Helen Landsdowne Resor And The Woman s Copy Department

Helen Landsdowne Resor and the Woman’s Copy Department decided to use and upgrade the testimonial as a way of advertising. Distinguished women were interviewed and asked to endorse the product. The first testimonial featured Alva Belmont, a wealthy society woman and feminist (Peiss, 1998). The full-page advertisement, ran in the leading women’s magazines. Belmont refused to allow her picture to run, concerned that it would diminish her prestige and reputation. Other testimonials featured women such as Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Mary McConnell Borah, daughters and wives of powerful men, visible in the world of politics. These ads intended to show case distinguished women not only because they were beautiful, but because they had accomplished something of significance to women. The campaign had been created to impart an image of status and prestige to skin cream, and the advertisers increasingly used this tactic (Peiss, 1998). Even women who identified themselves as fe minists found themselves caught in contradictory impulses. They recognized the variations in women’s experiences in modern society and celebrated women’s achievements. In these ads they maintained that beautifying and achievement do not need to be mutually exclusive: caring for appearance could be seen as an aspect of women’s self-expression and dignity. Even with a background in feminism and reform, many women found themselves actively reinforcing conventional notions of gender difference (Peiss, 1998). The

‘Billy Liar’ Which of Billy’s three girlfriends is best suited to him Free Essays

string(129) " predicament because has threatened that her father will come and sort him out! Later that day Rita returns to the Fisher house\." The play ‘Billy Liar’ concerns a nineteen-year-old boy who has three girlfriends. The Fisher family live in a typical lower middle class house in an industrial town in the north of England. The furniture is quite new but of dreadful taste. We will write a custom essay sample on ‘Billy Liar’: Which of Billy’s three girlfriends is best suited to him? or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Fisher family is very dysfunctional. The family consists of: Billy, a compulsive liar, who uses sarcasm to try and show his intelligence. He seems to be confused about life in general and is also very lazy. Billy is very intelligent. We know this, as there is evidence of this throughout the play. Billy has three girlfriends, I think this a signs of irresponsibility and that he is not very mature. Billy’s mother, Alice, is a housewife. She is constantly fussing over Billy and mothering him. An example of Alice mothering Billy is ‘how do you mean? A job in London? What job in London? ‘ questioning Billy because she worries about him. Maybe this is one of the causes of Billy’s many dilemmas. Alice seems very easy going. Geoffrey, Billy’s father, does not have a good word to say about Billy. He does not trust his son one bit and has no faith in him. Geoffrey has his own business and he also has an obsession to saying the word ‘bloody’. Finally, there is Florence. This is Billy’s Grandmother, Alice’s mother. She is extremely racist and also forgetful. She is forgetful. She is almost senile and throughout the play she is found rambling to herself. She blames Alice for Billy being spoilt. At the beginning of the play when Billy is discussing Barbara with Arthur, he seems unbelievably sexually frustrated. He has had a plan to seduce Barbara by using a ‘passion pill’. Barbara is a girl of about nineteen who is large and well built. This gives the impression that Barbara is relatively old fashioned and prudish. Barbara has strong morals and refuses to have sex before marriage. We know this as in one part of the play Billy puts is hand on Barbara’s knee (after she has taken the passion pill) and Barbara says ‘it seems†¦ indecent, somehow’ this certainly makes Billy sexually frustrated. Barbara is very gullible. We can tell this because she believes all of Billy’s lies. Also Billy’s mother approves of Barbara and thinks she looks respectable. When Billy greets Barbara her reply ‘hallo, pet. ‘ Is spoken callously and flatly. This gives the impression that her feelings for him are not as strong as she believes them to be. Billy also tells Barbara more lies such as ‘Oh yes, I made all the furniture’, and ‘ she might have to have her leg off’ (talking about Florence) which Barbara again believes. One thing that Billy and Barbara have in common is that they fantasize extensively. Evidence of this is the way that they plan together their dream cottage in Devon with a little Billy and a little Barbara. They have really planed this in minute detail, down to the colour schemes and garden plans. My personal opinion is that Barbara has a greater passion for oranges than for Billy and is constantly eating them. Barbara and Billy address each other using pet names such as ‘pet’ and ‘darling’. This shows some sense of relationship between them. Billy gets so frustrated at Barbara’s addiction to oranges and lack of passion that he picks up her bag of oranges and, in total fury, throws it across the floor. Barbara is exceptionally helpful when she visits the Fisher household. She does the dishes and is egger to help Alice. This makes her seem incredibly domesticated. Alice thinks really highly of Barbara. I know this because she says ‘I’m glad he’s found himself a nice sensible lass for once. I think Barbara and Billy are suited in one way because they both fantasize but in many other ways they are not. Barbara has some direction and plan to her life while Billy has no direction at all. Barbara has very strong morals; she does not believe in sex before marriage