1940s Essay Example

1940s Essay The Decade of the 1940s Nickenha Ashley History of Psychology Dr. Specht November 20th, 2013 The 1940s was a great period of well-known events in history. One of the most important events of the decade was World War II, which basically ruled the 1940s. World War II started on September 1, 1939 beginning with the German invasion of Poland; and Britain and France declaring war on German two days later. It was the most costly and destructive war in history and its effects, for good and ill, were felt far beyond the battlefields. After the war was over the United States entered a period of reat prosperity, an increase in the birthrate produced more consumers who fueled the economy and made the United States the most powerful nation (Hills, 1958, p. 56). It is safe to say that the 1940s was one of the many decades that influenced and shaped the future of the American society, with the many challenges and hardship that the United States faced within this decade. The events that took place in the 1940s changed the American society forever. It was a time of hardship and every aspect of life were affected by World War II. We will write a custom essay sample on 1940s specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on 1940s specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on 1940s specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The rights of different groups of people ere also an issue during the 1940s, the inventions of different technology like computers, nuclear weapons, and rockets affected the whole world and television began to change Americans lives. The 1940s were defined by World War II. The war began on December 7, 1941 after the Japanese attached the United States Naval Base in Hawaii. President Roosevelt came on the radio the next morning and announced that the United Sates was going to war. Roosevelt explained that the war was inevitable and that in order to win this war, the United States needed support from all Americans, and the next day Congress declared war on Japan (Sullivan, 1991). The United States and the Allies were not successful in the beginning of the war, and President Roosevelt encouraged Americans on the home front, and General Eisenhower commanded troops in Europe. After a disastrous beginning, the United States began to take the offensive and gradually began to turn the tide against Axis armies in Africa, Europe and on while Japan was not an easy defeat, and a secret atomic bomb had to be used against the Japanese mainland. In August of 1945 Japan surrendered and World War II ended. The cost and sacrifices of the war were shocking. This 1,364 day war cost the United States and estimated $341 billion and 407, 318 American soldiers (Uschan, 1999, p. 12-17). This was a huge price to pay for victory, and could not have been done without the actions by the civilians on the home front during World War II. World War II was not only fought by the troops overseas, but also by our American women and children. When the war was declared, a lot of American men enlisted or were drafted into the armed forces, causing a labor shortage in factories and other blue collar Jobs. Because of this the United States had to turn to its female population to replenish the labor supply. Women began to work in factories, making bullets and riveting planes, tanks, and other war supplies. By 1943, half the workers on American assembly lines and factories were women. This was the first time in American history that women held Jobs that had been regarded as for men only. Children were also able to participate in helping with the war, they collected scrap metal, old tires, and even toothpaste tubes that were recycled and used to make more war supplies. Children also grew victory gardens, which supplied one third of the fresh vegetables consumed in the United States (Duden, 1989, p. 1-21). As a result of these social trends during World War II, women gained a new independence and were able to enter the workforce in much larger numbers and in a different capacity. Racial discrimination was still a norm in the United States during the start of the 1940s. By the end of the decade, those attitudes were beginning to change because of the events of the past 10 years. In the early 1900s, African Americans began a great migration from the rural south to the northern cities. This migration began during the WWII era because the war caused labor shortages, and African Americans ad a chance of getting Jobs in northern factories. The migration benefited both the African American population and economy. African Americans and whites served together in the military and business world, but the United States was still a segregated society. After World War II ended, African Americans were eager to be accepted, and one of the first breakthroughs came by way of Americas pastime, baseball. Only white players were allowed on the major league teams. African Americans had to play in their own segregated league. A number of famous African American baseball stars were eager to make a break for the big eagues. In 1947 the Brooklyn Dodgers drafted a young infielder named Jackie Robinson, the first Negro to achieve major-league baseball status in modern times (Effrat, 1947). Although it was unknown to him at the time, but he would end up being a symbol of hope that a multi- racial society could exist. Throughout the season Robinson received death threats and racial insults but racism could not stop him. Robinson stayed with the team and even went on to win the World Series and was even named rookie of the year. Technology started to rocket in the early 1940s, but it was the early stages of films nd television. Walt Disney was one of the biggest cartoon film makes then. This was the start of Walt Disneys famous career. Walt Disney released Pinocchio, Dumbo, The computer was also one of the most significant technological advances made in the 1940s. In 1946 the first all-electronic digital computer named ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was developed. This computer was able to do as much work in one hour as most people could do in one week (Duden, 1989, p. 30). Even though the television was invented in the late 1930s, it did not gain much popularity at the start of the decade. When World War II began, production of television and other electronics was stopped in order to devote factory capacity to the war effort. After the war ended, the ban on the production of electronics was lifted and televisions began rolling off the assembly lines again. The increasing amount of disposable income of consumers after the war had television flying off the shelves of stores around the country. The Olympic Games in 1948 were shown on television and attracted the largest broadcast audience in history (Peterson, J. R. ). Colored television achieved realism when CBS demonstrated the first color television in New York City, nd WNBT, making New York City the countrys first regular television station, broadcasting to about 10,000 viewers (http://www. nytimes. com). The television created a social impact on the United States in many ways, people were buying televisions in record numbers and television was becoming a common part of life (Duden, 1989, p. 43). The television movement impacted life in the United States in many ways and provided Americans with easier access to information and entertainment with pictures and words. The atomic bomb, one of the most powerful and deadly technological advances in history, was developed in the 1940s. In 1941, nuclear physicists discovered that two uranium derivatives, U-235 and plutonium, could be used to create rapid fission. In December of 1942 a physicist named Enrico Fermi created the first nuclear reaction. The first time the bomb was used was August of 1945 when the bombing of Japan occurred (Fyson, 1999, p. 6). This Marilyn Monroe advertisement was very effective in the 1940s. This was used to endorse the production in sales for Lustre Company. Though this shampoo may work well as any other shampoos, this advertisement was meant to reach out to the fans of Marilyn