Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How to Share Your Marketing Calendar With Read-Only Views

How to Share Your Marketing Calendar With Read-Only Views Keeping the right people in the know AND still maintain control over your marketing calendar can be a real challenge. We hear you! That is why we want to tell you all about our new Read-Only View from ! Read-Only View allow you to create custom views of your calendar and give your team or clients only the details they need. Additionally, this new feature eliminates any need to pay for additional users or worry about  accidental deletions or changes in your calendar. Watch the demo below to learn how Read-Only View works! Watch this: How To Easily Share Your Marketing Calendar With Read-Only View In this demo, learn how to: Keep higher-ups â€Å"in the know† sans static screenshots (or other weird workarounds). With Read-Only View, you can create custom views of your calendar that are interactive, update in real-time, AND give your team the details they need (nothing more, nothing less). And eliminate unwanted edits to your projects!  When you share a Read-Only View with someone outside your calendar, they can only look at your projects †¦no edits, finger flubs, accidental deletions, or moving around your carefully planned marketing campaigns allowed. Want more information? Check out our Help Doc on  Share Read-Only Views.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Review of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Review of 'Blink' by Malcolm Gladwell To over-generalize, there are two types of nonfiction books worth reading: those written by an eminent specialist summarizing the current state of his or her field, often focusing on the singular idea that defines the authors career; and those written by a journalist without special knowledge about the field, tracking a particular idea, crossing the boundaries of disciplines when required by the pursuit. Malcolm Gladwells Blink is a bravura example of the latter sort of book: he ranges through art museums, emergency rooms, police cars, and psychology laboratories following a skill he terms rapid cognition. Rapid Cognition Rapid cognition is the sort of snap decision-making performed without thinking about how one is thinking, faster and often more correctly than the logical part of the brain can manage. Gladwell sets himself three tasks: to convince the reader that these snap judgments can be as good or better than reasoned conclusions, to discover where and when rapid cognition proves a poor strategy, and to examine how the rapid cognitions results can be improved. Achieving three tasks, Gladwell marshals anecdotes, statistics, and a little bit of theory to persuasively argue his case. Gladwells discussion of thin slicing is arresting: In a psychological experiment, normal people given fifteen minutes to examine a students college dormitory can describe the subjects personality more accurately than his or her own friends. A cardiologist named Lee Goldman developed a decision tree that, using only four factors, evaluates the likelihood of heart attacks better than trained cardiologists in the Cook County Hospital emergency room in Chicago: For two years, data were collected, and in the end, the result wasnt even close. Goldmans rule won hands down in two directions: it was a whopping 70 percent better than the old method at recognizing patients who werent actually having a heart attack. At the same time, it was safer. The whole point of chest pain prediction is to make sure that patients who end up having major complications are assigned right away to the coronary and intermediate units. Left to their own devices, the doctors guessed right on the most serious patients somewhere between 75 and 89 percent of the time. The algorithm guessed right more than 95 percent of the time. (pp. 135-136) The secret is knowing which information to discard and which to keep. Our brains are able to perform that work unconsciously; when rapid cognition breaks down, the brain has seized upon a more obvious but less correct predictor. Gladwell examines how race and gender affect car dealers sales strategy, the effect of height on salary and promotion to top corporate positions, and unjustified police shootings of civilians to demonstrate that our unconscious biases have genuine and sometimes tragic consequences. He also examines how the wrong thin slice, in focus groups or in a single-sip test of soft drinks, can lead businesses to mistake consumer preferences. There are things that can be done to redirect our mind along lines more conducive to accurate thin-slicing: we can alter our unconscious biases; we can change products packaging to something that tests better with consumers; we can analyze numerical evidence and make decision trees; we can analyze all possible facial expressions and their shared meanings, then watch for them on videotape; and we can evade our biases by blind screening, hiding the evidence that will lead us to incorrect conclusions. Takeaway Points This whirlwind tour of rapid cognition, its be, efits and pitfalls, has only a few pitfalls of its own. Written in a forthright and conversational style, Gladwell makes friends with his readers but rarely challenges them. This is science writing for the broadest possible audience; people with scientific training may chafe at the substitution of anecdote for study results, and may wish that the author had gone into greater depth with any or all of his examples; others may wonder how they can broaden the reach of their own attempts at rapid cognition. Gladwell may whet their appetites but will not fully satisfy those readers. His focus is narrow, and this helps him meet his goals; perhaps this is appropriate for a book titled Blink.