or in mixed sex holidays but Billy certainly does. I do not think that Barbara and Billy are well suited at all.. They obviously do not love each other. Rita is first introduced in a phone conversation between herself and Billy. In the conversation Rita is being very forceful and she puts Billy on the defensive. While this phone call takes place Barbara is in the house. Rita wants her engagement ring back, the ring Billy has given to Barbara! This shows that he does not have respect for either of the girls. He is desperately trying to get the ring back off Barbara to return to Rita who is very annoyed. Rita is a small girl with blonde hair. She is seventeen years old but ‘dresses to look much older’. She is ‘common and hard’ and works in a snack bar. When Rita is first seen she is coming to claim her ring back from Billy. As soon as she enters the garden, she instantly insults Billy, saying to him ‘look what’s crawled out of the cheese’. This gives the impression that they do not really have any affection towards each other. When Billy tells her one of his extravagant lies Rita is not as gullible as Barbara. Billy and Rita do not have mutual respect in their relationship. You can tell this in their language and tone of voice. Despite all the negative points in their relationship, there is definite sexual chemistry and physical attraction. I know this because Billy attempts to quieten down Rita by kissing her passionately and, sure enough, Rita responds to this by kissing him back. Yet Rita threatens Billy by saying that her father is not happy that she has not got her ring back. I think she is trying to blackmail Billy here. Rita eventually leaves extremely angry and without a ring. She has left Billy in a predicament because has threatened that her father will come and sort him out! Later that day Rita returns to the Fisher house. You read "‘Billy Liar’: Which of Billy’s three girlfriends is best suited to him?" in category "Papers" She is now furious. She does not knock before going in. This is extremely rude. Rita is not intimidated by older people we can see this in the manner in which she talks to Billy’s mother. While talking to people Rita frequently mocs the way they talk. She comes up with some amazing insults and dishes them out, one being ‘squint eyed, bow legged, spotty snotty nosed streak of nothing’. She directs this insult Barbara. She does not think much of Barbara at all. She says that Barbara needs to wash her ears because she has got ‘carrots growing out of them’. This means that she thinks that Barbara is naive and stupid. She is probably right in thinking this. I do think that Rita and Billy are suited because there is a definite sexual attraction between them. Yet that is all they have in common because they are both from different back rounds. Rita comes from quite a rough back round and this is probably the cause for her acting in the way that she does. Billy comes from a lower middle class up bringing. Billy’s mother definitely would not like Billy marrying Rita as she would not fit in with their family. We do not meet Liz until the very end of the play. I like this aspect of the play because we hear about Liz very near the beginning of the play so this leaves a bit of mystery surrounding her character. At the beginning of the play Arthur makes a remark about Liz’s skirt. He says ‘it’s about time somebody bought her a new skirt’. He refers to her as ‘scruffy Lizzie’ that agrees with comments that Alice makes about her. She says ‘that scruffy one’ and also ‘her in that mucky skirt’. The play ‘Billy Liar’ was written in the 1960’s. We can see evidence in the way that society’s view of women in the way that people think through the play; Alice’s opinion of Liz’s skirt which now seems to be a very old fashioned view. Also we can see how society has changed in the way Barbara views sex before marriage and mixed sex holidays. This also fits with the class Barbara comes from. Liz is a free spirit who travels around the country from job to job. Maybe this is why people cannot relate to her or regard her as a threat. During the time of which the play was set, people tended to stay within their own locality. Despite everyone making rude remarks about Liz, Billy seems to have genuine feelings. During one part of the play Barbara is talking to Alice about Liz and she says that ‘she used to put a lot of ideas into his head’. Possibly she is jealous of Liz, because she knows that Billy still has feelings for her. So she is trying to ensure that Alice does not like Liz. Right at the very end of the play Liz enters the scene with Arthur. Although Liz is about the same age as Barbara and Rita she has maturity and ‘self-possession’. She is dressed casually and is, infact, not as scruffy as we have been led to believe. She is not particularly pretty but is obviously a girl of ‘strong personality’. When she comes into the scene they just make polite conversation and Billy asks Liz when she got back. He seems hurt that Liz had not phoned him. After Liz and Billy have been talking for a while, Liz gets the idea of going away to London with him. Billy gives the impression that he definitely wants to go to London with Liz. When Billy tries to lie to Liz he cannot quite go through with it. Liz is a very good judge of Billy’s character. Despite this it does not stop her from loving him. Liz gets the bizarre idea that she wants to marry Billy. She does not want to get engaged and she does not care about getting a ring, unlike Barbara and Rita. Billy and Liz seem to share the same dream. Billy loves talking to Liz. We can see this in the length of his of his speeches. At the end of act three, we can see that Liz is more optimistic than Billy. She makes her mind up about going London. She is sure but