Ethical Issues Associated With Marketing And Advertising

Ethics are moral guidelines which govern good behavior. Acting ethically is doing what is morally correct. When business acts ethically, it is said they are practicing good business practice. Acting ethically is not similar to acting lawfully because Ethics are concerned with what is right and wrong whereas law is concerned with what is lawful and unlawful. So Legal and ethical issues are closely related as they both deal with issues affecting the society in general. Ethical issues associated with Marketing and Advertising: Ethical issues in marketing arise from conflicts of interest among parties doing business with each other. Ethical marketing efforts and decisions should meet the expectations of the various players in the marketing effort (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Each party has its own expectation on how the business relationship is supposed to be. Advertisements are the most common marketing methods used by businesses. Ads last longer than word of mouth or networking and ads have a greater potential to reach large number of people especially in the digital age. Every aspect of the marketing and advertising are subjected to many regulations. When a product is being marketed and advertised to a particular group, there must be legal and ethical consideration of how this will affect the people you are targeting. In recent years, there have been various scandals relating to the manipulation of the FDA rules and regulations especially in pharmaceutical industry.Show MoreRelatedOnline Advertising Methods For Advertising1719 Words   |  7 Pages Online Advertising Methods Background Every day, marketing professional come up with new ways in which they can market their products to consumers successfully. Marketing of products has significantly changed following the invention of the internet. The enormous popularity of the internet in the past decade has opened doors for marketers in a manner that one could not have imagined twenty years ago. Marketers utilize the internet for the purpose of advertising products in a great way than otherRead MoreEthical Issues With Ethical Marketing Essay1333 Words   |  6 PagesIssues with Ethical Marketing Ethical problems in marketing starts with conflicts and disagreements. Each party in the marketing transaction brings expectations of how the business relationship will exist and how the transaction should be conducted. Some ethical problems in marketing research aren’t always the invasion of privacy and stereotyping. Selective marketing is used to discourage the demand from undesirable markets or just by disenfranchising them altogether. Examples of unethical marketRead MoreEthical Guidelines For The Marketing Industry1562 Words   |  7 PagesWhen it comes down to ethical guidelines it is pertinent that every industry have them. However, when consumers think of the marketing industry, they tend to think those are the most unethical people participating in those jobs. Marketing too has some ethical guidelines, but to what extent are they being followed to have consumers thinking otherwise? Marketing is supposed to make honest claims and satisfy the needs and wants of the cus tomers. It is supposed to develop brand loyalty, to in turn increaseRead MoreEthics Of The Health Care Industry995 Words   |  4 Pagesin Healthcare Marketing Ethics in the health care industry are one of the most important cornerstones of patient care. Making ethical decisions, being vigilant in the lack of ethical decision making, and being proactive in the reporting and advancement of ethical practices are important factors for marketing professionals such as physicians and other health care professionals to be wary of. Conduct by pharmaceutical representatives and ethical practices in the marketing of pharmaceuticalRead MoreThe Global Pharmaceuticals Market Is Worth Us $ 300 Billion A Year814 Words   |  4 Pagesallowing them to increase the demand and the prices of their products. Over the last 40 years the marketing practices of the pharmaceutical companies have changed the direction of marketing towards physicians to marketing directly to the consumer. This has transformed the pharmaceutical market and has brought out on foreseen profits to the companies. This form of marketing has also brought forth ethical debates t hat question a pharmaceutical company’s responsibility to communicate risk of their productsRead MoreOpinion On Telstra Advertising Campaign1725 Words   |  7 PagesOpinion on Telstra Advertising Campaign. From the literature, Telstra has been a long term sponsor of the Australian Olympics team but currently it is not the sponsor of the team. The issue is that Telstra has been using the advertising campaign ‘I go to Rio’ and have a similar advert stating they are ‘Official Technology Partner of Seven’s Olympic Games Coverage’. This is contrary to the real situation since the team had a different telecommunications partner during the Rio 2016 Olympics. The AustralianRead MoreAdvertising Improves The Standard Of Living954 Words   |  4 PagesAdvertising Improves the Standard of Living As with advertising educating the consumer, experts and critics debate whether advertising improves or harms the population s standard of living. Advertisements help create a large demand for products. Because of this, companies purchase a wide variety of these products in bulk, which lowers the cost for them per unit. Then in turn, they can sell these products to the consumer for a lower price. Without advertisements, companies would only buy a limitedRead MoreThe Ethical Marketing Strategy Of Pharmaceutical Advertising1451 Words   |  6 Pagessome of the ethical issues associated with this marketing strategy? Pharmaceutical advertisements has been the subject of deliberation for more than a century. Pharmaceutical advertising and marketing make up a large fragment of the activities of pharmaceutical corporations. These publications can be extremely informative as long as they are analytically evaluated. However, the data enclosed in promotional material may be scant or errone ous. Assuredly, the pharmaceutical marketing activities hasRead MoreDeontological Ethical Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Marketing1357 Words   |  6 PagesDeontological Ethical Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Marketing In Deontological ethics, morality of an action is based upon the particular action’s adherence to moral laws independent of their consequences (DeGeorge 62). Direct-to-consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals has had heated debate with logical arguments from those for, and for those against allowing such practices to exist. I do not believe the marketing of the prescription medication to be solely unethical but moreRead MoreThe Ethical Appropriateness Of Direct Consumer Advertising Of Drugs Essay1246 Words   |  5 PagesWhat facts would you want to know before making a judgement on the ethical appropriateness of direct consumer advertising of drugs? I believe in the case where pharmaceutical companies are advertising with television commercials or paid advertisements within magazines are well within moral and good ethical standards. Consumers can choose to remain on the same television channel or read an advertisement within a magazine to become more educated about a specific pharmaceutical. However, in the case

The Epidemic Of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever - 1893 Words

Introduction Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe and often deadly illness named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaà ¯re) where it was ï ¬ rst identiï ¬ ed in 1976 with a high case fatality rate lying between 50 and 90%. Outbreaks between 1972 and 2007 are shown in Table 1. The disease ï ¬ rst came into the limelight in 1976 in Zaà ¯re and Sudan in 1976 [17]. Its origin is still unknown and it is widely believed that Ebola virus is transmitted to humans from discrete life cycles in animals or insects, but regardless of the original source. Person-to-person transmission is the means by which Ebola outbreaks and epidemics progress. Bioterrorism threats as well as emergence of new pandemic and drug-resistant variants of known infections require development of the tools that would adequately predict occurrence of epidemics, assess efficiency of countermeasures, and optimize the efforts directed towards provision of biological safety. Mathematical modeling has emerged as an important tool for gaining understanding of the dynamics of the spread of infectious diseases. The need of accurate models describing the epidemic process are vital, because infectious diseases outbreaks disturb the host population and has ï ¬ nancial and health consequences. There is also the need to use sound statistical analysis methods to test the ï ¬ t of such models to observed data to account for uncertainties by means of probabilistic models. The optimization of the control of anShow MoreRelatedEbola Essay851 Words   |  4 PagesEbola Impact on Human Health amp; Hygiene Essay Historically Ebola has had a serious impact on human health and hygiene and still does due to the fact of no vaccine or treatment being discovered, but thanks to improvements in scientific and medical knowledge the virus itself is now controllable. Ebola is the virus Ebolavirus (EBOV), a viral genus, and the disease Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). The virus is named after the Ebola River Valley in the DemocraticRead MoreEbola: More Research is Needed To Find a Cure Essay899 Words   |  4 PagesEbola Hemorrhagic Fever is a severe and often deadly illness that occurs in humans and primates. Ebola viruses are members of the filovirus family. The Ebola virus causes the infection of this disease. There are four subtypes of the Ebola virus that have occurred in humans: Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Ivory Coast, and Ebola Bundibogyo. There was also a case of Ebola that occurred in a non-human in Reston, Virginia. 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Ebola was originally named Ebola hemorrhagic fever due to its hemorrhagic nature. It is a rare but deadly disease caused by infection from an Ebola virus vector. Ebola can be contracted by humans and nonhumans such as monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees. The Ebola virus has been detected in blood and many body fluids, including: saliva, mucus, vomit, feces, sweat, tears, breast milk, urine, semen, and vaginal flu ids (Willett 16). Ebola can lingerRead MoreOutbreak of Ebola792 Words   |  3 PagesEbola was first recognized in 1976 as the cause of outbreaks of disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire) and in Sudan. About three hundred people in each of the two nations were infected with the virus, resulting in a mortality rate of 88% in Zaire, and 53% in Sudan (Bulletin of the WHO 1978). The disease as it was discovered spread through direct contact of unmans to humans, and then thought, from non-human primates to humans. 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They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 to the present date of 1996, researchers have searched for