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Adaptive Social Networks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adaptive Social Networks - Research Paper Example to conduct an experiment on the development of a referral system. The referral system is to support interaction of agents with others by directing users to those agents who may provide the information they need. 1A research was done on an architecture that is fully distributed and has agents who maintain privacy and autonomy from its users. 2In 1997, Kautz and the group developed methods of graph analysis for referral systems where the person with the required information is found by use of referral chains. The informal person-to-person social networks are used to construct what is termed as the ‘referral chains of request. 3According to Bin Yu et al., the research conducted by Kautz et al. concentrated more on the problem of referral information generation at the expense of the dynamic aspects of referral systems. The aim of the research conducted by Bin Yu et al. was to study the dynamics of social structures which most referral systems studied. The agents in their architecture learn models of each other in terms of sociability and expertise. They described an adaptive social network for information access that is intended to be an accurate, dynamic and evolving multi agent system that can achieve the effect of informal social networks that exist in an organization or community. In it, there is a distinction between a user’s interest and their expertise. Each user is associated with a personal agent. This agent is the first to see the user’s queries. He/she then decides the contacts to which the queries are sent. The agent that receives the query then decides if it suits its user and lets them see it. Alternatively, the receiving agent can respond with referrals to other users. The receiving user or agent can also choose not to respond in any way and discard the query. A query basically consists of a query vector and the requester’s ID, email address and a limit on the number of

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Documentary Expression and Thirties America Essay

Documentary Expression and Thirties America - Essay Example In the thirties the style of social documentary became popular, and was described as increasing the knowledge of public facts while sharpening it with feeling. Two notable exponents of this style were considered, both of whom employed the presentation of dramatic, and sometimes over emphasized, photographs accompanied by a written commentary. The distinction between art and photography and whether or not documentary expression owed its genesis from fiction or non-fiction was also explored. Finally the matter of ethics in the treatment and presentation of documentary imagery was discussed. Documentary Expression 3 Documentary Expression and Thirties America William Stott in his book Documentary Expression and Thirties America covers an enormous range of topics and much of it is in a highly discursive and rambling style. However, it is possible to subdivide it into four principal themes: Documentary, The Documentary Motive and the Thirties, The Documentary Nonfiction of the Thirties, a nd Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. First of all it is necessary to understand what he means by the documentary style. In its simplest form there are two possibilities: â€Å"an honest and reasonably objective report, or a case for the prosecution† (Stott, 1986). ... It was also held that such a documentary style did not rely upon information so much as â€Å"the power to move.† Stott suggests that while the purpose is to encourage social improvement – public education at its most altruistic – reality is more cynical in that its real purpose is to shape attitudes towards certain public facts. An example of this type of â€Å"expose journalism’ is to use a public figure or authority’s quotation to mean something else. For example, the head of the US Red Cross stated categorically, in answer to innocent sounding questions, that Red Cross personnel were noncombatants. He was unable to defend this stance when faced with the fact that when called up for military service these individuals were obliged to take the oath, Documentary Expression 4 imposed by Congress, requiring them to obey military regulations and act as combatants. Two contrasting examples of the documentary style in thirties America are contained in t he works of Bourke-White & Caldwell and Agee & Evans. In both cases one of the authors writes the commentary and the other provides a series of generally highly dramatic â€Å"propaganda† pictures. The question now arises, was the documentary style in the thirties; found in fiction and non-fiction, and in art and photography. The reverse of the former was really true; both fiction and non-fiction of the time owed something to the documentary style. Fiction was full of ‘real people’ and many writers tried to introduce social issues. The social documentary style was devised to give a sense of urgency to the representation of life as it was: reality with drama and a sharp tug at the emotions. In the case of non-fiction the genre usually relied upon simple issues:

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Existentialism and Humanistic Psychology Essay Example for Free

Existentialism and Humanistic Psychology Essay Angst, in the very nature of its use in Existentialism, is a state of being that is not completely negative in itself as common people might think. In a more positive sense, I believe angst is the full recognition of one’s freedom. Angst is the result of one’s realization that he is free and that nothing will ever hold him back. It becomes negative because once a person gets a deeper understanding of how free he is, he tends to fear that he might not be able to do things right and since nothing is holding him back, there is nothing to blame in case he fails. In short, angst is â€Å"fear of the nothing† (Park, 1999). It is different from normal fear which comes from the environment and has an object and a possible solution. For example, I fear spiders so I stay away from dusty and old places. The object of the fear is ‘spiders’ and the solution is to ‘stay away from dusty and old places’. In angst, the fear comes from within and there is basically neither object nor solution. There is only angst. And that is what makes angst a terrible state. I think it is very difficult to feel this way because it is like asking questions with no answers. And if ever I get into this terrible state, I think will do one thing: convince myself to believe that there is nothing to fear and that I have my family who will accept me no matter what. Meanwhile, the whole concept of Humanistic Psychology (the American version of Existentialism, I’ve read) interests me in a special way. The different theories of Rogers, Maslow, Csikszentmihalyi, among others that I learned from Chapter 13 gave me a step by step understanding into the inquiry of my existence. I can’t conclude though that they all are right but certainly, they provide interesting thoughts worth pondering (especially Rogers’ 19 Propositions). The humanistic theories they present are different from the ones we learned in previous chapters because they focus on the experiences of the human person rather than on things that are inherent or already existing such as biology, genes, or hidden motives. This means that since the theories of Humanists such as Rogers and Maslow focus on continuing experience of the person, they give a more positive approach knowing that these experiences that shape a person can vary depending on how he reacts to events. In a simpler way, while Bem’s theories seem to say â€Å"Your mother has cancer so you will have cancer, too. It’s in the blood† humanists say â€Å"Your mother has cancer. With the right attitude and lifestyle, you can prevent having cancer yourself. † Humanists are a lot friendlier. I agree with these humanists, for the most part at least. I agree with the general thought of a person’s experience shaping his personality. However, there is one thing I personally disagree based on experience. Rogers said that â€Å"this outcome [fully functioning person] could only occur for individuals who had received unconditional positive regard from the important people in their lives† (Funder, 2007). I disagree with this because I know some people who, despite suffering from neglect from the people they love, still feel good about themselves and have great personalities. On the other hand, I give my nod to Maslow when he said â€Å"higher needs such as self-actualization could come to the fore only after more basic needs related to survival and security became satisfied† (Funder, 2007). I personally believe self-fulfillment is a hierarchy and a continuing process. Thoughts on Punishment and Efficacy Theory â€Å"Punishment is a useful technique of operant conditioning if it is applied correctly, which it almost never is† (Funder, 2007). I am especially caught by the last phrase of the quote: it almost never is. I think punishment is something that is very tricky. It is difficult to use in the appropriate way but if you get it right, bingo! It is very effective. What’s wrong with punishment is when one uses it in the wrong way. Self-Efficacy has always been my thing from the start, but I never realized it until I learned about it from our discussion. I have always been a positive thinker even amidst hard times. My working in Intel gives me new challenges every day and because of my belief that I can do all the demands of work, I accomplish them well. I live by the adage â€Å"Believe in yourself because if you don’t, nobody else will†. With this, I get more confidence to push on higher.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Is Canada a Post-Industrial Country? Essay -- Economics, History

