The Decrease Leg Shaking Psychology Essay

The Decrease Leg Shaking Psychology Essay Anxiety is a normal emotion, and we all encounter anxiety in certain situations that causes us be anxious. When we are anxious, we would experience physical symptoms arising in response to anxiety ( Ginsburg, Riddle, Davies, 2006; Roth, Antony, Swinson, 1999), such as muscle tension and stomachache which affect our everyday lives, known as somatic symptoms (Ginsburg et al., 2006). Social anxiety is a disorder that happens when a person faces a social situation and reacts in response to fear or distress due to feelings of inadequacy and low self-worth (Bà ¶gels, 2006; Hofmann, 2007; Purdon, Antony, Monterio, Swinson, 2001). This happens to me when I am in certain social situation, I get social anxiety that I tend to shake my legs. For this behaviour modification program, I have chosen to decrease and control my leg-shaking behaviour. It has been bothering me and it has been causing irritation to certain people who were and are in my presence. The operational definition of leg-shaking is that for this program, I tested the effect of leg-shaking on my performance during the times when I was sitting down (which was when the leg-shaking behaviour almost always occurred). I needed to know exactly what sort of leg-shaking behaviour I was performing and how I should measure it. I needed to know what type of performance I am suggesting that leg-shaking behaviour affected, and how I should measure that. Furthermore, I needed to know the underlying causes and triggers of my leg-shaking behaviour, which I believe is triggered by anxiety that I usually experience, but not as much as before, in social situations. First and foremost, behaviour modification is defined as a technique of behaviour change that is based on the procedures of the principles of learning psychology to evaluate and determine a persons or any other organisms private and public actions and reactions in order to assist in improving ones everyday lifestyle (Martin Pear, 2011). Basically, behaviour modification is founded on the concepts of operant conditioning. It is a technique to improve an individuals behavior by changing the way a person acts to a particular situation or stimuli using positive and negative reinforcement. In result, it replaces an undesirable behavior to a more desirable behavior. There are rules to follow and that are critical when planning and engaging in a behaviour modification program. These includes rules of such as positive and negative reinforcement, ratio schedule, extinction, shaping, and schedules of reinforcement (Martin Pear, 2011). The following are brief definitions of some of the terms mentioned above: Positive reinforcement means that a particular stimulus that is given on the spot increases the likelihood of a particular response to occur another time (Martin Pear, 2011). Negative reinforcement means that a particular stimulus is being removed to increase a particular response or to keep a particular response in a current desired state (Martin Pear, 2011). Extinction is applied in operant conditioning, and it refers to the process of changing the state of a learned response by ensuring to no longer reinforcing that particular response (Martin Pear, 2011). There are pitfalls that occurs in the process of extinction which I discussed later in this paper. The process of shaping is the reinforcement of altering and controlling a learned response through the process of changing that response much closer to desired response, but not exactly (Martin Pear, 2011). In this program, I would be shaping my behaviour by alternating my leg-shaking behaviour to a more desired behaviour, which is sitting down with my feet firmly on the ground without shaking my legs. A schedule of reinforcement is a program that determines how and when the frequency of a response happening will be followed by a reinforcer (Martin Pear, 2011). The delivery of a reinforcer could depend on the frequency of a certain number of responses, the passage of time, the presence of certain stimuli, the occurrence of other responses of the animal, or any number of other things occurring (Martin Pear, 2011). There are different schedules of reinforcement, I will discuss very briefly about the important ones that I implemented in this behaviour modification program. One of the different schedules of reinforcement are the schedules of intermittent reinforcement. There are four different schedules of intermittent reinforcement which are differential reinforcement of low rates (abbreviated as DRL), differential reinforcement of zero responding (abbreviated as DRO), differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviour (abbreviated as DRI), and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour (abbreviated as DRA) (Martin Pear, 2011). In this program, I used the DRO intervention. DRO means that reinforcement only occurs when a particular response does not happen at a time (Martin Pear, 2011). This particular response is being modified to another behaviour, and that behaviour would be reinforced instead (Martin Pear, 2011). Another schedule of reinforcement is ratio schedule which is defined as that reinforcement depends only on the number of responses a person or any other living thing has performed (Martin Pear, 2011). Reinforcement that depends on only some of the time are said to involve partial or intermittent reinforcement (Martin Pear, 2011). In interval schedules, responses are reinforced only if the responses occur after a certain amount of time has passed (Martin Pear, 2011). In fixed interval schedule (abbreviated FI), the set time is constant from one occasion to the next (Martin Pear, 2011). With a variable interval schedule (abbreviated VI), responses are reinforced if they occur after a variable interval since the beginning of the schedule cycle (Martin Pear, 2011).These are the rules of psychology of behaviour modification that I employed in the program. Since I applied the intermittent schedule, I did not use the continuous schedule as this involves reinforcing a response or a beha viour every time it happens (Martin Pear, 2011). Not many research have been done on the effects of leg-shaking behaviour on an individuals well-being and/or on the effects it may have on other individuals