Monroe. When this ad was put out we can assume that many of Marilyn Monroes fans bought this product causing this company to mak e a lot of money, which made this advertisement very effective. This poster is of Uncle Sam in the 1940s looks very convincing. This poster was recruiting anyone WWII, it was very demanding and inspired young people to Join the armys frontlines and serve for their country. This advertisement was very effective as it made people think that it was their Job to protect the country and run the front lines. up no matter what. Being the first black man to play baseball he was faced with a lot of obstacles, hate messages and death threats being sent to him, but this did not top him. This advertisement served as a motivator for others, and gives others hope that though they may be of different color they can still do things the same as any other race. This advertisement is of one of the first Walt Disney movies created. This advertisement was effective because it showed the first movie created by Disney and was convincing to others to go and watch it. The economy of the 1940s can be easily divided into two periods: the economy during the war and the economy after the war. After World War II the U. S. economy was drastically altered, the involvement of America in the war boosted the economy uring the war years and set the foundation for the US to become an economic superpower (Vatter, H. G. 1985). One of the most applauding economic achievements by the U. S. during WWII was the elimination of unemployment. During this period, employment went up from 47. 52 million to 53. 96 million, over a 13% increase. Unemployment rates had fallen from 4. 7% in 1942 and declined to 1. 2% in 1944 (Williams, R. M. 1994). This was more a significance because of the diminished labor force caused by the 11 million men and women entering the armed forces during this period. The labor force was one of the main reasons U. S. ndustry was able to meet the great demand in productivity created by the war. Because of the shortages of goods such as, meat, shoes, gasoline, and sugar President Roosevelt and his administration created what was called the Office of Price Administration. This was ordered to hold the line against rising prices and this was successful from April of 1943 to February of 1946, and they were able to hold the annual rate of inflation to only 1. 6% (Williams, R. M. 1994). The U. S. involvement in the war raised the economy to new heights. Over 17 million Jobs were created, industrial production went up, and corporate profits doubled. After the war ended, Americans learned the extent of the Holocaust. Realization of the power of prejudice helped lead to Civil Rights reforms over the next 3 decades. The GI Bill of Rights was passed entitling returning soldiers to a college education. In 1949, there were 3 times as many colleges degrees issued as in 1940, college became available to those who were capable rather the privileged. Being as education was becoming so accessible, in Germany Hitler was eliminating artists whose ideas didnt agree with his. Because of this many of the artists migrated to the US, where they had a huge effect on American artists. One of the art styles hat were popular was abstract expressionism, which showed raw emotions. The art style of abstract expressionism was the first specifically American artistic movement that influenced the world and put New York City at the center of the world (http:// www. learningzoneclass. com/aoatl 1 /beltran/art. html). One of the most famous artists of the 1940s was Paul Jackson Pollock, and one of his most famous art works is Number 5. Like art, music reflected American enthusiasm, and American composers remained more traditional and at the beginning of the decade bands dominated popular music. Radio became the lifeline for Americans in the 1940s. Providing news, music and entertainment, much like television today. Shows included soap operas, government relied heavily on radio for propaganda, and the radio faded and TV became more prominent and accessible, and most popular shows on the radio started to show on TV. TV also had an effect on the food people ate, frozen dinners were invented and they became known as TV dinners. The Jitterbug dance was also developed in the 1940s, and it was the first dance that allowed individual expressionism. Rosie the Riverter was the symbol of the working woman as the men off to war and women were needed to work in factories. Tupperware and aluminum foil became popular in the 1940s as well as a way to ease the postwar housewives burdens, and the slinky was developed in 1945 as a way to keep kids occupied. Fashion was the fad with the most influence and changed the way women would look at clothes. The convertible suit, which is still popular today, was designed for the working woman and carried on until the war ended. Once the war was over, Christian Dior introduced the New look. This look included feminine dresses with long, full skirts, tight waists and comfortable low heeled shoes, which soon swept the country as the new trend (Peacock, 1998). Make up was also socially acceptable and hair was curled very tightly and was shoulder length. With men home from war and back to work, women had more time to focus on themselves, which was exactly what the new look was trying to accomplish. In 1948, Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi by Hindu fanatic, and Burma and Ceylon was granted independence by Britain. Although World War II dominated the decade of the 1940s another major international event that taking was taking place was the Holocaust, and Jews being put into concentration camps. The Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, were the perpetrators of the Holocaust. The Nazis targeted Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovahs witnesses, Communists, twins, and the disabled. Some of these people tried to hide from the Nazis like Anne Frank and her family, some were successful and some were not. Those that were captured suffered sterilization, forced resettlement, separation from family and friends, beatings, tortures, starvation, and/or death (http://www. istoryl 900s. about. com/od/holocaust/tp/ holocaust. htm). The discovery of penicillin in the 1940s revolutionized medicine. Developed first to help the military personnel survive war wounds, it also helped increase survival rates or surgery. In 1928 Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin from a pile of petri dishes in his sink that were growing bact eria. After taking samples of mold he found that it was from the penicillium family, and named it penicillin and found that it was nontoxic and sufficient in treating many types of bacteria harmful to man. Unfortunately, the interest in penicillin did not peak again until World War II, and it was Howard Florey and Ernst Chain who continued the research and found a way to purify, and presented this powerful antibiotic to the world (http:// www. essortment. com/alexander-flemming-discovery-penicillin-40564. tml). In 1943 Fleming was presented the Award of Distinction for his discovery of the miracle drug and of similar award to Dr. Howard W. Florey of Oxford University, in recognition of his pioneer contributions to our knowledge of the value of penicillin as a In 1945 The Journal of Clinical Psychology was founded. In 1999 a study was done to examine the mental and medical health care utilization of World War II survivors and the characteristics of survivors seeking professional health care. Forty seven years after WWII ended, a random sample of 4,057 Dutch WWII survivors answered a our-page questionnaire, and out of that 1,461 of those persons subsequently answered an extensive follow-up questionnaire (Bramsen, Henk, 1999). Twenty two percent had sought some form of health care for war-related complaints at some time since WWII, and most consultations were made in the 1940s. It was found that most consultations were made to general practitioners or to a medical specialist as opposed to mental health specialists. Results showed that 59% of the highly-exposed respondents