Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold free essay sample

After the death of their drummer and friend, Jimmy â€Å"The Rev† Sullivan, nobody expected Avenged Sevenfold to continue making music. However, this summer the band released â€Å"Nightmare,† their fifth studio album. Fans will notice that M. Shadows vocals arent nearly as nasal or whiny as in previous albums, but rather show a more aggressive and emotional tone. Also, the album tries to restore the bands former sound by using heavier guitar riffs and even a bit of screaming, which Shadows hasnt done since their second album, â€Å"Waking the Fallen.† As always, the band likes to experiment with new sounds; you can hear trumpets, marching bands, whispering, and even whistling, which I think many fans will enjoy. â€Å"Nightmare† opens with the title track and an eerie xylophone that creates an uncomfortable feeling, and almost instantly kicks into pounding drums and fast, dark guitar riffs. The next few tracks are both heavy and catchy. We will write a custom essay sample on Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"Welcome to the Family† will stick in your head for days, while â€Å"Danger Line† is dedicated to the American troops. The first ballad,â€Å"So Far Away,† is written by guitarist Synyster Gates for his late friend, The Rev. The song features Zacky Vengeance on an acoustic guitar, clean vocals, and a climactic ending with strings and a guitar solo. Nothing thus far prepared me for the next track. Titled â€Å"God Hates Us,† the song is easily one of the heaviest and most aggressive the band has written. It begins with a bit of a fake out, with a clean intro but then from nowhere kicks in with thunderous double bass, heavy guitars, and a lot of screaming from M. Shadows. The song will definitely appeal to a new audience as well as old fans. At this point, the albums focus changes from heavy and aggressive to emotional and slow. The next two songs, â€Å"Victim† and â€Å"Tonight the World Dies,† definitely slow the pace with some of the best ballads the band has created. â€Å"Tonight the World Dies,† will be a song most will overlook because its slow. The chorus and bridge have deep vocals and are climactic without the build-up you expect. The next, â€Å"Fiction,† is easily the hardest to listen to, and for most fans will likely bring them to tears. This song was written by The Rev only three days before his passing and was originally titled â€Å"Death.† If that isnt enough irony, the song is basically Sullivan saying his good-byes, with the last line, â€Å"I know youll find your own way, when Im not with you tonight.† The song actually features Sullivan and Shadows on vocals, as well as a very dark and creepy piano. The last song, â€Å"Save Me,† is the longest at almost 11 minutes. It includes just about every element the band has ever used, including dueling guitar solos, clean guitars, heavy riffs, catchy choruses, dark piano parts, and powerful lyrics. The album culminates with dynamic drum fills and the line â€Å"Tonight we all die young.† Overall, I believe fans will enjoy â€Å"Nightmare† and might even find it better than some of Avenged Sevenfolds previous work. â€Å"Nightmare† is worth the listen. New and old fans will enjoy listening front to back and will give Avenged Sevenfold the support they need to continue making music after the death of their friend.

Faith Can Conquer All essays

Faith Can Conquer All essays For the past week, people all over the world have had their eyes on the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Along with the many different Olympic sports, there are many different winners...of all shapes and sizes. However, it is not the different physical appearances of these athletes that are interesting, but the different styles of winning. Some athletes receive their gold and proclaim their superiority. Others win gold and put people down in the midst of their victory, such as Svetlana Khorkina. This Russian gymnast won a gold medal in individual competition, but in her first interview condemned Sydneys Olympic organization, whom she felt was responsible for the error in vault height. And then finally there are other athletes who win with modesty and thank those that helped them along the way. Laura Wilkinson is an American platform diver who recently won a gold medal in just this way. Not only did she thank those who helped her achieve success, but she thanked God, whom she felt was responsible for her win. After realizing she won the gold, Wilkinson said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Her faith in God won her a gold medal. Similar unfaltering faith is displayed in Hurstons short story, Sweat. The female character, Delia, presents her faith in different ways to gain victory by overcoming her heartless husband. Delia, in Zora Hurstons story Sweat, uses blind faith, tolerance, and courage to demonstrate her confidence in God which always leads to Delias first, most impressive confirmation of reliance on God, is her blind faith which steers the way to final independence from her husband. Delia is a very religious person, which in itself proves her assurance in God. She drives her pony four miles to the church every Sunday rain or shine to sing her praises to God. On one occasion, Delia stays all evenin...