surrounding a person with leg-shaking behaviour. Not only the literature on leg-shaking behaviour is very limited, but case studies centering on the effects of this behaviour and on controlling or modifying the behaviour are limited as well. The following research can be used to identify early emotional and behavioural development, providing an opportunity for treatments for not only individuals my age, but for younger age groups as well- particularly in the early stage of emotional and behavioural development that are disruptive such as the leg-shaking behaviour. Bà ¶gels (2006) stated that individuals with social phobia (also known as social anxiety disorder) tend to have distressing feelings of not being accepted by others who are aware of the physical symptoms these individuals have. These physical symptoms, such as trembling, which closely relates to my leg-shaking behaviour, that these individuals present on account of distressing and unpleasant thoughts about themselves are causing difficulties for them and to others around them (Bà ¶gels, 2006). In Bà ¶gelss (2006) research, participants with social phobia, and who were within the age group of 17 to 65 were tested for their ability to decrease their tendency of attentive to their physical symptoms of anxiety. The purpose of this research was to determine whether if participants turn their attention to a task-oriented activity called task concentration training, would lessen their anxiety and diminish their physical symptoms of anxiety (Bà ¶gels, 2006). The results showed that the e xperiment was successful as participants diverted attention from their physical symptoms of anxiety to a task-oriented activity. The study of participants who were afraid of exhibiting the physical symptoms of anxiety support the notion that individuals from a wide range of age group, can modify these types of behaviour by focusing on work. However, it did not show whether individuals under the age of 17 can. In another study, a male participant who was 26 years at that time, and who suffered from mental developmental disability was studied (LeBlanc, Hagopian, Maglieri, 2000). It was made clear that even though this is a person with a mental developmental disability at adult age, (a person) can adapt ones behaviour by using or participating in a token economy (LeBlanc et al., 2000). The researchers employed the DRO intervals and schedule to reduce this mans socially unacceptable and undesirable behaviours (LeBlanc et al., 2006). The results showed that the treatment was effective as it decreased the occurrence of the participants socially unacceptable behaviour. The problems with LeBlanc et al.s (2000) research were not only there was one participant recruited for this study and that he had developmental disabilities; but the behaviour that has been modified had to do with his inappropriate social interactions. Even though this may not precisely relates to my topic, I chose for my literature review in research because my leg-shaking behaviour has been affecting the way I interact with others who has been noticing this. This may continue to affect me and others if I did not attempt to change this. Thus, this leg-shaking behaviour is considered socially inappropriate. In addition to this note, I also used the same reinforcement in my program. The first purpose of this research was to investigate whether when a persons leg-shaking behaviour caused by anxiety creates difficulties in ones lifestyle and/or get in the way of others around this person. The second purpose was to investigate whether if and when a person learns how to control and decrease the occurrence of this leg-shaking behaviour by alleviating and improving the internalizing and externalizing state of a person aids in overall well-being and aids in not causing disturbance to others. How I Selected My Target Behaviour and Why its Appropriate for this Assignment Two other behaviours I was considering working on, but decided to work on my leg-shaking behavior instead were to increase my piano playing practice, and to exercise more. They were appropriate for the assignment, but they were not realistic for me to work on this semester. I am rarely home, therefore the probability of cooking and healthier food was very slim during the time. However, the probability of exercising during the time was moderately likely to occur, but I did not perceive this behaviour to be as vital to change as my leg-shaking behavior. I wanted to work to change a behaviour that is not only affecting me and others, but that it is also more simple and more doable to work on during the past months. Moreover, these other two behaviors are both common behaviour that I believe most people use for a project similar to this behaviour modification program. Controlling Antecedents of Pre-Program Behaviour The root of my habit most likely started and had to do with a social situation I was facing when I was very young. I was extremely shy. I had social anxiety. My fear of being in any social situations or interactions made me so nervous that it could be the main trigger of my shaking legs. Pre-Program Behaviour Level In this section, I will describe how I observed my behaviour. During the process of this observation, I found that I had habitual thoughts that momentarily flash through my mind. Here my task was to replace these habitual thoughts or bad thinking habits with good thinking habits. By doing so, I would create new thoughts that became my new habitual thoughts. These thoughts came from my feelings of anxiety, particularly in social situation or stressed situation. I counted to keep anxiety in check so that it would not encourage my old habitual negative thoughts. The reason is that my habitual thoughts affected the way I saw myself in a significant way in situation, and still do a little. If I did not change my thinking, my old habitual thoughts will continue to perpetuate my leg-shaking behaviour. Controlling Consequences of Pre-Program Behaviour Not controlling my leg- shaking behaviour is rewarded with being able to only concentrate while studying or listening to lectures or doing other things when sitting down. This allows me to not think about monitoring my leg-shaking constantly and to freely express my inner feelings of anxiety by letting my subconscious behaviour takes