I.What Is A Theory. 1.Criminology Is The Scientific Study

I. What is a theory? 1. Criminology is the scientific study of crime and the causes of criminal behavior. a. Correlation and Cause: Correlation is the relationship between two variables that tend to move in the same direction. Causation is the relationship in which a change in one variable creates a recognizable change in another variable. For example, many criminals are drug abusers but drug abuse does not cause crime because not everyone who abuses drugs is a criminal. b. The Role of Theory: Criminologists have uncovered information concerning a different and more applicable inquiry. II. The Scientific Method 1. Theory is an explanation of a happening or circumstance that is based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning. 2. A†¦show more content†¦2. Research shows that even moderate use of alcohol or drugs increases the chances that a schizophrenic will behave violently. IX. Psychology and Crime 1. Social psychology is the study of how individual behavior is influenced by the behavior of groups in social situations. b. Bad Neighborhoods and Other Economic Disadvantages: Sociology is the study of the development and functioning of groups of people who live together within a society. X. Social Disorganization Theory 1. High levels of high school dropouts. 2. Chronic unemployment. 3. Deteriorating buildings and other infrastructures. 4. Concentrations of single-parent families. XI. Strain Theory 1. Strain theory is the assumption that crime is the result of frustration felt by individuals who cannot reach their financial and personal goals through legitimate means. 2. An anomie is a condition in which the individual feels a disconnect from society due to the breakdown or absence of social norms. XII. Social conflict theories 1. Social conflict theories are theories that views criminal behavior as the result of class conflict. c. Life lessons and Criminal Behavior: Surveys that ask people about their criminal behavior have shown that the criminal instinct is pervasive in middle and upper class communities, even if it is expressed differently. XIII. The abandoned car experiment 1. Social process theories are theories that considers criminal behavior to be the predictable result of a person’s

10 Facts About the Periodic Table of Elements

The periodic table is a chart that arranges the chemical elements in a useful, logical manner. Elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number, lined up so elements that exhibit similar properties are arranged in the same row or column as others. The periodic table is one of the most useful tools of chemistry and the other sciences. Here are 10 fun facts to boost your knowledge: Although Dmitri Mendeleev is most often cited as the inventor of the modern periodic table, his table was just the first to gain scientific credibility. ​It wasnt the first table that organized the elements according to periodic properties.There are  about  94 elements on the periodic table that occur in nature. All of the other elements are strictly human-made. Some sources state more elements occur naturally because heavy elements may transition between elements as they undergo radioactive decay.Technetium was the first element to be made artificially. It is the lightest element that has only radioactive isotopes (none are stable).The International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry, IUPAC, revises the periodic table as new data becomes available. At the time of this writing, the most recent version of the periodic table was approved in December 2018.The rows of the periodic table are called periods. An elements period number is the highest unexcited energy level for an ele ctron of that element.Columns of elements help to distinguish groups in the periodic table. Elements within a group share several common properties and often have the same outer electron arrangement.Most of the elements on the periodic table are metals. The alkali metals, alkaline earths, basic metals, transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides all are groups of metals.The present periodic table has room for 118 elements. Elements arent discovered or created in order of atomic number. Scientists are working on creating and verifying elements 119 and 120, which will change the appearance of the table, though they were working on element 120 before element 119. Most likely, element 119 will be positioned directly below francium and element 120 directly below radium. Chemists may create much heavier elements that may be more stable because of the special properties of certain combinations of proton and neutron numbers.Although you might expect atoms of an element to get larger as th eir atomic number increases, this does not always occur because the size of an atom is determined by the diameter of its electron shell. In fact, element atoms usually decrease in size as you move from left to right across a row.The main difference between the modern periodic table and Mendeleevs periodic table is that Mendeleevs table arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weight, while the modern table orders the elements by increasing atomic number. For the most part, the order of the elements is the same between both tables, though there are exceptions.

