believed that it is about time that a group is organized. There is an organized approach towards fighting the social injustice that the African Americans in the country are facing. While other historians point to the date, the founding father of the Party and other data to establish the roots and early beginnings of the Party, others simply refer to the beginnings of the party as more of a collective reaction by the people who cannot take the social injustice and oppression any longer. â€Å"It grew out of the social evils of an unjust, oppressive system (Seale 3). † Some believed that the creation of the Black Panther Party was a product of a necessity. While others believed that the creation of the group was a result of a calculated scheme undertaken by the founder and early leaders of the group. They foresaw the change coming in the national and international social spheres and saw that such a group with the intentions like the Black Panther party has the potential to prosper and be an important social institution (Seale 3). Others merely believed that the birth of the Black Panther party traced its roots on similar vein like equally radical group which broke away from the original nationalist organization and decided that it was best to create a group which is more radical to achieve more concrete actions and results; considering the party as something created after the â€Å"split† that happened in the ranks and in the strategy of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or the SNCC (Simpson, Yinge 424). â€Å"While it was, at the same time, a very strong sign that a part of the nationalist movement is moving towards radicalizing its actions, its beliefs, its tenets and other aspects of the organization design to accomplish social change (Simpson, Yinge 424). † The Black Panther Party officially became an organization after founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale created the organization on October 15, 1966. It started with the name Black Panther Party for Self Defense. This is because the main thrust of the organization was the protection that the African Americans desperately need during the time when most of them believed that they are defenseless from the racist attacks on them. This attack was done by white police officers who came to symbolize the role of the main oppressors in the ideals of the group that would be later known via its shorter name, The Black Panthers Party (Simpson, Yinge 424). The Rise The rise of the Black Panther Party was attributed to the time immediately after the foundation. Most historians noted that the rise of the group to social prominence happened sometime in the late 60’s and in the early 70’s (followed soon after wards by the steep decrease in popularity halfway through the 70s). The rise to prominence was attributed to the efforts, success and concrete actions that the group has undertaken and achieved through the relatively short influential period that the group had. Many people believed in the ideals of the group, especially the ten-point program and the belief of the leaders that there is no reason why people from different racial background can’t get along with each other. This was the idea that the Black Panther and its leadership was trying to put forward. Because of the admirable ideology, many supported the group, allowing the group to rise to fame and prominence especially in cities, states and neighborhoods where Black Panther Party chapters are visible and active (Lazerow, Williams 84). The Black Panther Party was successful in achieving prominence because of its presence in many affairs that made them a household name. Soon, people were already aware of the Black Panther party, especially after numerous incidences with the police and the very active radicalism and activism that the group is not afraid to show in the streets. They were part of the consciousness of the masses, may it be the white or the black. The media and the press contributed to the growth of the Black Panther Party by talking about it in the newspaper, in the television and in the radio (Jones 41). The mass communication tools paired with the word of mouth improved the reputation of the Black Panther party and communicated to the people who they are and what they want to do. This act of reaching out to the people and reaching out to the government through violent and non-violent actions gained nationwide support and catapulted the organization into new and greater heights never experienced before by the Black Panther Party (Jones 41). An important note that serves as proof of the rise of the Black Panther Party in the society is the rise of the position of the organization particularly in the American left wing movement during the height of its social influence. Many believed that there was actually a time that the Black Panther Party was the leading organization that controls the leftists in the country, that the group is actually armed with a high level of clout and influence to go with a high number of Party members including soldiers who are armed and are willing to resort to acts of violence through the use of lethal force to defend its claims and social rights which it believed was, for the longest time, denied to them (Simpson, Yinger 424). â€Å"For about five years, the left wing of the black protest movements was occupied by the Black Panthers. Reference to the period when they were subjects of public attention and controversy may be of value in suggesting some of the consequences of harsh confrontation as a way of trying to increase interracial justice (Simpson, Yinger 424). † Even if the authors believed that the Black Panther Party ruled the American left for half a decade, their influence and role in the civil protest action for the African American rights and privileges extended a few more years before the perceived height of their power and a few years later leading to the decline of the influence of the organization. The Fall But just like any other good thing, the fervor that was the flame of the organization was soon consumed, and just like any other organization, the Black Panther Party was vulnerable to internal strife and external pressure. There are those who believed that a large part of the fall of the group was attributed to the negative publicity that the group had during the time when its founder Huey P. Newton was put under trial after he was apprehended as a suspect for manslaughter. Of course, there was also other internal instability that contributed to the collapse of the organization. With the changes that are happening inside and outside of the party and how the party was responding to it in return, it became clear through the signs that were displayed by the Party and its members that it would not be long before the group completely loses the breadth and depth of public support, social prominence and popularity that it once had, leading to the chapter in the life of the Black Panther party known as their fall from social prominence. One day, the group stopped becoming the leader of the American revolutionary left (Jones 286). Another possible reason why the Black Panthers lost its influence and power and the hold of the sympathy of the masses is because it disintegrated from within and imploded eventually. It was because of the problems that the Black Panther Party has to face