with posttraumatic stress disorders had not sought professional help in he years of 1990-1992 (Bramsen, Henk, 1999). In a study done by Audrey Rieger to test differences in personality using the Rorschach test that was invented in 1921 by Hermann Rorschach to determine personality characteristics and evaluate emotional health. This study was designed to study personality patterns of certain specific occupational groups as reflected in the individual Rorschach test to determine if differences between such groups do occur and if the differences are meaningful in practical situations (Rieger, 1949). Results showed that personality differences between the occupational groups had some ignificant results, but the Rorschach scores failed to differentiate the groups in practice. Most of the differences appeared to be related to variations in response total. The only important result is the distinction found between those who deal with verbal concepts (mostly administrators and personnel workers) and those who dealt with their hands (supervisors and foremen) (Rieger, 1949). In 1949 David Wechsler published the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. This was used as tools in school placement, determining the presence of a learning disability, or developmental delay. It was also used to identify giftedness among children, and track their intellectual development. In 1946 Lindner, and Gurvitz did a research on the restandardization of the revised beta examination to yield the Wechsler type of Q. The revised Beta examination has been restandardized to accomplish three purposes: the administration and scoring procedures have been improved, the sample of adults upon which new norms were based on were selected to represent the 1940 Census with respect to education and socio-economic status within several groups from twenty years and above (Lindner, Gurvitz, 1946). The standardization lso permitted the securing of Beta IQs which were similar to the IQs on the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale. The 1940s was an important decade to study because of the history that took place, which can give us a better understanding of the American and heritage and to appreciate the power and freedom that was enjoyed by this country in the 21st century. This decade produced many different changes in the political, social, and technological aspects of life. World War II was a major factor that influenced all of these aspects throughout the decade. Bramsen, 1. , Van der Ploeg, H. M. (1999). Use of Medical and Mental Health Care by World War II Survivors in the Netherlands. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 12(2), 243-261. Rieger, A. F. (1949). The Rorschach test and Occupational Personalities. Journal of Applied Psychology, 33(6), 572-578. 1943, December 14. Discoverer tells penicillin story: Dr. Alexander Fleming speaks from London in broadcast to accept award here. The New York Times, p. 13. 1949, December 23. Radio, Video: CBS color system tests to start Jan 2. Here and in capital. The New York Times, p. 36. Hills, K. (1958, June 10). World War. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www. academicsearchpremier. com DudenJ. (1989). Timelines: 1940s. 2nd Ed. New York, NY: Crestwood House. Peacock, J. (1998). Fashion sourcebooks: The 1940s. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson. Sullivan, G. (1991). The day Pearl Harbor was bombed. New York, NY: Scholastic. Fyson, N. (1999). World War Two. In D. Marks (Ed. ), World book of Encyclopedia. Uschan, M. (1999). A cultural history of the United States: 1940s. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. Peterson, J. R. (2010). World War Two. Retrieved from http://cnn. com. Rosenberg, J. (2013). The Holocaust. Retrieved from http://history1900s. about. com/od/holocaust/ tp/holocaust. htm Alexander Fleming and the discovery of Penicillin. Retrieved from ttp://www. essortment. om/alexander-fleming-discovery-penicillin-40564. html. Vatter, H. G. (1985). The U. S. economy in World War II. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Williams, R. M. (1994). The politics of boom and bust in the twentieth century America. St. Paul: West Publishing. The generation to remember: Art of the 1940s. Retrieved from http:// learningzoneclass. com/aoatll/beltran/art. html. The Walt Disne y studios history. Retrieved from http://www. studioservices. go. com/ disneystudios/history. html. Effrat, L. (1947, April 11). Royals star signs with Brooks today. The New York Times, p. 20.

The Life and Achievements of Albert Einstein

The Life and Achievements of Albert Einstein Legendary scientist Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) first gained worldwide prominence in 1919 after British astronomers verified predictions of Einsteins general theory of relativity through measurements taken during a total eclipse. Einsteins theories expanded upon  universal laws formulated by physicist Isaac Newton in the late seventeenth century. Before EMC2 Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. Growing up, he enjoyed classical music and played the violin. One story Einstein liked to tell about his childhood was when he came across a magnetic compass. The needles invariable northward swing, guided by an invisible force, profoundly impressed him as a child. The compass convinced him that there had to be something behind things, something deeply hidden. Even as a small boy Einstein was self-sufficient and thoughtful. According to one account, he was a slow talker, often pausing to consider what he would say next. His sister would recount the concentration and perseverance with which he would build houses of cards. Einsteins first job was that of patent clerk. In 1933, he joined the staff of the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He accepted this position for life, and lived there until his death. Einstein is probably familiar to most people for his mathematical equation about the nature of energy,  E MC2. E MC2, Light and Heat The formula  EMC2 is probably the most famous calculation from Einsteins special theory of relativity. The formula basically states that energy (E) equals mass (m) times the speed of light (c) squared (2). In essence, it means mass is just one form of energy. Since the speed of light squared is an enormous number, a small amount of mass can be converted to a phenomenal amount of energy. Or if theres a lot of energy available, some energy can be converted to mass and a new particle can be created. Nuclear reactors, for instance, work because nuclear reactions convert small amounts of mass into large amounts of energy. Einstein wrote a paper based on the  new understanding of the structure of light. He argued that light can act as though it consists of discrete, independent particles of energy similar to particles of a gas. A few years before, Max Plancks work had contained the first suggestion of discrete particles in energy. Einstein went far beyond this though and his revolutionary proposal seemed to contradict the universally accepted theory that light consists of smoothly oscillating electromagnetic waves. Einstein showed that light quanta, as he called the particles of energy, could help to explain phenomena being studied by experimental physicists. For example, he explained how light ejects electrons from metals. While there was a well-known kinetic energy theory that explained heat as an effect of the ceaseless motion of atoms, it was Einstein who proposed a way to put the theory to a new and crucial experimental test. If tiny but visible particles were suspended in a liquid, he argued, the irregular bombardment by the liquids invisible atoms should cause the suspended particles to move in a random jittering pattern. This should be observable through a microscope. If the predicted motion is not seen, the whole kinetic theory would be in grave danger. But such a random dance of microscopic particles had long since been observed. With the motion demonstrated in detail, Einstein had reinforced the kinetic theory and created a powerful new tool for studying the movement of atoms.