over. By detaching myself from observing and being mindless of my leg-shaking behaviour elicited by feelings of anxiety and overgeneralizing. In psychological terms this process is called positive reinforcement for a behaviour such as leg-shaking. I shake my leg and in return get rewarded by getting away with behaving any way I want when I am feeling anxious, stressed, or nervous. The way positive reinforcement works is that once I get rewarded for my leg-shaking behaviour I am more likely to do it again. My Self-Modification Program For my self-modification program, since I planned on changing my thinking patterns in order to prevent me at least from shaking my legs too often, then I rewarded myself with a sensible reward. The sensible reward was that once I have controlled my leg-shaking behavior, I could listen to music. I had to earn a privilege to be able to listen to a song or songs longer as listening to music is very rewarding for me. This applied to the token economy as I was using minutes of listening to music as a reward for not shaking my legs when I am anxious in a social situation. I kept track of minutes on a sheet. I started with two hours of listening to music per day. I normally did not listen to 2 hours of music straight, but this was doable. I cannot really hear the music without headphone so I asked one of my family members to take away my headphone from me for the day and then give it back to me sometime after 10 at night. I lost a minute of listening to music when I failed to control my leg-shaking behaviour. At the end of the day, I listened to the amount of time I have earned to listen to music provided that I have any minutes left. Whenever I got sidetracked by my work and other distractions, then for every leg-shaking behaviour I do, I subtracted one minute of listening to music. In addition to this note, l laid out a plan, including making notes of the crucial moments that I was less likely and most likely to shake my legs unconsciously on account of feeling anxious, stressed, or nervous. I prepared for my crucial moments by turning to helpful sources of influence, a friend and a family member. Then I planned on beginning deliberate practice by placing myself to a tempting situation. In short, my goal was to experience the desire but not to give in shaking my leg to express my feelings of anxiety outwardly. My Program in Action This was the part when I employed deliberate practice especially practice for crucial moments. I broke the steps into small pieces, and practice each step in short intervals. I also got immediate feedback at times against a clear standard, and evaluated my progress. I learned to be prepare for setbacks and I was also prepared for them some of the times. As mentioned earlier, the specific and measurable behaviour I have been monitoring was to attempt to eliminate my leg-shaking behaviour. From the start of the program, I measured the occurrence to anxiety, as well as the intensity and frequency of anxiety as my anxiety have been triggering my leg-shaking behaviour to be present. Moreover, I have been observing and keeping track of my thinking errors that normally preceded my leg-shaking behaviour. I also have been monitoring my improvement in controlling and diminishing my leg-shaking behaviour by engaging in how often I subconsciously performed leg-shaking behaviour and by decreasing the frequency and intensity of my anxiety so that my leg-shaking behaviour will dissolve after the program ends. I have been employing intermittent reinforcement in my program. Continuous reinforcement would not work as I found that I had not always been aware of when I shook my legs in certain situations. The unexpected surprise I learned was that I even shook my legs when I was not in social situation. I shook my legs when I worked on my school assignments. Because of this, I started to encounter pitfalls. The pitfalls I have encountered throughout this program were that I frequently thought of excuses to avoid treating my leg-shaking behaviour. At times in class or in any social situation, I fell into my thinking traps and engaged in these thinking patterns which resulted in my habitual leg-shaking behaviour. Evaluation of My Program Referring to the level of the behaviour pre-program and during the program (see Figure 1 in the Appendix), my attempt to decrease my tendency to shake my leg did not work in the beginning of the program due to the effects of delay of reward. But it did worked later on after the first month I started the program. When it came to the use of reward in the program, the important component in the reward is the interval between the behaviour and the reward. I found that when the delay of receiving reward increased, it did not reward the desired behaviour as much as I wanted it to. Therefore, such delays in receiving rewards was not effective in altering a behaviour. This kind of applied to the use of punishment to decrease a behaviour. If the interval between the undesirable behaviour and punishment is delayed, then the punishment would not be effective in suppressing such behaviour (Martin Pear). Therefore, I should make notes that in the future my desired behaviour should be rewarded immediately. If this does not work, then another change I might make is to use punishment instead when I shake my legs. Ending the Program; Future Plans Although I am done with the behaviour modification program, I plan on continuing to manage my leg-shaking behaviour, which, again, happens when I get anxious. I will try to slowly stop myself from depending on the program to keep my leg-shaking behaviour under control. I will keep a long-term perspective to improve my behaviour and to improve myself. I plan on practising not only self control, but self-care as I tend to encounter stress or period of anxiety in the face of difficult situations such as speaking up in class as I am shy. I will help myself feel at ease during periods of stress by attempting to use what I learned from the behaviour techniques and exercises this semester. Even though I will not depend on the exercises and techniques I have applied in my program, I believe I still need regular exposure to anxiety-provoking situations in order to stay in condition. I believe this will help me over the long term to keep myself habituated to the