internally, particularly the friction that was created after some of the women members asserted more and more power and influence and tried to be independent and authoritarian individuals themselves. It resulted in the subjugation of some of the male members of the Party, a development which is not in line with the thinking and dogma of the Party (Jones 286). â€Å"It is female chauvinism and Black women’s complicity in the castration of Black men primarily through the receipt of an alleged economic advantage that destroyed relationships and families in the Party and elsewhere (Jones 286). † What happened was an ironic and odd twist of fate. In the pursuit of equality and justice, the Black Panther Party made it a point that inside the group no, form of injustice would happen. That is why, they did not try to undermine or put the women members in a lower echelon. But this move proved to be one of the sources of confusion because some women had a distracted and distorted view of the essence of women empowerment inside the party, living the Party ideals about women members somewhat differently and counter to what the male Party members expected of them (Jones 286). â€Å"Obviously influenced by the pseudo-historical analysis of Black woman as domineering matriarchs and was seemingly unaware (or unconvinced) of the revised Party rhetoric highlighting the significance of revolutionary comrade sisters to the movement (Jones 286). † Perhaps, the most notable reason for the fall of the Black Panther Party – aside from allegations of internal strife, the participation of its members in illegal activities and the negative image it has been generating through continuous acts of violence directed against law enforcement agents some of whom are fellow African Americans – is the trial and eventual death of Newton. Newton was considered as a charismatic, intelligent and powerful leader that held the group strongly together during his time. But when he started losing control of the group, the group faltered and failed (Mc Cartney 133). â€Å"Newton was undoubtedly the most forceful, the best-known, and the most ambitious theorist-practitioner of left-wing Black Power, and for these reasons alone his profile is a small-scale representation of the entire Black Power left (Mc Cartney 133). † The Ideas There is a saying that the leader or founder of the group and what he or she stands for greatly describes the ideas and the general ideologies of the group. In the case of the Black Panther Party, understanding the ideas of the groups can be made by understanding its founder Huey P. Newton. Analysts believed that Newton symbolized what the group is all about, including the leanings of the group towards what John T. Mc Cartney explained as counter-communalism or the idea that the civil rights advocates demanded not a separation by the African Americans from the rest of the US, but a change in the system that can improve the lives of the African Americans in the country (Mc Cartney 133). This was one of the important aims of the organization and its founder represented what the group was aiming for. â€Å"In the 1960s, certainly the most visible, if not the most articulate, advocate of Counter-Communalism was Huey P. Newton, the leader of the Black Panther Party (Mc Cartney 133). † The Goals and Aims The main goal and aim of the group is to influence social and political spheres. The leadership provides sufficient and equal attention to the needs of the African American population and not subject this particular minority group in further acts of discrimination and marginalization. The Black Panther Party, like any leftist group, talked about giving the people what they deserve, what they need, what was deprived of them in the past, what they need in the future, pressuring the government to yield to their demands and using the power of the strength of their number as leverage to gain prominence and voice that can help the government hear their demands and act upon these demands efficiently and in a just and satisfying manner (Simpson, Yinge 424). The Black Panther Party, no doubt, was a different group compared to the other groups for African American civil rights advocates that came before. After its time, historians, critics and analysts believe that at some point, the Black Panther Party, despite its reputation for violence and police clashes, also shares some similarities with other groups, organizations and movements in the US that looked after the welfare of African American. One of the similarities that the Black Panther party shared with other groups is the aim which the Party and the other organizations wanted to accomplish (Simpson, Yinge 424). Although there are little differences, all in all, the aim of the Black Panther party was very much similar to the aims of the nationalist movement and groups in the US during the time of the Black Panther Party. â€Å"The aims of the Black Panther were similar to those of other Black Nationalist groups, except perhaps for the explicit demands that the government furnish jobs and decent income for all (Simpson, Yinge 424). † The Members The Black Panther Party is composed of male and female African American sympathizers and activists. They recruited heavily. The group was full in ranks in no time, establishing its presence in areas that included Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other key cities and states. These same locations are where the group’s newspaper which goes by the same name was printed in large scale and heavily distributed for information dissemination. Like any other organization, the Black Panther assigned individual and group tasks. The duties and responsibilities of each member were, in detail, different from each other but in scope similar since they all worked to achieve one single goal (Lazerow, Williams 37). The higher echelon members of the Black Panther Party membership were the ones responsible for the role of the party as a spokesperson of the African American communities who, prior to the creation of the Black Panther Party, was speechless and was not heard by the local and national leaders. Some of the members of the party were tasked with gathering information about the grievances of the African American communities; while some are tasked in double checking these facts so that they are credible and real (Lazerow, Williams 37). The leaders of the group are the ones who present this information to the government officials who are responsible for the different aspects of the grievances that the African American citizens are laying out for the government to address and take action on. â€Å"Party activists also defined their anti-colonial politics in terms of pushing onto the municipal political agenda the concerns of local residents – who needed jobs, better health care, improved schools, and repaired streets (Lazerow, Williams 37). † Contrary to the belief that all Black Panthers did was instigate and involve themselves in violent protests, they also have political maneuvers that included talks with leaders so that reform is achieved. An important characteristic of the Black Panther Party members is its role not just in activism but also in pro-active vigilance. At the time of the rise of the Black Panther party to prominence, the lives of most African American (particularly male) involves violence, sometimes resulting from