Optimum Dividend Policy Free Essays

INTRODUCTION It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the significance of dividend policy, considering the fact that payment of dividend reduces earnings available for investment and increase external financing for investment purpose. Most households, investors and pensioners rely heavily on the dividends from their investments to make ends meet. A lot of theories have emerged regarding the dividend decisions made by companies. We will write a custom essay sample on Optimum Dividend Policy or any similar topic only for you Order Now While some are of the opinion that the choice of dividend is irrelevant to the value of shareholder wealth, provided all retained earnings are invested in projects that give a positive net present value, others held the view that the capital structure decision is relevant as the cost of loan capital is cheaper than that of equity and as such advocates external source of financing as oppose to the use of dividends. This report will therefore examine some of the theories on dividend policies using five year dividend policy of Tesco Plc and Apple Incorporation. TESCO PLC Tesco is a retail store whose head office is in United Kingdom. It has an unrivalled FTSE 100 record of increasing dividend for the 26th consecutive year. Its major shareholders as at July 2010 are Blackrock Inc which owns 5.24%, Legal general Investment Management Limited which owns 3.71% of the issued share capital of the company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 3.02% (Annual report, 2010, pp. 1-3 45). Tesco Plc final dividend payout extracted from the annual reports between 2006 to 2010 is: YEAR:2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 DIVIDEND (pence): 6.10 6.83 7.70 8.39 9.16 APPLE INCORPORATION Apple is an American multinational corporation incorporated in 1977 which manufactures computers, computer accessories and mobile phones. In 1980, the company went public, selling 4.6 million shares at a price of $22 per share and closing at $29. (CNET news, 1997). The company does not pay dividends despite its continuous increase in shares arising from the success in new products lunch. Below gives an overview of Apple dividend history. Year 2009 20082007 2006 2005 Dividends $0 $0$0 $0 $0 Price $170.31$110.99 $198.08 $84.84 $0 Estimated EPS (year) $5.84, Estimated EPS (quarter) $1.38 Estimated EPS Growth 18.58%, Payout Ratio0.00%. DIVIDEND AND DIVIDEND POLICY Dividend is a cash payment made to shareholders on a quarterly or twice in a year basis based on the amount of shares held and dependent upon the dividend policy adopted by the company. It is normally paid to every shareholder at the record date and can be either in cash or reinvested into the business to generate capital gains (Atrill and McLaney, 2008, pp. 138-139). They are paid out of profit after deducting interest and tax liabilities and the Company Act 1985 makes it mandatory for companies to pay dividend out of accumulated net realised profit, taking into consideration any accumulated loss according to Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (Watson and Head, 2007, p.84). Dividend can be also in the form of bonus shares whereby instead of shareholders receiving cash as dividend, they receive additional share known as script dividend (Atrill, 2009, p. 365). Some companies like Google and Apple have a zero-dividend stock while others like Tesco Inc pays dividend. THEORIES OF DIVIDEND POLICY There is increasing pressure for companies to cut dividend in order to finance projects that gives a positive net present value using retained earnings which is a major source of finance for companies in the United Kingdom (Watson and Head, 2007, p. 285). Retained earnings are being used because there are no issue costs involve and are quick to raise (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 556). However, the decision of a company to use retained earnings to finance its investments will be dependent on the attitude of shareholders and capital market to a reduction in dividend, availability and cost of external sources of finance and amount of fund require relative to the available distributable profits (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 285). The following are some of the dividend policy theories that will be discussed in this report. DIVIDEND IRRELEVANCE THEORY This theory was pioneered by Modigliani and Miller in 1961. It argued that in a perfect capital market where there is the absence of transaction costs, taxation and market imperfections, shareholders are concerned with increase in wealth and will be indifference to whether the increase is a result of capital gain or dividend (ACCA F9, 2010, p. 556). To an investor, whether a firm pays dividend or not should make no difference to the value of the firm and it does not counts whether it is paid out as dividend or reinvested to yield a capital gain as dividend policy does not have any effect on share price (Chiang et al, 2006, pp.6413). This supports Human Resource Director of Aspire Plc of one dividend policy being as good as another as it has no effect on share price. Thus a company can choose to pay any amount of dividend and use retained earnings to finance projects that have positive net present value and maintain that shareholders who invest in a financial geared business will wan t a return that is the same with the return they will get from investing in a similar business that is ungeared and that returns the shareholders require from borrowing will remain unchanged with increase in levels of borrowing (Atrill, 2009, p. 344). Their argument is founded on the assumption that having a good security for the loans will prevent lenders from seeking additional returns. Modigliani and Miller fail to realised that human nature being naturally selfish and the business environment being chaotic, complex and unpredictable will make lenders seek higher returns so as to safe guard against such risk as global recession. Investors suffered dividend cuts with investments worth billions reduced to nothing in the wake of the financial crisis which were not matched by a reciprocal austerity on the part of investment bankers (Jones, 2011). Shareholders will require higher return due to the risk, inflation and interest. Moreover, their argument is founded on three assumptions of an ‘ideal business world’ devoid of share issue costs, market imperfections, transaction costs and taxation whereas in reality, these exist. A perfect market assumption of market prices not being influenced by a single seller or buyer (Hussainey et al, 2011, p.59) is unlikely to hold. The financial markets operate in a