Nursing Jobs for Journal of Project Management- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theNursing Jobs for Journal of Project Management. Answer: Designing and analyzing nursing jobs Nursing is an ideal job that that requires a lot of patience, mental stability and perseverance. It cannot be considered as a mere job; rather it can be asserted that nursing is a service to humankind. It is quintessentially a philanthropic approach. Getting into nurse jobs requires establishing an emotional connection with the patients and with their family members. It is an full time responsibility that requires to look into all the nook and corners that may affect the patient like hygiene factors, maintaining quality of requirements, having strong communication skills and adapting flexible schedule of work (Pournader, Tabassi Baloh, 2015). The nurses are also required to keep an optimistic approach towards all the issues that may crop up and build up strong interpersonal skills. An ideal nurse dedicated towards his or her profession must have a problem resolving attitude. Job Enrichment Strategies A Particular job can be enriched in terms of quality emphasizing on the job opportunities, strategic planning and controlling. Job enrichment also considers the factors like focusing on the concept of self-monitoring, working in team mechanisms and enhancing knowledge by taking training and development methods. Apart from that job rotation strategies also focuses on job rotation and peer monitoring. Job Enlargement Strategies There are a number of strategies involved to enlarge a job sector. The most common way to ensure the enlargement of job is enlarged by adding complex woks of similar kind to the position (Duffield et al., 2014). Focusing at work variation and keeping the employees engaged also enlarges the job. The other ways of enlarging a jobs are to make sure that the staffs attains training programs and at the same time it opportune the employees to have a taste of all the variation of a single job. Hr planning and recruitment: Certain factors affect the recruitment process of nurses in hospitals and health care centers. A thorough environmental scanning of the same would critically evaluate the factors affecting the hiring and recruitment of staffs. One of the major factor is labor market that invites unnecessary applicants for a job role when the market is saturated. The negative and the positive brand image of the hospitals also impacts on the recruitment process and the type of employees chosen. Further, there are additional factors like political stability of the place, unemployment rates and threat of competitors that influences the recruitment process. The externally focused recruitment in the context of short term recruitment include processes like Casual calling, directly recruiting, internship offers to schools, colleges and universities and hiring of labor on contract basis (Hoffmann, Inderst Opp, 2016). The long term recruitment on the other hand includes strategies like hiring employees on recommendations, referrals, from consultancy and from external agencies and firms. External recruitment strategies: Its advantages to diversify workforce External recruitment strategies are popular because it is unbiased, thus maximum diversity can be maintained (Phillips Gully, 2015). The other processes like casual calling and direct recruitment allows all ethnicity and races to apply for the job. Internship recruitment from schools and colleges ensures diversified work culture. Total rewards: Direct compensation for Nursing Jobs The compensation philosophy is broadly dependent upon the payment practices and the annual reviews of the company. The payment practices are unbiased and transparent that allows professional advancement of the employees in particular area, thus attaining institutional goals and objectives. The annual reviews on the other hand opportune the employees to work and perform better. It acts as motivation to the employees. Valuation of the job: Nursing is less a job and more of a approach. It is an ever-positive approach to serve humanity. The wages are not considered as the prime objective in this profession. It can be regarded as the most profession without much of bribery and forgery scene. Compensation package: The compensation packages are designed in a way that rewards and gives recognition to the employees, offers promotion to the deserving employees and other activities like team outing. Base pay and variable pay: Base and variable pay are the type of compensation package that companies uses to wage the employees. The variation within the pay scale helps the company to mark the basic pay of the employees and thus can alter the other variables of the entire salary. Total rewards: Employee benefits and services: Under voluntary benefits, the company offers medical insurance, health insurance, and security insurance. The prime reason that company offers voluntary benefits to the employees is employee security (Jessen, 2015). It induces an urge within applicants to join the company and employees show better loyalty towards the company. Job related service: In terms of Positive investment, certain program like training and development processes are undertaken that trains the employees to execute their work in perfection. It increases the production of the company and attracts more clients to the company. Flexible benefits program: Flexible benefits program is advantageous to the employer as it enables the employer to satiate the need of the employees (Cascio, 2018). The employer can keep a complete control of finance and the employer controls the employees. The recruitment process is also easier. Reference List Cascio, W. (2018).Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education. Duffield, C., Baldwin, R., Roche, M., Wise, S. (2014). Job enrichment: creating meaningful career development opportunities for nurses.Journal of nursing management,22(6), 697-706. Hoffmann, F., Inderst, R., Opp, M. M. (2016). Only time will tell: A theory of deferred compensation and its regulation Jessen, J. T. (2015). Job satisfaction and social rewards in the social services.Journal of comparative social work,5(1). Phillips, J. M., Gully, S. M. (2015). Multilevel and strategic recruiting: Where have we been, where can we go from here?.Journal of Management,41(5), 1416-1445. Pournader, M., Tabassi, A. A., Baloh, P. (2015). A three-step design science approach to develop a novel human resource-planning framework in projects: the cases of construction projects in USA, Europe, and Iran.International journal of project management,33(2), 419-434.