individual or gang-related violence or even from acts of violence committed by white police officers and law enforcement units (Lazerow, Williams 37). The Black Panther Party tried to answer and remedy this problematic situation by actively moving towards police monitoring of acts of harassment and unjustified physical assault towards African Americans. This is a part of the overall strategy to remove the presence of injustice in the country which is centered among African American minorities and is reflected through acts of wanton violence and unchecked aggression by the white police officers towards African American males (Lazerow, Williams 37). â€Å"The Panther’s famous ‘policing the police’ drew attention to the spatial remove that white Americans enjoyed from the state violence that had come to characterize life in black urban communities (Lazerow, Williams 37). † The members of the Black Panther Party were unafraid to go head-on with the white cops. Their boldness somewhat pushed the white cops back to a more acceptable sense of self control and self regulation. This is an important victory for the Black Panther Party and its members. The Effects they had on Society The Black Panther Party became popular and significant not just because of how the party managed to recruit so many members in a short period of time. More importantly, it became prominent because whether the detractors of the Black Panther Party accept it or not, the organization managed to accomplish something and actually had significant influence in the society especially during the height of its power. It convinced many people to believe and join their cause, which lead to the creation of a Black Panther Party that is filled with many members who are idealists who finally found an organization to which they can affiliate themselves with and actually expect to do something concrete about the current situation of African Americans in the US (Rabinovich, Reinharz 235). Perhaps one of the important social relevance that the Black Panther Party achieved and what other people actually believed they did was the ability to identify important points of concern present inside the society; one of which is the pertinent and relevant information concerning the presence of discrimination in the particular localities where localized Black Panther Party units operate. Wielding credible information, and managing to send this information not just to the authorities who need to do something about it – who should do something about it – but to the public who needs to know about it and who is inspired and at some point agitated by what they learned from the Black Panther Party, is one of the things that it managed to effectively do especially during the height of its power and social prominence. â€Å"The Black Panthers of Detroit or Chicago had no difficulty in pinning down the exact points at which there is discrimination (Rabinovich, Reinharz 235). † In some ways, what made the Black Panther different is its synthesis of many different aspects that involved the left-leaning movement that it has managed to assemble and establish (Rabinovich, Reinharz 235). The Black Panther has taken key concepts from the past and the future and moved from national to international analysis of social issues that made them a significant group during their time and in the height of the group’s power and social influence. â€Å"By reclaiming the tradition of black radicalism that the Cold War had suppressed and linking it to the concrete concerns of black communities, the Party joined the black rights struggle in the United States to a global analysis of capitalism and imperialism (Lazerow, Williams 37). † The Black Panther Today But despite the presence of Black Panther and the task that it set about in accomplishing, oddly, the Black Panther itself as an organization was nonetheless victimized by the same problem that it is trying to solve – to have the African Americans be treated equally as how the society treats the white American citizens during its time. Then, and now, the Black Panther experienced the stigma of the African American people which it represented. Proof of which is the fact that the Black Panther as a group was still viewed or presented by the media and the rest of the society in a way that sometimes creates misconceptions about the group. Due in some part because those which talks about the Black Panther, like the media and the historians, somewhat leaned towards white Americans. That is why even now, several African American historians, writers and critics still make it their responsibility to ensure that the contemporary public is correctly informed. IT is because of the belief that there are many anti-Black Panther and anti African American propaganda that circulated in the past which may have influenced the thinking, attitude and perception of the modern day people about the Black Panthers. â€Å"There are a lot of misconceptions about the Black Panther Party. I wanted to write this book so people could have a better insight into the inner workings of the Party, so that people would have a more true understanding of the Black Panther Party – what it really does, the kind of people who are in it, their everyday lives, the things that have happened to the Party (Seale, p3). † Conclusion The Black Panther Party will always be an important name in the analysis of the different US-based African American social rights advocacy groups. In retrospect during the height of the influence of the Black Panther Party in the society, it can be noticed that the Black Panthers became a success and earned the sympathy of the people because of what it managed to accomplish, what it managed to integrate in its essence as the group improved and developed through the years, what it managed to include in its collective fight for the cause and need of the African American people in the US. The group touched concrete and critical layers of social concerns especially those which affected the African American people. It managed to balance political dialogue with immediate and simplistic social needs without being vague or general. The group proved critical as well as constructive in their pursuit of answers and in providing solutions that can benefit the African American citizens. â€Å"At the heart of the Panthers’ anti-colonial politics was an analysis of the relationship between urban black communities and the post-war American metropolis and a critique of the concept of liberal free markets in urban property, employment, and housing, on the other (Lazerow, Williams 37). † Works Cited Jones, Charles E. Black Panther Party Reconsidered. Black Classic Press, 1998. Lazerow, Jama and Williams, Yohuru. In Search of the Black Panther Party: New Perspectives on a Revolutionary Movement. Duke University Press, 2006. McCartney, John T. Black Power Ideologies: An Essay in African American Political Thought. Temple University Press, 1993. Rabinovich, Itamar. Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, and Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present. Brandeis University Press, 2007. Seale, Bobby. Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Black Classic Press, 1991. Simpson, George Eaton E. , and Yinger, J. M. Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1985. The Black Panther Organization. 2008. 23 November 2008 .