chaotic and unpredicted world and in reality, costs like agency, bankruptcy, and transaction costs are incurred when investors buy or sell their shares and tax will be charged as well as inflation (Abor and Bokpin, 2010, p. 180). Moreover, monopoly exists where a single seller can influence price. The ongoing war in Libya for instance has led to a large increase in fuel price all around the world (Barbajosa, 2011). However, the third assumption of no taxation will hold to a great extent giving that the United Kingdom no taxation rule on capital gains below ?9200 applies, whereas all dividends are tax charged (Atrill, 2009, p. 372). The tax position of an investor to a great extent will determine whether they prefer a capital gain to dividend and vice versa and shareholders will invest in companies whose dividend policies are in line with their investment needs DIVIDEND RELEVANCE THEORY This theory propounded by Lintner (1956) and Gordon (1959) is founded on the assumption that a shareholder will prefer to receive a dividend payment which is certain as oppose to investing the same amount in an investment whose value is not certain corroborating the point made by Aspire Plc Director of Operations that a known dividend now is preferred by shareholders to an uncertain capital gain in the future. This is similar to the bird in the hand dividend theory which says that a bird (dividend) in hand is worth more than two (capital gains) in the bush. Giving that future cash flows are uncertain, an investor will prefer dividends to retained earnings (Hussainey, 2011, p. 59). It therefore maintained that dividends are preferred to capital gains as a result of shareholders being risk averse. Some of their arguments is founded on the assumptions that dividends are a signal to shareholders and investors about the prospects of a company. This arises as a result of the asymmetry of i nformation between shareholders and managers (Alnold, 2007, p. 429). Thus shareholders see dividend as a means of passing across information to them as to the well being of their investments. A rise in dividend to the shareholder is a sign that the company has good prospects and share price tends to rise while a cut in dividend signals a poor performance (Tse, 2005, p. 14). Share prices thus go up when there is increase in dividend and go down when there is a cut in dividend and market makes use of announcement of changes in dividend payments in assessing the value of a security (Tse, 2005, p.14 in Pettit (1972). A pitfall of this notion is that an increase in dividend may implies that the company is short of positive net present value projects to invest in or has weak investments opportunities and as a result dispense cash out as dividend to shareholders (Baker and Wurgler, 2004, p. 1128). Apple does not pay dividend partly because of a similar reason that dividend payments give a negative perception that the company has run out of investments opportunities and as such will not grow much more (Elmer-Dewitt, 2010). Alternatively, companies with zero dividend shares like Berkshire Hathaway face a dilemma as to how to convey information about current performance and future prospects of the company if dividends are a means of passing on such information to the shareholders. Although investors invest in companies for various reasons, while some rely on dividend as a source of regular income like the pensioner and institutional investors who rely on dividend payments to meet various obligations and needs to meet, others prefer capital gains. However, like the argument put forward by the Sales Director of Aspire Plc that dividend policy should be structured to suit the type of shareholders a company has and dividend paid according to their needs, company dividend policy should be drafted base on the company’s clientele (shareholders) base and their needs or income requirements. Aspire Plc shareholders are majorly individuals, pension funds and insurance companies having total shares holdings of 66.7%, giving the obvious that the company’s majority clientele base is mainly shareholders who have liabilities to meet and would therefore prefer that dividend be paid as against having them invested for capital gains which a unit and investment fund company will have a preference for. Regardless of the fact that shareholders want dividends paid to meet obligations and income needs, they are also interested in the growth of the company. In dispensing cash as dividends to shareholders or reinvesting to yield a capital gain, a company should also consider shareholders tax preference. While some shareholders want dividends, they do not want the tax liability that comes with it. The United Kingdom tax law exempt capital gains below ?9200 whereas dividends are taxable. As a result, shareholders will want to delay dividend being paid to them to take advantage of this exemption. Similarly, if there is share appreciation, the tax benefits of deferring capital gains into the future may outweigh the cost of paying a higher tax rate on a relatively small dividend (Whitworth and Zhang, 2010, p.681). In an attempt to send a positive signal about future prospects of a company, company pays dividend despites its tax disadvantages. The cost of this signalling is that cash dividends are taxed higher than capital gains. While some investors would rather have capital gains to cut down on tax impact, others may prefer dividends because they prefer immediate cash in hand (Hussainey, 2011, p.60). RESIDUAL THEORY The theory which share a similar view with Modigliani and Miller’s except that it recognises issue costs but there is no taxation and market imperfections and argued that though dividend are important, the pattern is not. It further reiterates that a firm should pay dividend from cash remaining after investing in net positive value projects. The problem is how an investor knows that a company is investing in projects that will enhance the value of a company due to the asymmetry of information between management and investors or shareholders?. Payments of dividend is a means by which managers signal the true value of the firm and communicate insider information about the company to the shareholders (Tse, 2005, p.13). It brings about the issue of agency as an investor cannot tell that his or her dividend accrued to him or her has been reinvested in positive or negative net present value projects or used by the directors to pursue their own interest of empire building to the detr iment of investors. A typical example is Enron Corporation that has its managers claimed to have been reinvesting shareholders money and creating value through acquisition of over forty one