Billy is unsure and to some extent pessimistic about going. Liz just makes her decisions on impulse. Liz and Billy get along really well and enjoy each other’s company. They have interesting conversations in which they are both fully involved. It seems as if they are sole mates. But maybe they would be suited better as just good friends. I do not think any one of the three girls is really suitable for Billy. Billy has things in common with each of the girls. Barbara and Billy both fantasize, Billy and Rita have a lot of sexual chemistry between them while Billy and Liz can talk to each other very well. But Billy has big relationship issues. He cannot commit in a relationship; he shows this in the way that he decides not to go to London at the end of the play. He cannot make decisions; he shows this numerous times throughout the play and one of his main goals should be to stop lying! I think Billy could learn to love each of these girls. But I am unsure he would be able to live with them or get married. Billy cannot keep still; he cannot stick to one girl; he cannot make a sensible decision. Billy is highly intelligent but his inability to make decisions stops him getting anywhere in life. How to cite ‘Billy Liar’: Which of Billy’s three girlfriends is best suited to him?, Papers

Role Of Research In The Education an Example of the Topic Government and Law Essays by

Role Of Research In The Education INTRODUCTION The educational section sector is dynamic and ever changing and calls for constant review of its contents so as to meet the market needs that are evolving with the lasted technologies. Educational researches thus come in to fill this gap by connecting the school with the market and placing different educational concepts at different learners levels according to the students abilities. The researchers main aim is to acquire dependable and useful information about the education process that is directed towards the development of an organized body of scientific knowledge about events with which education are concerned. Need essay sample on "Role Of Research In The Education" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Students Often Tell EssayLab professionals: How much do I have to pay someone to make my assignment now? Essay writer professionals suggest: Winning Academic Essay Writing Delivered On Time Essay Company Cheap Essay Writing Custom Essay Order Write My Essay Online Reviews Researchers are interested in finding solutions and communicating their results, the process involves explaining anomalies or contradictions, or providing decision makers with information that assists them to resolve their problems. The argument focuses on providing an explanation that clarifies the situation, and that is supported by relevant evidence, and appropriate qualifications and should be substantive, contestable, and explicit so that the reader can assess their usefulness in resolving problems. It should be accurate, precise, representative, sufficient, reliable, logical and easily understood (Shkedi, A, 1998,). Its goal is to develop a reflexive understanding of the context in which researcher find they are able to explain predict and even control events in educational situations and even make and justify claims. (Borg, Walter R. and Meredith 1989). Educational research is a tool in making sound educational decisions, this point of view assumes that there should be an immediate and observable influence of research finding upon schooling and that the research work should assist in making teaching and learning more predictable, economic and effective (Hagerty, S., & Evans, P. 1985). This researches have become more perceive as policy makers search for the best way to certify teaches, implement master teaching programs and develop teaches evaluation schemes . Educational research evaluations usually focus on needs analyses, cost-benefit analyses, and the formative or summative evaluation of educational products and programs, an educational evaluation consists of more than just the collection of research data. The evaluation can as well include analyzing the goals of a program or the needs of a system, assessing the resources available for the program and the contexts of the program, determining the criteria or standards according to which decisions will be made, and interpreting the results after data have been collected. Any relevant research work contributes an important concept and provides a necessary piece of the argument that explains and justifies this study, or both, study is relevant if failing to discuss it would create a significant gap in this explanation or justification, leave unanswered an important question that a reader of the work might raise, or miss a potentially valuable contribution to the research. Research has influenced education in three main ways: the main influence being on the development of that best suite individual students needs and expectations. Research has also provided conception of the nature of the human learner that has been incorporated into philosophies of education, and finally it has provided a way of solving persistent educational problems. Teachers do research every day thus making their lives much easier without vitiating the concept of research, the important components of research are activities teachers can do while teaching through employing appropriate strategies of educational research. Empirical educational research helps improve decision making and planning of education. Research is sometimes used to satisfy individual curiosity or to spell out rumors about the negative effects of a program or an institution .For example, a government that has introduced a new program in its education system may look for empirical research to establish the popularity