IMC (INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

IMC (INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION) - Essay Example Their commitment towards brand building with the dedication of its staff and employees and more so the devotion in terms of time and hard work is something that needs to be understood in the proper perspectives before we delve any further into this equation. The mission of JWT is to recognize the talents of the people who are the very best and nothing less is ever tolerated or compromised upon. It is because of this ideology that JWT has been able to create brands which have broken the clutter; no matter the campaign was of US origin or one that a short term tactical tilt to it, even in Australia. The belief and dependence on time is something that holds a lot of importance for the agency staff and it is apparent from their working regimes as well. The major competitors of JWT in terms of agency work and media buying include McCann Erickson, Saatchi & Saatchi, Foote, Cone and Belding (FCB), Leo Burnett and so on and so forth. [JWT] The current clients of JWT Worldwide include Unilever, Vodafone, HSBC, Ford, Kraft Foods, Shell, Rolex, Reckitt Benckiser, Pfizer, Nestle, Kellogg’s, Domino’s Pizza, Diageo and a host of others. Unilever is handled by JWT in more than seventy nations across the globe and thus it goes to show that the products of Unilever are marketed, advertised and promoted courtesy JWT. [Unilever] Unilever is one of the biggest revenue generating units in the world and more so, within the US and European markets. The efforts and endeavors of Unilever have made their due mark even in the developing markets like India, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates to name a few, where there has been seen tremendous growth. Domino’s Pizza chains are handled by JWT across the United States. It was about a decade back, in the year 1996 that the agency took over the advertising and promotion handling of the pizza chain which at the present times is one of the most developing and promising acros s the foods category

Expand business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Expand business - Essay Example In other words, it is a process of undertaking two or more unrelated product lines for the purpose of diversification. The rationales behind adoption of this concept are: cost advantage by diversifying production activities, maximum utilization of resources and mitigation of risk associated with operations in single market (Wiersema & Bowen, 2008). The only relevance that can be developed among the products is that all four products of the company cover low, mid and high level markets. The luggage line covers the lower section of the market; the writing instruments cover mid-level consumers, while the LED TVs are sold at higher end of the market. Lastly, miscellaneous plastic and paper tags are useful across all kind of markets. In conglomerate diversification, it is difficult to relate diversified products of the same company as a part of same base. However, the brand equity of each product indirectly adds to overall brand equity of the company. Conglomerate diversification is a major growth strategy that brings forward different hidden opportunities that a company can pursue, when market for one of its line of business is saturated. It is important to realize that with product line diversification, a company can achieve greater market share and growth rate within comparatively small period of time. In addition, this is one of the most suited strategies for internationalization. In international venture, most companies pursue two kinds of strategies: horizontal or related integration and conglomerate or unrelated integration. The main advantages of related integration is that the company can continue growing in the same sector by producing or introducing similar or related product under the same branch. The following section focuses on product elimination, when a company switches from unrelated to related diversification strategy (Wan &

Managing and Developing People (Developing People) Essay Example for Free

Managing and Developing People (Developing People) Essay Introduction In this assignment I will be interviewing a member asking for their past experience for undergoing a training programme. I will be researching closely upon aspects * The need for the individual to be on the training programme? * Training method used? * What the cost was? * Any obstacles which made it difficult? These aspects would make the findings for knowing why the member took the training programme and if they gained any skills or knowledge when on the programme. Alongside with what troubles arose when carrying out the training. Interviewee Description The member which I will be interviewing is a 26 year old female called Miss Georgina McDonald who is smart and civilised. She is hard working and likes to socialise with peers and friends. She is able meet deadlines and able to work under pressure when a great load of work is put upon her. The work which Miss Georgina McDonald would train for would be to use the cash machine at Asda. Miss Georgina has had previous skill from her last job where she had to cash up all the finances of her fathers business on a daily basis. She has good numeric qualifications in which will benefit her for any job. Job Role In Miss Georginas previous job she had to cash up all the money which was done in her fathers business and had to input the tight figures so that it couldnt affect the accounts for the business. Her father had made her do the financing as she had the qualifications for maths and was able to count up properly. In Asda the job role which she would want to do is being at the cashing machine as this is one of the good things she is capable of doing. Identifying Reason for being on Training Programme The environment in which everyone does business in is changing constantly, the knowledge and skill needed for the job will also change. The individual to be on the training programme is so she can improve her skill on how to work on the cash machine. Training for using the cash machine is very essential as proper calculations are compulsory. Asda wants to make sure that who ever work in the cashier section is well trained and have no problems being able to carry out tasks on how to manage the cashier. This is taken as one of the important parts in a business as finances can not go wrong. Asda pushes on getting the individual well trained to be able to manage any troubles caused by being able to find out where she has gone wrong. All this matters in training and what they should be taught, what they need to collect how much, they need to give and if they go wrong somewhere how they can cover it. Miss Georgina was given the training as she did not have any cashier skills which would guide her alongside with the job. She had to be given a good level of training so that she could manage a till properly. Miss Georgina had been given the training because she knew without any previous skill or knowledge she would not be able to run a till. There were appraisals with Miss Georgina which helped her with the running and to tell her of any mistakes she was making and setting out objectives for the next appraisal. Description of Training Method For the individual to be on a training programme is so they can handle the work place more efficiently and work with what ever they have been given with best of ability. Usually young people who have left or still studying go on training programmes as it gives them the knowledge and motivation in life. Training methods come useful in the future as it shows what the individual has achieved and what they can offer to the business. Training comes in different form for e.g. * Induction An induction usually is the