Free Essays on Wal Mart Vs Walgreen

Wal-Mart VS Walgreen Wal-Mart and Walgreen are two companies that virtually dominate their industry. The industry in which these two companies dominate is the industry of retail (department & discount). This industry aims to provide customers a variety of goods at a low discounted price. When shopping at either Walgreen or Wal-Mart a shopper can find anything they need from clothing to auto care. This makes life a little easier for the shopper because they do not have to shop at multiple stores to get what they need because Wal-Mart and Walgreen provide everything they can possibly need and at a great price. The prices at these two stores are relatively close because if one of the two stores has lower prices they will loose the war for customers. New customers of Wal-Mart or Walgreen are of the utmost importance due to the fact that the customers of these two companies tend to be loyal customers. Meaning, when customers shop at either Wal-Mart or Walgreen they tend to shop only at the particular s tore. There could be a variety of reasons for this customer loyalty. These reasons can range from customer service to isle arrangement to store location. Whatever the reason for customers shopping at either Wal-Mart or Walgreen it is important for the companies to keep their customers because customers play a major role in the success of the company. While the two companies are relatively close they do differ in certain areas of their business success as well as business inadequacies. Wal-Mart In order to decide which company, Wal-Mart or Walgreen is more successful and to make a smarter investment decision a potential investor needs to look at key and important statistics, ratios, and factors that may contribute to a company’s success. Perhaps one of the most important ratios to look at when researching a possible investment is the price to earnings ratio or the P/E ratio. The price earning ratio is calculated by div... Free Essays on Wal Mart Vs Walgreen Free Essays on Wal Mart Vs Walgreen Wal-Mart VS Walgreen Wal-Mart and Walgreen are two companies that virtually dominate their industry. The industry in which these two companies dominate is the industry of retail (department & discount). This industry aims to provide customers a variety of goods at a low discounted price. When shopping at either Walgreen or Wal-Mart a shopper can find anything they need from clothing to auto care. This makes life a little easier for the shopper because they do not have to shop at multiple stores to get what they need because Wal-Mart and Walgreen provide everything they can possibly need and at a great price. The prices at these two stores are relatively close because if one of the two stores has lower prices they will loose the war for customers. New customers of Wal-Mart or Walgreen are of the utmost importance due to the fact that the customers of these two companies tend to be loyal customers. Meaning, when customers shop at either Wal-Mart or Walgreen they tend to shop only at the particular s tore. There could be a variety of reasons for this customer loyalty. These reasons can range from customer service to isle arrangement to store location. Whatever the reason for customers shopping at either Wal-Mart or Walgreen it is important for the companies to keep their customers because customers play a major role in the success of the company. While the two companies are relatively close they do differ in certain areas of their business success as well as business inadequacies. Wal-Mart In order to decide which company, Wal-Mart or Walgreen is more successful and to make a smarter investment decision a potential investor needs to look at key and important statistics, ratios, and factors that may contribute to a company’s success. Perhaps one of the most important ratios to look at when researching a possible investment is the price to earnings ratio or the P/E ratio. The price earning ratio is calculated by div...

The Da Vinci Code and religion

The Da Vinci Code and religion I read this book "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown during summer I didn't want to read this book at first, because I had avoided this book for the longest time because frankly the idea of a convoluted thriller around the Holy Grail did not appeal to me (I enjoyed watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"; it was very hilarious movie). I considered myself for being non-religious for long time, and I didn't care anything about religious before I read this book.A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ. The victim is a high-ranking agent of this ancient society who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave gruesome clues at the scene that only his granddaughter, noted cryptographer Sophie Neveu, and Robert Langdon, a famed symbolist, can untangle.Michi SophieThe duo becomes both suspects and detectives searching for not only Neveu's grandfathe r's murderer but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Neveu and Langdon on a breathless flight through France, England, and history itself. The plot gathers speed as Sophie and Langdon escape from the police to begin a hunt for further clues. The story unveils mysteries of the Knights Templar, Opus Dei, the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Grail. The tale is told of such historical giants as Boticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo and Claude Debussy (to name just a few) who have over the centuries been charged with holding the secrets of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ's offspring and the noble lineage of Mary herself.

Catchy Blog Titles 5 Steps, 100+ Formulas, 500+ Words

Catchy Blog Titles 5 Steps, 100+ Formulas, 500+ Words Do you like catchy blog titles like these? What 10 Studies Say About The Best Times To Post On Social Media How To Attract An Audience With The Best Blog Photography Tips (+128 Free Images) 21+ Easy Ways To Build An Email List That Will Skyrocket By 552% In 1 Year The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution For The Best Blog Outline Data and psychology say you do. And so will your audience when you apply this method to your own blog posts. So would you like to learn how to write catchy blog titles like that? If youre genuinely interested in writing better, catchier, and awesome-r blog titles for your already great content, youre in the right place.  This post is going to help you maximize the time you invest in writing your  awesome content to help you get more social media shares and traffic from your blog titles. Youre going to learn how to use  the four pillars of awesome content in  your blog titles, how to  use psychology to increase shares and clicks, and how to use the best words to capture your audiences unique interest. To top it off, youll even get a ton of  proven catchy blog title templates, formulas, and structures weve seen work for getting more social shares and traffic. Lets do this thing. 