or unpopularity of the program among parents, learners and teachers. Should the findings of the research find the program is unpopular, it can then be withdrawal for the education system altogether (Buchanan, N. K., & Feldhusen, J. F. 1991). Much educational research is conducted to identify and analyze interventions to improve learning and students achievements in school and this assists the teachers effectively meet the students educational needs. The purpose of applied research is to solve an immediate practical problem in education, this implies that applied research is concerned with the improvement of actual practice .For example studying man failure in an educational system helps to identify the cause of the problem and how it can be solved .Curriculum developers, national examinations councils, teachers and even learners will be able to work towards the improvement of academic performance basing their action on the research findings (Fapka, J. G. 1982). Research assigns highest priority in reviewing educational articles to rigorous original quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods studies on topics relating to applications of technology or instructional design in educational settings such as analytical papers that evaluate important research issues related to educational technology research and reviews of the literature on similar topics are also published. Teachers have always hoped that research would provide them with a repertoire of single techniques to enable them cope with daily problems yet no specific problem solving technique has emerged though research has provided broad general principles and aided curriculum developers to produce more useful materials(Hagerty, S., & Evans, P. 1985). The teacher wants simple approaches for handling problems such as; what does one do if a child does not concentrate in classroom, how does one deal with a child who is hostile to the school and everything in it, what to do with a child who does not understand long divisions even though they have had several sessions trying to explain it?, it is for this reason that teaches expect educational research to explicitly provide answers to such problems and many others. When specific answers are not forthcoming to their questions, teachers are likely to conclude that educational research is worthless, and the capability of research to provide such answers is now examined (Fapka, J. G. 1982). The failure of students to concentrate on a task may be due to lack of interest in the task. A more unusual reason may be the childs inability to focus on materials close to his or her eyes for a few minutes. Numerous other reasons may also exist for example the child may be hyperactive, the child may have strong social needs or prefer to relate to other childrens rather than to an individual task. Educational research thus should look for answers to the childs problem but even if an answer is found, there is the matter of how to handle the child which educational research should provide. Educators should make decisions with basing them on the findings of educational research, a teacher or instructional designer who believes in and employs one method for teaching remedial reading should not necessarily abandon that method when an article in a journal proclaims that another method better off. Educational research helps in shaping teachers knowledge base and consequent actions by using their existing knowledge base linking it with the latest research findings to ensure effective teaching outcomes. This makes educational research and professional practice are mutually interdependent. The teacher extracts meaning from research and combines this with existing knowledge to affect practice; the effects of initial teacher education appear to remain influential well into a teachers career, access to and active mediation of research and its interpretive forms is seen as being a powerful source of knowledge and practical ideas and teachers should be include and involved in research and researchers in teaching (Shkedi, A, 1998,). To a teacher educational research is generally a problem oriented activity that is aimed at improving conditions or solving problems in education .Good research should perform this function by providing knowledge about education .The new knowledge is then applied to the improvement of educational practices for example a mere description of how students are taught a subject can help to improve not only the teaching but also the curriculum design and student performance. Although educational research is supposed to be seen as a diagnostic and evaluation process, serving to facilitate educational reforms and development, it is much more difficult to determine whether the numerous and varied research findings in a country or region have made any impact on the practice of education, this is because many factors influence educational practice. The sad thing about educational research objectives in education is that many teachers and administrators know little about neither how the research is obtained nor how to read the results that are presented, there is even a prevailing attitude that educational research is not practical to real word teaching. Teaching methods and curriculum policies are now being scrutinized for evidence based research, though administrators and policy makers are currently appreciating the role and important of research( Wiersma, Williams.1994 ). Teachers and administrators in the education field have realized that creating productive educational systems based on individual and group creativity is slowly starting to meet its potential. Data obtained from qualitative and quantitative research can benefit if its positive results are realized and applied in a real educational