Market Analysis LOreal

Introduction L’Oreal was established in 1909 in the personal care industry in France. The firm’s operations involve the production of diverse cosmetic and beauty products. The firm has managed to penetrate the global beauty and cosmetic market. Currently, L’Oreal ranks as the largest cosmetic organisation in the world. L’Oreal has adopted internationalisation as one its business level strategies in an effort to maximise its profits.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Market Analysis: L’Oreal specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The firm has targeted China as one of its marketing destinations. Currently, the firm ranks as the second largest skincare and beauty firm in China. Procter Gamble leads the market as it has introduced all its major brands in the Chinese market. Likewise, L’Oreal has introduced most of its brands in the Chinese market such as Maybelline New York and Lancome. In a bid to market its products successfully in the Chinese market, L’Oreal has adopted the concept of localisation in its marketing processes. The firm has set up a research and innovation centre in China. Moreover, the firm has established manufacturing centres at Yichang and Suzhou. Liu (2013, p. 178) argues that the ‘degree of market localisation is reflected in the effort made by an organisation to match local customer needs or requirements and it is measured by its local market orientation’. The manufacturing centres enable L’Oreal to produce most of its professional and mass products, which allows the firm’s products to align with the market needs. Despite its localisation efforts, the firm has not fully localised all its products such as Yue Sai, which is still manufactured in the international market. This paper entails a comprehensive analysis of L’Oreal’s marketing efforts in China. The paper also recommends the ad justments that L’Oreal should consider in order to enhance its market dominance. International market evaluation The world is experiencing a growing trend with regard to the rate of inter-connections and inter-dependencies (Andexter 2008). It is imperative for businesses to develop sufficient competitiveness in order to stay relevant in the international market. Understanding the prevailing market condition is one of the ways through which organisations can remain competitive. Aswathappa (2010, p. 501) asserts that the ‘existence of uncontrollable and controllable factors makes international marketing more complex as compared to domestic marketing’. Firms that have adopted the concept of internationalisation have trouble in understanding the international market. However, surviving in such a market requires an organisation to align its marketing strategies such as marketing mix to conform to the prevailing market needs. The uncontrollable factors in the internati onal environment relate to forces emanating from the political, social, economic, technological, cultural, ethical, competition, and the legal environments. The external business environment is characterised by diverse market changes.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Firms do not have control of most external forces such as technological changes. Consequently, it is imperative for marketers to ensure that their products and services align with the prevailing market changes. Such an adjustment will enhance an organisation’s competitive edge. Aswathappa (2010, p. 501) further argues that the ‘varying environments may rule out uniform marketing strategies across countries’. According to a study conducted by the World Bank, it is projected that China will outdo the United States as the largest world economy in a few decades to come. Currently, the Chinese consumers are experiencing a remarkable increment in their purchasing power. Subsequently, they are in a position to purchase luxury products. Moreover, the Chinese have undergone a significant change in their purchasing behaviour, as evidenced by their preference for premium consumer products such as skincare and beauty. The attractiveness of the Chinese beauty and skincare market has attracted a large number of multinational cosmetic companies over the past two decades. Some of the major industry players include Procter Gamble, L’Oreal, Shisedo, Amway, and Unilever. The firms have developed adequate competitiveness by integrating marketing expertise, product development, research and development, and effective financial management. By 2010, the aforementioned five cosmetic companies dominated the Chinese cosmetic market. However, the firms only covered 40% of the total market. Moreover, the firms faced intense competition from local firms such as Jala and Shanghai Jahwa w hose products were effectively positioned in the local market. Consequently, there is a significant market potential in the Chinese cosmetic and beauty market. Moreover, the likelihood of L’Oreal succeeding in China is evidenced by the view that a large number of consumers are appreciating the international brands. This trend is mainly evident amongst urban consumers in tier 1 cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. Consumers in these cities are increasingly becoming sophisticated with regard to consumption of beauty and cosmetic products. One of the factors that have increased their level of satisfaction relates to growth in the rate of information explosion on premium cosmetic and beauty brands. Therefore, western brand names and images do not have substantial potential to attract Chinese consumers. Therefore, it is imperative for firms intending to enter the Chinese market to understand the prevailing market dynamics for such a move will give the firm’s management team insight on the most effective strategies to adopt in order to succeed. Global branding and standardisation Marketing in the international market presents businesses with an opportunity to expand their businesses and enhance their brands. Multinational corporations face diverse challenges in their marketing efforts (Ghantous 2008). However, branding in the international market is a major challenge for most businesses.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Market Analysis: L’Oreal specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Glynn and Woodside (2009, p. 27) define a brand as ‘a name, symbol, design, term, or a combination of all which is intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors’. Therefore, branding enables an organisation to differentiate its operations from its competitors. Subsequently, an organisation is in a posit ion to address the consumers’ emotional and functional demands. Consequently, surviving in the Chinese market beauty market will depend on the quality of marketing strategies adopted. There are different options that multinational corporations can integrate in their operational and strategic marketing decisions (Ghantous 2008). Integration of global branding is one of the strategies that multinational corporations can integrate in their operations. Global brand strategy is mainly integrated in companies’ effort to attain market success in their new markets (Malaval 2001). Global branding strategy does not entail developing a product for the total global market. One the contrary, it entails modifying a particular product to meet the specific market needs (Malaval 2001). Standardisation and localisation are some of the strategies that businesses can integrate in an effort to attain market dominance. Kotler, Pfoertsch, and Michi (2006, p. 89) propose that global ‘br anding strategy is characterised by the strong focus on increasing profitability by reaping the cost of reduction that come from standardisation’. Standardising an organisation’s global branding strategic leads to the development of a strong market position; furthermore, standardisation improves an organisation’s brand image in the international market and leads to improvement in an organisation’s brand and perceived prestige and quality. L’Oreal hired a renowned Paris-branding agency in order to reposition Yue Sai brand. The Chinese external business environment is very complex (Liu 2013). Therefore, in a bid o survive in such a market, it is imperative for businesses to integrate a high degree of localisation. This move will enable a firm to cope with the market, which can be characterised by being disorderly, fragmented, and dominated by fluctuating levels of corporate control by the Chinese government. Such controls have made major multinationa l companies in China such as Wal-Mart to lose substantial market opportunities (Liu 2013). The tight control imposed by Wal-Mart headquarters with regard to its Chinese market has led to ignorance of the Chinese culture. Ignoring the Chinese culture is a major challenge in an organisation’s effort to attain market dominance. In an effort to penetrate the Chinese market, L’Oreal adopted the concept of standardisation as evidenced by the introduction of the Yue-Sai in 1992. The product was initially owned by Yue Sai Kan and was specifically targeted to the Asian women. In a bid to meet the beauty and skin care needs amongst the Asian women, L’Oreal identified Yue Sai as a potential product that was designed for the Asian market.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, L’Oreal purchased Yue Sai from the initial entrepreneur. The decision to acquire Yue Sai was perceived by many marketing analysts as a strategic move that would enhance L’Oreal’s effort to penetrate the Chinese market. The acquisition was in line with the firm’s mission, viz. ‘beauty for all’. L’Oreal also acquired another Chinese brand known as Mininurse. Consequently, L’Oreal has developed a strong market position in China through acquisition and licensing. Standardisation enables an organisation to set the desired standard of quality. Through standardisation, an organisation is in a position to maintain the uniformity of its products in the international market. Moreover, standardisation enables an organisation to widen the market for its products. Glynn and Woodside (2009, p. 26) assert that standardisation ‘assures the consumers that the goods are pure and uniform in quality and performance’. Afte r acquiring Yue Sai, L’Oreal undertook a comprehensive product improvement and development in an effort to ensure that the product aligns with the Chinese skin needs. This move led to the introduction of the Vital Essential line in 2007. The product was developed using ganoderma mushroom extracts. In China, the mushroom is considered to have medicinal value and such a move illustrates the firm’s commitment to align its products to the Chinese culture. Market targeting, segmentation, and strategic positioning The market for a particular product or service is comprised of several different segments. Every segment has specific consumer characteristics and buying behaviours, and thus in a bid to capture the prevailing market demand, it is imperative for marketers to understand the heterogeneous market. This goal is only achievable via the concept of market targeting and segmentation. Targeting entails narrowing down to specific needs of the consumer. Furthermore, targeting can be defined as the process of selecting the most effective market segment. Shimasaki (2009, p. 102) asserts that targeting ‘lets one to focus and tailor products to the specific preferences of the best customers’. Market segmentation is the process through which the total market is divided into homogenous subgroups. The marketing strategy for every segment varies from one segment to another. The market segments have unique promotion, pricing, product, and distribution strategies (Shimasaki 2009). On the other hand, positioning entails the process through which an organisation intends its customers to view the available products. According to Shimasaki (2009, p. 102), ‘positioning conveys a product’s value to the buyer and solves the customers’ problems’. An organisation’s positioning strategy determines the effectiveness with which the consumers understand the product or service value. In a bid to attain an effective market position , it is imperative for businesses to integrate a comprehensive differentiation strategy. L’Oreal is cognisant of the importance of market targeting, segmentation, and positioning. In the process of penetrating the Chinese market, L’Oreal segmented the market by using age as its core demographic market variables. During its initial market entry phase, the firm adopted concentrated market targeting strategy. Concentrated targeting strategy entails selecting a specific market segment and concentrating the marketing efforts on the identified segment (Lamb, Hair McDaniel 2012). Concentrated targeting strategy enables organisations to understand the consumers’ motives, needs, and satisfaction. As a result, the firm is in a position to develop a specialised marketing mix. L’Oreal targeted women as the core customers. China has undergone significant transformation with regard to personal care and beauty over the past few decades (Jian 2013). The younger generati on in China is more receptive of beauty and cosmetic products as compared to the older generation as is evidenced by the increment in consumer spending with regard to premium beauty products. Consumption of beauty and cosmetic products has increased significantly amongst young male and female consumers. It is estimated that the Chinese cosmetic and beauty market is growing at a rate of 13% annually. It is estimated that the country will continue growing at a rate of 10% (Fu 2013). The graph below illustrates the markets’ growth over the past decade. Source: (Fu 2013) The high growth potential in China is one of the factors that motivated L’Oreal to enter the market. However, the firm was forced to standardise and localise its products in order to meet the beauty and cosmetic needs for the Chinese women. For example, L’Oreal was forced to acquire and improve its main product, viz. Yue Sai, in line with the Chinese herbal medicines. The concept of localisation ha s played a critical role in enhancing the firm’s success in China. Moreover, the process of continuous product improvement enabled the firm to align its operations with the changing lifestyle amongst the Chinese women. The modern Chinese women can be defined as proud, confident, and aware of their role in society. Therefore, the firm was forced to align Yue Sai to the changing consumer behaviour. During its acquisition, Yue Sai had not developed an optimal market position despite its strong market position, which means Yue Sai’s market performance was relatively poor. Its sales were relatively low as compared to previous years. This aspect presented L’Oreal with a major challenge in its quest to attain the desired level of competitiveness. L’Oreal had a relatively poor market reputation with regard to its effectiveness in acquiring and integrating other brands and this element would dampen the firm’s future acquisition efforts. Moreover, most Chine se did not perceive Yue Sai as being an inspirational brand. Therefore, they preferred foreign brands such as Shiseido, Lancome, and Estee Lauder. Moreover, the brand was characterised by an uncertain business model. L’Oreal was concerned on how it would maintain Yue Sai’s dominance as a new lifestyle brand and a brand that leads to improvement in the level of confidence amongst the Chinese women. Moreover, L’Oreal intended to position itself as the dominant Chinese icon, which symbolises luxury. L’Oreal recognises the importance of adopting an optimal positioning strategy in order to succeed in marketing the Yue Sai brand. The positioning strategy will determine the degree of market acceptance of the brand by the Chinese. In its positioning effort, L’Oreal ensured that Yue Sai brand delivers value to customers. Consequently, the firm considered matching its distinctive capabilities with regard to product development and improvement, which enabled the firm to reposition Yue Sai as a brand that addresses the Chinese women’s beauty needs. Moreover, the firm has recognised the importance of exploiting the Chinese heritage and history in marketing the Yue Sai. Moreover, the firm is cognisant of integrating the concept of affordability in its value proposition efforts. One of the value propositions that the firm should consider entails offering products that contribute to improvement in the consumers’ perception. The firm should ensure that Yue Sai gains market relevance and an enduring market position amongst the target consumers. Such a positioning strategy will contribute in improvement in the level of customer loyalty. Marketing strategy Marketers are faced by a major challenge emanating from prevailing marketing fluctuation and changes (Ferrell Hartline 2013). Therefore, in a bid to survive in such a market, it is imperative for marketers to adopt optimal marketing strategies. Marketing strategies contribute to delivery of value to customers and fulfilment of their needs and wants. Ferrell and Hartline (2013, p. 22) argue that the ‘combination of continual change and the people-driven nature of marketing makes developing and implementing marketing strategy a challenging task’. The marketing strategy is comprised of different components, which constitute the marketing mix. The marketing mix is comprised of different variables, which address varying customer and product-related issues. In an effort to penetrate the Chinese market, L’Oreal has integrated the concept of marketing mix. The firm has focused on diverse marketing mix variables such as promotion, distribution, product, and pricing. L’Oreal was committed towards ensuring that Yue Sai brand gains market acceptance after the acquisition. Consequently, the firm adopted the concept of standardisation by integrating the Chinese culture and heritage in the process of improving the Yue Sai brand. L’Oreal ensured that aspects of the Chinese traditional medicine were integrated in the process of producing Yue Sai. The Chinese appreciate their cultural heritage and culture in their consumption process. Some of the elements that they hold with high esteem relate to health, medicine, and food. Moreover, most Chinese are conversant with their country’s traditional medicine. Subsequently, they enlist diverse ancient medicinal practices such as herbs, acupuncture, and other practise in an effort to enhance their health. This trend is evident in all the age groups, and thus to succeed in such a market, it is imperative for businesses intending to enter the Chinese market to take into account the Chinese culture. With regard to promotion, L’Oreal adopted diverse marketing communication methods. The main marketing communication methods included advertising and public relations. In its advertising process, the firm has adopted the press and television as the main marketing communi cation mediums. In a bid to reposition Yue Sai, L’Oreal allocated a substantial amount in its marketing communication budget. The amount was utilised its marketing processes through television and print media. The advertising campaign featured Du Juan, who is a renowned Chinese supermodel. In a bid to attract potential customers, the firm ensured that a high level of creativity and effective designing were integrated in the television commercials. For example, during the advertising campaign, the firm adopted the tagline ‘I hold my future in my hand’. The other slogan was adopted included ‘I look forward to every day with confidence’. Consequently, the firm was in a position to appeal to the Chinese women’s emotions. However, the high cost of advertising through these mediums hindered the firm’s effectiveness in creating awareness In its effort to create awareness through public relations, L’Oreal contracted renowned Chinese pers onalities and celebrities to endorse its products. Some of the major personalities included singers, athletes, actors, and actresses. Eighty percent (80%) of the firm’s marketing communication efforts were focused on skincare product and 20% on makeup. Furthermore, the firm had not adopted effective public relations’ channel as it had not adopted new media platforms such as Weibo, which were famous platforms in China. In a bid to enhance its effectiveness with regard to market awareness, L’Oreal should have considered increasing the size of its marketing communication budget. According to Ferrell and Hartline (2013), consumers are very sensitive towards price in their purchasing patterns. Consequently, it is imperative for managers to adopt an effective pricing strategy. Initially, the firm adopted the premium-pricing strategy. However, the attractiveness of the Chinese market led to entry of a large number of industry players, which diminished the attractivenes s of Yue Sai amongst most departmental stores that carried the product. Moreover, most consumers started preferring premium brands offered by competitors, which presented a major challenge to L’Oreal. In a bid to eliminate this challenge, L’Oreal should have considered adjusting its premium pricing strategy in the process of marketing the Yue Sai brand. This move would have ensured that the product is integrated effectively in its brand portfolio. Such an adjustment on the firm’s pricing strategy would determine the extent to which a large number of consumers would incorporate Yue Sai brand in their consumption patterns. Ensuring effective and efficient market accessibility is another factor that L’Oreal should consider in marketing the Yue Sai brand. This goal is achievable via adopting a comprehensive distribution strategy. The distribution strategy should entail effective selection of distribution channel. Considering the view that L’Oreal deals with tangible products, it is imperative for the marketing manager to ensure that the customers access the firm’s products easily. This move will increase the likelihood of maximising its sales revenue. Currently, the firm’s distribution channels in China are ineffective and the firm’s management team should consider a number of decisions in order to improve its efficiency with regard to the distribution of products. Some of these decisions relate to market coverage, establishment of distribution centres, adoption of optimal order processing strategies, warehousing, and specific channel members. Currently, L’Oreal has established a number of distribution centres in different parts of China. Some of the firm’s departmental stores are located in Shanghai and the firm distributes its products through 550 departmental stores, 430 cosmetic stores, and through 98 Watson and Manning. However, the firm faces intense competition from other competitors who include Aupres, Lancome, and Herborist who have established a strong level of market dominance. In a bid to survive in the Chinese market, it is imperative for the firm to consider improving its distribution efficiency by integrating emerging marketing communication channels. One of the options that the firm should consider entails the emerging e-commerce portals. Moreover, the firm should also consider expanding its market by adopting the concept of franchising, which will increase the product’s market reach. Consequently, the firm will increase the likelihood of marketing its products to a large number of customers. Conclusion The case study illustrates L’Oreal’s effort to enter the Chinese beauty and cosmetic market. Marketing in the international market presents multinational corporations with an opportunity to increase the level of profitability. This assertion arises from the view that international marketing enables an organisation to market its products to a large number of potential customers, which leads to increment in sales revenue. Despite the above benefits, international marketing is a major challenge to a large number of multinational corporations. Consequently, it is imperative for multinational corporations to adopt optimal marketing practices. One of the elements that that multinational corporations should take into account entails developing a comprehensive understanding of the international market environment. Therefore, a comprehensive marketing analysis and evaluation should be conducted. The analysis should focus on diverse market variables such as the political, legal, ethical, social, technological, and economic environments. Such an analysis will give marketers insight on the most effective marketing strategies and practices. The market environment varies from one country to another. The analysis shows that there is a high market potential for beauty and cosmetic products in China. The market potential emanates f rom the high youth population in the country. Moreover, China is undergoing a significant market transformation with regard to consumer attitude on beauty and cosmetic products. Most Chinese consumers prefer consuming local products. Despite the high market potential, China is characterised by unique market environment. Consequently, it is imperative for businesses to adopt effective market entry strategies. In a bid to survive in such a market, it is imperative for market entrants to understand the market, which will aid in determining the most effective market entry strategies. In the process of entering the market, L’Oreal adopted the concept of acquisition. The firm acquired Yue Sai, which a local Chinese brand that had substantial market potential. This move enabled L’Oreal to localise its product offering effectively. However, the acquired product was not effectively designed, and thus L’Oreal was forced to undertake additional improvement by integrating t he Chinese culture in its product development. The case study also shows that Yue Sai was not effectively marketed and this aspect motivated the firm to integrate effective marketing practices such as targeting, positioning, and market segmentation. In order to survive in the Chinese market, it is imperative for L’Oreal to allocate a substantial amount of money in its marketing budget, which will aid the firm in conducting a comprehensive marketing research. Consequently, the firm will be in a position to undertake effective product improvement. Moreover, the firm should consider improving its marketing communication by integrating emerging marketing communication platforms such as social media, which will enhance the likelihood of the firm attracting a large number of potential customers. Reference List Andexter, T 2008, Analysis and evaluation of market entry modes into the Asia-Pacific region based on the examples of a German SME in the industrial goods business, Verlag, N ew York. Aswathappa, K 2010, International business, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. Ferrell, O Hartline, M 2013, Marketing strategy; text and cases, Cengage Learning, Mason. Fu, Y 2013, Potentials of Chinese cosmetic market. Web. Ghantous, N 2008, Brand internationalisation strategy beyond the standardisation and adaptation dichotomy, GREFI, Paris. Glynn, M Woodside, A 2009, Business to business brand management; theory, research and executive case study exercises, JAI Press, Bingley. Jian, S 2013, New level of China’s beauty and personal care market. Web. Kotler, P, Pfoertsch, W Michi, I 2006, B2B brand management, Springer, New York. Lamb, C, Hair, J McDaniel, C 2012, Essentials of marketing, Cengage Learning, Mason. Liu, H 2013, Chinese businesses; landscapes and strategies, Routledge, New York. Malaval, P 2001, Strategy and management of industrial brands: Business to business products and services, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston. Shimasaki, C 2009, The business of bioscience: what goes into making biotechnology product, Springer, New York. This case study on Market Analysis: L’Oreal was written and submitted by user Brady W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