Pteranodon Facts and Figures

Pteranodon Facts and Figures Despite what many people think, there wasnt a single species of pterosaur called a pterodactyl. The pterodactyloids were actually a large suborder of avian reptiles that included such creatures as Pteranodon, Pterodactylus and the truly enormous Quetzalcoatlus, the largest winged animal in earths history; pterodactyloids were anatomically different from the earlier, smaller rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs that dominated the Jurassic period. Wingspan of Close to 20 Feet Still, if theres one specific pterosaur that folks have in mind when they say pterodactyl, its Pteranodon. This large, late Cretaceous pterosaur attained wingspans of close to 20 feet, though its wings were made of skin rather than feathers; its other vaguely birdlike characteristics included (possibly) webbed feet and a toothless beak. Weirdly, the prominent, foot-long crest of Pteranodon males was actually part of its skulland may have functioned as a combination rudder and mating display. Pteranodon was only distantly related to prehistoric birds, which evolved not from pterosaurs but from small, feathered dinosaurs. Primarily a Glider Paleontologists arent certain exactly how, or how often, Pteranodon moved through the air. Most researchers believe this pterosaur was primarily a glider, though its not inconceivable that it actively flapped its wings every now and then, and the prominent crest on top of its head may (or may not) have helped stabilize it during flight. Theres also the distant possibility that Pteranodon took to the air only rarely, instead of spending most of its time stalking the ground on two feet, like the contemporary raptors and tyrannosaurs of its late Cretaceous North American habitat. Males Were Much Bigger Than Females There is only one valid species of Pteranodon, P. longiceps, the males of which were much bigger than the females (this sexual dimorphism may help to account for some of the early confusion about the number of Pteranodon species). We can tell that the smaller specimens are female because of their wide pelvic canals, a clear adaption for laying eggs, while the males had much bigger and more prominent crests, as well as larger wingspans of 18 feet (compared to about 12 feet for females). The Bone Wars Amusingly, Pteranodon figured prominently in the Bone Wars, the late 19th-century feud between the eminent American paleontologists Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. Marsh had the honor of excavating the first undisputed Pteranodon fossil, in Kansas in 1870, but Cope followed soon afterward with discoveries in the same locality. The problem is, Marsh initially classified his Pteranodon specimen as a species of Pterodactylus, while Cope erected the new genus Ornithochirus, accidentally leaving out an all-important e (clearly, he had meant to lump his finds in with the already-named Ornithocheirus). By the time the dust had (literally) settled, Marsh emerged as the winner, and when he corrected his error vis-a-vis Pterodactylus, his new name Pteranodon was the one that stuck in the official pterosaur record books. Name: Pteranodon (Greek for toothless wing); pronounced teh-RAN-oh-don; often called the pterodactylHabitat: Shores of North AmericaHistorical Period: Late Cretaceous (85-75 million years ago)Size and Weight: Wingspan of 18 feet and 20-30 poundsDiet: FishDistinguishing Characteristics: Large wingspan; prominent crest on males; lack of teeth

Value of Planning in the Urban Development Essay - 2

Value of Planning in the Urban Development - Essay Example Traditionally, planning concentrated on improving the physical conditions of the houses and streets with response to prevailing circumstances whereby this contrasted with the new aspects of urban planning. City planning process is highly a complex matter, as it must put into account characteristics together with the long-range welfare of people of that particular urban area or city (Barney, 2006). It follows a systematic process that involves series of studies and surveys, land-use development plan, transportation system plan, budget preparation, not forgetting that it has to receive a unified master plan approval from several agencies or legislative bodies. The history of urban development is a controversial subject in the States. Many planners at the beginning of 19th century used to consider total costs of urban planning as opposed to its benefits and this drew a very different picture. However, as time went by, urban community planning took a turning point with a progressive approach where planners concentrated on maximizing the difference between costs and benefits and did not necessarily consider minimizing costs. This was in response to the fact that minimizing costs and at the same time minimizing benefits was of no value, not to the planners nor the country. The history of America reveals that American cities increased and expanded in the early decades of the 19th century. Due to their expansion, geography born rise to city planning as most of the vital roads by then existed for two centuries earlier. As a result, they winded up in erratic areas in local ways and around topographic areas. Afterward, the presence of equipment for construction permitted straighter roads hence planners persisted in establishing a good framework for developing the urban community transportation network (Weiner, 2008).  