setting. Qualitative research is useful to the educational research in several ways .It helps the educational researcher to obtain in-depth data both within a outside the school .Data from within the school can help discover the internal dynamics of the teaching learning process and the hidden curriculum that remains invisible in qualitative type research (Buchanan, N. K., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1991). The most beneficial contribution of this research to education has been drawing attention to the construction of school success and failure through daily classroom interaction between teachers and pupils. In conclusion educational research is a systematic process that addresses educational issues and phenomena. The method researcher uses to investigate educational questions range from surveys to observations and the experimental methods depend upon the problem at hand and the purpose of the research to be conducted. Educational research is not the only endeavor in which the professional educator must engage there are many problems that must be resolved through recourse to strategies other than research. Decisions made are likely to be concerned about such issues as the right to privacy, personal ethical convictions, the dangers of overpopulation and sexually transmitted diseases, political philosophies, and the nature of the social contract between the individual and the state as it applies to the educational setting. Strengthening research capacity in education and the dissemination and utilization of research results at all levels and among policy makers is of crucial importance to the development of educational research which is an expensive exercise and needs total support from all education stake holders so as to arrive at the intended educational goals. Reference: Borg, Walter R. and Meredith (1989), Educational Research: An introduction .5th Edition, New York: Longman. Majchrzack, Ann (1984), Methods for policy Research .Beverly Hills, Carifornia. Wiersma, Williams. (1994).Research Methods in Education: An introduction .Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Buchanan, N. K., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1991). Conducting research and evaluation in gifted education: A handbook of methods and applications. New York: Teachers College Press. Hagerty, S., & Evans, P. (1985). Research and evaluation methods in special education: Quantitative and qualitative techniques in case study work. Philadelphia: NFER-Nelson. Smith, M. L. (1987). Research and evaluation in education and the social sciences. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Fapka, J. G. (1982). Research and evaluation in health education. Oakland, CA: Third Party Publishing Company. Cohen and Marion 1989 Research Methods in Education.London; Routledge. Flander, N.A.1985 Analyzing Teaching Behavior.Massachusettes: Addison. Shkedi, A, 1998, Teachers attitudes towards research: A challenge for qualitative researchers, Qualitative Studies in Education. Australia.

Trace Evidence Essays - Forensic Evidence, Forensics, Trace Evidence

Trace Evidence Essays - Forensic Evidence, Forensics, Trace Evidence Trace Evidence Trace evidence is very important in forensic investigations. This category of evidence encompasses many diverse types of microscopic materials as well as some examples that are easily visible to the naked eye. The subject is broad and diverse because of the number of different types of evidence that are commonly encountered. Trace evidence can be thought of as evidence occuring in sizes so small that it can be transferred or exchanged between two surfaces without being noticed. Varieties of trace evidence can include, but are not limited to: metal filings, glass fragments, feathers, food stains, building materials, lubricants, fingernail scrapings, pollens and spores, cosmetics, plastic fragments, gunshot residue, chemicals, paper fibers and sawdust, human and animal hairs, plant and vegetable fibers, blood and other body fluids, asphalt or tar, vegetable fats and oils, dusts and other airborne particles, insulation, textile fibers, soot, soils and mineral grains, and e! xplosive residues. Forensic scientists routinely come into contact with a relatively few number of these. They are: hair, glass, paint, fibers, fingerprints, and flamable liquids. These will be covered more in-depth in this paper. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and one of the early pioneers in forensic science believed strongly that individuals could not enter an area without taking dust particles with them from the scene. This became known as what is now called "Locard's Exchange Principle." This principle states that when two objects come into contact with each other, each of the objects will leave particles of one on the other. It is this principle that is the foundation of the forensic study of trace evidence. Trace evidence examination is the examination and analysis of small particles in order to help establish a link between a suspect and a crime scene or a suspect and the victim of a crime. These small particles usually include such items as hair, paint, glass, and fibers. Although not considered "trace" items by definition the many Crime Labs also examine and analyze such important evidence as flammables (in arson investigations), fingerprints, footwear (shoeprints), and "fracture matches." Many also perform examinations of automobile headlamps, taillights and speedometers. The first category of trace evidence I will discuss is hair. Hair is examined grossly (with the naked eye), and with both low power and high power microscopes to determine if questioned hairs, found at the scene or on the clothing of an individual are consistent in characteristics to