experiences that I learned from in situations I found were and still are a little anxiety-provoking. Discussion and Conclusion What I learned from this experience was that my obsessive thoughts and compulsive leg-shaking behaviour did not make sense. These thinking patterns that I fell into when I am nervous, stressed, sad, or depressed were generally believable, and negative, and they made my life more challenging than they needed to be. Even though I did not fully believe my obsessive thoughts, I found that I frequently engaged in my leg-shaking behaviour to get the obsessive thoughts to stop. I overestimated the probability of risk that if something could go wrong, it will go wrong. I am guilty of overgeneralizing things. So I held back many times from putting myself in certain situation that meant no harm to me or anyone, and naturally I slipped into my leg-shaking behaviour. When I triggered one of my old habitual thoughts, I corrected it with the positive one so that these positive thoughts became my new habitual thoughts. Even though I am done with this behavioural modification program for the course, I still need to thoroughly weave this fact into my memory whenever my leg-shaking behaviour strikes. This way, I will be able to weave this fact into my conscious control to pull the plug on my tendency to worry and to overgeneralize which triggers leg-shaking behaviour. I know that the more I practice this new behaviour, the more likely I will do it in the future so that I do not return to my former state of leg-shaking behaviour. A higher decrease in behaviour level as shown in the appendix results when I held back from overgeneralizing or from inviting pessimistic thoughts that triggered my leg-shaking in social situation. My new behaviour improved significantly after I was concentrating on changing thought patterns. This supports the notion that focusing on another activity (such as partaking in token economy or that is task-oriented) can aid in decreasing a behaviour that is bothersome (Bà ¶gels, 2006; LeBlanc et al., 2000). References Bà ¶gels, S. M. (2006). Task concentration training versus applied relaxation, in combination with cognitive therapy, for social phobia patients with fear of blushing, trembling, and sweating. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(8), 1199-1210. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.08.010 Ginsburg, G. S., Riddle, M. A., Davies, M. (2006). Somatic symptoms in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry,  45(10), 1179-1187. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000231974.43966.6e Hofmann, S. G. (2007). Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications.  Cognitive Behaviour Therapy,  36(4), 193-209. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16506070701421313 LeBlanc, L. A., Hagopian, L. P., Maglieri, K. A. (2000). Use of a token economy to eliminate excessive inappropriate social behavior in an adult with developmental disabilities. Behavioral Interventions, 15(2), 135-143. doi: 3.0.CO;2-3 TARGET=_blank>http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-078X(200004/06)15:23.0.CO;2-3 Purdon, C., Antony, M., Monteiro, S., Swinson, R. P. (2001). Social anxiety in college students.  Journal of Anxiety Disorders,15(3), 203-215. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0887-6185(01)00059-7 Roth, D., Antony, M. M., Swinson, R. P. (2001). Interpretations for anxiety symptoms in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39(2), 129-138. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00159-X

Comparing Romanticism in Plymouth Plantation, Birthmark, and Rappaccini

  Ã‚     Puritanism and Romanticism differ in style, religious references, and plot content. Puritanism began to flourish with strict God-fearing Calvinists who had fled to America to escape religious persecution in Europe. With writers such as William Bradford and Edward Taylor, Puritan literature focuses on God's role in the lives of the people and adopts a simple religious style of writing. Romanticism was introduced to Americans in the nineteenth century, delivering a fresh literary and artistic style. This new literature pays more attention to the elements of tone, mood, and atmosphere, while also applying religion in the form of transcendentalism. These two types of literature are similar in the respect that they both encourage living simply. Puritan writers were concerned more with the message the literature portrayed than with form and dramatic elements. "Poetry was used to educated its reader, and was written using simple rhythm and common images" (Heimert 34). Puritan literature was plain in style. Much attention focused on God's will in the new world, man's relation to God, the nature of faith, and the history of New England. We can see these elements in the writings of William Bradford, the Governor of the Plymouth colony. "Of Plymouth Plantation" is considered to be New England's first literary achievement. It "is an historical account of the journey to the new world, and the hardships encountered upon arrival" (Fritscher 81). This poem was written to "preserve both the record and the fact of Plymouth's separate identity" (Heimert 51). Bradford's objective was to preach God's purpose in the founding of the Plymouth colony. "Of Plymouth Plantation" has two major themes: how Plymouth had failed the original goal of e... ...uestioning of reason and nature separated him from the Puritans. Yet both Romanticism and Puritanism are similar with their respect for simplicity, while they differ in many other ways.   Works Cited Boewe, Charles. "Rappaccini's Garden." American Literature. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1959. Fritscher, John. "The Sensibility and Conscious Style of Willaim Bradford." Bucknell Review. 1969. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories. New York: Dover Publications, INC. 1992. Heimer, Alan. The Puritans in America: A Narrative Anthology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985. Leone, Bruno, ed. Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne. San Diego: Greenhave Press, 1996. McPherson, Hugo. Hawthorne as a Myth-Maker: A Study in the Imagination. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989. Morison, Samuel. Of Plymouth Plantation. New York, Knopf, 1952.