The term post-industrialism refers to a transition from one form of society to another; the original society being an industrial society, mainly dominated by forms of specialized physical labour, and the latter being a service and knowledge dominated format. An industrial society has many unique and definitive characteristics that separate it from a post-industrial one. Some of these characteristics include the heavy use of machinery in large factories; the use of fossil fuels to power the machinery; the specialization of jobs allowing for increased productivity, which led to urban expansion. In regards to class dynamics, there are/were few people at the† top†, who own the factors of production, and many front-line, blue-collar workers at the â€Å"bottom.† The huge gaps in income, status, and control between these two groups produced an imbalance of power; considered a negative aspect of industrialism. With Industrialism, work is specialized, and it has been said that these workers were alienated from the goods they helped produce as a result. In contrast, a post-industrial society marks a shift from a society based on the mass production of goods to one that hinges on the provision of services. In this type of society, capital switches from bodies and heavy machinery to knowledge, as with knowledge comes creativity, a force seemingly responsible for economic growth in a post-industrial society. As far as creativity is concerned, it can flow from the skills of an engineer, a scientist, an artist, etc. Much emphasis is placed on the upgrading of human capital and of attaining some form of specialized education. This type of knowledge-based economy logically offers more opportunity to those with a high-level education, creat... ...s Canada created in this post-industrial era. Are the jobs a small amount of high-end and high-paid service jobs that require large investments in human capital or are they low-end service jobs that require minimal education and training? Works Cited Krahn, H., Lowe, G. Hughes, K. (2008). Work, Industry & Canadian Society. (5th ed.) Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd. HRSDC Labour statistics Division. (2009). The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance 2007. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada. HRSDC Labour Statistics Division. (2007). Looking Ahead: A Ten-Year Outlook for the Canadian Labour Market (2006 – 2015). Ottawa, ON: Retrieved from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/publications_resources/research/categories/labour_market_e/sp_615_10_06/supply Critoph, Ursule. Et al. (2010). Sociology of Work and Industry. Alberta, CA: Athabasca University.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Reluctant Works Case Study

This case study is based on a conversation between two people: Tim Aston, a new project manager, and Phil Davies, director of project management. Aston had just changed jobs and was very excited about his new job. He wanted to be the best manager his company ever had. But ever since he had been on the job, he was becoming more and more frustrated with the employees and their work habits. Finally he went to see Davies and discuss his problems with him. Chapter Four of our text discusses the ten skills that are necessary for effective program management. (Kerzner, 2009, pg.149) Of those skills, I felt that there were three that were lacking in the case study. The problems that he discussed with Davies involved mainly team building, leadership, and administrative – time management skills. The case study showed that the lack of these things caused a hardship for management in an effort to complete necessary goals. Team building focuses on â€Å"effective communications, sincere i nterest in the professional growth of team members, and the commitment to the project† (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 149). The success of the team was not a priority in the lives of these individuals.They did what they wanted and how they wanted, regardless of how if would affect the team, project manger or the project. Phil Davies, the director, explained to Tim Aston, the project manager, that these people were set in their ways, at the top of their pay grades, and had no room for growth in the organization. Tim would have to take the time to learn what motivates them and try a different angle in order to get them involved. Phil stated that in the project environment, the workers think they are more important than the project and this has been the way it has been in their project organizational form.  (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 294)Tim will have to start from scratch. He will have to build a foundation with his team in order to bring them together. Phil also seemed to be very passive aggre ssive by acting like the workers were right and the project manager was wrong. Not supportive from a management stand point either. The purpose of Tim’s outreach to Phil was for support and guidance but all he received was a push off letting him know that he was on his own. Leadership is the second skill that was needed in this situation. Leadership is motivation for the team to  tackle challenges.A leader has to have emotional intelligence or empathy in order to be able to understand his team. For you to accomplish an objective you have to persuade your team to believe in the same goal. Being a role model is part of leadership. Management of the performance of the team and provision of support and development or growth of the team’s technical skills is all part of leadership. The lack of leadership from Tim proved that he was unable to resolve the conflicts that he encountered with the workers.There should have been a team meeting called in order to review the objec tives of the project and the team, state what his expectations were in completing them, as well as policies and procedures that they have to adhere to in the process. In the text, Kerzner also specifies several things that project managers do that are caused by a loss of understanding. These things end up causing time management problems for the project. The final skill that he needed to be proficient in was time