companies, investments worth billions of dollars and increase in share price from $57.10 to $90.56 within 1998 by cooking fraudulent accounting information which the shareholders relied on. Its pre-initial public offering shares went from $10 million to $372 million within a day. It was soon discovered that the managers indulged in creative accounting to hide losses worth about $35 billion and had overstated income by $586 million. The share price went from $90.56 to $8.40 and subsequently to 61 cents (Gini et al, 2009, pp.110-114). Shareholders of firms can thus avoid incurring agency costs by reducing the cash available to the shareholders through the demand for dividend to reduce excess free cash flow. (ACCA F9, 2010, pp. 375-376) and (Hussainey, 2011, p. 60). ZERO DIVIDEND POLICY Some companies adopted a zero dividend policy whereby they do not pay dividends to their shareholders rather plough the cash back into the business to generate future capital gains. Companies such as Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Apple, and Microsoft until recently do not pay dividends. Apple do not pay dividend despite its holdings in cash and marketable securities which have grown from $24.5 billion to $46 billion. Its Chief executive Officer had said that the company has no plans of paying dividend in the near future. The company believes that cash hoard is a fast and easy means of financing investments projects such as acquisition, Research and Development in new products and put the company in less fewer risks by using retained earnings as opposed to external sources of finance to avoid exposing the entire company to risk (Ghosh, 2011). This may be due to the fact that the company’s major shareholders are co-founder Steve Jobs, who owns more than 5.5 million shares, Apple engineer and vice president Sina Tamaddon with 290,000 shares, and retail chief Ron Johnson with 232,000 shares. Other shareholders are institutional and Mutual Fund Holders. However, as of April 2009, more than 71 percent of Apple’s stock was owned by institutions and mutual funds with the largest institutional stock holder being FMR LLC, with 39.2 million shares, followed by Barclays Global Investors with 37 million. The top mutual fund holder is The Growth Fund of America with 24.1 million shares. In July 2009, the company’s stock was trading at $142.40 per share (Desjardins, 2011). This goes to show that 71% of its shareholders are mutual fund trusts who do not have immediate pressing needs to meet and would therefore prefer a capital gain to dividend, hence the use of retained earnings by Apple to finance its business. Also, giving the nature of Apple’s business, the company needs to invest in research and development which most times takes years for a brea kthrough to manifest. Apple would have also chosen not to pay dividend due to failure of who had almost $60-billion of cash on the balance sheet, from which they used about $32-billion to make a special one-time dividend in 2004. Microsoft’s share chart showns that its share price has gone nowhere in ten years. Not even a number of stock buybacks have helped push up the stock price. Also, Cisco Systems announcement to start paying a dividend had its shares plunged from almost $70 in 2000 to just above $20 no, while Apple shares have skyrocketed from $7 per share in 2003 to more than $333 currently (Ghosh, 2011). CONCLUSION REFERENCE ABOR, J AND BOKPIN, G,A. 2010. Investment opportunities, corporate finance, and dividend payout policy: Evidence from emerging markets. Studies in economics and Finance, 27 (3), pp.180-195). ATRILL, P AND MCLANEY, E. 2008. Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists. 6th edn. England: Pearson Education. ATRILL, P. 2009. Financial Management for Decision Makers. 5th edn. England: Pearson Education. Apple, Inc. (AAPN) Dividend Summary [WWW] (http://www.dividendinformation.com/AAPL_dividends (May 2011). ALNOLD, G. 2007. Corporate Financial Management. England: Pearson Education Limited. ACCA, F9. 2010. Financial Management: Complete text-December 2010. Berkshire: Kaplan Publishing UK. Barbajosa, A. 2011. Analysis: U.S. leverage to crimp Iranian oil exports fades. [WWW] http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/businesspro-us-iran-oil-leveage- (May 2 2011). BAKER, M AND WURGLER, J. 2004. A catering theory of dividend. The Journal of Finance, LIX (3), pp. 1125-1166. CHIANG,K, FRANKFURTER,G.M, KOSEDAG, A, AND WOOD JR,B,G. 2006. The perception of dividends by professional investors. Manageria Finance [Online Journal], 32 (1), pp. 60-81. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=The+perception+of+dividends+by++professional+investorsct=allec=1bf=1go=Go (April 22 2011). COLLINS, D. 2006. Enron: the good, the bad and the really ugly. In: GINI, A and MARCOUK, A.M. Case studies in business ethics. 6th.Edn. London: Pearson prentice Hall, pp. 104-115. (CNET news, 1997). http://news.cnet.com/2009-1001-201295.html DESJARDINS, D. 2011. Who Owns the Apple Computer Company[WWW] http://www.ehow.com/about_5143792_owns-apple-computer-company.html (April 25 2011). ELMER-DEWITT, P. 2010. Why Steve Jobs doesn’t Pay Dividends. [WWW] http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/08/13/why-steve-jobs-doesnt-pay-dividends/ (April 12 2011). GHOSH, P. 2011. Why doesn’t Apple pay a dividend[WWW] http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/98718/20110107/why-doesn-t-apple-pay-a-dividend.htm (April 12 2011). HUSSAINEY, K, MGBAME,C. O AND MGBAME, A.M. 2011. Dividend policy and share price volatility: UK evidence. The Journal of Risk Finance [Online Journal], 12 (1), pp. 57-68. Available from Emerald at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=Dividend+policy+and+share+price+volatility%3A+UK+evidencect=allec=1bf=1go=Go (April 15 2011). JONES, A. 2011. Barclays must Clear Mists for Investors [WWW] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8bdc54f6-70f4-11e0-962a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Lnlyn0w7 (May 8 2011) TSE, C. 2005. Use dividends to signal or not: an examination of the UK payout patterns. Managerial Finance. 31 (4), pp. 12-33. Tesco Major shareholders http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/ir/financials/shareholders/ 9/5/11 TESCO. 2010. Annual Report. WATSON, D AND HEAD, A. 2007. Corporate Finance. 4th edn. England: Pearson Education Limited. WHITWORTH, J AND ZHANG,Y.2010. Accrued capital gains and ex-dividend day pricing. Managerial Finance Vol. 36 No. 8, 2010 pp. 680-702 How to cite Optimum Dividend Policy, Essay examples

Cross Cultural Management USA and France