The case study will be send by file Research Paper

The case study will be send by file - Research Paper Example 121). Family centric segmentation strategy of the company reflects from their outdoor activities, media selection and opinion leader selection (Rogers, 1995, p. 293). Pricing strategy of Colgate suggests that the company is targeting customers belong to middle of socioeconomic ladder (Farley and Haaga, 2005, p. 368). The company has segmented their market as customers belong to mid income family and ethnically diversified area. The company has changed very little of Colgate Regular over the course of time (Berger, 2010, pp. 5-6). This offering is complemented by mint flavour, active fluoride. It has the category benefit of strengthening and protecting teeth. This is the top selling category for Colgate brand. This category is complemented by eight other sub brands. Colgate Total offers product benefits such as 12 hour protection from plaque, cavities, weak enamel, gingivitis, tartar and tender gums. Product portfolio of the brand is complemented by various other mutually different offerings such as Colgate 2in1 Toothpastes, Colgate Sparkling White Toothpaste, Colgate Sparkling Mint Zing, Colgate Sensitive Enamel, Colgate Sensitive Multi Protection and Colgate Pro Clinical. Colgate tries to offer thirty five items for every store. Important part of their retail strategy is that they try to place their product at front isles of store in order to catch the attention of customer. The company follows mixed pricing strategy complemented by both competitive and premium offering. They follow out and out competitive pricing in developing countries while in developed countries they adjust price in accordance with the market situation. Premium pricing is used for their upmarket offerings such as Colgate Pro Clinical, Colgate Sparkling Mint Zing and Colgate Sensitive Multi Protection (Berends, 2004, pp. 42-44). The company follows integrated marketing communication to promote their offering among customers (Belch, 2003, p. 198-200). They select media in

Effective Ways to Improve English Essay Example for Free

Effective Ways to Improve English Essay English is important since it is a well known language and has frequently been referred to as a world language. Comfort with English is almost a prerequisite for success in the world today. Regardless of the industry, proficiency in English is an important factor in both hiring and promotion decisions.Being a student in College, English is the major language to communicate with our lecturers, friends and strangers in college.Most of the subjects are written by English too. We must practice to speak English in college so that we can communicate with other people with proper English and even we can gain more marks when we are having a presentation and our oral test in college. First is what most people would advise: read.You can read story books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, comics, English textbooks, instructions and ingredients on food packages, advertisements, etc. Read books whose subjects interest you, and try if possible to get some advice on whether the books you have chosen are written well. Beside that,Reading alone is not enough. I really do think that Malaysians have to develop the dictionary habit. I have observed how reluctant so many Malaysians are to look up a word in a dictionary to find out its exact meaning or meanings. Be best friends with English dictionary. We can use Oxford, Collins, Cambridge, etc. This is such a pity, because never before have we had so many free dictionaries available, on the Internet. So please take advantage of that! Some of them even pronounce the words for you if you click on the right icons. Next,Listen to English songs. Read the lyrics as you listen to the songs.Although just listening to a song in English can be a good way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take sometime to read the lyrics of the song with a dictionary. If the lyrics are not given in the CD booklet, you may be able to find them on the internet.if We listen and read at the same time or sing along to them, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural, informal speech. Other than listen to songs ,Watch English movies with subtitles also is a good way of learning English. Not only to have a fun time watching the movie, we would be learning new words at the same time and knowing how to pronounce them . Then try watching without them as you gain confidence. How about improving our writing? If we have no tutor or a friend to help us, One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary. whenever feel happy or upset or angry about something, try to write how our feel in diary.This is where we can write anything in it. But if you do write something you wouldn ¡Ã‚ ¯t want others to read, make sure you hide it somewhere safe! We can also write about neutral stuff like the places you went that day, what we ate, who we met, what we did, etc. on the other hand,we can Start a blog in English. This is also one way for us to practice our writing. Blog on something that we love. Even for people who dont have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they dont know what to write about. Besides blogging, try joining online forums, engage in online chatting and more. In addition,learn a new word a day. Keep your own vocabulary notebook and write a new word and its meaning in it every day. Refer to it as often as possible so that the new words will stick in head.We can Improve our Vocabulary by Useing the dictionary to learn new words or an electronic dictionary if cant afford to turn the pagesso much or cope with the small handwriting. An electronic dictionary has synonyms and antonyms or a thesaurus included in it, so its a great deal. Not to mention it corrects your spellings if you enter the word whose meaning you dont know wrong.Never lose the interest to learn new words. Always keep up the practise.A lot of us have studied English in school and are fairly comfortable with reading and writing. However, we hesitate while speaking because we feel that we lack the fluency and may make grammatical mistakes. We are afraid of speaking English in formal situations and we are quick to switch to our native language once we are in the company of our fa mily and friends.peak the language whenever you can. Speak it with friends and family. Don ¡Ã‚ ¯t be shy to try speaking the language. Don ¡Ã‚ ¯t be afraid that others will tease us. In fact, they ¡Ã‚ ¯ll admire us for our courage and confidence. In conclusion,these are the ten most effective ways to improve our English. If you have extra money to spend, you can even sign up for English courses, English camps and so on. Remember Don ¡Ã‚ ¯t get stressed out when it becomes a little difficult,most important piece of advice is: Do something (anything). If you dont do anything, you wont get anywhere. Make it your hobby, not a chore, but above all have fun!