Robert Frost Home Burial - The Three Tragedies of Home Burial Essay

The Three Tragedies of Home Burial  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Robert Frost’s "Home Burial" is a narrative poem that speaks of life’s tragedies. The theme of "Home Burial† centers around the death of a child. During the time period in which the poem is set, society dictated that men did not show their feelings. Therefore, men dealt with conflicts by working hard and being domineering. "Home Burial" demonstrates how one tragedy can cause another to occur. The unnamed couple in this poem has lost a baby to death. The mother grieves openly, and it could be said that she has never recovered from this loss; bereaved parents never forget, but most people in this position gradually work out a way of dealing with their grief, and go on with their lives. This the young mother cannot do. The baby is buried in the family graveyard, which is visible from an upstairs window of their house. Day after day she goes to the stairway window looking out upon the nearby family plot. The sight of the raw mound where her child lies buried reopens her grief. But, another emotion wells up as well – anger and bitterness at her husband, which is at first unexplained. The first hint of the rift between them shows up on lines twelve to thirteen, she "refused him any help, with the least stiffening of her neck and silence." Their dialogue is cold and antagonistic. "What is it—what? /Just that I see. / You don’t, she challenged. /Tell me what it is."(18-19). The death of child, which should bind husband and wife closer in their common grief, pries them apart instead (Gerber 128). In the husband’s first two lines as wells his last one, his attitude toward his wife is domineering and seems insensitive. First he tells her " he wants to know" what she keeps looking at ... ...n the mind’s eye one could see the gravel sliding back into the hole. We could actually visualize the mound getting higher. There were three different tragedies that transpired throughout this poem. The burial of the child was first; second was the burial of the marriage and finally the most symbolic and ironic tragedy is the burial of the home. Because of unfortunate circumstances these three things became closely associated with the home being buried. All of these tragedies occurred as a result of the child’s burial. The couple’s marriage could not survive such an emotional loss. Therefore the marriage becomes buried. When the marriage became buried the home became its own burial spot for this family’s life. Works Cited: Frost, Robert. 1972. "Home Burial." Robert Frost’s Poetry and Prose. Ed. Edward Connery Latham and Lawrence Thompson. New York: Holt.

Essays --

The Monterey Bay Sea Otters There are a number of sea otters who are an important part of this world and they form a fairly large population and that is why it is felt that they should be preserved at all costs. They are an important source of earning for the people and they are also important in the sense that they provide an important source of earning to the people and their is an entire group of people who use this field as their source of earning. Besides the population of these otters keeps fluctuating and it has to be maintained because if the number fluctuate exponentially and if they get out of hand they can damage the ecological and the environmental balance of the world. Similarly the fishing and the killing of these otters can cause the damage to the balance because just like the excess of anything can cause a problem similarly the excess supply can cause a lot of major problem as well. These otters vary in sizes and this is an unchartered territory with a number of para sites who do vary in species and sizes and they all have their purposes and pros and cons and they impact our life and the balance of the world in a different manner. As the size varies so does the importance of the otters and the smaller ones might be innocuous while the larger ones can be the source of food as well and some of the larger species can also act as the predators and they act as a deterrent for the other species because they keep the check over the other species. They may pose a hazard of some type in some of the cases but their habitats and their productive cycles are all the things that need to be considered by us as human beings. Similarly their eating habits and appetites can alter and impact our world and our actions and reactions an... ...nd we can predict the process of evolution and we will be able to go ahead of our own times. Otters have a huge family which have a number of sublets and a number of branches which are all interlinked and which share a similar history and that is why we need to prioritize the study and we need to study all of them in some detail. That is why in the recent past it is being felt that the time has come for to bring together information from a wide array of sea otter research. We also need to study and assess the risk of disease and threats to the wild sea otter population. Preservation of their health should be our prime concern. They are an important part of our life and we have been interacting with them for ages now and it high time that we started understanding the complexities and the intricacies of these species we would be able to relate to them in some detail.