Question: Discuss abou theCross Cultural Managementfor USA and France. Answer: Cultural Differences Between USA and France Various countries experience different cultural backgrounds and differences. Every country has its code of conduct and practices that they identify with, the characteristics that their nationals can easily be identified with wherever they go. In this case, therefore, there exists an enormous cultural difference between the United States of America and their French counterparts. Given their geographical locations (one in Europe and another in North America), the cross- cultural management, which is a major factor in enhancing understanding between different cultures, is essential for the two countries (Adler 2008). Firstly, regarding power distance, France is a higher power distance country as compared to the USA. The French leadership is stronger than the people under them meaning they rely so much on the orders of the top leaders for their crucial decisions as compared to the USA. France is one of the most hierarchical countries in Europe and North America combined. According to (Cebuc Iosif 2008), the range of Power Distance scores of North American and European Union nations ranks France as the most hierarchical country while the USA is ranked down the middle among the moderate countries. The leadership styles employed in both countries affects the operations of the national corporations to private organizations. Organizational set ups in France tend to favor a more downward approach of corporate structure, whereby the commands and instructions come from top most management and the ordinary people below the hierarchy ladder are responsible for execution and implementation of the organizational tasks. Secondly, France has higher uncertainty avoidance as compared to the USA. Uncertainty avoidance refers the degree to which people within a society are threatened by unknown, risky, ambiguous and undefined circumstances (Neelankavil, Mathur Zhang 2000). With this general feeling within the population, there develops an increased negativity and skepticism towards any new idea that does not appeal to the minds of the people. According to (DiRienzo et al. 2007), in most societies with higher uncertainty avoidance levels, the people feel irritable under unpredictable situations, and this ultimately leads to lack of motivation in challenging the authority and these societies are characterized by high levels of corruption. This situation explains why some French quarters were so opposed to the idea of Euro Disneyland from the USA. Another cultural difference between USA and France rests in their difference in ideologies. While most people in France believe in communism and collectivism, such thinking does not exist in the USA. The general perception of the French toward the USA and their ambitious Euro Disneyland program is all negative as they perceive it as a looting plan. The American people believe so much in individualism (Hofstede Hofstede 2005). To them, increased individualism leads to greater output from a person. This is best explained by (Gorodnichenko Roland 2010), that when individualism is increased, there is a subsequent increase in the percentage of the level of income. And finally, Hofstedes cultural dimension of Masculinity/ femininity clearly highlights cultural the differences between France and USA. USA's society is mostly associated masculinity cultural dimension whereby it is much important to get recognized, having much wealth and high earnings. On the other side, the French are more familiar with the femininity cultural dimension whereby people are much interested in cooperating with one another, creating an environment which is less stressing and being friendly to one another (Hofstede 2011). Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions From Trompenaars' research on cultural aspect, a lot can be derived that directly addresses the cultural difference between USA and France. While the USA has fully embraced universalism, their counterparts the French are more surrounded in particularism. Universalism involves versatile ideas and believes they are applicable everywhere in the world and can be well received without being modified, while particularism involves certain ideas that cannot be applied everywhere. According to (Lumby 2006), most Americans have a general perception that particularism decisions are corrupt and even immoral. With universalism, the USA has a general belief that it could venture anywhere believing that their ideas would be accepted by other societies. However, it is apparent that the French communist society was not ready to accommodate the universalism ideas after they tried to oppose Euro Disneyland establishment in their country. Another Trompenaars cultural dimension that highlights the cultural difference between USA and France is Individualism versus Communitarianism. The USA believes much in individualism. There is a general feeling in America that individualism encourages hard works, and improves personal income for the people within the society. The French society, on the other hand, is more into Communitarianism which means the people within the community takes care of one another's needs. These societies are characterized by slow economic growth. But their pride rests in the fact that belonging to a particular group is more valued than having personal freedom and independence (Balan Vreja 2013). These variations explain the Frenchs society reluctance in welcoming Euro Disneyland into their country. Furthermore, another of cultural dimension highlighting the cultural difference between French society and the American society is the Specific versus Diffuse. In particular cultures, there is a clear line between work and an individual's private life. This is more common in the USA, whereby people know what entails of their work and their privacy and people are more extroverted and outgoing. In diffuse cultures, the individuals are introverted, holistic and view various perspectives of their lives as paramount. In this cultural orientation, individuals' personal life and professional life overlap and they believe that having a good relationship with one another is much more important (Trompenaars Hampden-Turner 1997). The diffuse cultural orientation is standard with most of the French population; therefore the Specific Vs Diffuse cultural dimension highlights the disparity in cultural lives of USA and France. Finally, Trompenaars' Achievement versus Ascription cultural dimensions also explains the cultural differences between USA and France. Most Americans would associate with Achievement cultural orientation just because it entails awarding of persons based on the performance at the workplace. In this