SAT Analogies and Comparisons Why Were They Removed, and What Replaced Them

SAT Analogies and Comparisons Why Were They Removed, and What Replaced Them SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In 2005, major changes made to the question types in the reading and math sections of the SAT. Two types of comparison questions - quantitative comparison questions from math, and analogies from reading - were booted from the SAT. In this article I’ll give you the rundown on what these questions were like, how the SAT replaced them, and how questions have evolved even further on the 2016 version of the test. What Were SAT Quantitative Comparison Questions? Quatitative comparison questions used to be a considerable part of the math section (25 percent of questions).Instead of asking you to solve for a value, these questions asked you to determine which of two quantities was larger. Here’s an example: x and y are positive integers. 3x + 6y = 180,252 Column A Column B The maximum possible value of x The maximum possible value of y A. The quantity in Column A is greater.B. The quantity in Column B is greater.C. The two quantities are equal.D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. (the answer is A) Why Were Quantitative Comparison Questions Removed? These questions were removed from the SAT in 2005. They were deemed to besomewhat irrelevant to core math skills and a bit too confusing.QC questions were also more reading-based - they were the only math questions that didn’t have symbolic or numerical answers.Ironically, removing them was a move towards making the math section MORE quantitative (that is, purely number or variable quantity-based rather than logical reasoning-based). The SAT was hoping to disentangle itself from its long-standing reputation as a "tricky" standardized test.Quantitative reasoning questions came across more as riddles than math questions because they don't ask you to find a numerical solution or use a well-outlined mathematical skill set. Which Questions Replaced Quantitative Comparison Questions? The 2005-2015 SAT: New algebra II-related topics were added to the math section to replace quantitative comparison questions.These included: exponential growth, manipulation of fractional and negative exponents, functional notation, absolute value, equations of lines, and data interpretation. Quantitative comparison questions were replaced with questions that specifically targeted areas of math that students were familiar with from algebra and geometry classes and could be used to demonstrate a strong understanding of core math principles. The Current (2016) SAT: Not too much has changedfrom the previous version, but a few more math topics have been added.These include: basic trigonometry, more data interpretation, questions that invoke real life scenarios, and more in-depth questions involving algebra and solving equations. The latest version of the SAT wants to make sure students have a solid understanding of foundational math concepts AND can apply those concepts in real life. Here's an example of a math question that might appear on the current SAT: This question asks you to use your mathematical skills to analyze a real data set. The ability to answer quesitons like this more accurately reflects career and college preparedness than performance on quantitative comparison questions, which were totally disconnected from real life scenarios. What Were SAT Analogy Questions? These were the original stereotypical SAT questions.You were given a pair of words and asked to choose from five other pairs of words to find the relationship that most closely resembled that of the first pair. In the following example, you can interpret the dots as the words â€Å"is to† so you would think of it as â€Å"Paltry is to significance as _______ is to _________.† where the blanks are the two words in one of the answer choices. PALTRY : SIGNIFICANCE :: A. redundant : discussionB. austere : landscapeC. opulent : wealthD. oblique : familiarityE. banal : originality (the correct answer is E) An interpretation of this painting with all the words from the wrong answers: "I'm sick of these redundant discussions in this austere landscape on subjects with which I only have a very oblique familiarity. Let's go rob a bank and buy an opulent mansion with our newfound wealth." Why Were SAT Analogy Questions Removed? Analogy questions were removed in 2005 when the verbal reasoning section of the SAT was renamed "critical reading".These questions were criticized for being irrelevant to success in a college or work environment. Analogy questions gave the SAT its reputation for using â€Å"tricky† question formats and being a puzzle rather than a straightforward assessment. They were also criticized for being biased towards certain socioeconomic groups.This question in particular was called out by the National Center for Fair Open Testing for providing a clear advantage to coastal elites: RUNNER: MARATHON :: A) envoy: embassyB) martyr: massacreC) oarsman: regattaD) referee: tournamentE) horse: stable The answer was C, but unless you own at least one pair of salmon-colored shorts you probably don't have more than a vague idea of the relationship between those terms. It was also argued that analogies could be coached (giving more advantage to kids who can afford tutors) and used vocabulary that was too unorthodox for most students to know.On an analogy question, you can’t rely on context if you don’t know the meaning of a word. You’re basically stuck with guessing.Try comparing apples to oranges when you don’t know what an orange is or you think you have a vague idea that it might also be some kind of food. It’s...fruitless. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! Which Questions Replaced Analogy Questions? The 2005-2015 SAT: Sentence completion questionswere the closest analogue (sorry, the wordplay is getting out of hand) to analogy questions on the 2005-2015 version of the SAT. Though they were also on the SAT prior to 2005, after the removal of analogy questions they became the only real vocab-centric questions in the Critical Reading section. These questions called for skills inidentifying vocabulary in the context of a sentence.You were given a sentence with one or two blanks and asked to choose the best vocabulary word to fill in the blank(s). Here’s an example about Jones, who you find out was actually a ghost the whole time at the end of the SAT: ____ by nature, Jones spoke very little even to his own family members. A. garrulousB. equivocalC. taciturnD. arrogantE. gregarious (the answer is C) You can see how these questions might still present a problem if you don’t have an advanced vocabulary, but they did give you a little more to work with if you weren't sure of the exact definitions of the words. The Current SAT: On the current SAT, sentence completion questions are replaced with vocabulary in context questions.Thesequestions are similar to reading questions found on the ACT. You are asked to pick out the closest synonym for a vocabulary word that appears in a passage. Here’s an example: ...The coming decades will likely see more intense clustering of jobs, innovation, and productivity in a smaller number of bigger cities and city-regions. Some regions could end up bloated beyond the capacity of their infrastructure, while others struggle, their promise stymied by inadequate human or other resources. As used in line 55, â€Å"intense† most nearly means A) emotional.B) concentrated.C) brilliant.D) determined.(the answer is B) The goal of these questions is to encourage students to understand the nuances in meaning of more common words rather than overwhelming them with a bunch of archaic vocabulary.The best way to study for these types of questions is to focus on honing your passage reading skills.The ability to read and interpret the meanings of passages correctly is key on the current version of the SAT because all questions in the reading section are passage-based. Conclusion Essentially, the SAT removed these old types of questions to reduce criticisms about inequality. The test continuously finds itself under fire for the direct proportionality of family income to test scores, and it has made numerous efforts over the years to reinvent itself to combat this problem. In a decade, we may see yet another re-imagining of the SAT to tackle these issues in a different way. What's Next? It's not just the SAT Math section that asks you to read charts and graphs. The Reading and Writing sections have data interpretation questions as well. Learn more about the best ways to solve them. You should also check out this guide to figure out when you should take the SAT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