Pizza Hut in Brazil Essay -- Business Marketing Case Study, solution

Pizza Hut in Brazil Starting a business in a new country requires a lot of research. It is important to understand that country's political and economic system as well as cultural values. To establish business in Brazil, Pizza Hut had to study the complex history of Brazilian economy and politics. It is important to remember that Brazil was a dictatorship for 20 years, from 1964 until 1984.1 During this period it was impossible to implement any kind of foreign business in Brazilian soil. After the authoritarian regime was over, Brazil had its first election in 1984. However, it was not democratic. The only ones allowed to vote were political leaders. It was a big step towards democracy, though. The elected president (Tancredo Neves) passed away right after election. His vice-president became the leader and ruled for four years. It was in 1988 that Pizza Hut implemented its first restaurant in Brazil. The economy was beginning to open up. It was only in 1990 that Brazil had its first democratic elections. In 1994 Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected president. This president had been the minister of finance for the former government and he performed "miracles" in the Brazilian economy. Brazil's economy has a lot of potential. Throughout Brazilian economic history, the government has had an economic policy based on import substitution and it was also trying to switch from agriculture to industry. To insentivate domestic industry, the government established protective tariffs and import quotas. Most of the enterprises were owned by State such as: steel, oil, infrastructure, and others. These firms also received subsidize "long-term credit expand." For these reasons it had been difficult to establish ventures in Brazil. During the 60s and 70s the economy began to heat up and inflation began to rise reaching an average of 20% a year. Consequently, the government tried to slow down inflation by raising interest rates. However, "the large concentration of industrial power resulted in price inflexibility." The prices were high above costs. "Due to the protection, foreign trade remained a small percentage of the GDP." In 1973 the first oil shock caused some problems for Brazil. Even though Brazil is very rich in natural resources, it depends on imported oil. The government had to borrow money, but 50% of foreign debt was done by state owned ent... ... they have different toppings. It is a mix of America and Brazil. It is an American pizza with a Brazilian topping." Pizza Hut remains openly optimistic about its future in Brazil. It took them a period of adaptation to understand the politics, the economy, and the culture of the country. After that period was passed, it was easier for them to make more accurate predictions of what is efficient and what is not. Today there are 63 units of Pizza Hut in Brazil. Nineteen of those are located in Sà £o Paulo. Only this year 2 new restaurants were opened in Sà £o Paulo. As Zani alleged, investment in "advertising, marketing, changes in product, and reductions of prices" caused a positive return for the company. Bibliography: 1John D. Daniels and Lee H. Radebaugh, International Business: Environment and Operations (USA: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1998), 181. 2Adelaide de Almeida, "Pizza Hut no Brasil." Interview by Lia W. de Araà ºjo, in person, (December, 1999). 36Reinaldo Zani, "Pizza Hut no Brasil." Interview by Adonias Costa de Araà ºjo, email and fax, (December, 1999). 4Claudia Araà ºjo, "Pizza Hut no Brasil." Interview by Lia W. de Araujo, telephone, (December, 1999).

Aerospace Outsourcing

Title of Assignment: Outsourcing and the AeroSpace Industry Table of Contents The origin of outsourcing in the Aerospace Industry†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦.. . Page 3 Barriers to entry in the Monopoly and Oligopoly Industry†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. .Page 4 Types of Outsourcing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . Page 4 The Demand for Outsourcing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . Page 6 S. W. O. T. Analysis of Outsourcing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . Page 7 Gross Domestic Product †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. . Page 9 The future of Outsourcing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 10 Is it Outsourcing or Offshoring†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . Page 12 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ . Page 13 PowerPoint Presentation Slides The origin of Outsourcing in the Aerospace Manufacturing The term outsourcing is frequently used to describe a movement away from vertical integration – moving an activity outside the firm that formally was done within the firm. The term outsourcing also is used to describe an ongoing arrangement where a firm obtains a part or service from an external firm {text:bibliograp hy-mark} . Outsourcing is not a new concept, for hundreds of years businesses have outsourced their needs; however, during the industrial evolution the US economy begun to acquire a greater need for outsourcing as costs of manufacturing became a concern, this move begun in the 1950’s and continued aggressively to the 1980’s and 1990’s as global competition placed a greater strain on the economic growth {text:bibliography-mark} . Outsourcing was not formally identified as a business strategy until 1989 (Mullin, 1996). In the beginning of this acclaimed activity, firms outsourced what was deemed essential; however, as the evolution of outsourcing occured – fueled by the need to ‘cut-cost’ continued, other functions which were important but not relative to the core competencies of the firm begun to be outsource as well. From an economic perspective outsourcing is an industry in itself which can be viewed from a micro-economic and macro-economic perspective, this indicates its demand and supply curve moves in respective directions as the need for it grows or diminishes just as any other markets within an economy. In saying this it can be a very broad subject and can carry large discussions; this paper will deviate towards outsourcing’s role in the commercial