Physical Development of Children in Middle Childhood Essays -- Child D

This topic considers what the physical development of children in ‘middle childhood (6-10)’ is, and how their physical needs in the learning environment can be accommodated. The key elements taken into consideration would be the development of motor skills for the selected age group and the influences of the specified group. The benefits of physical activity and the consequences of prolonged inactivity, how a student’s development can be facilitated or restricted through development in other areas with the use of physical activity and issues of health and well being in the learning environment to accommodate or support the physical needs and development of the students in the specified age group. Accounts and ideas by specialists in the field of physical development and the specified group have been documented to show how these factors can work together. These elements are necessary to understand how a child’s environment and developmental levels enable them to learn effectively The fine motor skills development in students’ within the middle childhood age range gradually improves throughout their learning period. Throughout their ‘middle childhood’ students’ writing becomes smaller, neater and more consistent with fewer spelling and grammatical errors and drawings contain more detail and are â€Å"supported by physiological maturation and cognitive advances† (McDevitt & Ormond, 2010, Pg 161). Their ability to try and succeed at fine motor skills such; arts and crafts, knitting and beading projects increase. It is imperative to increase children’s writing tasks from shapes, letters and numbers to words, sentences and sums to improve both fine motor skills and cognitive abilities. Physical development can affect other area... ...reat Britain: Oneworld Publicatons Lucas, R.W. (2005). People Strategies for Trainers. 176 Tips and Techniques for dealing with DIFFICULT Classroom Situations. USA: AMACOM American Management Association McDevitt, T.M & Ormrod, J.E. (2010). Child Development and Education. USA: S4 Carlisle Publishing Services McInerney, D.M. & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational Psychology Constructing Learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Catherine Godfrey Shilton, T. & Naughton, G. National Physical Activity Program Committee, National Heart Foundation of Australia. Physical activity and children A Statement of Importance and Call to Action from the Heart Foundation. (2001). Retrieved from http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2001/nhf/call_to_action.asp Early Childhood Education (2012). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_childhood_education Physical Development of Children in Middle Childhood Essays -- Child D This topic considers what the physical development of children in ‘middle childhood (6-10)’ is, and how their physical needs in the learning environment can be accommodated. The key elements taken into consideration would be the development of motor skills for the selected age group and the influences of the specified group. The benefits of physical activity and the consequences of prolonged inactivity, how a student’s development can be facilitated or restricted through development in other areas with the use of physical activity and issues of health and well being in the learning environment to accommodate or support the physical needs and development of the students in the specified age group. Accounts and ideas by specialists in the field of physical development and the specified group have been documented to show how these factors can work together. These elements are necessary to understand how a child’s environment and developmental levels enable them to learn effectively The fine motor skills development in students’ within the middle childhood age range gradually improves throughout their learning period. Throughout their ‘middle childhood’ students’ writing becomes smaller, neater and more consistent with fewer spelling and grammatical errors and drawings contain more detail and are â€Å"supported by physiological maturation and cognitive advances† (McDevitt & Ormond, 2010, Pg 161). Their ability to try and succeed at fine motor skills such; arts and crafts, knitting and beading projects increase. It is imperative to increase children’s writing tasks from shapes, letters and numbers to words, sentences and sums to improve both fine motor skills and cognitive abilities. Physical development can affect other area... ...reat Britain: Oneworld Publicatons Lucas, R.W. (2005). People Strategies for Trainers. 176 Tips and Techniques for dealing with DIFFICULT Classroom Situations. USA: AMACOM American Management Association McDevitt, T.M & Ormrod, J.E. (2010). Child Development and Education. USA: S4 Carlisle Publishing Services McInerney, D.M. & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational Psychology Constructing Learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Catherine Godfrey Shilton, T. & Naughton, G. National Physical Activity Program Committee, National Heart Foundation of Australia. Physical activity and children A Statement of Importance and Call to Action from the Heart Foundation. (2001). Retrieved from http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2001/nhf/call_to_action.asp Early Childhood Education (2012). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_childhood_education