A Brief History of Banking Reform After the New Deal

A Brief History of Banking Reform After the New Deal As president of the United States during the Great Depression, one of President Franklin D. Roosevelts primary policy goals was to address issues in the banking industry and financial sector. FDRs New Deal legislation was his administrations answer to many of the countrys grave economic and social issues of the period. Many historians categorize the primary points of focus of the legislation as the Three Rs to stand for relief, recovery, and reform. When it came to the banking industry, FDR pushed for reform. The New Deal and Banking Reform   FDRs New Deal legislation of the mid- to late-1930s gave rise to new policies and regulations preventing banks from engaging in the securities and insurance businesses. Prior to the Great Depression, many banks ran into trouble because they took excessive risks in the stock market or unethically provided loans to industrial companies in which bank directors or officers had personal investments. As an immediate provision, FDR proposed the Emergency Banking Act which was signed into law the very same day it was presented to Congress. The Emergency Banking Act  outlined the plan to reopen sound banking institutions under the US Treasurys oversight and backed by federal loans. This critical act provided much-needed temporary stability  in the industry  but did not provide for the future.  Determined to prevent these events from occurring again,  Depression-era politicians passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which essentially prohibited the mixing of banking, securities, and insuranc e businesses. Together these two acts of banking reform provided long-term stability to the banking industry. Banking Reform Backlash Despite the banking reforms success, these regulations, particularly those associated with the Glass-Steagall Act, grew controversial by the 1970s, as banks complained that they would lose customers to other financial companies unless they could offer a wider variety of financial services.  The government responded by giving banks greater freedom to offer consumers new types of financial services. Then, in late 1999, Congress enacted the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act. The new law went beyond the considerable freedom that banks already enjoyed in offering everything from consumer banking to underwriting securities. It allowed banks, securities, and insurance firms to form financial conglomerates that could market a range of financial products including mutual funds, stocks and bonds, insurance, and automobile loans. As with laws deregulating transportation, telecommunications, and other industries, the new law was expected to gen erate a wave of mergers among financial institutions. Banking Industry Beyond WWII Generally, the New Deal legislation was successful, and the American banking system returned to health in the years following World War II. But it ran into difficulties again in the 1980s and 1990s in part because of social regulation. After the war, the government had been eager to foster homeownership, so it helped create a new banking sector- the savings and loan (SL) industry- to concentrate on making long-term home loans, known as mortgages. But the savings and loans industry faced one major problem: mortgages typically ran for 30 years and carried fixed interest rates, while most deposits have much shorter terms. When short-term interest rates rise above the rate on long-term mortgages, savings and loans can lose money. To protect savings and loan associations and banks against this eventuality, regulators decided to control interest rates on deposits.

Aviation Maintenance Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Aviation Maintenance - Article Example With the use of X2 technology to trounce the design related challenges in the aircraft industry.The aircraft keep up with the advancing technology by being designed in a way that it can be flown by wire. So far the electronic control of the aircraft has shown superb performance than the human-directed, this is despite the fact the system has been in use for a short period. At the same time, there is increased acceleration and deceleration speed which is of the essence in the military planes more so for the fact that the aircraft at some point may be subjected to sudden landing and taking off for the security purposes. The new innovative ways of production and employment of the innovation in the aviation industry give room for more advanced and reliable products that meet the advanced needs of the clients. The aircraft in its form flies faster and for longer distances than the less technologically advanced planes in use. At the same time, there is increased the higher limit of the loa d.However, with increased technology and production of new technologically advanced aircraft, there is a need also to have an increased number of the maintained technology experts. With an increased surge of the new aircrafts, the world over with few people to maintain the same has made the industry and the maintenance of the modern aircrafts unbearable in terms of maintenance costs. Therefore, must a company to roll out technicians as well now that there is a shortage even for the present workload.

Describe what you see Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Describe what you see - Essay Example The statue is wearing a tunic and tights, adorned with a long fur coat, which has puffed sleeves, seeming pleasantly anachronistic against the background adorned by the premises of the State Community College. The legs of the statue are short, thick and firm, depicting a pachyderm like balance and strength. The hands are comparatively shapely and long, signifying the sophistication of the Western civilization. The facial features of the statue are lean, masculine and imbued with determination, resembling a mountain like stability and solidity. The statue is about as high as a young oak tree, commensurately solid and firm. The forehead is slim and slightly furrowed, evincing the determination of a crouching lion. The eyes are almond shaped and gazing ahead, akin to a search light like focus. Overall the contours of the statue are bold, monolithic, and round, accentuating the solidity of the marble rock from which it was

Paper-Based Versus Electronic Medical Record Keeping Essay Example for Free

Paper-Based Versus Electronic Medical Record Keeping Essay For many years, physicians’ offices documented all data in paper-based medical charts. Now, the physician or clinician records the medical data into a computer. Information stored in this manner is known as an electronic-based medical record or EMR. By definition, an EMR is a computerized record of the important health information regarding a patient including the care of that individual and the progress of that patient’s condition (Bonewit-West, Hunt, Applegate, 2009). The use of computers in physicians’ offices is not new. For decades, physicians have used computers and practice management software primarily to schedule appointments and for billing. The government has offered physicians incentives designed to encourage the adoption of electronic medical records to promote medical information accessibility, better patient care, greater efficiency, and financial savings (Hamilton, 2010). In the face of advancing technology, small medical offices must compare the cost, ease of use, and maintenance of electronic medical record systems versus paper-based record keeping. The cost of keeping paper-based and electronic medical records is not just about the actual price tag of the record-keeping systems. The cost of keeping an electronic medical record system (EMR) begins with the initial purchase and implementation of the hardware and EMR software. There are also ongoing maintenance expenses, loss of revenue associated with temporary loss of productivity due to converting paper charts to electronic ones, and the training of the staff (Menachemi Collum, 2011). The way these record systems are stored is very different and can greatly affect the cost as well. EMR records are stored on a server, digitally, in a secure computer database within the office practice (Hamilton, 2010). On the other hand, the cost of keeping a paper-based medical record requires certain supplies. File folders, folder labels, chart dividers, paper, and writing instruments are needed. Shelves are commonly used to hold and organize the charts for ease of accessibility by the staff. A growing medical practice may often require many shelving units that take up valuable office space. Storage boxes are required to store outdated charts or charts no longer in use (Bonewit-West et al., 2009). If there is not enough space in the office, then physicians may often have to pay for off-site storage (Hamilton, 2010).  The process of using a paper-based medical record system is relatively easy. However, there are some factors to consider. To use a paper chart, the medical staff must locate and retrieve it, make sure the appropriate documents accompany the chart, and have it ready for the physician. The physician or the medical staff must allocate enough time to accurately document the chart for each patient. Any chart, whether it is paper or electronic, needs to be comprehensible, so clear writing is imperative when recording using a paper chart (Bonewit-West et al., 2009). Meanwhile, using an EMR system requires the use of a computer. This can be a desktop model, laptop, or a tablet type device. The patient records are kept digitally within the EMR system and are accessed via the computer. This type of record-keeping system does not require the addition of paper documents. Al l paper documents are scanned into the EMR system or electronically obtained from other pertinent sources. Once paper documents are scanned into the EMR system, they become part of the patient’s permanent record and are no longer needed. This process requires EMR training of the medical staff, which is normally performed by the vendor supplying the EMR software. The physician and the medical staff must learn how to operate the new system and acclimate to the new paperless charting method. Learning an EMR program and using it with ease can take several months or more (Bonewit-West et al., 2009). The ease of use with both of these systems differs in the fact that paper-based records need to be filed properly in order to locate them when needed. Filing can be very time-consuming and paper-based records can be easily lost or destroyed. Even though electronic records are stored digitally on a server within the medical office, the medical staff will still need to enter the patient data into the EMR system. Electronic records need to be backed up daily because they can be lost due to fail ure of the hardware (Hamilton, 2010). Regular maintenance is required for both paper-based and electronic record keeping. The maintenance differs greatly between the systems and is ongoing regardless of which system is being used in the medical office. The routine maintenance of an electronic medical record system requires hiring network professionals to monitor and maintain the network. Some examples of maintenance tasks may include performing data backup once every twenty-four hours, storing a database backup offsite, and  archiving backup media once every month. There is also maintenance on the hardware and software. Hardware must be replaced and software will have to be upgraded regularly. A product specialist may need to run utilities for different applications within the EMR system. There will be ongoing training for all users of the electronic medical records system (Menachemi Collum, 2011). In contrast to electronic medical records, maintenance of paper charts require that they are examined periodically to make sure the chart remains in good condition since these charts will become worn over time. The charting of each patient should be complete, legible, and performed in a timely fashion. Paper charts that are outdated, that are deemed inactive or charts of patients who expired will have to be placed in boxes and put into storage (Hamilton, 2010). There are vast differences between paper-based and electronic medical record-keeping systems. One system is entirely manual while the other requires manual data entry combined with computerization. For decades, physicians and staff of medical practices have used only the manual or paper-based method of keeping medical records. Change can be costly and frustrating, but with the advancement of technology, coupled with the government requiring the use of EMR, small medical offices must explore the cost, ease of use, and maintenance involved in making this important change in the way of keeping medical records. References Bonewit-West, K., Hunt, S. A., Applegate, E. J. (2009). The medical record. In Todays Medical Assistant: Clinical Administrative Procedures. St. Louis, Mo: Saunders/Elsevier. Hamilton, B. (2010). Electronic health records (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Menachemi, N., Collum, T. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of EHRs. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 4, 47-55. Retrieved from doi:10.2147/RMHP.S12985.

Public School Curriculum Content :: Education Curriculum Teaching Essays Papers

Public School Curriculum Content In this era of progressive thinking and open mindedness, it was only a matter of time before society tried to change our school system for the better. The long-standing theories of Charles Darwin on evolution are finally being contested. Intelligent Design has emerged as the leading opposition to Darwin's blasphemy, but another equally valid theory has recently made some noise in the world of evolution. The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Intelligent Design, also known as FSMism, has recently built up quite a following. These two theories are pushing very hard to one day be in our high school curriculum. Are ID and FSMism both worthy of being taught in our schools or is one more scientifically valid? Intelligent Design, or ID, states that there are certain aspects in nature that show individual signs of intelligence that can not be accounted for, or that are too complex for our understanding. Therefore, an "Intelligent Designer" must have deliberately created everything in nature that shows this unaccountable sign of intelligence. Followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, also called Pastafarians, follow the same criteria as ID proponents. On top of those ideals, Brian D Rabern, a Pastafarian and a member of the Department of Philosophy at UC Santa Barbara, adds another perspective. "Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe has a cause for existence. Since no scientific explanation can provide a causal account of the origin of the universe, the cause must be supernatural, i.e. a god. Therefore, a god exists. Gods create humans in their own image. The brains of humans resemble a bowl of spaghetti. Thus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the one true god." This statement brings up the most blaring difference between ID and FSMism, the fact that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is defined and ID has no particular designer. The fact that ID has no specified designer has both positive and negative effects on the theory. On the one hand, having no higher power defined brings the separation of Church and State out of the equation. Conversely, since no higher power is mentioned, one would have to come to the conclusion that there is not just one higher power. ID states that an "Intelligent Designer" must have created anything that shows an unexplainable intelligence. This means that the "Intelligent Designer" would have to have unexplainable intelligence of his own which would lead to the conclusion that their must be another designer that designed him.