best way for people getting involved into activities in a new environment. This helps them to know the new place and be familiar with the others. This helps peoples confidence and be able to communicate with members. In Asda it is essential to give a new comer an Induction this is so that they would get familiar with any health and safety aspects and know where any fire exits are located. In many cases induction days are taken so that individuals can get to know the workforce which they in. This helps build confidence and gain a good communication. * Job Shadowing This training method is known as an activity which many organisation make employees do when doing a task. This activity can make an individual carry out a task and make them improve on in by someone senior watching or they could do the task by their own skill and be told what they could do better from improving the method. Asda would not use a job shadow to know what the member is capable of doing and how they would increase the skill by telling them what to do. * Mentoring This method helps individuals to carry out an activity with a senior teaching it. It helps individuals know where they are going wrong and how they can improve it. This helps the individual do the job from its existing skill and if they do it different then expected it would be corrected. Mentoring is a good way of identifying the individuals capability of doing a task and how they can do it. If a senior is to show them how to use a cash machine they would get to know what the functions are for. This method will be appropriate for Asda to do on the individual. * On the Job Training Many businesses usually use the method of training the individual at the work place. This is so that they can work with the resources the have there and also start off with using equipment they have to offer. The trainee is ready to undergo any task at the workplace immediately. When working on the job it is also an advantage to get feedback straight away rather then carrying out a task then being told later on. When the mentoring is done it is possible for the member to get on the job training so that they can work on the equipment at the work place. It is more of a benefit to get training in the real life rather then going somewhere and spending time there. If the member is able to carry the task and get training at the same time this would be less time consuming and not costly at all. * Off the Job Many businesses tend to send there trainees off to another place to learn how to carry out tasks. Resources are used which they offer there and they use them to carry the task. Off the job training also consists of sending an individual off to do a course which they learn at a college or university. Off the job training is worth doing at Asda as this could make the individual gain more experience and skill and carry out the task efficiently. Many times Asda does not send employees on off the job training as this is costly and time consuming. Identifying Training Needs for Trainee The reason for Miss Georgina to be on the training programme is so that she can increase on her productivity for what she is good at. This would make her efficient and comfortable in carrying out a day to day activity. The training needs which will benefit Miss Georgina would be Higher Productivity Efficiency Confident in Numeric Have a high level of Motivation Good future opportunity The reason why Miss Georgina has to be given this training programme is so that she could gain more knowledge on what she is good at. Miss Georgina is not fully qualified and understands the misuse of inappropriate use of calculations, this is why she has been given the opportunity to go on a training programme which she can touch up on and make sure that she dont make silly mistakes. Strength and Weakness The strengths for using the training method on the job training will be a strength as it will help the individual to get a better view of the organisation and who they will working with. This is an advantage because it increases confidence and able to socialise with piers. It builds a family environment when doing this aspect because before they can come in to the real job they would have made friends already. For carrying out an OJT this is a way which the member can increase in skills and be able to forward their knowledge to someone else. Advantages of On The Job Training * Training can be delivered at the optimum time, this means it can immediately perform the task any time in the real world. * The trainee will have the opportunity to practise immediately * Immediate feedback will be provided * Training is delivered to trainee from senior who can integrate the trainee in a team. The Weaknesses in a business will always be the time consuming which effects the running as this is a crucial time in a business. If training programmes are made long it will also effect the costing. A weakness for training a member is that after getting the training from somewhere they usually head off some where better. The weaknesses which Asda could face are Disadvantages for On the Job Training * Too much training can be delivered in one session causing of information overload. * The trainer may not have the right skill and knowledge to teach the trainee with. * If immediate practise is not accompanied by feedback the trainee can feel abandoned after the initial experience. Benefit and Costs for Training The costs for training the individual at Asda will cost nothing as it will be carried out on the job, meaning what every training the member will get will be done in Asda. The reason for this is that it will not cost at all and the individual will be able to stay on the premises that wont need to go off some where else. The benefit for doing this training will be so that the member can increase their knowledge by doing it efficiently and also if they have the opportunity to get promoted they could be able to handle a sector in Asda. The benefit for members to have a training programme is so that they can increase their skills and knowledge in any task they have been specified, also carrying out tasks more efficiently and in a short amount of time. By giving training it helps individuals to cut down on mistakes and blunders made by them. By training it can help health hazards reducing hazards being encountered at the work place. The costs for having training are the cost of materials which may be needed for the process and also the time needed by the members which will be issuing the programme. For training to be carried out it takes up a great deal of time for the leader as they have to make sure what they are teaching the member is relevant to the programme specified. It is also costly when setting up the resources for using on the training area and time is needed for when doing the training. Obstacles for Training Training can be seen in different ways, firstly, the management of the company might see it as a way of making the company more efficient, as well as teaching important skills to employees in order to improve performance. At the same time it can be seen as a way of rewarding hardworking employees with a different environment for a short period of time. On the other hand, employees might look back on their last training session, still trying to work out what exactly it was they learnt from the experience, but nevertheless having enjoyed the change of scenery but hating the pile of work that greeted them on their return. If training is implemented correctly it can bring back great rewards such as greater workplace efficiency, specialised skills and knowledge as well as employee satisfaction. Finally remember that depending on how training is done, it can be very productive and useful or a complete waste of time and money, it can bring teams together or split them apart.