orientation, the individuals' value is determined by how they perform and by their actions. On the other hand, the Ascription Orientation is most familiar with the French, whereby status doesnt depend on performance or achievement, but it depends on who you are within the society. For the people in achievement cultural orientation, titles, credentials, and honors matter the most because the whole efforts at the workplace are motivated by the potential success a person would earn. Culture is dynamic; it can change, and it can evolve. But it takes a significant amount of time for any culture to transform (Wycoff 2004). Therefore, it is much better to acknowledge and appreciate the different cultural dimensions in the global context. Management Mistakes of Euro Disneyland The management of Euro Disneyland committed high profile mistakes in their operations of their French theme set up in France. They, first of all, undermined the idea of understanding cultural differences between the USA and France. Understanding the differences would have enabled the management to set up the theme in a more appealing manner to the French rather than trying to duplicate the universal American approach directly into France (Tompkins, Galbraith Tompkins n.d.). From the theme's set up to the Euro Disneyland management culture, there was a total omission of the French, and only US superiority shone at every level. Secondly, the administration's decision to not give the French people priority when it came to employment, further increased the negative perception of the French people towards the company. The management allowed employment of other foreign nationals which meant the French citizens were not given priority while the business was set up in their country. The top management itself consisted of majority Americans and much worse, Disney decided to place its first bids in English in a country completely dominated by French-speaking people. This left most nationals looking like foreigners in their country. There was a lack of cultural awareness; which is important when venturing into a new society (Fowers Davidov 2006). Finally, the Disney management further subjected the French national companies to the external competition from other foreign nations. They believed that the French companies did not just have direct access to the bids; they had to compete not just with themselves but with other foreign companies as well. This was more than less impressive gesture to the French, a situation which explains Disney's insensitivity towards the code of conduct in a new society and lack of exercising cultural intelligence skills (Peterson 2004); (Chaney Martin 2011). Lessons on How to Deal with Diversity Euro Disneylands most undoing part was not trying to understand the French population from a cultural point of view. What is best practiced in the USA is not necessarily best practiced somewhere else; therefore, they should have learned three key factors in dealing with diversity: Societal Practices Differs Every society differs from another in one way or another. The company should have realized that there is no guarantee what works best in the USA will always work best everywhere else. Appreciating societal differences and accepting them means embracing diversity; therefore Euro Disneyland Company should have completely given the French people the priority from the theme set up, to the language, job consideration, and bids for their companies. Cultural Intelligence is Important Every society differs in many ways and to understand this means having social intelligence. Cultural Intelligence refers to the ability to exhibit certain traits and qualities which culturally conform to the values of others (Peterson 2004). For one to live successfully in a certain culture, they have to adhere to the differences of that culture (Kawar 2012). Adaptation is Key For successful operations within a new society with new cultural dimensions, adapting to their practices and beliefs is the first step towards integrating with them hence facilitating favorable mutual coexistence. Euro Disneyland company was too reluctant to adjust to the full French culture which was a seemingly unwise move. References Adler, N 2008, International dimensions of organizational behavior, 5th edn, South-Western, Cincinnati, Ohio. Balan, S Vreja, LO 2013, 'The Trompenaars Seven-Dimension Cultural Model And Cultural Orientations Of Romanian Students In Management', Proceedings of the 7th International Management Conference, "New Management for the New Economy", Bucharest, Romania. Cebuc, G Iosif, L-C 2008, 'Cultural Diversity In The European Business Environment EU-US Comparison', Romanian Economic and Business Review , vol III, no. 1, pp. 18-33. Chaney, LH Martin, JS 2011, Intercultural business communication, 5th edn, Prentice Hall. DiRienzo, CE, Das, J, Cort, KT Burbridge, J 2007, 'Corruption and the Role of Information', Journal of International Business Studies, vol II, no. 38, pp. 320-332. Fowers, BJ Davidov, BJ 2006, 'The virtue of multiculturalism: Personal transformation, character, and openness to other ', American Psychologist, vol 61, no. 6, pp. 581-594. Gorodnichenko, Y Roland, G 2010, 'Culture, Institutions and the Wealth of Nations', CEPR Discussion Paper, No. 8013. Hofstede, G 2011, 'Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context ', Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, vol I, no. 2, pp. 2-26. Hofstede, G Hofstede, GJ 2005, Cultures and organizations, McGraw-Hill, London. Kawar, TI 2012, 'Cross-cultural Differences in Management ', International Journal of Business and Social Science , vol III, no. 6, pp. 105-111. Lumby, J 2006, 'International perspectives on leadership and management', Management in Education, vol 20, no. 4, pp. 7-10. Neelankavil, JP, Mathur, A Zhang, Y 2000, 'Determinants of Managerial Performance: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Perceptions of Middle-Level Managers in Four Countries', Journal of International Business Studies, vol I, no. 31, pp. 121-140. Peterson, B 2004, Cultural intelligence: A guide to working with people from other cultures, Intercultural Press, Yarmouth, ME. Tompkins, D, Galbraith, D Tompkins, P, 'Universalism, Particularism and cultural self-awareness: a comparison of American and Turkish university students ', Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies , pp. 1-8. Trompenaars, F Hampden-Turner, C 1997, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, 2nd edn, Nicholas Brealey Publishing Limited, London and Santa Rosa. Wycoff, J 2004, 'The Big Ten Innovation Killers and How to Keep Your Innovation System Alive and Well', The Innovation Network.