known hair collected from the suspect and/or victim. Some of these characteristics include more obvious traits such as color, length, and morphological shape and also microscopic aspects of the cuticle, cortex and medulla, which are the three basic components of a hair. A hair cannot be linked specifically to an individual through these methods but vital information developed as to who the suspect may be and significant elimination of other suspects can often be done. It is possible to tell the race, sex, and region of the body that a hair comes from. A relative idea as to the time since the last haircut can also be made. The second type of trace evidence is glass. When larger samples are available glass can be useful in linking a suspect with the crime scene through "fracture matches". This is when a larger piece of glass, found associated with the suspect, can be physically fitted with one or more pieces from the crime scene. More often when an individual gains access to a business or dwelling by breaking glass the perpetrator will acquire very tiny pieces of glass on his/her clothing. These cannot be physically matched due to their tiny size. However, these pieces, though smaller than a pinhead, can be characterized under the microscope. After proper gross and low power microscopic examinations are performed the Forensic Scientists use microscopic "refractive index" determination to further characterize the samples. Refractive index is a measurement of how light is "refracted" (bent) as it passes through the microscopic glass sample. Glasses having different formulations and used for differe! nt purposes have different RI's. Therefore samples can be compared to determine if the glass from the crime scene could be the source of the glass removed from the suspect's clothes. The third type of trace evidence is paint. When perpetrators break into businesses

How to win more work with your bids and tenders

How to win more work with your bids and tenders 9 ways to win more work with your bids and tenders In sport, there’s often a fine line between being hailed as the champ or dubbed an also-ran. For every Olympic 10,000m gold medallist there were probably dozens of potential champions. But no matter. Whoever crosses the line first, even by a fraction of a second, takes the spoils. Coming out on top is often about good preparation and the little things your competitors failed to take into account. It’s the same when bidding for work. And you probably know from experience that the competition to edge ahead can be as fierce there as on the race track. So here are nine ways you can get your nose in front to consistently be the champ, and not end up an also-ran chump. 1. Write fewer bids Ironically, it’s sometimes easier to win more work by focusing your energies on fewer bids and tenders. Alarm bells should be ringing if you find yourself winging it when answering half a dozen key questions in an invitation to tender (ITT) or pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). Newcomers, especially, can be tempted to bid for contracts that don’t actually suit their capabilities. So concentrate on the bids and tenders where you are most likely to succeed. 2. Get under their skin †¦ †¦ in a good way, of course. When you do identify a suitable opportunity, ask yourself this crucial question: how can I find out what the potential client really wants? Sometimes it’s obvious. A good ITT will make their priorities clear from the outset. Sadly, the reality is that most are poorly written. For example, you may need to read carefully to spot key needs that aren’t even mentioned in a list of ‘essential requirements’. In any case, always broaden your research beyond the ITT to get the bigger picture of what matters to them right now. Check out their website, news stories about them and blog posts by the CEO. And if you are looking to renew ongoing business with a customer, speak to your sales team or client relationship managers. They’re best placed to give you crucial insights into the challenges the client faces, or their preferred method of working. 3. Put your win themes in the spotlight Once you understand your potential client, focus on the factors most likely to win you their business – your ‘win themes’. For example, your prospect might be an eco-friendly organic food producer looking for a supplier of cardboard packaging. Your win theme here may be that you source all your cardboard products via certified sustainable forest management. Use every relevant opportunity to drive home that message, such as in the executive summary, case studies and even in project team CVs. It’s vital to back up win themes with facts, though. In the case above, this might be how many trees you’ve had planted, or how you helped another client achieve their carbon emissions target six months early. 4. Remember it’s not about you Win themes are firmly focused on the client’s needs. And your entire bid or tender should be, too. It’s easy to come out all guns blazing, singing the praises of your own organisation – but doing thats likely to just alienate the reader. Far better to make it clear, early on, that you understand their issues and needs. And when referring to the features of your product or service, make clear the benefits for that particular client at the same time. So, avoid the old-school, in-your-face sales pitch approach. And adopting the right tone can be crucially important in other ways, too. 5. Keep it positive A delegate on one of our bid-writing courses couldn’t understand why so many of their submissions for event-management contracts met with only a lukewarm response, and ultimately a rejection. He told us: ‘We know we can match our competitors on price. We have masses of experience, too, and plenty of good case studies to back us up.’ A review of their ITT responses revealed the root of the problem – a worryingly negative vibe. Statements such as ‘We believe we can deliver the contract to a satisfactory standard’ were unlikely to inspire confidence. Better to use positive phrases such as ‘We will ensure that †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and a stronger adjective than a mere satisfactory. Likewise, they referred to ‘trying to’ or ‘aiming to’ achieve goals, rather than saying there were ‘confident’ of doing so. And when describing a prospective client, avoid being overly deferential in a way that is likely to make them cringe (‘We would be honoured to build a relationship with your prestigious research establishment ’). It can sound like you feel lucky to even be in with a chance of working with them. They’re going to be putting their trust in you. So its far better to position yourself as an equal or high-level adviser. Remember, too, that referring to competitors is generally frowned upon in bid writing as much as in other areas of sales, and with good reason. For one thing, your response should be strong enough to sell itself, without taking potshots at the opposition. (Plus, do you really want to give over valuable space in your bid to name-checking alternative suppliers?) 6. Favour simple over waffle It can be tempting to include everything you can think of when responding to a question in an ITT, in the vain hope that your singularly comprehensive answer will impress the reader. That’s rarely the best idea. Let’s look at two potential responses from a reader’s point of view. Question: ‘What are your proposed delivery timescales?’ Answer 1: ‘Four months.’ Answer 2: ‘Given the emphasis you have placed on achieving your ambitions within a relatively short timeframe, we have carried out an in-depth assessment of the global effects of leveraging the synergies we can achieve through our involvement in this project. This substantive evaluation has given us the confidence to predict a delivery period of 16 weeks, in line with your expectations.’ The first answer is straightforward and its lack of waffle makes the writer sound more confident. Only give detail that’s helpful to the reader, using clear, concise language that avoids unnecessary jargon. Remember, though, that it can sometimes help to mirror some of the language the prospective client appears comfortable with – they may refer to ‘service users’ rather than ‘customers’, for example. In which case, you should too. 7. Help them to help you Where the bidding process allows it, do communicate with prospective clients. It can help you build a rapport with them. And don’t be afraid to seek clarification on important points, such as budget. Doing so, far from being a sign of weakness, will show your dedication to genuinely fulfilling their needs. It will also give you a chance to build your working relationship even before they hire you. (Note though that in formal tender processes, both questions and responses from the client may well be made public to all suppliers tendering.) 8. Beware of ‘the stupids’ Your submission is finished ahead of the deadline. You’ve even double-checked it against a compliance matrix to make sure you’ve included a solution for everything the ITT asked for. Almost time then to breathe a sigh of relief and get on with all those everyday tasks you’ve had to put off. But not so fast. It’s so easy to blow it in the final stages. First, watch out for silly mistakes that undermine your credibility. Years ago, we were working closely with a key decision-maker whose role at the time was to award contracts to run entire rail franchises. As you can imagine, such decisions are far from simple and involve assessing a huge amount of technical detail. Yet he told us that his first action when assessing any bid was to quickly leaf through it and circle silly mistakes, which he called the ‘stupids’. These could include, say, instances where the writer had made a common spelling mistake in the name of a station. (For example, writing ‘Bridgewater’ instead of ‘Bridgwater’, when referring to the town in Somerset, UK.) Though these might seem trivial, collectively they call into question just how well the supplier knows the area. He and his colleagues would take the total number of silly mistakes into account when weighing up competing bids. In fact, his non-orthodox technique has a sound basis in social psychology. That’s because we are all hard-wired to look for cues that suggest we would be wise not to put all our trust in what we’re reading. The cues we rely on most (even if we do so unconsciously) include those that are easy for the people we’re assessing to get wrong if they don’t know what they’re doing. Failing to spell key place names correctly is a good example. The impact of stupids may be far greater than you think, as they can lead decision-makers to quickly lose confidence in your document and, by default, you and your organisation. So, ensure your document has been edited carefully and then proofread properly. Pay particularly close attention to the executive summary – a stupid mistake there really can make all the hard work of putting a bid together utterly futile. 9. Don’t fall at the final hurdle Finally, presentation. It’s more important than you may think. Your document needs to look approachable and professional – and be sure to check for any specific requirements such as the number of copies they need and whether the bid or proposal should be bound. And if you submit your bid electronically, do make sure it’s been safely received. After all, it’s impossible to win a new piece of business if you actually fail to deliver your bid at all. Try these 9 steps to finish first Its a competitive world out there, and in sales – unlike in sport – theres no prize for coming second. But apply these nine steps to all your bids and tenders, and you will be odds-on for a win every time. hbspt.cta.load(2645537, 'bcc87e53-f3f4-4632-9e9d-ecd393514f70', {}); Image credit: Halfpoint / Shutterstock