aerospace manufacturing industry which begun in 1954 with Boeing and remained dominated by Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier since 1986. Barriers to entry Barriers to entry are one of the key incentives of the monopoly and oligopoly industry. The Aerospace industry, which is dominated by three main players, Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier is considered to be an oligopoly industry, because of the â€Å"Market Power† that is held by these firms. The industry has high fixed cost and is excessively capital intensive and time consuming, which serves as the key restriction not to be attractive for competition. In order to create value and share risk, the industry has fostered the idea of outsourcing. Outsourcing is using the facilities and services of a third party to supply good that would otherwise be created by the organization. Figure 1 details the major difference between a market with perfect competition and one that does not: {draw:frame} Types of Outsourcing The outsourcing framework begins with the decision to ‘make or buy,’ this would lead to ‘_insourcing__’_ (make) or outsourcing (buy). Outsourcing has two major components, ‘_inshoring_’ (in-land) or ‘_offshoring_’ (distant land). Offshoring has three major component, ‘_nearshore__’_ which indicates the work is outsourced to a nearby country to the parent company as opposed to farshoring; whereas, ‘_captive centers__’_ are overseas subsidiaries set-up to serve the parent company {text:bibliography-mark} . The framework of outsourcing can be very complex and arriving at the decisions can cause a material change in the supply curve of a manufacturing firm as the process of outsourcing is very costly and burdensome, if done improperly it can have a an unfavorable ROI. {draw:frame} Jobs outsourced Job functions outsourced fall in two major categories, Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Under BPO, essential components or parts are being outsourced where it once was manufactured in-house. In the Commercial Aerospace manufacturing industry, it became more prevalent that manufacturing all parts of a commercial airplane was time consuming and costly, this brought about the demand for outsourcing. The demand of outsourcing Outsourcing is an exponential concept in business that has an impact on both the provider and consumer. When this aspect is viewed through the business lenses, the focus is on value creation. The intrinsic benefit of outsourcing is twofold, in that, the consumer gets to reap the benefit of economies of scale, where-as the provider get’s to charge for the product supplied. The exchange of these transactions create value for the parties involved as well as contribute to the participants gross domestic product (GDP). O_ffshoring_ of the general maintenance as well as parts for assembling new airplanes has heightened, which seems to have a negating effect of the domestic manufacturing industry. As airlines have rushed to slash costs, aircraft maintenance outsourcing has increased significantly from 37% of maintenance expenditures for major U. S. airlines in 1996 to 64% in 2007 ( At-A-Glance. 2008 December). The law of demand states that consumer will increase their consumption once there is a benefit to be gained. The increase in demand for outsourcing will result in a downward sloping demand curve, as outsourcing of maintenance continues to decimate the highly skilled aircraft labor force which will eventually have adverse economic effect – reduction in the wetware of the industry. The law of demand – Quantity demanded increases as price reduced {draw:frame} Technical knowledge is being shared with the players of the industry, thereby leading to increase competition in the near future. Boeing's partners in Japan and Italy will be building composite structures that include sophisticated sub-systems that are already certified, tested and ready for final assembly. (Manufacturing and Technology News, Feb 2007). There are benefits to be gained from the new phenomenon, â€Å"Outsourcing†. In the business arena benefits are offset by weaknesses, which need to be evaluated and planned for accordingly. S. W. O. T analysis of outsourcing has economic and financial benefits for the end user. S. W. O. T Analysis of outsourcing – The consumer perspective Financial Benefits No major capital outflow Contractual cost are treated as sunk cost – assist in decision making Less wear and tear on assets – longer life and high ROI Risk is shared with suppliers Lower unit cost Concentrate on creating value to customer No expense is incurred with equipment maintenance Pricing technique is enhanced, Marginal cost is known Variable costs are known which help to allocate resource Plan, coordinate and manage corporate resources An outward shift signifies an increase in demand The financial gains of outsourcing will force firms to build this aspect into their strategy; this will create a shift in demand for the commodity, thereby shifting the curve to the right. An increase in demand will cause shift in demands as oppose to a movement along the curve which is the result of a reduction in price. {draw:frame} Gross Domestic Product of domestic and foreign economy India’s economy is the twelfth largest in the world by nominal value, and ranks fourth in purchasing power parity. In 2008, India had established itself as the world’s second fastest growing major economy. The service industry in India accounts for 62. 6 percent of the country’s GDP followed by the industrial and agricultural sectors which contribute 20 percent and 17. 5 percent. India’s GDP in 2008 was 3. 