Whats New in Neve 2.0 A Look at the New Features in Our Flagship WordPress Theme

When we released our Neve theme in September 2018, we wanted to give you a lightning fast theme built for a new era of web development. We havent been resting on our laurels, though, and in the ten months since that initial release, weve been hard at work making Neve the ultimate WordPress theme for beginners and experts.Today, were finally ready to reveal Neve 2.0s exciting features designed to give you total control over your web building experience. 🎉 Weve also continued to add Elementor and Block Editor options to make it easy to build your website according to your goals and vision, and weve also added more starter sites, so you can get your sites up and running quickly without sacrificing any quality or attractiveness.Were excited about these enhancements to Neves core flexibility, and we think its our most impressive theme yet. In fact, we were so excited that we used Neve when we redesigned the ThemeIsle site. So, without further ado, lets dive in to see what you can achieve with Neve.Heres what you get with the Neve 2.0 themeNeve is a lightweight theme with AMP integration and page builder compatibility.The new drag-and-drop Header and Footer builder  helps you build the perfect site from head to toe.You can customize your layouts and page widths with the LayoutBooster feature.The new BlogBooster feature adds controls and features to give you more control over your blogs layout and appearance.Neves WooBooster adds more options for your WooCommerce store to present your products in a more attractive light.The new typography controls give you more control over your headings and text, including text-transform.Youll get  more color controls than ever before.Neves  built-in mega menu functionality  helps you add the menu style that Nielsen says  helps you sell more (or meet other business goals.You can get started faster than ever with  more importable demo sites built with Elementor or the WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg).The all-new Pro Add-on gives you even more options for the BlogBooster, WooBooster, Advanced Custom Layouts, and more.Neve is translation ready with the seal of approval from both WPML  and  Weglot,All of the new features complement and build upon the original theme to increase the adaptability without sacrificing the speed.Lets take a deeper look at some of these new featuresHeader and Footer BuilderWhen it comes to your relationship with your users, few elements are more important than the header. This is often the first thing people see and it has a huge impact on users journeys. Unfortunately, the header was also one of the most challenging elements to change. Thats all changed with Neve 2.0s Header and Footer Builder.Now, you can build your header by dragging and dropping all the important elements in the real-time WordPress Customizer. Youll be able to create a header that is unique to your brand without sacrificing any of the usability that keeps visitors on your site. Plus, youll fi nd it easier than ever to keep up with trends and changing tastes.Each of the components is highly customizable and we love the menu style options. You can change all of the style elements in your menu right from the Customizer:Better yet, you can build unique header layouts for mobile and desktop right from the Customizer. You can also control the padding and margins for each individual element to help you get the perfect placement.Neve 2.0 layout optionsWith Neve 2.0, you will enjoy a new range of options for your page layouts. The binary option of narrow and full-width is more diverse with options to control the container width on individual pages.You will be able to design and adapt your layout according to function. For example, you can ensure your blog prioritizes readability with narrow pages while retaining a distraction-free shopping experience on your WooCommerce product or shop pages. The simple click-and-slide interface will help you create the perfect balance for your e ntire range of content.Blog layout optionsThe new blog layout options in Neve 2.0 are perfect for content creators who are interested in playing with their metadata.Neve has three grid options with more options available for the number of columns and masonry layouts. You can also set the perfect teaser with control over the excerpt length.And if you have a lot of content, you will also enjoy the ability to set infinite scroll or page numbers in the post pagination options. Finally, you can control the content order and metadata to get the perfect look every time.For your single posts, you can order or remove any of the elements, from the title and metadata through to the thumbnail or even the content itself:WooCommerce shop and product controlsYoull now have more control than ever over your WooCommerce shop and product pages. You can experiment with different sidebar layouts or container widths to find the combo that maximizes your stores shopping experience:Beyond that, you can add exclusive products to your single products pages to promote different categories from your product range.Elementor and Block Editor integrationsWeve recognized the arrival of the new WordPress block editor and the continued popularity of page builders with Neves back-to-front integrations. Whether you work in the back-end or the front-end, you will enjoy the editing experience that brings WYSIWYG editing closer to reality.By displaying Neves settings in the editor, youll enjoy a safer, closer alignment with your front-end. Whether you want to change widths or drop a sidebar, you will be able to do it in the back-end for your posts, products, and pages.Beyond that, you can pair Neve with Otter Blocks to get CSS animations and Neve specific blocks for your pages: Gutenberg Blocks and Template Library by Otter Author(s): ThemeIsleCurrent Version: 1.2.5Last Updated: September 10, 2019otter-blocks.zip 96%Ratings 113,328Downloads WP 5.0+Requires More importable starter sitesWe kn ow that WordPress is good for a diverse range of sites; from blogs, eCommerce stores, charities, corporate sites, and more.To help you get started no matter what your niche is, Neve has a diverse range of starter sites available right from the WordPress dashboard; no plugins required. Whats more, you can choose between sites built with the native block editor or the Elementor page builder, so that you can always have your preferred editing experience.And with Neve 2.0, you get more importable demo sites than ever before. Here are some of the new options:DoctorsRestaurantCharityHeres what you get with the Neve 2.0 Pro add-onEverything above is available for free, but were also adding some new goodies for people who purchase the new Pro add-on.  It will bring more adaptability and control with advanced options for bloggers, shop owners, and agencies.Heres what youll get with Neve Pro:Use on unlimited domains, fair use applies, available with every plan.Scroll-to-top to help your use rs return to the top of the page quickly (all plans).More Header and Footer options like a sticky or transparent menu, page header builder, social icons component and many more (all plans).Advanced Custom Layout builder which allows users to create their own custom layouts (using either Gutenberg, Elementor or custom PHP code) and use those layouts as headers or footers for the site, or place them in any of the custom hook locations available in the theme (all plans).Full access to BlogBooster module (all plans).Full access to WooBooster module which brings in some new exciting features like products videos, wishlist, multiple shop layouts, distraction-free checkout and more (Business and Agency plans only).White label functionality for agencies looking to add their branding across the entire site (Agency plans only). Check out Neve ProHow to get Neve 2.0If you want to try the new Neve 2.0, you can get started with the free verson at WordPress.org: Download Neve Free VersionGive Nev e 2.0 a try and share your thoughtsSo, thats all of the features you will find in Neve 2.0. Were excited to share all of the developments with you and we hope you will try it.After you try Neve, wed love to hear about it. If you built a new site with Neve, then drop us a line with the link; wed love to see how you used it to achieve your goals. Looking for a #WordPress theme? Check out what's new in Neve 2.0 Click To Tweet If you have any questions, or you need some more information, then we recommend joining us in the Neve Facebook Group, where experienced and new users alike come together to share hints and tips. Looking forward to seeing you there.Free guide5 Essential Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress SiteReduce your loading time by even 50-80% just by following simple tips.