Microsoft Zune vs Apple iPod Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Microsoft Zune vs Apple iPod - Essay Example Apple released its first-ever portable media player, iPod Classic, in 2001. Like the usual portable media players, one can listen to music, watch videos, show pictures and even play games on the iPod. Apple has since modified the original iPod and has made it small and wearable (iPod Shuffle) and with more and more features like having built-in Wi-Fi and enabling it to record and edit HD videos, download and play online games, among other things. Each product has its own device generation as well.Microsoft released its own media player device in the year 2006 and called the original Zune 30. The numbers in their name indicates how big the capacity of the device is. Zune 30 can play songs, video and show pictures just like the iPod. The only difference is that photos and videos can be watched or played in either portrait or landscape mode. The Zune can also be modified to play games and can play in many different audio formats. It also has a Zune-to-Zune wireless sharing of music and photos. Next is Zune 4 which has the generation of 8 and 16. According to Surhone et al. (2010), it can be clicked 5 ways. Like its predecessor, it has Wi-Fi used for wireless sharing of photos and music in other Zune. It has also a FM radio. Zune 80 or 120 was the next release for the Microsoft, which produce positive results as it was called an â€Å"iPod alternative†. The features are the same as its previous predecessor but with higher capacity as the number indicated in the name and bigger screen.   The most recent release is the the Zune HD. As its name suggests, one can buy and rent high-definition (HD) movies and TV shows, play HD radio, download apps and games and surf the internet on the Zune HD.  

Critical Appraisal of Business Plan Process Towards the creation of a Essay

Critical Appraisal of Business Plan Process Towards the creation of a successful entrepreneurial venture - Essay Example Because it is contained in a tangible document, it is open to critical examination by important third parties such as possible co-investors, creditors, venture capitalists, or banks which may be considering extending a loan towards the business (BC Ministry of Small Business, 2011, p.2). Elements The business plan is comprised of several elements, which may be described as follows: Idea generation, while not a tangible part of the business plan proper, is a vital phase of the planning process. It is the germination of the business intention, the idea that combines a perceived need in the environment with a recognized capability in the business proponent. Idea generation is the most difficult stage of developing a new product or service, whether it be for a new or existing business (Crane, 2010, p. 104). This is because it involves the creative process and is not defined according to any established procedure, but often occurs as a flash of inspiration or unique insight as to how a pa rticular need may be fulfilled. When an idea is first generated, there is usually no indication as to whether it will be successful or even feasible, thus embarking on a course of action on the bases of new ideas always involves a great deal of conviction and a leap of faith. Strategic objectives are set subsequent to the generation of the idea. Strategic objectives provide the overall mission or purpose of the business (i.e., a â€Å"philosophical† purpose, according to Piotrowski, 2011, p. 174), as against the operational objectives. Strategic objectives relate to the definition of four elements of the business profile, namely products, customer groups, market segments, and geographic markets (Robert, 1998, p. 234). As with all statements of intention, however, the statement of strategic objectives is always couched in general terms that may admit of many varied interpretations. As a guide, therefore, the strategic objectives are at best advisory, but cannot be held as defi nitive as promises or commitments for which the business may be held answerable. Therefore, the effectiveness of strategic objectives will only be as meaningful as the best intentions of the business proponents may hold them to be. Market analysis and research is the process of gathering information about the prospective market of the business and drawing important insights and observations about future prospects. Information about the market’s size, its location, its history, the competitive profile, and likely profitability, as well as its general strength and health, are described and assessed. The information gathered during this stage provides the foundation for forecasting sales volumes and revenues, for determining the capacity of the business, and consequently the amount of financing required (Ehmke & Akridge, 2005, p.3). Market research analysis has its limitations. Ideally, accurate knowledge of markets is very important, but such knowledge does not serve to reduce knowledge of the business into a single solution that solves all possible problems. It is a myth that a business cannot fail if it completely knows its market; this is because the market is just one aspect of the business, the others being the financial, technical operations, accounting control, and human resources aspects (Brown, 2008, p. 464). Furthermore, the market has too many factors that could not be forecast with certainty, that any feeling of possessing complete knowledge of the market is a certain