Performance Management Plan Essay

Performance management plans are crucial to any business. The main focus of an effective performance management plan should be the employee, but in order to align employee performance with organizational goals, we must also look at the foundation of the organizational structure. This is important because it will define the direction in which a performance plan will guide an employee. Currently Clapton Commercial Construction is a successful business, operating out of Michigan. The expansion of an already thriving organizational climate should be fairly smooth, and with our guidance we will ensure that the appropriate considerations are accommodated, such expansion to a different state, Arizona, and adding of 20% more employees. After looking into your current performance management plan, I would like to make the following suggestions: Organizational goals When we compared your current organizational goals to your existing performance management plan, we saw that there were already successfully established tools for implementing training as well as measuring employee satisfaction, efficiency, and productivity. Training to the organizations desired result is imperative and being able to measure milestones along the path is just as important. Training Training a diverse group of employees creates the need for several different training modalities. Group trainings work well because it allows for information to be heard by the masses. The common downfall to this is that many individuals learn in different ways. So having varies approaches  ensures a higher success rate. Smaller focus groups work well to reach others on a more intimate level. The most important factor in training, other than the training itself, is the ability to measure the results of the productivity that the training has created. By-annual evaluations that evaluate key factors in the training help to place a quantitive value on not only production but also on behaviors. Documentation is important as well, because it records a standard that was set during strategic planning that evaluations should be measured against. Communication One of the key components of a truly effective performance management plan is communication. Establishing and maintaining this is critical because managers need to feel connected with their employees and vise versa. Feedback is a large part of our plan suggestion because it will assist in communicating the identified gaps in production. Currently your turnover rate is at 20%. Our goal with establishing better communication between management and employees is to see that percentage shrink. Feedback and coaching will has been proven to add to employee satisfaction (OPM.gov). Open communication allows for those within the organization to develop strong working relationships, which will result in a continuous flow of feedback and coaching. The 20% employee addition in this expansion is a great opportunity to incorporate more employee participation in the further development of the performance management plan. Involving employees in this process with not only create a sense of ownership i n the work that the employee puts out, but will also make it possible for employees to take responsibility for their own learning and development within the company. Conclusion In conclusion, I would like to that Clapton Commercial Construction for trusting Atwood and Allen to assist with our expertise in your endeavor to create a successful performance management plan. As you grow and begin implementing this plan, we will follow up with evaluations to identify skill gaps and formulate resolutions to rectify them accordingly. References WWW.OPM.GOV [performance management] 2015