Boy Bawang

Concepts of State and Government State – is a community of persons more or less numerous permanently occupying a definite portion of territory and a government. Elements of State 1. People – this refers to the mass of population living within the state. 2. Territory – it includes not only the land over which the jurisdiction of the state extends; but also the rivers and lakes therein. 116 square miles or 300,440 square kilometers 3. Government – it refers to the agency through which the will of the state is formulated expressed and carried out. 4.Sovereignty – the term may be defined as the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to its will from people within its jurisdiction. a) Internal – or the power of the state to rule within its territory b) External – or the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without subjection to or control by other states. Origin of state theories 1. Divine Right Theory †“ it holds that the state is of divine creation and the ruler is ordained by god to govern the people. 2. Necessity or Force Theory – it maintains that state must have been created through force. . Paternalistic Policy – it attributes the origin of states to the enlargement of the family which remained under the authority of the father or mother. 4. Social Contract Theory – it asserts that the early states must have been formed by deliberate and voluntary compact among the people to form society and organize government for their common good. Forms of Government a) Monarchy – or one in which the supreme and final authority is in the hands of a single person without regard to the source of this election or the nature or duration of his tenure.Monarchies are further classified into 1. Absolute monarchy – or one in which the ruler rules by divine right 2. Limited Monarchy – or one in which the ruler rules in accordance with a constitution. b) Aristocracy – or one in which political power is exercised by a few privileged class which is known as an aristocracy or oligarchy. c) Democracy – or one in which political power exercised by a majority of the people. Democratic governments is further classified into; 1. Direct or pure democracy – or one which the will of the state is ormulated or expressed directly and immediately through the people in a mass meeting. 2. Indirect Representative – or republican democracy or one in which the will of the state is formulated. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government a) Unitary Government – or one in which the control of national and local affairs is exercised b) Federal Government – – or one in which the powers of government are divided between two sets of organs, one for national affairs and the other for local affairs.Relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of the government a) Parl iamentary Government – or one in which the state confers upon the legislature the power to terminate the tenure of office of the real executive. b) Presidential Government – or one in which the state makes the executive constitutionally independent of the legislature. Other forms of Government a) Civil Government – one in which the affairs of the state are administrated and directed by the citizens or their representatives. ) Military Government – established and administered by a belligerent in the territory c) Constitutional Government – one in which the powers of those who rule are defined and limited in their exercised d) Despotic Government – one in which the powers of those who rule are not defined and limited in their exercised by a constitution e) Elective Government – one in which the state confers powers upon a person, or organization composed of persons chosen by qualified voters f) Hereditary Government – the state confers the powers of government upon a person in a certain family g) Coordinate Government – government according to their nature among separate departments or bodies. h) Consolidated Government – the state confides all government powers to a single body i) De jure Government – founded on existing constitutional laws of the state and has the general support of the people j) De facto Government – existing constitutional law of the state and is maintained against the rightful authority of an established and lawful government. ) Revolutionary Government – installed whether by force or otherwise, not in accordance with the procedure prescribed in an existing constitution. Source of Constitution authority 1. The Filipino People 2. A Sovereign People 3. Belief in God Article 1 – National Territory The Terrestial, Fluvial and Aerial domains of the Philippines 1. The territorial sea – it is that part of the sea extending 12 nautical miles (1 19 kms. ) from the low-water mark. 2. The sea bed – this refers to the land that holds the sea, lying beyond the seashore, including mineral and natural resources. 3. The sub-oil – this includes everything beneath the surface soil – including mineral and natural resources. 4.Insular shelves – they are the submerged portions of a continent or offshore island. 5. Other submarine areas – they refer to all areas under the territorial sea. Three fold division of navigable waters 1. Inland or internal waters – they are the parts of the sea within the land territory. 2. Territorial sea – it is belt of water outside and parallel to the coastline or to the outer limits of the inland or internal waters. 3. High or open seas – they are waters that lie seaward of the territorial sea. Article 2 – Declaration of principles and state policies Republican government – is a democratic government by representatives chosen by the peo ple at large Sovereignty – implies the supreme authority to govern.

Brief Notes on Karl Marx Essay

â€Å"Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains† Karl Marx, a 19th century sociologist, philosopher and political economist who suggested a theory explaining the conflict between capital and labour, and the role of classes in the state, has had a profound influence on political thinking all over the world. Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Prussia. His family was Jewish, but later converted to Protestanism. Marx read law at university, majoring in history and philosophy. He concluded his university course in 1841. A revolutionary, he upset too many governments on the continent and eventually settled in London, where he died in 1883. â€Å"ACCORDING TO MARX, human civilization has manifested itself in a series of organizational structures, each determined by its primary mode of production, particularly the division of labor that dominates in each stage. â€Å"Ideology functions as the superstructure of a civilization: the conventions and culture that make up the dominant ideas of a society. The â€Å"ruling ideas† of a given epoch are, however, those of the ruling class: â€Å"The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of their dominance†. Since one goal of ideology is to legitimize those forces in a position of hegemony, it tends to obfuscate the violence and exploitation that often keep a disempowered group in its place (from slaves in tribal society to the peasantry in feudal society to the proletariat in capitalist society). The obfuscation necessarily leads to logical contradictions in the dominant ideology, which Marxism works to uncover by returning to the material conditions of a society: a society’s mode o f production. â€Å"The material conditions existing at a given time period Marx refers to as  the means of production. Any given time period’s ideology is most clearly revealed by uncovering the material conditions of production: the means of production, as well as the relations of production (the ways the society structures the relations between individuals, particularly through the division of labor), which together make up the mode of production: â€Å"life involves before everything else eating and drinking, a habitation, clothing and many other things. The first historical act is thus the production of the means to satisfy these needs, the production of material life itself† (48). For Marx, it is the materiality of human production that directly influences ideology: â€Å"Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life†. Felluga, Dino. (2003) â€Å"Modules on Marx, Introductory Guide to Critical Theory† . 17 Mar 2004 Marx states that Capitalist society is formed of the Owning Class (Borgoisie), those who own and control the economic functions of society and who can thus shape society to suit themselves; and the Working Class (Proletariat), the workers. These classes have nothing in common; they are antagonistic and in conflict with each other. This struggle will ultimately lead to revolution and the establishment of a single class society. All relationships are based upon Economics – even family relationships – economics is the fundamental driving force, surpassing even religion which he described as the Opium of the People. Understanding economic relationships is a crucial step if one wishes to gain control of them.

How to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score, by a 2400 Expert Full Scorer