5 Easy Steps And 100+ Formulas For The Best #BlogTitles That Will Quadruple Traffic3 Free Resources to Write Catchier Blog Titles Start writing better headlines now with these three free downloads: A Catchy Blog Titles inforgraphic that breaks down the elements of strong blog headlines. A Blog Title Performance Tracking Template to help you A/B test blog titles when shared on social media. A Content Calendar Excel Template to store your headline ideas and plan every blog post you write. Step 1: Write Catchy Blog Titles With The  4 Pillars Of Successful Content A very basic principle in content marketing is to  look back at your  best content and repeat its success. I've recently taken this idea to the next level at to help us use our data from past content to help us plan better content and actually predict future growth. That analysis revealed that top-performing content reflects four key traits extremely well. On the other hand,  worst-performing content does  poorly in all four areas. Simply rank each blog post according to four questions, giving each question a 1–3 ranking (meaning a top post according to your  gut would be a 12 whereas the worst would be a 4.) Was this a topic your readers would be deeply interested in learning more about? Was this post deeply researched to share unique and better information than any other source on the Internet? Did the post turn the research into actionable, exhaustive how-to advice? Was the keyword well-chosen and optimized throughout the post to help you  experience long-term traffic? After you rank them, compare each blog post's score to its page views to translate your  gut into actual data. The results should show that  most  of your  high scoring content ends up being your  best performing blog posts. If not, you just learned a lot about how your gut is off, and you can use your new knowledge backed by data to  strategically choose to publish better content. You can do this process for your content, too. But the point is: Since the idea of solid topic, research, depth, and keywords define success for content, your blog titles should reflect those qualities to connect with your audience from the moment they see your headlines. Translate your gut into data to strategically create better #content. #bloggingShare The Value Your Readers Will Get Behind The Click. The #1 thing that will help you write successful blog titles is by first creating content your audience will be deeply interested in learning more about. It makes sense, right? That's why this post kinda started off with that tangent, but it's coming full circle right now: Use the words  that describe the topic in your blog title. Avoid ambiguity. Ask yourself the question, "If I were a member of my audience, why would I read this blog post instead of any others like it? Why?" Then, like a little kid,  go down the why rabbit hole to get to the core value you're providing to your readers. Just like you would with marketing a product, define the value proposition for your blog posts and include that in your blog titles. From there, define the single best value proposition for your content. For example,  after a ton of brainstorming, this blog post's value proposition is to increase traffic. Recent research shows 29% of content marketers measure success primarily through social media and 38% see traffic as their #1 form of measurement. This blog post helps both of those groups of content marketers reach their goals. Pro Tip: Write your blog title  before you write your blog post. This practice will help you define the value proposition so you can connect it into the blog post, which guarantees your blog title will deliver on its promise. Use Numbers And Facts To Get 206% More Traffic To Your Blog Posts. ^See what I did there? The second pillar of successful content is to back up  the claims  you made in your value proposition with research. This is where you prove to your audience that your blog post is different because it's actually based on real success they could also experience if they just read your blog post. Use Numbers And Facts In Your #BlogTitles To Get 206% More Traffic To Your Blog Posts.Informal research from Canva and Ian Cleary of Razor Social suggests that including numbers in your blog titles  can double your social shares. Data from Brian Dean at Backlinko also suggests that including numbers in your blog titles  can increase your clickthrough rate by 36%! There are a few  ways to do this: Outline your blog post in the form of a list. Use the number of points from your list in your headline. Put a  real number to your value proposition. If your value proposition is to save time, your number could be  save 30 minutes of time. If your value proposition is to generate more sales, your number could be  generate 32% more sales. Share the sample size of your data to increase your credibility. For example, if your  post is about managing multiple projects at once and you sourced tips from 100 industry experts, include that number in your blog title. You get the picture. The blog post you're reading right now has several numbers; I chose to focus on 500 words, 100 templates, and the results you could achieve if you follow this advice with 438% more traffic.  We drew those 500 words from more than 1 million of the most-shared headlines we've seen go through , so I could have also included that number. Pro Tip: If you  have multiple numbers to increase your credibility and your audience's perception of success, write several headlines  with multiple numbers.  Then  A/B test them to eventually choose the best one and change your blog title even after your post publishes. That will give you more initial shares and click-throughs and  will boost your long-term traffic to that blog post. This is not blowing smoke. Seven  of our top 10 posts on the blog have at least one number in the blog title, if not more. And of those seven, six are in the top six positions and  they get on average 206% more traffic than an average blog post. Tell The Story And Deliver On The Expectation. The third pillar of awesome sauce content is depth and delivering on the promises you made in your blog title with your value proposition and research. Good #blog titles  are only as good as the extensive  advice that follows the click. #bloggingWhen you translate this to your blog title, it means telling the story truthfully and as clearly as you can. If your blog post doesn't follow through on the value proposition or you can't back up your number, you're doing it wrong. This is where you translate your actionable, in-depth, how-to advice into a few words that help your readers understand what to expect after clicking through to read your content: Critically analyze the words you use to make sure you deliver on your promise. For example, if you use the word template in your blog title, your audience will likely expect a free download of some kind. Make sure your blog post delivers on that promise. Consider searcher  intent when you write your blog titles. Ask yourself, "As a user, what would I expect to read if I clicked through on this blog title?" Critique the way you  include numbers to make sure you deliver on the promise. It seems obvious, but it's incredible how often blog titles  don't deliver on the promises they make. I wanted to include examples of successful blog titles  outside the marketing industry to complement this post. Unfortunately, I was super dismayed by the sheer lack of quality behind the headlines I found because they were purely click bait. Here are some things to look out for: I searched for "manage multiple projects" and clicked through to see the headlines: How to Manage Multiple Projects – 5 Things You Need 5 Most Common Mistakes in Managing Multiple Projects: Micromanagement Leadership (Part 1) How to Manage Multiple Projects Managing Multiple Projects, Objectives and Deadlines 7 Ways to Juggle Multiple Project Tasks- and Get Things Done The top five search results promised how to resolve my challenge to manage multiple projects at once, but they barely scratched the surface. You can avoid situations like these for yourself by thinking of searcher