management skills. A skilled project manager needs to be experienced in developing a schedule and doing what was necessary to maintain that schedule.It is unacceptable for the project manager to wait for someone else to make a decision that is his own responsibility. In this case study Aston had the responsibility for the project. He was responsible for managing his team and making sure that everyone was there. He failed at this task so he went to Davies for help. Aston made no attempt to coordinate schedules of his team for the project. He would have known of the forthcomi ng conflicts in advance and would have been able to modify the schedule accordingly. The project manager need socializing time with employees in addition to just seeing them during meetings.This is necessary to get to know them and their needs. Tim Aston’s skills in dealing with his project staff and functional manager leave a lot to be desired. His functional managers are not accountable due to his laissez faire leadership. They in term cause the failure of his projects. This is where the team building skills lacked causing his effectiveness as a project manager to falter. He has not taken charge or control of the team and there is no cohesive team to work on project’s objectives. With no leadership, the project management is non-existent and the team is none existent.No direction of the team means the morale and motivation of the team members is extremely low. Being the new â€Å"kid on the block†, the other team members have they own agenda moving forward and he has an uphill battle to connect with them. He lacks emotional intelligence in thinking he can just come in among his subordinates, who are years older than him, and gain their trust and confidence. He lacks self-confidence and turns to the director help instead of facing the challenges head on. This further diminishes the team’s confidence in him as a leader for the team. Tim Aston has not taught his team the importance of time management.By leaving them to manage their official time the way they want, he undermines the achievement of the project’s goals or objectives. Time management, being vital successful completion of a project, has to be inculcated into the team at all cost. A person who is not willing to respect time allocated to the project should not be part of the team. The issue of employees going on vacation or doing other activities instead of accomplishing important projects should not arise. Once time is set aside for projects it should become non-neg otiable, thus workers will come to respect the projects goals.As the goals set are met, self-motivation within the team will rise. Lack of communication by Tim Aston has contributed to the lackluster performance of the team. Being a new employee, he should have communicated his vision and ideas effectively to the team. The team might be at a loss as to his intensions for the projects. Meeting with them in advance and communicating his needs could have enabled him to know the feelings of the team. They could have ironed out their differences and he would have got a chance to persuade them on his new way of thinking. Mr.Davies involvement further alienated him from the staff below him and making communication more difficult because he still did not communicate with them. The management of the company gave Tim Aston very little support. By supporting the needs the functional managers, they have denied Tim Aston the support and advantage he needed to have his team comply. As a new proje ct manager, upper level management needed to give strong and unequivocal support of Tim to be able to take charge of the subordinates who considered him irrelevant to their needs and too young to understand their position.With no support, it is clear that the functional managers send the message that they don’t care if their lack of commitment will sabotage the new project manager. Management implies that the problem is with Tim Aston and not the subordinates by suggesting that he take a study in human relations. Adding yet another hit to further diminish the authority and confidence of the project manager. Tim totally believed he would receive a very different level of support from management.Team building is important to project manager, as without a cohesive team, the pooling of resources and talents that is vital in any company’s operations is not possible. A team that is not united in purpose cannot meet targets. Time management determines productivity. Effective time management diminishes waste both of resources and personnel motivation as without it concentration, focus and interests wanes. In any environment, personality and ideas conflicts are inevitable thus; conflict resolution or management maintains a cordial environment for workers and allocation of resources.Finally, for all these to be possible, effective communication as a leader has to be utilized by the project manager to pass his ideas to his team and from the company’s management to guide everybody on the expectations of the company. The recommendation that can be given to the company is that a supportive environment is of the utmost importance to the application of the project manager’s critical skills. Without it, application of these skills in achieving personnel motivation, resource allocation and other objectives would be an exercise in futility.The exercise of leadership skills and style by the project manager and company will influence the morale and moti vation of workers affecting productivity. Project managers should find importance in understanding the culture and system of values for the company they work for. As mentioned throughout several class discussions, taking the time to get to know the functional staff can promote effective cohesion in a team in order to get the project completed correctly in am efficient and effective manner.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Popular music in America: The beat goes on Essay