How to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score, by a 2400 Expert Full Scorer SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Updated for the New 2016 SAT! The maximum score on the SATis a 1600. Out of the 1.7 million students who take the test every year, only about 300 get the highest possible SAT score. This elusive perfect score catapults you to the top of high school academic achievement and can be a big boost to your college applications. I scored perfect scores on the SAT. I actually scored two perfect scores- a 1600 in 2004 when I was in high school, and a 2400 in March 2014 when I took it ten years later. Most of the advice out there about how to get a perfect score come from people who didn't get perfect scores. In this exclusive article, I'll be breaking down exactly what it takes, and the ruthless techniques I used to get a perfect score. Quick Disclaimer Let me start with a few disclaimers. I'm a humble person, and I don't like talking about my accomplishments without good reason. I know a lot of you are looking to score the highest SAT score possible, so I've written this guide to help you get there. So whatever I say here, please take it as advice from a mentor eager to help, not as a braggart strutting his stuff. Also,a last note:I co-founded the company PrepScholar- we create online SAT/ACT prep programs that adapt to you and your strengths and weaknesses. I want to emphasize that you do NOT need to buy a full prep program to get a great score. If you follow the principles below and are very driven, you'll do just fine. I do believe, however, that PrepScholar is the best SAT program available right now, especially if you find it hard to organize your prep and don't know what to study. I'll refer to decisions we made in creating the program to flesh out principles I discuss below. What Perfect SAT Scores Look Like For full transparency, let me show you my personal score report. This is a screenshot from my College Board SAT Organizer: I took the two SATs 10 years apart. The 2004 test was in an old format of the SAT and was scored out of 1600. I took the new test in 2014 and scored a 2400. (Yes, I took the SAT as an adult. Besides getting funny looks from high school students, I wanted to go through the experience anew so I knew what my students at PrepScholar were going through.) So that you can see in bleeding detail how I got the 2400, I've attached my unofficial detailed score report from the College Board. You can see exactly how many questions I missed and read my essay (my handwriting could use some work). Using my score report as an example, let's examine what it takes to get a perfect SAT score. While this score report talks about the Old 2400 SAT, the principles are still the same. In the new SAT, there are still Reading, Math, and Writing sections, and you still need to do EXTREMELYwell on them to get a perfect score. What It Takes to Get a 1600on the SAT At the top end of the scoring range, the SAT is not forgiving. You need to aim for perfection. Specifically, here's what you need to do in each section: In Reading, you can only miss 1 or 2 questions. This depends on the curve for that test. It's best to aim for missing 0 or 1 question. In my test, I missed 1 reading passage question. In Math, you need to get every question correct. No question about it.The curve is unforgiving for Math. Miss 1 question and you won't get an 800 on this section. In Writing, you can sometimes miss 1 question at most.In some tests, you have to get a perfect Writing and Language score to have a shot at an 800. Essentially, you need to aim for perfection during your prep. If you're consistently missing one or more questions on each section, you're not performing consistently enough to be safe for a 1600. We'll go into more detail about this below. If you want to confirm my statements here, check out the College Board score charts for official SAT practice tests. One last question to answer before my actual advice: But Wait...Are You Just Smart? Will This Advice Work for Me? You may have heard about top scoring students who just rolled out of bed, strolled to the SAT test center, and scored the highest possible SAT score without any prep. This was not me. Some people like the above may in fact exist, but they're rare.In high school, I was naturally stronger at math- I participated in math and science competitions- and I could reliably get 800's on the math section. But my reading and writing needed work. When I started off, I consistently got in the 700 range. Now, this is already pretty high, but it wasn't enough for the top schools I was aiming for. I just wasn't that accustomed to the SAT reading passages and the types of questions they asked. It took a lot of hard work for me to learn how the SAT works, how it tries to trick students, and how to find a strategy that worked for myself so I could reliably get top scores.My co-founder at PrepScholarhad a similar story. Since I'm older, I also have the benefit of seeing whether my methods worked over time, or just on the SAT. Emphatically, the principles below have worked throughout my academic career. Here's another example. As an undergraduate in college, I planned to attend medical school, so I had to take the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test). In my view, this is a much harder test than the SAT. It covers many more topics: general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, and verbal reasoning. Furthermore, you're competing with pre-med's across the nation, people who are naturally driven and competing to get into medical school, not just the average high school student. When I started studying for the MCAT, I scored around the low 30's. The test is scored out of 45, and it's curved very aggressively. Again, this was already well above average, but it wasn't enough for the top medical schools I was going for. So I worked hard. I put in the time, covered all the subjects I needed to know, and was ruthless about my prep. In the very end, I scored a 44: As the testing organization notes, this is in the 99.9 percentile rank, with 0.0% achieving this score (this figure is rounded). I had multiple medical advisers tell me that they had never seen a score this high before, and there might indeed be fewer than three people per year- or none at all- who get a 44.Scoring this high definitely helped me get into the MD-PhD program at Harvard Medical School and MIT. I wish I were talented enough to get these test scores naturally without hundreds of hours of hard work. That would be the cooler thing to say. But it wasn't true for me, and it probably won't be true for you either. With this foundation laid, here's the meat of what I want to say: What Do You Need to Do to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score? In broad strokes, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of smart work, and some amount of luck. But you've heard this before so just this alone isn't helpful. Let's dig deeper. You have to want it. Really, really want it. You need the motivation to push yourself. You need to put SAT prep as one of your top priorities in life, overcoming watching Youtube or hanging out at the mall. In the darkest of days, when you take a practice test and drop 100 points inexplicably, and your parents are freaking out, and you're worried you're never getting into your top college, you need the inner fire to not get depressed. Instead, you need to pull yourself up and objectively rip apart your mistakes so you don't repeat them. People don't often mention motivation, but in my view this is one of the most important pieces that differentiate successful people from not, in all aspects of life. It's much more important than just being smart. Make a list of all the reasons you want to get a perfect score. Write them down. Stare at them when you lose faith. Want to get into Harvard or an Ivy League school? Want to make up for a bad GPA? Want to prove to your parents that you can beat their expectations? Want to compete with your friends?Want to show up your 3rd-grade teacher who said you would never amount to anything? That's all good. Anything that drives you from within is a valid reason to work hard. You'll need this to combat procrastination and laziness. You'll need this to push yourself to execute every strategy I tell you below. If you're not motivated, it's just too easy to brush aside failure and be sloppy about your weaknesses. In my personal case, beyond the academic benefits, I thought the SAT was a dumb test that was impeding my life. I was angry at test writers who devised tricks to fool students. I approached it like a video game- the SAT and the College Board were bosses that I needed to dominate. Plus, my brother had a near-perfect score, and I wanted to one-up him. Write down all the reasons you want a perfect score and use it to fuel yourself every study session. Exclusive Blog Bonus: We've written a popular free guide on 5 tips to improving your SAT score by 160+ points. Get a free download here. Step 1: Do High-Quality Practice and Avoid Low-Quality Materials The SAT is a weird test. It's unlike tests that you've taken throughout school. It presents simple concepts in bizarre ways. This is essentially how the College Board makes the test hard- it takes concepts most students have seen before, twists them to be unfamiliar, and counts on students to screw up. To excel at this test, you need the highest quality practice materials. Because the SAT has questions that are twisted in a particular way, you need to train in exactly the way they're twisted so you learn the patterns. As we've said before, by far the best practice material comes directly from the College Board in the form of official SAT practice tests.When I was studying, I devoured every SAT practice test I could find. I took over 15 full-length practice tests and was ruthless about finding my mistakes, as I'll talk about soon. Just like the mantra about your diet and body, what you put in is what you get out. Trash in, trash out. If you train yourself on questions that don't reflect what's on the SAT, you're going to learn the wrong patterns. Using bad materials is like training for baseball by playing tee-ball. Yes, if you spend 1000 hours practicing tee-ball, you'll be a tee-ball pro. But when someone pitches a real baseball at you, you're going to freak out- "why is the ball traveling so fast? Why's it so close to my face? Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod." And then you strike out. To be frank, most of the books available on the market are trash. They boast about having a lot of questions, but they're written by people who aren't truly experts on the test. This means the questions don't test concepts in the same way; the answers are sometimes ambiguous; the questions don't trick you in the same way the SAT does. In my company PrepScholar, we hire only SAT full-scorers and 99 percentile scorers to craft our thousands of test questions. You need to have mastered the test to really understand the intricacies of how the SAT works. We've turned away dozens of applicants who scored below a 2300since they really don't understand the test well enough. If you likestudying with books, here's my list of the top SAT prep books available. There are some pretty high-quality books written by true experts, though they can get pricey- buying the top five books will cost you at least a hundred dollars. Collect good prep materials and study using only these. Step 2: Focus on Quality First, Quantity Second Now you have a lot of materials. Some students focus hard on getting through every single page of every book they have. They might not know why they're studying what they're studying, but at least they sure put in a lot of time and effort! This is the wrong idea. You don't want to pound your head against the wall and use a brute force approach. Improving your SAT score is about quality first, and quantity second. It's so tempting to just focus on getting work done, because that's the easy part. Understanding your weaknesses, as we discuss below, is what takes real energy and insight. Think about it this way- let's say you're learning to throw a football with a perfect spiral. You can pick up a football and, by trial and error, if you throw it 1,000 times, you'll make some progress. Now imagine you have New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady standing by your side. You throw the ball once, and he corrects your technique. Move your foot back this way, have your hand follow a certain motion, and follow through. You try again, and it's way better. In throwing 50 balls this way, I'm certain you'd end up doing better than 1,000 by yourself. I'm not suggesting that Tom Brady is a tutor, and you must have a tutor. You can be your own Tom Brady, and we discuss below how to do that. But you need to make sure you get the most out of your studying and make it as efficient as possible. You need your own SAT Tom Brady. Step 3: Be Ruthless About Understanding Your Mistakes On the ground level, when you're actually studying, this is by far the most important way you'll succeed over other students. EVERYmistake you make on a test happens for a reason. If you don't understand EXACTLYwhy you missed that question, you will make that mistake over and over again. If you're performing at the 700 level, you're missing around 10% to 15% of all questions. This means you have some consistent errors that are holding back your score. This is what you need to do: On every practice test or question set that you take, mark EVERYquestion that you're even 20% unsure about. When you grade your test or quiz, review every single question that you marked, and every incorrect question. This way even if you guessed a question correctly, you'll make sure to review it. In a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you'll do to avoid that mistake in the future. Have separate sections by subject and sub-topic (reading- passages vs sentence completion, writing- sentence errors vs improving paragraphs). It's NOT enough to just think about it and move on. It's NOT enough to just read the answer explanation. You have to think HARD about why you specifically failed on this question. By taking this structured approach to your mistakes,you'll now have a running log of every question you missed, and your reflection on why. Everyone who wants to get to an 800 on a section has different weaknessesfrom you. It's important that you discover for yourself what those are. No excuses when it comes to your mistakes. Go Deeper- WHY Did You Miss It? Now, what are some common reasons that you missed a question? Don't just say, "I didn't know this material." Always take it one step further- what specifically did you miss, and what do you have to improve in the future? Here are some examples of common reasons you miss a question, and how you take the analysis one step further: Content: I didn't learn the skill or knowledge needed to answer this question. One step further:What specific skill do I need to learn, and how will I learn this skill? Incorrect Approach: I knew the content, but I didn't know how to approach this question. One step further:How do I solve the question, and is there a general rule that I need to know for the future? Wrong Guess:I was stuck between two answer choices, and I guessed wrong. One step further: Why could I not eliminate one of the last answer choices? Knowing the correct answer now, how I can eliminate it? Does this suggest a strategy I can use for the future? Careless Error: I misread what the question was asking for or solved for the wrong thing One step further:Why did I misread the question? What should I do in the future to avoid this? Does this seem hard? It is- you have to think hard about why you're falling short and understand yourself in a way that no one else can. But few students actually put in the effort to do this analysis, and this is how you'll pull ahead. By the end of my studying, I had notebooks filled with practice questions that I'd missed, and when eating breakfast I could thumb through them to review them, like flashcards. Adopt a no-mistake-left-behind policy toward your mistakes. Letting one slip through can mean you make the same mistake on your real SAT. Five Why's Here's another useful trick when reviewing mistakes: ask yourself "Why?" five times? This is a revolutionary technique developed by Toyota to figure out the root cause of manufacturing