intent: As a searcher, I want to know how to manage multiple projects at once. As a searcher, I want detailed information on process- so a step-by-step procedure would be great. As a searcher, I don't care about your blog's word count goals but rather  getting all of the information I need to do my job better. If you were to click-through the top five search results for this example,  most of the blog posts don't deliver on these three searcher stories (to use a term  from agile project management). In fact, #2 only delivers one  mistake instead of the five it promises while all of the others neglect the how to nature they promise. That causes poor  reader experience  that could  increase your bounce rate and cause you to lose fans like my friend John here who commented on a recent post Ben wrote: Good blog titles  are only as good as the actionable, in-depth, and how-to advice that follows  after the clickthrough. Takeaway: Write blog titles  that tell the complete story in your posts, and deliver on the promise you make. If you're not sure if you're making this mistake, take a look at your bounce rate in Google Analytics. If it's more than 5%, you  can use the advice from this post to help you work through even better blog titles. Use The Keyword In Your Blog Title. The fourth pillar of great content is  optimizing it for your audience to find it via search engines.  The 17% of you who put 5–10 hours into writing blog posts can get more traffic from your content if you simply optimize it so people can find it when they need it. I say it that way because Google seems to reward longer content with better rankings. And if time is an indicator of length, depth, covering everything having to do with that topic and giving actionable stories, then those who spend more time creating content have  more opportunity to get traffic and social shares from this pillar of successful blog posts. Relating that back to your blog titles, Brian Dean recently researched the top 200 ranking factors that make Google tick, and one of them was this: H1 tags are a â€Å"second title tag† that sends another relevancy signal to Google, according to results from this correlation study. What Brian is trying to say, is  that when you target a keyword in your  blog posts, it makes sense to include that keyword  in your blog titles for your page title and H1. Brian also notes that including the keyword closer to the beginning of your blog title (specifically in your page title) helps search engines understand the importance of it in relation to your post. Step 2: Use Psychological Triggers In Your Blog Titles To Encourage More Social Shares Jonah Berger is the author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, and found there are six STEPPS behind the psychology of contagious content: Social currency: People talk about things to make them look good. Triggers: Topics  that are at the top of your mind are at the tip of your tongue. Emotion: When you care about something, you share it. Public: When you see people doing something, you'll imitate it. Practical value: You share things to help others. Stories: You like to share things that are wrapped in narratives. I'll let Jonah himself explain his research a little more thoroughly: Neil Patel also  researched a few different studies to find five  key elements that help  influence social shares: Curiosity Amazement Interest Astonishment Uncertainty And when the New York Times analyzed why their readers were sharing content, they found people share: Valuable and entertaining content to change opinions or encourage action. Content that helps define who they are and what they care about. Information that helps them stay in touch with people  and maintain relationships. Content that helps them feel involved in the world. Content that supports causes or brands they care about. Now, all of  this  goes way beyond writing catchy blog titles, and it's  all great advice you can use to craft even better content.  But let's take all of  this research  and apply it to your blog titles specifically: Appeal To Your Audience's Emotional Need For Resolution. Appeal to  the emotional reasons people would read your content. Understanding your readers' challenges  and suggesting your blog post offers a solution immediately from your headline will encourage clicks and shares. For example, think of headlines that include  that will messaging in them:  21+ Easy Ways To _____  That Will Skyrocket Your Followers By 552% In 1 Year. Recommended Reading: Proof that Emotional Headlines Get Shared More on Social Media Focus On The Remarkability Within Your Content. Take advantage of trendy words and appeal to entertainment, amazement, and astonishment. Jonah uses the word remarkable often to describe content that gets shared- so include noteworthy information in your blog titles that shows the remarkable information your readers will get after they click. For example, Neil Patel offers this example for a blog title that amazes:  How Spending $162,301.42 on Clothes Made Me $692,500. That  blog title also has numbers as proof that you can experience the same success as Neil if you just follow his advice. Make Your Audience Feel Like Rock Stars Among Their Peers. Write  your blog titles to help people look good. Your readers  want to feel successful, engaged in the world, and be supportive. Your readers  feel as though the blog titles from the content they share- like yours- define who they are as people. A great way to connect this emotion to your blog titles is through uncertainty.  When someone reads your blog post, they know the answer to something others don't- so let them boast their knowledge while also encouraging more clicks back to your content. Do this by asking questions. And not just any questions. Close-ended questions that essentially cause your readers to answer with yes or no. In a recent case study, I found that social messages with close-ended questions get more clickthroughs than any other type of social message we shared. In fact, close-ended questions get 255% more clickthroughs than open-ended questions! For example, write a blog title like: Are You Using _____  To Get 277% More _____?  Blog titles like this suggest that the sharer knows the answer and is getting the kind of success your headline promises. It also makes anyone seeing that blog title feel the fear of missing out (FOMO) that will encourage them to click through just to know the answer. And hey, you might get the snowball effect of yet another share. Provide A Practical Way To Solve A Problem. Blog titles that focus on practical value are those that offer how-to, actionable, and oftentimes  step-by-step solutions to problems. They cover information that is interesting- not the same-old thing that feels like it's been done over and over again. You can do this by differentiating your  blog titles by including your value proposition in them directly. For example, this blog title includes the value proposition of doing something super quickly (because who has time these days) coupled with a promise of doing it in 10 quick steps:  The 10-Minute, 10-Step Solution For The Best _____. Step 3: Use Catchy Words That Are Proven To Increase Action So other than focusing on telling  a complete story with your blog title and connecting it to your audience's emotional needs, what specific words make certain blog titles catchier than others? Do You Use The Words Your Audience Uses In Your Blog Titles? That's a good question  and one that Joanna Wiebe from Copy Hackers has an answer to. Joanna is a copywriting genius. When I