Great Rock Musicians: Their Achievements And Effect On Rock And Roll Es

Great Rock Musicians: Their Achievements and Effect on Rock and Roll The blues are undeniably the roots of early rock and roll. Rock today has mutated so much that the basic blues patterns have been all but lost. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the birth of, and evolution of rock and roll by focusing on three of the arguably greatest rock musicians of the sixties and seventies. The origin of the blues can be traced to the emancipation of the slaves in the rural black areas of the south, where most of the people worked on share- cropping farms. Musically the blues are defined as a 12-bar chord progression, harmonized with the corresponding scales and patterns. The chord progression pattern is four measures of tonic chords followed by two measures of sub- dominate chords, two more measures of tonic chords, one measure of dominate chords, one measure of sub dominate chords, and finally two measures of tonic chords. Blues performers would travel around the south singing about their loss of love and family, and the pains they were forced to endure. The music became popular because nearly every one who heard it could identify with its message. This type of Blues later became known as country blues because it was rooted in rural areas. The Blues became more main stream and popular in the 1920's because of the recording industry coming into existence. More instruments were added such as pianos, organs, and wind instruments. Big Band and Rhythm and Blues stemmed from City Blues. Rock and Roll then stemmed from Rhythm and Blues, in fact, many of the first recorded "Rock" songs where simply white musicians re-recording Rhythm and Blues songs originally written by black artists. It took Bob Dylan 23 years to realize that he wanted to become a rock musician. Bob Dylan, whose birth name was Robert Allen Zimmerman, had a relatively uneventful childhood in a Minnesota mining town. He adopted his pseudonym when he went to the University of Minnesota. "Dylan" came from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, with whom Zimmerman was frequently compared in the University folk circles. After leaving the University, Dylan moved to New York's Greenwich Village to follow his folk hero, Woodie Gunthrie. In fact, his main goal of moving to the Village was simply to meet his hero. He not only met the fo... ... Lady Land, which contained his most successful single: Dylan's "All along the Watchtower". Hendrix's most memorable performance was in 1969, at Woodstock, where he played his immortal "Star-spangled Banner", however it is still unclear if he played the song in such an unpatriotic, angry style in protest of the war, or from the pressure from black militant groups. In 1970 Hendrix died from inhaling his own vomit after an intoxication of barbiturates. The debate has never been put to rest over whether it was suicide or carelessness. "Jimi Henrix was and original, and, unlike most great rock musicians suffered no imitators" (Rock Giants). Rock and roll has become one of America's greatest musical culture contributions. Indeed, America would not be the same if it did not have rock and roll. One of the reasons rock has become so great is that rock groups in more present time have tried to follow the highly creative musical standards set by the musicians in this paper. If rock continues to follow the trends set fourth by the greats, Neil Young's lyrics may prove true, "Hey, hey, my, my, rock and roll will never die."

Case Study Product Innovation at Bank of America

BANKING STRATEGIES Case Study: Product Innovation at Bank of America By Cindy Murray What ? nancial institutions can learn from inventions and innovations in other industries. owhere is innovation more essential to survival than in the banking industry. In the payments domain, for example, nonbank competitors less constrained by bank regulations and therefore more agile are changing the banking industry’s grip on the public perception of banks as the only trusted brand for holding and moving money. However, innovation is challenging for banks. Many products, like payments, are a commodity.A vast number of products and a complex infrastructure require continual upgrades to keep apace with technology advancements and comply with evolving regulations and security requirements. This article describes how Bank of America fosters a culture of innovation. Pivotal to an innovative culture is the direct engagement of clients in the innovation process. We highlight some of the ways that Bank of America achieves this. But ? rst we’ll look at the role of innovation process in building brand loyalty. N Build Brand Equity Through Progressive Transformation Change can occur by rede? ning a problem or rede? ing a solution. According to Robert Sternberg, a leading creativity expert,1 creativity is the ability to rede? ne a problem. Innovation can be viewed as the ability to rede? ne a solution. Successful innovation is a process over time—one that typically happens in increments rather than leaps. Rarely is a single innovation a game changer. In banking, 90 percent of innovation focuses on core competencies (that is, business-as-usual innovation), seven percent on game-changing innovation MAY–JUNE 2009 within core competencies and only three percent on leaps that signi? cantly shift the client experience.Outside of banking, an evolutionary approach to innovation is also the rule, not the exception. Continual improvements throughout a product’s life cycle build brand equity. Take the case of Nabisco’s Oreo cookie, the bestselling cookie in the United States. In 1912, Nabisco came up with the idea of two chocolate disks with cream ? lling in between. Since then it has released Double Stuff cookies with more ? lling; fudge-covered Oreos; holiday cookies, including Halloween and Christmas cookies; bite-sized Oreos for children; and reduced-fat Oreos. Oreos illustrate two important aspects of product innovation.First, Nabisco stayed close to its customers. It understood how needs varied among consumers and changed over time. The company developed its product to meet the needs of a continually broader set of consumers. Second, the example illustrates an incremental approach to innovation that focuses on advancing core products. The iPod was at once the next step in an evolutionary process and also a creative leap. This product integrated a number of capabilities in a portable device, but it was not the ? rst MP3 player. However, the concept of iTunes was a new business model that changed the way consumers could store and listen to music.The iPod was transformative, too, because it aligned with changing consumer behavior re? ected in trends of mobility and customization. Technology enabled a tipping point. Consumers were ready to embrace a leap. Cindy Murray is Head of Product Innovation at Bank of America. Contact her at cindy. [email  protected] com. COMMERCIAL LENDING REVIEW 35 Banking Strategies way that stays close to customers’ evolving needs. For example, through ethnographic research, we discovered a common practice among consumers of rounding up when writing checks. We took the idea of rounding up and turned it on its head—rede? ing Innovation is a process over time—an evolutionary the problem by associating payments with savings. path. An incremental approach to innovation mirrors How can we foster increased saving? With Keep the the gradual way in which people chan ge. Consumer Change, each time a customer pays using a Bank of behavior tends to change gradually. Successful innovation is customer driven. It gets as America check card, the bank rounds the payment close as possible to the customer’s current process. to the nearest dollar and transfers the extra change A deep understanding of how customers operate to the customer’s savings account. oday—and why they do what they do—gives inNow, instead of check writers rounding up, the sight into how to improve the process; how to create bank does it for them—but in a way that builds their a step forward for the customer. savings. The solution also facilitates increased use of Further, by directly engaging customers in the indebit cards, thereby supporting retailers’ efforts to novation process, they become deeply committed discourage check payments. It was also a timely soluto, and invested in, a solution, which took advantage tion’s evolutionary p ath. f evolving consumer beThis makes innovation a havior toward increased primary differentiator, ancard usage. Change can occur by rede? ning a other way of creating value Ethnographic research problem or rede? ning a solution. for customers by enriching has also been key to improvtheir experience and reining our electronic banking forcing loyalty over time. platform, CashPro, over Staying close to the customer is one of the most importime. For example, we designed an enhancement based tant attributes of a successful innovation process. on a typical client work ? ow for handling exceptions.By closely watching how 15 companies were posting their receivables, we identi? ed a common practice of Get Close to the Customer placing a sticky note on invoices when they did not match payment. Staff would then fax an invoice to At Bank of America, customers play a key role at the salesperson to inquire about the discrepancy. We every stage of the product innovation process. There incorporate d an electronic sticky note with email capaare a number of ways in which we directly engage bility in CashPro, so that clients could maintain their our customers throughout product development. ork-? ow process in the online environment. We use a range of formal techniques for idea generation. Formal techniques focus on gaining deepened client insight and are important when Amplify the we have limited information about an opportunity Voice of the Customer and the related customer need. Formal idea mining typically requires expertise through our internal innovation group or external specialized vendors. CashPro is a great example both of innovating in Ethnographic research is an important tool for increments to improve a product over time and of engenerating innovation ideas.Observation provides gaging clients in an evolutionary innovation process. insight into customer behavior and needs. ReturnWith CashPro, we established a customer advisory ing to the Oreo example, the idea for a bite-sized board, which has been closely involved in the prodcookie began to germinate when Nabisco researchers uct’s development. With CashPro, the innovation watched young children grapple with dunking the process becomes part of the client experience, thereby full-sized cookie in smaller cups. increasing customer satisfaction.For example, with Ethnographic research helps Bank of America CashPro, clients prefer self-service for upgrades. understand how to advance our core products in a They are fully vested in the change process. Engage Clients in the Evolutionary Path 36 COMMERCIAL LENDING REVIEW MAY–JUNE 2009 Banking Strategies Our strategic client program, Treasury Exchange, At the other end of the spectrum, responsibility serves to amplify our voice of the customer research. for innovation can be centralized in a shared serClients are long-term program members in senior vice center.At Bank of America, we have dedicated treasury and/or ? nance roles within their o rganizastaff focused on game-changing innovations. At tions. They meet regularly—at frequencies varying the same time, our entire organization recognizes from once per quarter to yearly. The program enables the importance of ongoing process improvement participants to share insights on best practices and and enhancements. learn from each other, while helping us to better understand their challenges and needs. A detailed executive Work with Peers summary that identi? s key discussion themes helps pinpoint areas for deepening discussion and exploraTo maintain a competitive edge, banks increasingly tion. Conference calls exploring priority topics serve will look for ways to work with clients, technolas touch points between in-person meetings. ogy companies and other ? nancial institutions We also look to Treasury Exchange members to to combine strengths. For example, in May 2008, validate and ? esh out new product ideas and to Bank of America announced a partnership with provide validation at points in the product develWells Fargo called Pariter Solutions LLC.The opment cycle. Treasury 50-50 joint venture will Exchange members have operate the commercialsubmitted innovation ized ACH platform that ideas under the auspices will be leveraged by the An incremental approach to of the program. Customer two banks. The goal is to innovation mirrors the gradual way advisory boards and spegain economies of scale in which people change. cial client programs like and better position both Treasury Exchange augbanks to develop future ment our extensive voice products with a single of the customer research. nvestment in the underlying processing engine instead of duplicative investments. It’s a platform for growth and innovation. Cultivate a Culture of Innovation It’s important to be open to ideas from all sources. That’s part of cultivating a culture of innovation. At Bank of America, all associates are invited to collaborate in the innovation proce ss. For example, associates can submit their ideas online via IdeasZone, an internal intranet site. These ideas are funneled into the idea stream and receive equal attention within our innovation process.Collaborate with Technology Innovators In banking, technology is an enabler of innovation. Therefore, it’s important that banks collaborate with their technology providers. Bank of America’s collaboration with Microsoft is a great example of how we work with technology companies to develop innovative applications. Cash positioning and forecasting continue to be key client challenges. We spoke with clients to determine how they perform cash positioning and forecasting. Treasurers might use a treasury workstation, an Excel spreadsheet or a combination of tools.However, treasurers who rely on treasury workstations typically supplement their process with an Excel spreadsheet. Our research also con? rmed that many clients have dif? culty building a historical database of in formation for trend analysis to support forecasting. COMMERCIAL LENDING REVIEW Foster Employees There are different options for organizational structure to foster an innovative environment. At Google, it’s part of everyone’s job to innovate. There is a decentralized approach to innovation in which all employees are engaged and given incentives.It’s built into their objectives and re? ected in their salary increases and bonuses. MAY–JUNE 2009 37 Banking Strategies Bank of America worked with Microsoft to develop CashPro Accelerate. This tool accepts information feeds across all of a client’s bank accounts and automates the cash-positioning process. It also builds a historical database that clients can use for forecasting. Keep Moving Forward â€Å"I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward. †Ã¢â‚¬â€Thomas Edison With an inventor’s mind-set, the idea of failure is a fallacy.Some who know best ha ve even looked at failures as a continual path forward. Besides being the still-unrivaled record holder of 1,093 U. S. patents, Thomas Edison broadened the concept of the invention to what’s known today as â€Å"innovationinvention,† R & D and commercialization. 