problems. The point is that when you ask yourself "Why?" five times, you'll dig deeper and deeper to understand what the underlying cause is, and how to fix it. Here's an example. Let's say you miss a Reading passage question. Everyone does this. Starting point: I missed a Reading question about the big picture summary of the passage. Why? I picked the wrong answer choice, out of the two I had left. Why? The wrong answer choice had a phrase that was in the passage, but otherwise the meaning was wrong. I got tricked. Why? I didn't fully understand the passage when I was reading it. Why? I read the passage too quickly. Why? I was scared about running out of time. Wow- you see how a single question can give you a TON of information about where you went wrong? Now you have a lot of opportunities to improve- on how you read passages, how you eliminate answer choices, and how to process big picture questions. Again, very few students actually have the discipline to go through this reflection. And this is why YOU'REgoing to get a better score. Step 4: Find Patterns in Your Weaknesses, and Drill Them to Perfection Now that you're collecting mistakes in a notebook, you'll be able to start finding patterns to your weaknesses. This might be a content area- like problems with math circle problems, or a specific grammar rule. Or it might be a personal habit of yours, like misreading the passage or eliminating the wrong answer. Focusing on your weaknesses is CRITICALbecause you have a limited amount of time to study, and you need to spend that precious time on the areas that will get you the biggest score improvement. I've worked with students who just love drilling their strong points because it's comfortable. Of course, this is a waste of time- you have to confront your demons and pick at where you're weak, which is uncomfortable and difficult. When I was studying for the SAT and MCAT, I kept track of my mistakes in an Excel spreadsheet. I found, for example, that I consistently missed Reading passage questions about inferencesbecause I was reading too far into what the author was saying. I then focused on drilling those specific types of questions until I had developed my own strategy for solving the questions. As another example, back when the SAT emphasized vocab more, I needed to study thousands of vocab words, any of which could show up on the test. I developed my own method onthe best way to study SAT vocab words- what I call the Waterfall Method. This method forces you to review words you don't know over 10x more than words you already know- efficient studying. You don't need to use this for the New 2016 SAT, but you may still find it helpful for any class you need to use flashcards for- foreign language, history, or English. Find the weak link in your chain. When you find your weakness, you need to find resources to drill that content area. If you're weak in Trigonometry questions, you need to find a lot of SAT Trig questions to really drill those skills. If you're weak in subject/verb agreement, you need to find grammar questions to drill. Doing all of this well is tough for many students, because you have to at once: Do practice questions Diagnose your weaknesses Find more practice questions Understand whether you're improving or not Adjust your plan continuously This is the backbone of every effective study method, but it takes a lot of mental energy to do well. This is actually why we started PrepScholar- we wanted to build an online prep program that would do all the heavy lifting for you, so that you can concentrate on learning.In our PrepScholar program, we detect your weaknesses andautomatically organize your quizzes by skill so that you can focus on learning and not on the higher-level activities of analyzing your own progress. By the way, a quick side point- be suspicious of any content-level strategies that promise you results. By content-level, I mean strategies that tell you how you must solve a type of question. At your level, you need to focus on what works best for you. For example, people approach reading passages differently. Some read the passage first, then answer questions. Some skim questions first, then go back to the passage. I know what works best for me, but that's not necessarily what works best for you. What you will have to do is aggregate strategies for your weaknesses, then test them out yourself to see if they work for you. Specific strategies for each weakness is out of scope of this article, but we'll post examples later. Step 5: Eliminate Careless Errors These types of mistakes are by far the most frustrating. You know the content, you know how to solve it, but because of a misreading of the question, you don't get the question right. This can already disqualify you from an 800 on Math. In my own SAT, I made careless errors because I was trying to finish early and save time for the end, so I would rush through questions too quickly. I hated myself every time I made a careless error. But when I focused on the two things below, I was able to claim back my lost points. #1: Double-check that you're answering the right question.The SAT is designed to ask you tricky questions.You might find the area of the square, but the question actually asks for the perimeter. To eliminate this, always underline what the question asks you to solve for. Don’t stop your work until you solve for the correct thing. Another strategy is to write what the question is looking for in your scratch area. For example, if it asks for seconds instead of minutes, write â€Å"= ____ seconds† and circle it before you start your work. This might sound like extra work, but how you defeat careless errors is by having a reliable, failproof system. #2: Be wary about choosing the "No Change" option.For Writing, a common careless error is choosing "(A) NO CHANGE"in grammar questions. That's because when you read the question, it seems grammatically correct to you because the grammar rule just isn't ringing a bell. Whenever this happens, make sure you double check the other answer choices to make sure that NO CHANGEis absolutely the best answer choice. You should check especially for grammar rules that are easy to overlook, like Subject-Verb Agreement and Misplaced Modifier. By analyzing your mistakes, you'll be able to find patterns in grammar rule weaknesses that you have. You can then build your own system for grammar rules that you often miss- for example, for Subject-Verb Agreement, identify the subject and the verb, and then make sure they match. Step 6: Develop AmazingStudy Habits If you're highly motivated and aiming for a top score, you're likely to spend at least 200 hours studying for the SAT. Your job is to get the most out of every hour you can. Learning how to study more effectively has huge returns on your time. Think about it- if you can learn some techniques to improve your study efficiency by 20%, this will effectively give you back 40 hours of your life. Here are my best recommendations on great study habits, all of which I follow myself. Habit 1: Create a Schedule and Force Yourself to Stick to It It's important to have a plan. You need to understand when you're going to do what, and then you need to follow that plan. Here are questions to ask yourself: How much time do I have until my next test? How much time will I spend studying every week? How many practice tests should I take before then? When will I take them? During each week, what specific times and days will I be studying? What will I actually be studying each day? Why? How should my schedule change based on the info I receive from practice tests? Do NOT approach SAT prep without a plan like this. You'll wander aimlessly from book to book, test to test, without actually focusing on what is going to get you results. We designed PrepScholar to take care of all this hard work for you. Every week, we create customized lesson plans so you know exactly what to study and when. We schedule practice tests for you at the best moments leading up to your test date. We ask you for your weekly study schedule,then text you reminders to study. We send you progress reports so you know how well you're doing and whether you need to study more. If you feel like you don't know how to create your own study schedule or aren't confident you can stick to one, you might like PrepScholar's SAT program. Habit 2: Eliminate All Distractions You have so many distractions at your fingertips- Snaps, texts,YouTube, games, and more. All of these are super fun and super easy to consume for hours on end. All of these will improve your SAT score by ZERO. If you're studying and you glance at your phone every 3 minutes, you are NOT STUDYING. The brain is actually terrible at multitasking, and every time you lose attention, you take minutes to go back to full concentration. I know how tempting it is to stay up to date with everything your friends are doing. There's major Fear of Missing Out. You don't want to miss a hilarious joke or be late to a scandalous story. The thing is, in the long term, these little interactions don't actually make a big difference. Think about the last time responding to a text within 3 minutes was VITAL to your friendship. You are not missing out on anything important if you text back an hour later.Maybe you'll call me an old man and just claim I don't get it, but a friend who gets mad at you for not replying within a few minutes doesn't sound like a good friend to me. I once sat in a coffee shop next to a girl who was trying to study chemistry. Every few minutes she would look at her phone, laugh, and return a text. She got through two pages in an hour- I kid you not. Instead, here's what you need to do: Go to a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Wear earplugs if it helps. Turn your phone off or leave it another room. Don't listen to music where you actively have to listen to words. Don't study with friends. It's more fun but everyone does a crappy job of studying. If you're using a program like PrepScholar on a web browser, use tools like StayFocusd to keep yourself off of distractions. Treat this seriously.One hour spent studying at full concentration is better than three hours at 50% concentration. Habit 3: Have a Positive Mindset. Your Job Is to Grow. When you're trying to get a perfect 1600 SAT score, you'll get frustrated when you make mistakes. I was the same way, and I got mad at myself for making careless mistakes or for forgetting something I used to know. The important thing is to channel that frustration into learning and growth. Treat every mistake as a learning opportunity. Every mistake tells you exactly where your weakness is, and what you need to do to fix it. You are allowed to get upset, but not so much it paralyzes you. Instead, treat your primary goal as getting better- not as getting a specific score. Step 7: Get Fast Enough to Always Double Check Your Answers Now that you’re aiming for a top score, you need to finish each section ahead of time to give yourself time to double check your answers. A good rule of thumb is to finish the section with at least 5 minutes to spare. As you get better at the SAT, this will be easier to accomplish since you’ll solve each question in less time. When I took the SAT, I reliably finished each section with 5-10 minutes to spare. I would mark any questions that I felt I had to return to and double-check. I had enough time to review all my answers twice. The real time-killers are questions you get stuck on. It’s very easy to get sucked into a question for five minutes, frustrated that the SAT is taking a point away from you. Avoid this temptation. Follow this rule: if you’ve spent 30 seconds on a question and can’t see how you’re going to get to the answer, circle the question, and skip it. You’ll have time at the end to come back to it. For now, you need to work on the other questions.How do you double check effectively? It varies between sections. For math, you should try to re-solve the question quickly in a different way. For some questions, you’ll be able to plug the answer back in. For others, you’ll just need to check your steps you took the first time around.For writing, confirm that the sentence has the error you think it does. Again, for No Error answer choices, make sure you aren't missing something in the question.For reading, confirm that there is no other better answer ch oice than the one you picked. For passage questions, make sure you rule out four incorrect answers. For sentence completion questions, plug the words back into the blanks to make sure they fit perfectly. As you get better at the test, you'll have more time left. Aim for at least 5 minutes left after each section, and use that time to double-checkyour answers. Stay calm during the test, even if you get confused on a question. Step 8: Don't Get Inside Your Own Head During the Test If you're vying for a perfect 1600 score, you'll face pressure during the test. You know how little room for error there is. This means that if you're having trouble with a question, it's easy to psyche yourself out. "Oh no! I'm having trouble with this math question. If I don't get this right, my 800 in math is gone!" This will make you nervous, which makes you even less likely to answer the question, which makes you more nervous, and so forth. This vicious spiral can suck you down for the rest of the test. Controlling your mental status is important during the test. Just like a pro athlete or performer, you need to be confident about your skills. You already put in a ton of work, and you've learned most of what the College Board has to throw at you. The last thing you want to do now is ruin more of the test. So it's a single question you're unsure about- this doesn't affect your performance on any other question. Try your best and clear your head, then move on. Does All of This Really Work? I can say from personal experience that these are the principles that I used to excel in academics. If you follow these principles for your own classes and in college, you'll do an amazing job. I would also be hard-pressed to find any top scoring student who doesn't agree wholeheartedly with the advice above. This advice also works if you're not aiming for a 1600. If you want to improve from a 1200 to a 1500, you can use these principles to power your learning. These principles also work in life. As a startup founder, I adhere to lean principlesto constantly analyze where my weaknesses are, how to build them, and how to focus on what's really important for our company. While the SAT tests specific skills that you may not use in everyday life, the process of preparing for it can teach you a lot about yourself, your limits, and your ambitions. This sounds a little hokey, but take it from this old man, you can learn a lot about yourself. Finally, keep in mind that you don't need a 1600to get into top colleges! A 1520+ will make you more than competitive for top schools like the Ivy League. If you get a 1540, your time is better spent building up the rest of your application than eking out a few more points. Quick Plug:I've mentioned my company PrepScholar a few times. If you agree with what I say above, you'd like my course. I designed our SAT course around the principles above, knowing that most students don't have the energy or expertise to diagnose their own weaknesses. PrepScholar automatically figures out what you need to work on and focuses your learning by drilling your weak skills. It also builds in motivational features so you're up to date on your progress and commit to more study time. Check out our SAT program here. What's Next? If you liked this article, you'll also like my expert guides on getting an 800 in each of the SAT sections. Each one goes further into deeper details on how to ace each section. Check out: How to get an 800 in SAT Math How to get an 800 in SAT Reading How to get an 800 in SAT Writing Aiming to get into Harvard and the Ivy League? Read my How to Get Into Harvard guide. Youmight learn that you're headed straight to the rejection path. Finally, check out our online SAT prep program.We have a 160+ point money back guarantee: if you finish our course and don't improve by 160 points, you get all your money back, no questions asked. I designed the PrepScholar program around the principles in this article. Thousands of students have used PrepScholar to improve their score by hundreds of points, which is why I'm confident it'll work for you too. Try our program with a 5-day free trial today: