The Greek Financial Crisis free essay sample

Ever since the end of 2009, Greece has been involved in a financial and economic crisis that has been record breaking and shattered world records in terms of its severity and worldwide effects. The Greek government, since the beginning of the crisis, has attempted to take several governmental measures to try and â€Å"stop the bleeding,† including economy policy changes, dramatic government spending and budget cuts and the implementation of new taxes for citizens. In addition to this, the government has tried to alter the perceptions of Greek government and economy by the rest of the world in an effort to appear both more liberal and more democratic. Greece has also been working to privatize many previous state-owned corporations in a desperate effort to stabilize the currency and the economy. This paper will address the various actions taken to date by the Greek government to pull the country out of this terrible crisis, and will explore the specific factors that were causation for this horrible financial crisis. We will write a custom essay sample on The Greek Financial Crisis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is important to note that certain policies and government actions and their success is merely subject to personal opinion, but financial data and statistics is absolute and cannot be disputed regardless of personal or political beliefs. In May of 2010, Greece was awarded a 110 billion euro bailout from both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. This bailout was effective only in the sense that it prevented Greece from defaulting on country debts and loans, which would have had catastrophic ripple effects on not only the Greek and European markets, but on the global markets including the United States and Asian economies. Soon after this bailout was executed, it became evidently clear to both the EU and the IMF that more money would be needed in order for Greece’s survival and for their long road to economic recovery. With that being said, a second bailout worth 109 billion Euro was given to Greece again by the EU and the IMF in late July of 2011. Of course, these bailouts have been the subject of a tremendous volume of worldwide media attention. These bailouts, along with the privatization of corporations, policy changes, capital injections and governmental changes have been implemented in hope that positive progress will be achieved. The media has successfully painted these reforms as containment methods for this huge mess, and as means of ensuring that this infected economy does as little damage as possible to other economies in the world. Some country-specific economies that are particularly unstable and thus at risk of damage from the Greek crisis are Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Although the Greek economy has received, by far, the most media attention for economic difficulties, these other four nations are experiencing serious economic problems of their own. It appears that this was a major motivating factor behind the two bailouts, that it is vitally important to contain the damage before it spreads to these other vulnerable nations, something that the European Union simply cannot afford to have happen. In the words of economic experts, â€Å"Greece is just the tip of the iceberg,† and that the economies of EU nations are more intertwined and interdependent than we would have hoped. Given that EU countries share the same currency, the Euro, continuously trade with one another, and hold massive debts for one another, this opens the EU as a whole up to tremendous vulnerability. Essentially, if Greece or any other EU nation defaults on debts, this could send the entire EU into a recession and put the banking system as a whole at risk, much like what happened in the United States in 2008. The goal of these capital injections and bailouts is for Greece to remain financially liquid for enough time to pay their outstanding debts as much has possible to neighbor countries, thus reducing the amount of government debts owed and the interconnected pressure on the entire EU to continue to bail out Greece. If Greece is able to pay back a significant enough portion of their debts, in the event that they do default on some of them, it may still be able to be contained and not infect the rest of Europe with a recession. As far as Greece’s role in creating this crisis in the first place, it can be said that Greece is at fault for a variety of reasons. The media has been focusing on the corrupt political system and infrastructure, the lack of competition in the private sector, the wastefulness and inefficiency of the public sector and a flawed tax system as causation for this mess. When the public sector was expanded in the 1980’s, Andreas Papandreou was given various agricultural subsidies and grants to do with what he pleased. This enabled the funding of certain post-World War II groups to heal political wounds and fund unions and other special interest groups to aid his political capital and strength. The policies enacted in this decade allowed for the increase in power and funding of the middle class by creating a vast amount of inefficient public sector government jobs for citizens. This resulted in an increase in the levels of inefficiency, bureaucracy, corruption and wasteful spending coupled with the increase in wages, pensions and benefits. This proceeded to drain through government money and resources, and did not breed a culture of highly motivated, efficient and effective government employees. A high amount of debts accumulated as the nation continued to proceed in this way, using state money to subsidize failing businesses and to finance the continued expansion of the public sector. Papandreou is continuously criticized for the creation of such a wasteful and inefficient public sector, and this is a primary reason for the economic struggles that Greece is facing today. Debt continued to build, and inefficiency continued to increase rapidly. Another important factor to discuss is the massive amounts of de-industrialization that occurred in Greece during the 1980s. This means that labor was outsourced to different countries outside of the European Union where labor costs were significant cheaper, in an attempt to reduce expense margins. Instead of investing in a strong public sector, Papandreou poured money into the private sector that was clearly diminishing in relation to other countries. As a result of this, the public sector continued to expand as a compensation method for the failing private sector. This resulted in the creation of a socialist culture in Greece, causing more and more debt to buildup to an alarming level. This wastefulness and inefficiency in the extremely large public was simply adding fuel to the fire that would come back to hurt the nation several years later, as we can see. As the level of national debt and borrowing was increasing, it can be said that the bubble began to burst in the early 2000s when the Euro was adopted in Greece. This provided Greece with an opportunity to capitalize on very low interest rates, declining from roughly 20% in the early 1990s to roughly 3. 2% in 2005. This fueled the fire in the sense of the borrowing culture that had already been in place in the Greek government for decades, as they continued to accrue an alarming amount of national debt, a terrible liability for any nation to carry. These billions of euros of debt continued to rise, and can be considered a very important factor in the current economic crisis that is occurring as a result of decades of wasteful spending and ineffective currency control by the government. Another important factor to consider when analyzing the specific reasons for Greek’s current financial crisis is the highly corrupt political system that exists in the country. Corruption and bribery play a role in Greece’s outstanding level of national debt. According to statistics, the Greek government has lost roughly 8% of GDP each year as a direct result to these unethical practices. According to the Brookings Institute, â€Å"if Greece had better control of their government corruption, it would have had a smaller budget deficit by 4% of GDP. † This fascinating data shows that the practices of this corrupt government actually contributed to Greek’s staggering amount of debt coupled with their incremental declines in GDP levels. On the topic of governmental corruption, there are two key scandals worthy of mention that clearly have contributed to the current economic turmoil Greece is currently facing. The first scandal is the Koskotas Affair, and occurred during the Papandreou administration. Mr. Koskotas was the owner of the Bank of Crete. In this scandal, he was convicted and charged with the embezzlement of $200 million dollars. In the following coverage of the scandal, it was revealed that Papandreou’s’ administration had asked for large deposits to be transferred from other banks into the Bank of Crete at a lower-than-legal interest rate. The profits from these transfers were given to the government and political parties. Although Papandreou was indicted for involvement, he was acquitted and justice was never served. This hurt both the economy and the morale of Greek citizens. The second scandal worthy of mention is the Siemens case. The executive team of Siemens paid out several million Euros in the form of bribes to several Greek politicians from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. These bribes were paid in return for the securing of government contracts in wide variety industries. The politicians involved into offshore accounts laundered the money. The two major political parties in Greece were both involved, and Siemens was fined over $1 billion dollars by the US government for its involvement in these crimes. These two massive scandals successfully illustrate the level of corruption in the Greek government, and the unethical practices that were adopted by both parties in order to remain in power. Unfortunately, in Greece it is very difficult to prosecute and charge corrupt political figures. Many politicians simply get away with the crimes they commit because their peers are not interested in prosecuting them given the immunity they are given as per the Greek Constitution. According to statistical data, no Greek minister has gone to jail since the 1970s showing Greece’s unwillingness to sentence and prosecute corrupt politicians. Obviously, this poses problems related to national accountability and furthers the distrust of the Greek government by both the citizens of Greece and by other nations in the EU and worldwide. The culture and nature of the Greek government seems to be very conducive to the acceptance of bribes, and the funding of certain special interest groups that are likely to benefit the government in some questionable way. It has been said that Andreas Papandreou created certain government jobs for the sole purpose of his own personal gains. Politicians who are running for office make all sorts of outlandish promises to different groups in order to receive support, with no intentions of actually carrying out the promises. Also, the immunity from prosecution clauses in Greek law has increased politician’s levels of recklessness. This immunity prevents politicians and executive-level government officials from prosecution for any crimes committed. This is an extremely dangerous provision in the law, because there are virtually no accountability standards and has shown to lead to aggressive and self-serving policy decisions that have had drastically negative impacts on the country and the economy. To reflect on the government style and roots of Greece, the country has been described as having â€Å"one foot in the West, and another in the East. † The country has been a synthesizing point for democracy, but ironically does not seem to display the necessary integrity and self-correction methods that are essential for the functionality of a democracy. In the words of Manolopoulous, the country â€Å"has never had a Western-style reformation, nor the development of a large middle class, nor the emergence of conservative and liberal philanthropy that developed in Western and Northern Europe and also North America. † This goes to show that while Greece has been perceived and thought of by others as a Westernized nation, it is not that simple. The inefficiency of the public sector is a recurring problem in this discussion because of its severity and enormous impact on the financial crisis that Greece is currently facing. The public sector has been characterized and defined as being â€Å"statist. † This essentially describes an environment in the country where public sector jobs are preferred as opposed to private or other types of jobs. This belief that is held by a majority of Greek citizens has been a key contributor to the inefficient and unproductive bureaucracy of government jobs and positions. This mindset also prevents Greece’s private sector from reaching its potential, and does nothing to reduce unemployment. This mindset is held partly because public sector jobs offer the things that private sector jobs cannot, including a generous pension, a pre-determined retirement age and incremental pay increases as time goes by. This creates a sense of job security, which is desired by all as part of human nature. Job security is not a bad thing, but problems clearly arise when an entire country has become dependent on the continued influx of meaningless government jobs. Individuals who work in the public sector statistically make more, on average, than those who work in the private sector. There is currently no statistical data that supports a link between worker productivity, job satisfaction and overall motivation to pay grade. This lack of an incentivized program that encourages employees to work hard is perhaps one of the biggest roots of the problem. The increases in public sector wages and pensions reached almost 9% in 2008. Even as the country’s economy continues to sink farther and farther into historic territory, jobs are not being cut and employees are continuing to receive excellent pay and benefits for their relatively meaningless low-end government positions. Another problem with Greek’s public sector is the early retirement age of 58. When an employee retires at this age, they are given a full pension and in most cases, continuing benefits for a generous period of time. To put this in perspective, the average retirement rate in the rest of the European Union is 63. This over-generous system is a major drainer of government funds. According to statistics, the pensions given to an average public-sector employee can reach up to 98% of their original salary right before retirement. The final point presented is the nearly complete level of job security within the public sector. Due to a high amount of policies and regulations about termination, it is extremely difficult for one to lose their job unless a major mistake has been made. That being said, it seems as if an overly comfortable work force has been created. There must be some degree of threat of job loss in order to motivate employees to put forth their best effort each and every day. According to Manolopoulos, there are numerous sources that display the extremely low competitiveness of the Greek economy. This is the next factor that can be discussed to illustrate the problems responsible for the current economic meltdown. According to this data, â€Å"the burden of administration in Greece is abnormally high, the degree of regulation is excessive, and the amount of competition is severely limited due to tremendous government intervention. † Also, it is shown that Greece rarely is a center of foreign investment, in relation to other nations in the European Union. It does not take an expert to determine that the Greek government and economic environment is not desirable enough for foreign nations to engage with. Since 2009, there have been more than 1,400 companies formerly with headquarters in Greece who have relocated to other nations. Currently, 20% of Greece businesses are failing or will fail at some point in the coming months. These staggering statistics go to show that these philosophies are more than conceptual, and there are actual statistics to illustrate the severity of the problems. With regard to taxation, the Greek tax system is highly progressive. A progressive tax system is a system where the smallest proportion of the population, the wealthiest individuals, pays the highest taxes. In Greece, this is the case, and in fact the average and below-average households pay virtually no taxes at all. Although this progressive system can be effective, as seen in other countries, the problem is that there are so few high earners that very little tax revenue is actually being raised. The line for which a household can declare themselves exempt is higher than most families earn, leaving very few candidates who are qualified to pay these high amounts of taxes. This threshold is 12,000 Euro per year, and has created a culture where many Greeks are understating their income in order to remain under this threshold and avoid paying taxes. The disinterest in paying taxes is inevitable in all countries, but in this situation, citizens are actually able to get away with tax evasion, adding to the problem. This goes back to the corruption of Greek politicians, and the culture deeply rooted in cheating and dishonest practices. Politicians are wise enough to know that if they crack down on tax evasions among Greek citizens, they will not be re-elected and will lose their political power, influence and immunity. For this reason, most politicians look the other way on massive amounts of tax evasions, and citizens are not forced to pay their taxes, adding to the already discussed lack of accountability. This is why the threshold for tax-exempt families is currently at such an alarming level. In the words of Manolopoulos, â€Å"the authorities proceed to hound the honest few, and let the thousands of dishonest high income individuals escape with impunity. Tax avoidance is a national pastime in Greece. It has become a cultural trait. The Greek people never learned to pay their taxes, because no one is punished. † This mindset described by Manolopoulos is at the heart of the problem, and clearly shows the unwillingness of typical Greek citizens to do their part and contribute to the overall welfare of the country. As far as reforms to try and aid the recovery of this failing economy, little has been done. The Economic Adjustment Program is essentially a program that has planned out 5-year economy strategy for the country, called the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy. This was created in 2011 and sought to increase the efficiency of public spending, eliminate wasteful spending that drains government resources, reduce the size of the public sector, broaden the base of tax payers, and eliminate the amount of individuals who are evading taxes by imposing meaningful penalties and consequences. The plan for this strategy is to increase efficiency, and further incentivize the labor force to increase how hard people work and their inclinations to give back for the greater good. This seeks to decrease the tax-free threshold from 12,000 to 8,000 euro per year. A luxury tax will be imposed on very wealthy individuals to bring in further revenue. 200 new companies have been created to bring business back to Greece. There will be an increase in the amount of audits and increased sentences for tax evaders. Although this does not fully address the power imbalance issues that are a central issue in the crisis, many are hopeful that this plan, over time will increase the output of the economy and reduce the massive deficit the country currently faces. In conclusion, these structural measures being taken have not been overly successful, but the country will benefit in the long run from them. The only reason this failing countries economy is still relatively in tact is because of the continuous capital injections from the EU and the IMF. In an effort to keep the economy relatively liquid, Greece has remained above water. It seems that the true problem at the root of this crisis is the imbalance of power, which must be addressed if full recovery is ever to be achieved. In other words, there is a long way to go for this former superpower.

Pursing a Career as a Police Officer

Pursing a Career as a Police Officer A sociology degree is a very useful and relevant degree for any career in the criminal justice field. Police officers are one great example of this. As a career that is present in every city, town, and community across the country, becoming a police officer does not usually require relocation and is it is usually always in demand. One way that a sociology degree is especially helpful to a police officer is that it allows one to examine situations with knowledge of the structural issues that surround a society. For example, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and age are all especially important for understanding specific conflict situations. Understanding the Effects Stereotypes Have It is always important to understand the effects that stereotypes have in how people perceive a community problem. Witnesses to a crime, for example, might believe a stereotype about the criminal and will therefore bias the true events. By understanding this and asking very specific questions, the police officer may be able to get an accurate depiction of the crime without any stereotyped influences. In conducting police work, it is also important to understand that communities are composed of relational networks. These networks can be especially important in both investigating crimes and in preventing criminal acts. Since police officers are constantly interacting with community members, education on how to interact with and deal with certain types of people is crucial. In fact, it is often the case that less than half of police academy training has to do with laws, legal codes, and weapons, and the majority of training is spent on human interaction. How a Sociology Degree Is Extremely Helpful This is where a sociology degree is extremely helpful. Role-playing, modeling people’s behavior, and understanding group dynamics is crucial to be a successful police officer. An understanding of cultural diversity is also important. Those going into a career in law enforcement need to learn that there are other patterns of living and officers need to learn to adapt to those patterns when they enter certain situations. Job Description The primary duty of police officers is to enforce the law. They help the community fight crime by making arrests, assisting people with emergencies, investigating crimes, helping prosecute crimes, collecting evidence, testifying in court, and writing detailed reports of crimes. Educational Requirements The educational requirements for police officers vary by city and community. Larger cities often require four-year degrees while some small communities only require a high-school diploma. However, the majority of places are now requiring formal job training, commonly an associate’s degree. Additional training is provided at a federal or state law enforcement academy after an officer is hired. Salary and Benefits Police officers entering the field can expect to earn on average between $22,000 and $26,000, however, some areas pay as low as $18,000. Salaries vary by city and region. After six years of service, police officers earn an average of $34,000 or more. Benefits are offered by the majority of police departments, which typically includes life insurance, medical benefits, and retirement plans. Other Recommendations For those thinking of entering a career as a police officer, there are some other recommendations that will help you during your career. First, it is important to understand cultural diversity and be able to adapt to different cultural contexts. Foreign language capability, especially Spanish, is nearly essential. Other languages might be emphasized according to local needs. For example, Southeast Asian languages (Vietnamese, Cambodian, Chinese etc.) are needed in parts of California. Computer literacy is also a must, as officers compose written reports that are transmitted directly and immediately to the department for analysis. Finally, oral communication skills are essential to conduct good community relations. Search for jobs in law enforcement or other sociology careers in your area. References Stephens, W.R. (2004). Careers in Sociology, Third Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Criminal Justice USA. (2011). Police Officer. criminaljusticeusa.com/police-officer.html

A Sample Back to School Night Agenda

A Sample Back to School Night Agenda Back to School Night is your opportunity to make a strong, positive first impression on your new students parents. Time is short, but theres a lot of information to cover so its important to make a schedule of Back to School Night activities and follow it as closely as possible. That way, you can feel confident that you will address all of the most important points, while the parents will get all of their questions answered in a friendly and orderly manner. Sample Back to School Night Schedule Use the following sample schedule of Back to School Night activities as a road-map of key points you might want to cover during your own presentation. Distribute (or display via presentation) the evenings agenda so that parents know what to expect.Briefly introduce yourself, including your educational background, teaching experience, interests, and a few friendly pieces of personal information.Give an overview of the scope and sequence of the curriculum you will be covering with the students over the course of the school year. Show textbooks and give a thumbnail sketch of what the students will know by the end of the year.Describe a typical day in your classroom as exhibited through the daily schedule. Be sure to mention which days of the week are for special activities such as physical education class or visiting the library.Mention a few important dates in the school calendar, perhaps the major vacation dates, field trips, assemblies, carnivals, etc.Review the classroom and school rules and procedures. Consider asking the parents to sign a slip that indicates their agreement to the classroom rules and corresponding consequences.T ell the parents about opportunities to volunteer in the classroom. Be specific about what you need and what various jobs entail. Let them know where the volunteer sign-up sheet is located. Allow a few minutes for the parents to ask you questions in a whole group setting. Only take time to answer questions that apply to all or most of the students. Child-specific questions should be addressed in a different format.Distribute your contact information, how you prefer to be contacted, and how the parents can expect to hear from you on a weekly or monthly basis (class newsletter, for example). Introduce the Room Parent, if applicable.Let the parents meander around the classroom for a few minutes, exploring bulletin boards and learning centers. You can even conduct a quick scavenger hunt for a fun way for parents  to explore the classroom.  And remember to encourage them to leave a little note for their children.Smile, thank everyone for coming, and relax. You did it!

An essay, critically discussing aspects of a Video Case Study Research Paper

Discussing Aspects of a Video Case Study of Either Lucys Story or Sams Story - Research Paper Example â€Å"The support and protection of children cannot be achieved by a single agency†¦ Every Service has to play its part. All staff must have placed upon them the clear expectation that their primary responsibility is to the child and his or her family† (Laming, 1999). Multi-agency approach encompasses a child’s social care services, health, police and voluntary groups, NGOs as well as parent, guardian or school’s mutual interaction. For effective implementation, such an approach requires tools and procedures like early intervention, a common assessment framework, information sharing etc. As such agencies all share the common goal of the wellbeing of the child, therefore, they should cooperate well with each other. Beckett (2007, p.110) has mentioned the list of risks indicators formulated by Greenland which lead to increased likelihood of harm in children. According to him, if parents themselves have been neglected or abused in their childhood, the mother was aged twenty or less at birth of her first born, she is a single parent, divorced, living a socially isolated life, having poor housing conditions, or using excessive alcohol or drugs then the child is likely to get affected. Similarly, the history of the child being neglected before age five or having prolonged separation from the mother is indicative of potential safety risks to the child. Most of these risk indicators are prevalent in Lucy’s case. Her mother was single, living a socially deprived life in poor vicinity. Being a drug addict she posed the real threat to her children.

Hacker Culture and Mitigation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hacker Culture and Mitigation - Assignment Example Since hackers as a collection are chiefly creative, people who describe themselves in part by rejection of normal values and operational habits, it has unusually rich and conscious tradition for global cultures (Gertz, 2012). The basis of hacker culture was born in the computer lab as a result of computer programmers doing all in their authority to request, scrounge or steel computing property. They spend hours working on a computer program while neglecting everything else. Computer network gives them a way to associate with other people with their same interest. Before the introduction of computers, hackers’ world set up and visited bullet board system, where an individual could host a bullet board system on his or her computer and let citizens dial into the organization to send message, share data among others (Pino, 2013). Not all hackers try to investigate prohibited computer systems. A number of users use their talents and knowledge to make better software and safety measures. In fact, numerous hackers who once used their power to smash into systems now put that information and cleverness to use by creating more comprehensive security events. In a way, the Internet is a combat zone among kinds of hackers. The bad guys or black hottest go through systems or multiply virus and the good guys boost defense systems and expand potent virus defense software (Holt, 2010). Hackers on both sides over powering open source software programs in which the basic code is accessible for anybody to study, share out and inform. With open course software, hackers can learn from other hackers experiences and assist each other to make programs function much in good health than they did before the introduction of the internet. Software might range from easy applications to more complex application system. Mitigation refers to the attempt to decrease loss of life and possessions by lessening the effect of a disaster. It is also taking action to ensure that the

Understanding Business Research and Concepts Essay Example for Free

Understanding Business Research and Concepts Essay There are many different types of quantitative data collection instruments and sampling methods available to researchers. The ones that I have picked for the purpose of his paper are questionnaire, sampling and surveying. Each can be a value to a researcher when completed with accuracy. Validity is the degree to which an instrument measure what it is purports to measure. Invalid instruments can lead to erroneous research conclusions, which in turn can influence educational decisions. Reliability is the internal consistency or stability of the measuring device over time (Gay, 1996). A questionnaire is a series of questions ask to the subject to get responsive directly from the subjects. Questionnaires are widely used especially in descriptive survey studies. Surveying collects factual data from participants and gain opinions. The first of two research articles I picked was â€Å"A descriptive study of workplace conflict management styles,† The study has a non-experimental, descriptive, and quantitative research design, a sample size of 103 employees working in financial, IT, academic and marketing sectors were analyzed (stratified random sampling was used for the purpose). Statistical measures like Cranach’s alpha, independent samples t test, bivariate correlation, robust tests for equality of means, multiple comparisons (Turkey HSD) and chi square tests were employed to analyze the data. Research revealed that employees of fairer sex in Indian organizations used integrating, compromising and avoiding styles of interpersonal conflict handling. Dominating and obliging styles were followed by males and same was true for all the employees as their age increased. Additionally, employees having superior income and work experience were found to be less  integrative and more dominating in their management of conflict. Further, marital status of the employees also affected the conflict handling style. Interpersonal conflict understanding is crucial for smooth functioning of the organizations. Managers today are devising innovative handling techniques as conflict poses a great challenge for them. The present study can facilitate the management practitioners in understanding the concept and its implications. (Abbas, 2012). Tukey HSD test shows that there is significant difference in dominating conflict handling style only among the undergraduate and post graduate employees (p  answers are able to give you trusted results. Using qualitative research design methods is most essential when dealing with business research. Understanding how numbers and data effect a business’ growth and production are essential in determining what is making or breaking a company’s vision. Profit is understandably the primary goal of any business; however, qualitative data is most essential when determining data on what products, programs, or ideas are attractive to a potential or current customer. Using qualitative analysis will help in making the right choices and provide quality overview for necessary adjustments. One of the largest understandings of Adobe was unmet customer needs. Their belief was that even in an age of collecting data, no light can be shed on the gap of unmet customer needs. By determining what customers needed by using surveys, collecting email comments and letters, and by communicating with people and businesses, Adobe believed that it could continuously make adjustments to their programming to satisfy the needs of customers and potential customers. Keeping the questions simple, the ideas of Adobe and its future were generated through a series of questions that customers could answer. Without going too much into detail, customers could have simple questions answered, and thus be more satisfied, which in return generated more business. Some of the sample questions derived from (adobepress.com) are as follows: â€Å"Why do customers come to the business? Why do they leave? Do customers understand what the business has to offer? Do customers want what the business has to offer? Is there anything customers want from the business that it is not providing? When analytics data shows areas of concern—for example, high drop-off rates, repeat page views, and so on—what are the reasons for the customers’ actions? Which product or service is most important to customers? The above questions were a qualitative aspect design in an attempt to conduct research and analyze that research to better serve the customer. Providing customers with a questionnaire template, allowed for millions of  reviews and feedback. Taking this research and feedback allowed Adobe to make adjustments where needed and ultimately provide the customer and or business with a better product. Updating and revamping programming through technological advancements has been key to the Adobe enterprise when satisfying its customers. The desire and key aspect of successful qualitative research is being able to see ones business and products through the eyes of the customer. When one puts his/herself in this predicament, one will see the significance of such important research and designs methods as in qualitative research analysis. References Abbas, S. M. (2012, Jul-dec). A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF WORKPLACE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES IN INDIAN ORGANIZATIONS. Retrieved from ProQuest: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/1524709477?pq-origsite=summon LUND, D. A. (2013). Laird Statistics. Retrieved from Descriptive and Inferential Statistics: https://statistics.laerd.com/aboutus.php Troshani, I.R. (2007, Oct-Dec 98-105,107-111). Drivers and Inhibitors to XBRL Adoption: A Qualitative Approach to Build a Theory in Under-Researched Areas. Retrieved from International Journal of E-Business Research: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/222302520?pq-origsite=summon

Propaganda and Democracy Essay -- essays research papers

What is the impact of propaganda on our democracy? When examining the relationship between propaganda and democracy it important to define each term. Propaganda is a protean term, its definition varies widely. The word propaganda could refer simply to an active process of mass persuasion or it could carry more negative connotations. In general, a distinction is drawn between propaganda and persuasion. Like persuasion, propaganda is designed to influence opinion rather than purely communicate fact; however, there are several important differences between the two. Persuasion utilizes critical argument and weighs all sides of an issue. On the other hand, propaganda is entirely one sided. While a persuasive message works best with a focused and active recipient, propaganda depends on a mindless audience. Propaganda manipulates symbols as well as and basic human emotions and prejudices in order to influence opinion. Democracy is the form of government in which the laws and government institutions are under the control of the people. In a democracy decisions are made by the citizens or their elected representatives. Propaganda has many effects on American Democracy. Many people claim that our democracy has been â€Å"cheapened† by the media and, in particular, propaganda. Some of the negative effects of propaganda on democracy are that it prevents discourages debate and allows people to listen only to those opinions that they agree with. One of the main goals of propaganda is to preve...