read her Headlines, Subheadlines, and Value Propositions  book recently, one very interesting point really stuck with me (among tons of others- you should totally check out her  book since you're interested in writing better blog titles): Use the words your audience uses in your blog titles. That's a very simple idea, and it's one that can help you connect with your audience immediately because it's exactly how they think. While planning  a headline test with Crazy Egg's website, Joanna surveyed their users by asking them to describe Crazy Egg in two to three words. From there, she worked  the most-used words into her headlines to connect with  an audience like Crazy Egg's existing users. That. Is. Brilliant. So when we launched a new course recently, I took Joanna's advice  and  used the words from our audience's biggest challenges in the headline to connect with their lingo immediately: The words were:  on track, organized, and save time. The result? For an initial launch just to our existing email subscribers, 2,181 people signed up with page view to signup conversion rate of 27%! You can apply that same strategy to the words you use in your blog titles  by sending a simple survey to your existing email subscribers. Just promise them a reward (a free e-book or  exclusive content of some kind is perfect for this), that it'll only take two minutes, and ask one simple question: "What is your biggest professional challenge as a (insert job title here)?" That will  not only give you tons of blog post ideas; you'll also have their own words you can use in all of your copy- and blog titles- moving forward. Use Words Proven To Increase Your Social Media Shares. Since is a social media editorial calendar tool, we have access to millions of blog titles. Literally. So, being the data nerds we are, we looked at more than 1 million headlines and found the words used most often in the top shared content. From there, we compiled a list for you of those 500 words to use as a tear sheet for inspiration  the next time you're writing blog titles: Pro Tip: Use these words with the headline analyzer to increase  your grade and score as you write your blog titles. Step 4: Rock These Catchy Blog Title Templates To  Jumpstart Your Creativity So you could take  all the advice from this post and start writing catchy blog titles right now. You know the background of your four pillars of successful content, how to connect to your audience emotionally, and how to use catchy words in your headlines. Or you could get a little more advice from the headline pros out there with some formulas so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch. Sound good? Let's take a look at the best blog title templates from around the Interwebs. Write better headlines with formulas from Joanna Wiebe of Copy Hackers:  Joanna wrote an amazing post with every copywriting formula you could imagine. In it, she says she keeps a swipe file handy for when she sees cool headlines she'd like to use for inspiration later on. Might be something for you to consider, too. :) Write magnetic headlines with templates from Brian Clark of Copyblogger: Brian is a genius when it comes to writing pretty much anything. He has some great advice for using social proof, insider knowledge, and appealing to ease to get more traffic. Get attention with headline templates from Michael Hyatt:  Michael is a friend of who's built a platform of 615,597 fans to date. His blog titles definitely tie into the information throughout this post, and his templates- though simple- are extremely effective at getting more readers. Increase conversions with  headline formulas from Sherice Jacob on the Crazy Egg blog:  Sherice takes the stance that  writing great copy is an art and a science. She's helped a bunch of folks increase conversion rates with her headline writing skillz. Since Crazy Egg- a tool that helps people get better conversions- thought this information was awesome, I thought you gals and guys would enjoy it, too. Get more social shares with a little advice from users: We recently analyzed the 4,302,684  blog titles in our database, focusing on the headline structure behind the 1,000 most popular posts that got the most social shares of any content we've ever seen. Those formulas are proven to increase your chances of getting more social shares from your blog titles. To top off that list, I'd also like to share the blog title structures from our top-performing content on the blog: What {#}  Studies Say About  {Subject} {#} {Noun}  That Are Proven To  {Desirable Outcome} {#} Ways To Be {Adjective}  When You Don’t  {Verb} {Adjective} How To {Verb}  An {Audience} With The Best {Subject}  Tips (+{#} Free {Resources}) {#} Data-Driven {Noun}  From {#}  Of The Most Popular  {Noun} {#}+ Easy Ways To {Verb  A  {Noun}  That Will Skyrocket By {#}% In 1 Year How To Use {Noun}  To Increase Your  {Desirable Outcome} The {#}-Minute, {#}-Step Solution For The Best  {Noun} How To Rock A {Noun}  That Will Save You Tons Of Time How To {Verb}  Your {Noun}  For Massive Growth If you start with these ten blog title formulas and write  'em in the headline analyzer, I can nearly guarantee you'll get an awesome grade and score which means you'll get more social shares for your hard work. Which brings me to the last step here... How To Write Catchy Blog Titles With 100+ Proven Templates That Increase Social SharesStep 5: Use 5 Blog Title Tools To Take Your Headlines To The Next Level Woohoo! You made it and understand the best ways to write  super catchy blog titles. Let's  just say you're having a bit of trouble staying inspired.  There are some great  tools out there to help you out: Impact has a blog title generator that helps you insert a topic you'd like to write about and spits out all sorts of headlines to get the inspiration going. Similarly, HubSpot as a blog topic generator that will help you enter in a couple nouns that you might use in your blog post (think about using the keyword), and generate a bunch of topics based on your nouns. Where HubSpot starts, SEOPressor takes it a step further and literally asks you to enter a keyword into their blog title generator to get the ideas flowing. And if you're looking for something a little more humorous and trendy, the content idea generator by Portent is the one for you. Last but not least, once you come up with your headline through any of these generators, run it through the headline analyzer  (which is now built directly into your editorial calendar, too). While your blog title might be close, you could probably use a few of the lessons you've learned from this post- along with the huge list of emotional words- to improve your blog title even further to increase your social shares. How To Use What You've Learned In A Meaningful Way You're a headline  maniac now with your 5-step process for writing a super catchy blog title. I wanted to recap with a bit of advice you might have seen from us in the past because if you're serious about improving your blog titles, this is how to take what you just learned to the next level: Write your headline first- before writing your post. That will help you focus on the value proposition to keep your writing on track. Write at least 25 headlines for every post. Your first take at this might feel awkward, and this process gives you the chance to work through tons of ideas to find the best ones you can use in A/B tests. When you put the time into writing great blog titles, use them for multiple purposes. Share alternative versions you came up with in your blog title brainstorm on social media, and A/B test your headlines in your email subject lines. Download and use alternative headlines throughout your post to encourage more social shares. Don't worry so much about the mechanics. Word count and length- though important in some contexts like subject lines- don't matter as much as the catchiness factor you learned about in this post. If you decide to write catchy headlines  through this process, make sure the content behind the click is just as powerful as your promise. Plan time to improve your blog titles by analyzing  data from your own audience. This  process definitely works for increasing traffic and social shares- but you may have to adjust the pillars according to your own findings. You've got this. :)