Life Span Perspectives Essay

There are many beginnings to the study of human development. The study of human developments is a science that strives to discern how people change over time (Berger, 2011). To do this, developmentalists study all types of people from different age groups, ethnicity, culture, background, nationality, income, and sexual orientation, among many other factors. To begin to understand this science, one must start by looking at what is being studied, some of the major theories that shape and guide these studies, and the interaction of heredity and the environment on human development (Berger, 2011). Developmentalists seek to tackle the challenge of defining humans in a way that simultaneously describes the universalities of humans as well as their differences. Because development is not limited, the person is the result of interactions among all the systems known as microsystems, macrosystems, and exosystems (Berger, 2011). Another aspect of development is that it encompasses the changes and uniformities of people. A visionary in the study of development was Urie Bronfenbrenner, who introduced an ecological-systems approach to the study of development (Berger, 2011). The ecological-systems approach recommends that human development should be studied by looking at the interactions and contexts that make up a person’s life. There are three levels that Bronfenbrenner proposes each person is affected by: microsystems, exosystems, and macrosystems (Berger, 2011). Microsystems are described as foundations of the person’s nearby surroundings, while an exosystem is described as the person’s local institutions. For example, a person’s family would constitute a person’s microsystem and their place of work would be their exosystem. A person’s macrosystem is their greater social settings, such as their cultural values and economy (Berger, 2011). Bronfenbrenner understood that development changes over time and, therefore, included two other systems that interact with the original three; the chronosystem and the mesosystem. The chronosystem encompasses the  historical conditions that affect the other systems and the mesosystem consists of the correlations between the three systems or parts of an individual system. In other words, the mesosystem refers to the connections between home and school, communication processes, and macrosystem factors that affect the microsystem (Berger, 2011). Understanding the shared connections between one area of life to another led developmentalists to form five standards that are beneficial for understanding human life at any age. These five characteristics are multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plasticity (Berger, 2011). Development is multidirectional, meaning that change occurs in every direction, with gains and losses, predictable growth, and unexpected transformations being apparent. Every aspect of life, including, intellectual growth, social interactions, and physical health are multidirectional (up, down, constant, or irregular). Additionally, in late adulthood, during old age, people tend to center on the declines rather than the gains, placing a particularly important emphasis on multidirectional change (Berger, 2011). Human lives are multicontextual, meaning life is made up of many situations, including past circumstances, economical limitations, family patterns, and physical surroundings (Berger, 2011). To put it another way, every context has an impact on the person. For example, the paths available to the individual are dependent on the historical and socioeconomic conditions. Developmentalists note that the socioeconomic status of a person greatly affects their opportunities and limitations, advantages and disadvantages, and past history and future prospects, which affect the person’s habits, knowledge, housing, and nutrition (Berger, 2011). The development of humans is influenced by many cultures. The multicultural principle understand that cognition and behavior are affected by the cultural environment, which includes the person’s social group, ethnicity, race, heritage, and even income (Berger, 2011). It is important to note that culture is dynamic, and people are capable of accepting or rejecting culture values. The study of life span and human development is  multidisciplinary; it is interrelated with various fields of academia. While psychology, biology, sociology, and education are major players, other fields such as neuroscience, anthropology, history, and economics play a role as well. (Berger, 2011) Multidisciplinary is important to the study of development because people grow in mind, body, and spirit simultaneously. The final characteristic is plasticity. Plasticity plays a role in the other four characteristics of development. It is an important characteristic because it represents two corresponding aspects of development (Berger, 2011). Plasticity understands that humans are capable of being molded, like plastic, while still maintaining a sturdy identity. Plasticity is affected by both culture and upbringing, as well as genes and other biological influences. The five characteristics led developmentalists to one conclusion: humans are individuals, whether or not they come from the same cohort, culture, or economy (Berger, 2011). Even though scientists have concluded that every person is an individual, there are still many questions about human development left to answer, which led to five major theories of development. Developmental theories offer structure for clarifying the patterns and problems of development. There are several theories of life span development such as the three grand theories: psychoanalytic, behaviorist, and cognitive (Berger, 2011). The grand theories of human development, which explain the collective development and processes throughout the entire life span, began in the field of psychology; observations and clarifications deriving in history, biology, sociology, and anthropology led to the emergent theories. The