3 Innovative companies ? nd ways to leverage new insights to keep moving forward. The creation of 3M Post-it notes is a classic story of turning failure on its head and using creativity to rede? ne a problem. Spencer Silver was working on developing a strong adhesive but invented a weak one instead.Silver’s colleague Arthur Fry came up with a novel application for the weak adhesive, which became the basis for Post-it notes—a new vehicle for communication—which Bank of America used in its CashPro innovation. Sometimes the leap is in how we look at things. Build a Brain Trust In a September 2008 issue of H ARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, Ed Catmull, cofounder of Pixar and the president of Pixar and D isney Animation Studios, talked about how Pixar fosters collective creativity. One of Pixar ’s core operating principles is that, â€Å"We must stay close to innovations happening in the academic community. 2 It’s part of the company’s effort to eliminate boundaries between different disciplines. Earlier this year, Bank of America and MIT’s Media Laboratory announced the creation of the Center for Future Banking. Over the next ? ve years, Bank of America will contribute $3 million to $5 million annually. The center is a prototype for how business and academia can work together to invent the future of an entire industry. It will bring together researchers with radically different perspectives, including behavioral economists, social scientists, computer scientists, psychologists, designers and others.The goal is to trigger unexpected new ideas that lead to innovation leaps in banking. Test, Learn, Evolve This inventor mentality is at the heart of our test and-learn environment, in which we deploy an initial solution design to get ? rsthand feedback from clients on its usability and value. At this stage, the intent is to address any issues or opportunities in the next iteration of the design. The process enables us to evolve our product design before we get to the pilot stage. As an iterative process, the test-andlearn environment is a microcosm of the broader innovation process focused at a certain point in the development process.The Intelligent Cash Manager, a new end-to-end Bank of America solution, gives a live example of the test-and-learn approach. The solution concept germinated in a series of Treasury Exchange meetings, where clients identi? ed cash handling and deposit as a major pain point. It’s an ATM-like machine that counts cash, accepts it for deposit and provides safekeeping. An issue related to jamming surfaced in the test-and-learn environment, which will inform a solution redesign. MAY–JUNE 2009 Choose Winning Concepts Vetting ideas and building a business case are key steps in the innovation process.Bank of America uses a scoring technique as part of our process for vetting ideas. Scoring criteria include whether a concept matches to plan objectives, whether it has wide applicability, its level of innovativeness and complexity and the potential magnitude of its impact. At Bank of America, for example, out of 919 ideas received this year, 10 have been submitted for funding in 2009. Building a business case is a key step. An effective business case must describe the opportunity and its alignment with strategy and also describes the target client and market within the context of the competitive landscape.Finally, it outlines the proposed approach, the risk and the ? nancial opportunity. 38 COMMERCIAL LENDING REVIEW Banking Strategies Storyboarding is a creative technique used in the early stage of ? lmmaking. Storyboarding can help speed time-to-market. By not building the entire p roduct—but rather using storyboards and prototypes in a test-and-learn environment—we retain ? exibility even as we move further into the product-development process. Flexibility enables us to prioritize the most important features and integrate feedback and new insights from customers.It helps us to make smart choices with our investment dollars as products take more tangible form. The Next Leap in the Innovation Process The ability to synthesize information into insights will be an increasingly important part of creating a valuable client experience—not only banks connecting to customers—but of customers connecting to each other for insight. Incubation and the cross-fertilization of ideas are important to the creative process. Bank of America is integrating online networking into its innovation process. For example, we are connecting participants in the Treasury Exchange program to an online forum.Our long-term vision is to link our various Treasury Exc hange client groups—which are based on industry, function and geography—into a clientcentric global collaborative network. We also plan to introduce online ideation as a way to collaborate with Treasury Exchange participants on innovation. More broadly, the idea of integrating social networking into the bank’s innovation process holds tremendous promise. With our consumer base of 59 million households, social networking can be a powerful tool for engaging customers ? rsthand in product development. hen the next step integrates multiple aspects to transform the end-to-end client experience. To cite an earlier example, the iPod integrates communication speed, mobility and storage capacity. All of these come together, along with consumer readiness for change and the introduction of the iTunes business model. Within the banking realm, clients increasingly want banking solutions to integrate into their flow—whether flow constitutes, for example, a mobile consu mer or the workflow related to a treasurer’s broader financial processes.The need to integrate payments in the broader customer experience will involve mobile technology in some form and the analysis of information to provide insight. For corporate customers, banks are already delivering time-sensitive information to personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cell phones. Information analysis and synthesis could help treasurers to improve broader ? nancial processes (for example, accounts payable or receivable), help optimize working capital and minimize cost and use payment information to deepen insight into customer behavior.We are already seeing merchants, for example, use consumer payment information to tailor coupons to a customer ’s buying preferences. Banks can deliver robust information to consumers, for example, to help them weigh product features and engage in ? nancial planning to evaluate a purchase within a desired spending budget. Perhaps, ultimately, clients will want to take their bank accounts with them, storing virtual money inside their mobile phones. Banks have an opportunity to reassert their unique role as the trusted brand in storing and moving money.Innovation will be critical to our success. What Might Be the Next Leap in Banking? Successful innovation continuously improves aspects of the customer’s experience. Leaps occur Endnotes 1 2 3 Professor at Tufts University; research focuses on creativity. How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity, HARVARD BUS. REV. , Sept. 2008, at 71. The Edison Papers, http://edison. rutgers. edu/biogrphy. htm. MAY–JUNE 2009 COMMERCIAL LENDING REVIEW 39 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.