Organizational behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organizational behaviour - Essay Example Company Profile 2ergo Group PLC is a proficient player in the mobile trade and marketing and is based in Salford Quays in England. Its areas of specialisation include, provision of software solutions, mobile entertainment, mobile website, mobile news. Their services are utilised in smart phone and mobile phone marketing, smart phone applications, mobile ticketing and coupons and secure payment solutions. It merges its inventive mobile technology together with its prowess in professional services to guide other smaller companies to improve and implement their mobile strategy. Companies that rely on their professional advice include Fox Sports, Aviva, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Fidelity and Procter and Gamble (2ergo Group PLC). They consult on how to enhance their customer relationships, boost their sales, cut down on costs and end to end mobile solutions. The company headquarters are in the UK and it has been on the forefront in facilitating innovative mobile business strate gies across regions and different sectors. The company has spread its wings in Australia, Latin America, North America and India. Additionally, it is listed in the London Stock Exchange. The company has enjoyed a rise in revenue over time owing to quality customer service, diversity in its goods and services, customer loyalty and sound business policies. Through partnering with like-minded players they have cut down on costs, opened new branches and increase in sales and revenues. Its performance has been recognised in the global scene through receipt of various awards including the Salford Business Award Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Winner Mobile Star Awards – Winner, Mobile Advertising and Marketing Awards (MAMA), MMA 2009 Global Awards – Finalist and The Revolution Awards (2ergo Group PLC). This goes ahead to prove that the company’s organisational behaviour is impressive and can be adopted by other companies to improve their performance. Coping with Technolog ical Changes and Innovation The mobile market has evolved rapidly in the recent past calling for far-reaching changes in the operations of the company (2ergo Group PLC). The company has made changes to keep up with the global standards in technology. The Group has focuses mainly on technological advancements by investing a substantial amount of resources towards the course strengthening their capabilities to offer unmatched customer service. The company has received several awards owing to their innovativeness and technological advancements. The company has devised the following ways to cope with technological changes and innovation. These include: 1) Partnerships The company has formed partnerships with leading companies in different fields so as to diversify their products and services and boost their sales. It has partnered with several global companies including NCR, Procter & Gamble and 3M (2ergo Group PLC). This association has attracted more partners including two top restaur ants in the US and Australia boosting their revenue and their customer base. This has led to the creation of the PizzaExpress app which has led transformation of online retail payment which received massive response from their customers. In conclusion, partnerships have

The Effects of Guerrilla warfare on Counter Insurgency Operation Essay

The Effects of Guerrilla warfare on Counter Insurgency Operation - Essay Example As these groups of people will be in minimum numbers when compared to the forces of the State, they might use key strategies to attack and overwhelm their opponents, and one among them is the guerilla warfare. Guerilla warfare is a quick and surprise form of attack carried out by a small group of insurgents against a much larger group of armed forces, causing immediate as well as minimum or maximum causalities and then withdrawing quickly. This form of warfare has been carried out by many groups against established armies achieving both successes and failures. Counter measures To counter this guerilla warfare by the insurgents, government or the official armed forces will indulge in Counter-Insurgency (COIN) operations. Nations try to reach the top echelons on the back of its strong armed forces. Nations’ with its army, navy and air force will protect its territorial integrity as well as gain superiority. On those lines, counter-insurgent forces are formed to carry out various military or armed strategies and actions against those insurgent groups, in order to eliminate their challenge against the state and also for the common good of the population including the local populace. Apart from indulging in armed actions, these COIN forces will further isolate and pressurize the insurgent groups and prevent them from guerilla warfare, by striking a good rapport with the local population. Thus, this report will first discuss how guerilla warfare gets formed and evolved, and how it is being used by the insurgent groups to fulfill their various needs. Then in the second part, the report will discuss how these guerilla warfare techniques and actions has made the COIN forces even more aware of any impending attack, thereby helping them to come up with a optimal strategies to counter them, using real-world examples. Guerilla Warfare As pointed out above Guerrilla warfare is surprise-filled irregular form of warfare carried out by a small group of combatants against a much larger regular armed forces in a terrain, which favors them. Apart from attacking the larger army’s convoys or forces, guerrilla army would also target their opponent’s resources including their arms and ammunitions depot, food supplies, etc, which can have a key impact on the way counter-insurgency is carried out. This way, they will try to cut the supply lines of their opponents, thereby weakening them to launch more attacks and finally make them withdraw. That is, as the small groups cannot directly confront the larger, equipped and dominant groups in a single battle, then knock them down and emerge victorious, they indulge in guerilla warfare to weaken them step-by-step. â€Å"†¦they seek through a constant campaign of sneak attacks to inflict continuous casualties upon their superior enemy forces and thereby over time demoralize the occupying forces and erode political support for the occupation in the homeland of the occupying forces.† (Singla ). This can be seen in many successful guerilla warfare based attacks, where there is a greater disparity in abilities and resources. So, it can be seen as a â€Å"simple strategy of repeated pin-pricks and bleedings that, though small in proportion to the total force strength, sap the will of the occupier to continue the fight.† (Singla). Another aspect of guerilla warfare is that,