Free Essays on Flappers

The Flappers The flapper Era, characterized by women who reacted against their social position in the 1800’s, marked a drastic change for women in America during the 1920’s. Dorothy Parker, a Flapper herself, depicted the ideas and emotions of this new social group of women during the 1920’s through the use of ‘wisecracks’. The values and reactions to the role of women in the 1800’s are defined below. Unlike the 1800’s, women in the 1920’s began to demand more respect from men and from life in general. This is when women clearly revealed that they did not want to worship every man’s step. Since the women could not voice their feelings flappers would do so through their writings. Parker angrily pointed out that she hoped to meet a man who did not desire to express his feelings concerning other women in the presence of his female friend. She would indirectly frame men as bring unsympathetic and uncompassionate towards women. She made a stand for all the other flappers and said she would no longer tolerate the inconsiderate behavior of men towards women. The flappers coveted the admiration, be men, as equals. They cut their hair short, went clubbing, and smoking cigarettes. Despite early attempts for equality, the granting of women’s rights took more than a century to achieve. Flappers like Dorothy Parker caused a new rebellious social group who dramatically differed from the early submissive women during the 1800’s.... Free Essays on Flappers Free Essays on Flappers The Flappers The flapper Era, characterized by women who reacted against their social position in the 1800’s, marked a drastic change for women in America during the 1920’s. Dorothy Parker, a Flapper herself, depicted the ideas and emotions of this new social group of women during the 1920’s through the use of ‘wisecracks’. The values and reactions to the role of women in the 1800’s are defined below. Unlike the 1800’s, women in the 1920’s began to demand more respect from men and from life in general. This is when women clearly revealed that they did not want to worship every man’s step. Since the women could not voice their feelings flappers would do so through their writings. Parker angrily pointed out that she hoped to meet a man who did not desire to express his feelings concerning other women in the presence of his female friend. She would indirectly frame men as bring unsympathetic and uncompassionate towards women. She made a stand for all the other flappers and said she would no longer tolerate the inconsiderate behavior of men towards women. The flappers coveted the admiration, be men, as equals. They cut their hair short, went clubbing, and smoking cigarettes. Despite early attempts for equality, the granting of women’s rights took more than a century to achieve. Flappers like Dorothy Parker caused a new rebellious social group who dramatically differed from the early submissive women during the 1800’s....

Best practices in Critical Thinking and Decision Making Essay

Best practices in Critical Thinking and Decision Making - Essay Example It involves gathering of information, analysis, evaluation and application of the information obtained in the process of critical thinking, and finally arriving at a final decision. According to Carter (1973), â€Å"Critical thinking is thinking that proceeds on the basis of careful evaluation of premises and evidence and comes to conclusions as objectively as possible through the consideration of all pertinent factors and the use of valid procedures from logic.† Decision-making is a process where the individual arrives at a solution to a given problem by evaluating information. A decision can be arrived at through analysis, discussions and debates. A review of the process of critical thinking and decision making makes it clear that a quality decision cannot be arrived at without critical thinking. In the absence of critical thinking, entire details of a situation may not be available and the best solution may be hard to find. Decision making involves balancing of quantitative and qualitative data and using our judgment to make the right choice. It is here that critical thinking helps. Critical thinking puts our knowledge of a particular situation or problem into a proper perspective. It helps us to understand the subject by filling the gaps in information and revealing the significance of the assumptions we have made about the subject. When there are many options available to us it is difficult to choose. A final and informed decision can be arrived at when we have a full understanding of the subject. Critical thinking helps you to do just that by providing us with the consequences and implications of various options. Critical thinkers use the power of reasoning to dissect complex problems and make things simple. Critical thinking contributes towards avoiding mistakes and making one aware of opportunities available. Critical thinking requires practice. It is not mere thinking. To be a