The electric atmosphere the first time I attended a live concert show makes for fond memories. The Kongos will remain to be my favorite band as they were the main act. I had never attended a live concert before but with the suggestion from my friends for some not to miss chance, I had to give in. From the beckoning Neon lights at the entrance to the long lines of radiant fans dressed in all manner of the Kongos regalia, I could tell I was in for a show of my life . The show took place in an amphitheatre. Inside, the venue was packed and being my first time, I had some mixed reactions on being in such a crowded place. Beer seemed to be the prescribed fluid as almost everyone had a Can and its effect on the crowd could be felt. The deafening boom from the speakers placed all around the venue made communication hard. One had to lean in to their partner and talk loudly in order to be heard. Never had I encountered such levels of noise. The band playing on stage took their bows marking their climax with a frenzied performance that consisted of heavy instrumentals. My ears were ringing by the time the stage lights went off. For me that signaled the end of the concert but I was wrong. I later came to know its called the opening act. The crowd erupted into deafening screams which left me confused as soon as the lights went off and in a fluid motion, the packed audience welcomed the main act in this case the Kongos with their song â€Å"Hey I know† (Campbell, 2013). The Kongos are a South-African alternative Rock Band consisting of four brothers Jesse (percussion, drums and vocals), Johnny (keyboard, accordion and vocals), Dylan (lap slide guitar, vocals and bass guitar) and Daniel Kongos (guitar and vocals). One could tell the chemistry of the brothers at work. By this time I had gotten used to the loud sound at the venue and was enjoying myself. The drums were almost tribal with heavy animation from Jesse and skilled fusion with the slide guitar. â€Å"Sex On the Radio† came next with the heavy drums and the accordion (Campbell, 2013). The performance of â€Å"Kids These Days† had the audience singing along in a slow drunken way marked with cacophony and ending with a pounding finish. The atmosphere was changed with a slow song this time â€Å"Take Me back† which was characterized by harmonized vocals accompanied by an accordion. The â€Å"Escape had to be the best performance for me where Jesse applied expressive vocal. The beat in this case was still prominent but less thumping. At this time, the crowd was in a frenzy and was clapping along. The rapper energetic song â€Å"I’m Only Joking† had to be the song with the most energy than the rest as every member of the band was jumping with the crowd jumping with them(Campbell, 2013). Two Beatles cover songs were well done and a timely surprise. â€Å"Come Together† was marked by speedy raps from Mo Gordon an addition to the set with a percolating tension. â€Å"Get Back† was played with a lot of excitement and energy where the guitars were scrubbing, organ swirling and the drums wailing with more to come. The closing was â€Å"Come With Me Now† where the crowd sang along all through the song and the band played it for all the song is worth. The bassist and singer Dylan whipped his hair all around during the song. The show was great. The band was high energy, the vocals great, a driving rhythm and high skilled musicianship which made for a great first concert evening. I look forward to attending more shows in the future. References Campbell, M. (2013).  Popular music in America: The beat goes on. Source document

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Essay Example

Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Essay Example Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Paper Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Paper Essay Topic: George orwell In the story â€Å"Shooting an Elephant, the author George Orwell expresses his experience with imperialism. Orwell was an officer for imperialist Britain; he was an overseer of thousands of Burmese people. Throughout this passage he expresses his feelings toward the British and also the Burmese people. He also shares his opinion on imperialism. The author deals with conflicting feelings of anger toward imperialism but also the native Burmese people. You will come to see that the author sympathizes with both side, but in the end who will Orwell choose. Orwell also explains the effect of peer pressure, and how it affects people decisions. I will discuss the feelings of confusion, hate, and overall pressure felt by Orwell. In the story â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† the author George Orwell is a police officer in imperialized Burma. He oversees the people and in a way protects them. The Burmese people were not allowed to have weapons, so they relied on the European officers to protect them. In the passage the author describes feelings of strong hate toward imperialism. He states that he wants