two emergent theories are not yet as coherent as the grand theories, but they draw on more academic disciplines providing a broader framework than the customary grand theories that rely only on psychology (Berger, 2011). Discussed here are the two emergent theories: sociocultural and epigenetic. The main concept of sociocultural theory is that human development is the result of a dynamic interaction between a person and their society. This concept is based on the idea that the tools and principles for development  are provided by not only customs, but society as a whole (Berger, 2011). The pioneer of the sociocultural perspective was a man named Lev Vygotsky. By studying the cognitive competency of his diverse society, he developed a theory of guided participation. Guided participation is a technique in which novices learn through shared involvement of an activity with instruction and the participation of a skilled mentor (Berger, 2011). Sociocultural theory places an emphasis on social interaction in learning. Gauvain (1998) stated, â€Å"cognitive development occurs in, and emerges from, social situations† (p.191). Another concept of learning in sociocultural theory is the zone of proximal development (Berger, 2011). The zone of proximal development is the metaphorical zone encompassing a learner that contains all the concepts, skills, and knowledge that the individual is proximal to attaining but cannot yet master without assistance (Berger, 2011). By extension, whether a person is learning a language, social custom, or manual skill, people always learn in the same way, according to sociocultural theory. Although it is true that people do learn in social settings, sociocultural theorists have been criticized for neglecting developmental processes that are not predominantly social (Berger, 2011). Epigenetic theory is centered on the notion that development is influenced by the interaction between genes and the environment. To develop this theory, researchers incorporated many disciplines including biology, chemistry, and genetics (Berger, 2011). Half of epigenetic theory looks at the genetics, referring to the entire genome, and looks at the specific genes that make each person unique and the genes that distinguish humans from other species as well as the genes that all species share. Genes influence all psychological traits as well as mood, metabolism, voice tone, blood type, and much more (Berger, 2011). The other half of epigenetic theory looks at the influence of surrounding factors on genetic expression. These factors are what gives some genes extensive influence while others have no effect (Berger, 2011). As development continues, each person continues along the path established by earlier genetic-environmental interactions, which influences outcomes. According to epigenetic theorists, genes never function alone, their latent  is not realized unless certain epi-factors transpire (Berger, 2011). Furthermore, epigenetic factors also influence groups of people and entire species. One way this happens is through selective adaptation, which is the progression by which humans and other organisms slowly adjust to their environment (Berger, 2011). In other words, over generations, a certain genetic trait in a population will increase or decrease. This depends on whether or not the trait promotes the survival and reproductive capability of that population. The particular environment is what determines which genes are harmful, neutral, or beneficial. According to epigenetic theory, adaptation occurs for all living organisms, regardless of the environment. Unlike sociocultural theory, many facets of epigenetic theory are generally accepted (Berger, 2011). To further explain the interaction of heredity and the environment on human development, one must look further at the role genes play in the development of a person. There are two major contributors to development: the genotype and the phenotype. The genotype is comprised of all the genes of a developing person. The genotype is responsible for the formation of the body and the brain (Berger, 2011). The phenotype is the appearance and behavior manifested in a person. The phenotype is dependent on many genes and the environment, with most traits being polygenic (affected by many genes) and multifactorial (influenced by many factors). Other contributors that influence the phenotype are additive alleles, which can affect height and skin color. Other additive alleles, called epistasis, produce traits that were not previously found in their ancestors (Berger, 2011). Every aspect of human behavior is affected by genes, this includes cognitive and social behavior. Personality and cognitive abilities are affected by many genetic combinations, with the genes relying on the environment for expression. No behavior could exist without genes and without the environment, no gene could be expressed (Berger, 2011). In conclusion, the study of human developments is a science that attempts to understand how people change over time. Developmentalists formed five characteristics that are beneficial for understanding human life at any age:  multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plasticity (Berger, 2011). Additionally, theories of development present introduce organization for understanding the patterns and problems of development. Sociocultural theory suggests that human development is the result of a dynamic interaction between a person and their society, while epigenetic theory is centered on the idea that development is shaped by the interaction between genes and the environment. Every aspect of human behavior is affected by genes and without the environment, no gene could be expressed (Berger, 2011). References Berger, K. S. (2011). The developing person through the life span (8th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. Gauvain, Mary. (1998). Cognitive development in social and cultural context. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7, 188-192.