344 compared to the US GDP which was 1461 in 2008. GDP graph of India and the United States {draw:frame} Outsourcing is the practice of using a service from an outside supplier. There are many pros and cons when it comes to outsourcing; however, many big name airline companies based in the US weigh their opportunities. India has become the leader in outsourcing, gathering interest of companies looking to save money. India is well known for their IT, science, and technology, giving companies like those in the airplane industry a reason to consider outsourcing. Those who wish to outsource reap the benefits of paying lower wages: however, it can come at a cost of language barriers and cultural differences. In some circles the language barrier is considered a pro not a con because many Indian vendors invest money in cross cultural training. There is also the uncertainty of the outsourcing company being able to stay in business. In today’s economy many airlines are using outsourcing by purchasing goods at a lower rate than they would if they were to buy them domestic. Many of the major players in the airline industry are finding it more beneficial to purchase the materials that they are using for their business via outsourcing. The airplane manufacturing industry as a whole is expected to grow between 150 billion and 225 billion by the year 2020 in total offshore engineering. India provides aerospace firms both aircraft design and on board electronics systems such as flight control and engine control. The Future of Outsourcing The future of outsourcing appears to be unswerving as processes will remain available to any firm that needs to utilize the activity. However, there are benefits and challenges to major component of selecting the correct provider. These are _appropriate offshore locations, selections of ideal outsourcing partner, dynamic Challenges and outsourcing in-house problems_, are key factors which will determine the future of outsourcing for both supplier and consumer. The future of outsourcing is contingent on the ability to outsource a need effectively, this is empirical to the future of the economy in which outsourcing is a major contributor, for example Boeing and many other firms outsourced to China for years and China’s economy grew due to the decisions that were made. Outsourcing is economically smart on a micro-economic perspective; however, it can be devastating on a macro-economic perspective if the goal is purely capitalistic. {text:bibliography-mark} Priorities for selecting an outsource partner _ _On a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 = extraneous and 5 = vital) {draw:frame} Selection of appropriate offshore location {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Selection of ideal outsourcing partner {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Dynamic challenges text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Outsourcing in-house problems {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Kate Vitasek speaks of the decision to outsourcing and the approach to successfully outsourcing. In her views that is the goal of Vested Outsourcing, and this is accomplished by implementing five basi c rules explained in her book. Focus on outcomes, not transactions. Focus on the WHAT, not the HOW. 3. Agree on clearly defined and measurable outcomes. Optimize pricing model incentives for cost/service trade-offs. 5. Governance structure provides insight, not merely oversight. Is it Outsourcing or Offshoring? There are some anti-outsourcing trend booming in the US, but the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC), has evidently come out sturdily in favor of outsourcing as it considers it good for the US economy and it has reportedly decided to fight legislative moves against outsourcing of jobs to countries where jobs are being outsourced. text:bibliography-mark} . With the large amount of lay-offs which have occurred and the many more which may come about, outsourcing is on the hot-plate of a political split, many agree and many disagree with outsourcing; however, is it outsourcing that is the problem or ‘offshoring,’ there are many who agree on a macro-economic perspective that ‘offshroring’ is unhealthy for the economy and have argued their point. The Aerospace industry has ‘offshored’ since the 1960’s and have not collapse the US economy in doing so; however, it has placed itself in dear competition with China who now makes their own planes and gained experience from having been Boeing’s major outsourcing partners. References

Belonging Essay

Belonging is a natural reaction, intrinsic. We search in order to find a community, a group of friends, a country in which we belong. America is a place whereWhen we feel uncomfortable, we say â€Å"I don’t belong here† and when you find a situation in which you are happy, you can be yourself, natural and free you feel as if it was created only for you. It can also be the most wonderfully liberating experience when you find yourself in a culture in which you do not belong. In not belonging, you become someone free of restrictions, free of the expectations, free to creatively exre your imagination without the guilt that often latently lies behind the veiled threat of failure and disappointment. The apparent fact of not belonging is open for everyone, but it†tms the course of action taken in light of this cultural segregation which should be the goal of the traveler today. â€Å"I had, I realized become strangely accustomed to living in Korea, even though a part of me desired to be back on the beach in Thailand. Rules, or lack of, which shaped me more as an individual than any thing else I had experienced in my life. We are expected to increase our spending power as we age, not our understanding of other cultures, not our compassion for each other or for those living on the other side of the economic spectrum. The traveler, if open to the possibility, is in a perfect position to experience this transcendence. America is the ultimate machine, the ultimate company, and the by-product of its hyper capitalist model is the increasingly glaring loss of personal creativity and individualism within its borders. We are consumers and we are resources to be used and abused in a cycle of production of consumption. I didn†tmt belong, but I could never belong and it was a liberating experience, one which taught me in a way the rules for living on the fringe of a society. I was an outsider, I obviously did not belong into this society, one which is very homogeneous, one in which a foreigner learns to live with the constant attention of being gawked and stared at, around each corner, in each subway car, in every restaurant, everywhere. In our own cultures, where in a sense, at least culturally, linguistically and historically we do belong, life often becomes a stifling world in which our lives are predestined, packaged products.