Customer Relationship Management Helps Chase Card Services Manage Customer Calls Essays

Customer Relationship Management Helps Chase Card Services Manage Customer Calls Essays Customer Relationship Management Helps Chase Card Services Manage Customer Calls Essay Customer Relationship Management Helps Chase Card Services Manage Customer Calls Essay If you have a credit card, theres a good chance that it is from Chase. Chase Card Services is the division of JP Morgan Chase which specializes in credit cards, offering a vast array of credit card products such as the Chase Rewards Platinum Visa card. As one of the [argest credit card issuers in the United States, the company fields a correspondingly large amount of calls from people seeking customer service for their credit card accounts.Each of Chases 6,000 call center agents worldwide at the companys 11 call centers fields field up to 120 calls per day. The company handles slightly less than 200 million calls each year from a customer base of 100 million. Even a small reduction of 1% to the amount of calls received results in savings of millions of dollars and improved customer service for Chase. Achieving such a reduction is easier said than done, however. Li. 2006, Chase Card Services attempted to accom- plish this by improving first-call resolution. Fi rst-call esolution is when a call center agent is able to resolve a customers issues during the initial call to customer service without requiring additional calls. The problem was that the companys record keeping did not give an accurate account of current rates of first-call resolution. Chase had previously tried tracking first-call resolution rates oy having agents log the content and results of each call they received. But this task was time- consuming and was not standardized, since agents :ended to record results subjectively and not in a iniform way.Company policies for some customer requests were also far from ideal for increasing First-call resolution. For example, agents were only able to process balance transfers for customers calling from their homes, and the fee structure inderwent multiple changes over a short span, prompting repeat calls. Po improve call center efficiency, Chase contracted with Enkata technologies to implement a oerformance and talent management syste m. The system monitors and tags each call with the :opic and length of the call as well as the length of time the agent that handled the call has been orking. It doesnt require agents to perform any lotion to acquire this information; it tracks calls automatically by keeping track of the keyboard strokes of each agent. As soon as an agent clicks on the feature of the account that the customer is calling about, the Enkata system automatically identifies the reason for the call. Proprietery algorithms match the reason and caller identification to the amount of time predetermined for each type of call. The system then monitors discrepancies in call time, depending on the reason for the call. For xample, a call from a customer requiring card activation should be a quick call, so the system will pinpoint card activation calls that take longer than normal, or fee dispute calls that are shorter than normal. But sometimes customers have multiple reasons for calling, which would have been ve ry difficult to track prior to the implementation of Enkatas system. Now Enkata separates each individ- ual reason for calling and organizes them into a sequence, so that a call with multiple issues to resolve is analyzed using the appropriate time frame.By separating and organizing reasons for calling into distinct categories, Chase is able to determine criteria for declaring particular calls resolved For example, a card activation call will be considered resolved after only a few days without a follow-up call, but a disputed fee call wont be considered resolved until the customer received another statement without any complaints. This method gives Chase much more accurate data on first-call resolution, a feat which is regarded as very difficult and impressive in the industry. Enkata compiles this data and distributes it toChase Card Services in the form of weekly reports on call type and length, call handling times, repeat call rates, and other performance measures that allow both agents and supervisors to monitor their performance. The system also connects reports with call recordings to assist managers in coaching and evaluating their agents. When the system was still being implemented, Enkata used historical call data gathered prior to the implementation to create initial reports. Chase Card Services executives considered this initial upload of data to be the most time- consuming part of the implementation.Once the implementation was complete, the company hoped that improvements in the interpretation and management of this information would lead to improvements in agent pertbrmance, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. The results speak for themselves. Chase Card Services improved its first-call resolution rate to 91%, an increase of 3%, in its first year after the imple- mentation of the Enkata system. That represented a total savings of $8 million. Approximately $2. 5 mil- Lion of that total savings was a direct result of the average call time decreasing by two seconds.The company hopes to reach its goal of 95% within the next few years. A perfect rate of 100% first-call resolution is not feasible because some additional calls after the first are acceptable under certain circumstances, such as a customer remembering a charge that he or she had initially disputed. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. What functions of customer relationship manage- ment systems are illustrated in this case? 3. Why is the call center so important for Chase Card Services? How could Chases call centers help it improve relationships with customers? . Describe the problem at Chase call centers. What management, organization, or technology factors contributed to the problem?3. How did using Enkata improve operational perfor- mance and decision making? Give examples. E. What management, organization, or technology factors would have to be considered in implement- ing the Enkata solution? Within three months time, 30% of agents that had scored below the accept able rate for first-call resolution improved to an acceptable rate. And although the number of active customer accounts grew by 5. % in the six months after implementation of the system, call volume decreased 8. 3% over that same span. Encouraged by these successes, Chase Card Services is now looking to expand the capabilities of the system to classify calls into even more cate- gories, and to link their collected data to marketing programs to foster cross-selling and upselling. Sources: Marshall Lager, Credit Where Due, Customer Relationship Management, April 2008; Michele Heller, How Chase Got Control of Call-Center Expenses, American Banker, February 26, 2008.

Philosophy of the Person and Self Concept Essay - 1

Philosophy of the Person and Self Concept - Essay Example Locke in his  An Essay Concerning Human Understanding  and Jacques Rohault in his  Ultimate Questions: Thinking About Philosophy  use primarily ‘reason’ as their major tool for scientific research and methodological strength. He initially expresses doubt for ‘being’ and goes further to prove the reality of ‘being’. For him, when we doubt a thing or being, we then  ipso facto, by virtue of the existence of ‘doubt’, must know that what we doubt exist as a reality. Doubt we must for Descartes. Otherwise, all apparent reality is a dream or an illusion. This is not an instance of contradiction in Descartes. Here, it is the order and tool of argument is important than any other thing.  Descartes’ critics such as Johannes Caterus, Friar Marin Mersenne, Thomas Hobbes, Antoine Arnauld, Pierre Gassendi and Jesuit Pierre Bourdin point out quite a few criticisms.