to leave Burma as soon as possible. He feels that imperialism is evil, and when working alongside with the government you see the evils of it even more. He feels for the Burmese people and tends to feel bad for them. But even though he feels this hate towards the British government he has conflicting feelings because he is annoyed by the Burmese people. Though he works for the British government he is even closer to the Burmese people because he patrols the streets. In some cases the Burmese people boldly oppose him. For example during games of cricket the referees would not call out fouls put on Orwell. Thin gs like this make him annoyed with the Burmese people. This is where his conflicting feelings come into play. Orwell patrols the streets of Burma and watches over the people. Even though Orwell secretly hated imperialism and wanted it to end, by defau

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Battle of Agincourt - Hundred Years War

Battle of Agincourt - Hundred Years' War Battle of Agincourt: Date Conflict: The Battle of Agincourt was fought October 25, 1415, during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). Armies Commanders: English King Henry Vapprox. 6,000-8,500 men French Constable of France Charles dAlbretMarshal Boucicautapprox. 24,000-36,000 men Battle of Agincourt - Background: In 1414, King Henry V of England began discussions with his nobles regarding renewing the war with France to assert his claim on the French throne. He held this claim through his grandfather, Edward III who begun the Hundred Years War in 1337. Initially reluctant, they encouraged the king to negotiate with the French. In doing so, Henry was willing to renounce his claim to the French throne in exchange for 1.6 million crowns (the outstanding ransom on French King John II - captured at Poitiers in 1356), as well as French recognition of English dominion over occupied lands in France. These included Touraine, Normandy, Anjou, Flanders, Brittany, and Aquitaine. To seal the deal, Henry was willing to marry the young daughter of the chronically insane King Charles VI, Princess Catherine, if he received a dowry of 2 million crowns.  Believing these demands too high, the French countered with a dowry of 600,000 crowns and an offer to cede lands in Aquitaine.  Negotiations quickly stalled as the French refused to increase the dowry. With talks deadlocked and feeling personally insulted by French actions, Henry successfully asked for war on April 19, 1415. Assembling an army of around, Henry crossed the Channel with around 10,500 men and landed near Harfleur on August 13/14. Battle of Agincourt - Moving to Battle: Quickly investing Harfleur, Henry hoped to take the city as a base before advancing east to Paris and then south to Bordeaux. Meeting a determined defense, the siege lasted longer than the English had initially hoped and Henrys army was beset by a variety of diseases such as dysentery. When the city finally fell on September 22, the majority of the campaigning season had passed. Assessing his situation, Henry elected to move northeast to his stronghold at Calais where the army could winter in safety. The march was also intended to demonstrate his right to rule Normandy. Leaving a garrison at Harfleur, his forces departed on October 8. Hoping to move quickly, the English army left their artillery and much of the baggage train as well as carried limited provisions. While the English were occupied at Harfleur, the French struggled to raise an army to oppose them. Gathering forces at Rouen, they were not ready by the time the city fell. Pursuing Henry, the French sought to blockade the English along the River Somme. These maneuvers proved somewhat successful as Henry was forced to turn southeast to seek an uncontested crossing. As a result, food became scarce in the English ranks. Finally crossing the river at Bellencourt and Voyenes on October 19, Henry pressed on towards Calais. The English advance was shadowed by the growing French army under the nominal command of Constable Charles dAlbret and Marshal Boucicaut. On October 24, Henrys scouts reported that the French army had moved across their path and was blocking the road to Calais. Though his men were starving and suffering from disease, he halted and formed for battle along a ridge between the woods of Agincourt and Tramecourt. In a strong position, his archers drove stakes into the ground to protect against cavalry attack. Battle of Agincourt - Formations: Though Henry did not desire battle due to being badly outnumbered, he understood that the French would only grow stronger. In deploying, men under the Duke of York formed the English right, while Henry led the center and Lord Camoys commanded the left.  Occupying the open ground between the two woods, the English line of men at arms was four ranks deep. The archers assumed positions on the flanks with another group possibly being located in the center. Conversely the French were eager for battle and anticipated victory. Their army formed in three lines with dAlbret and Boucicault leading the first with the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon. The second line was led by the Dukes of Bar and Alenà §on and the Count of Nevers. Battle of Agincourt - The Armies Clash: The night of October 24/25 was marked by heavy rain which turned the newly plowed fields in the area into a muddy quagmire. As the sun rose, the terrain favored the English as the narrow space between the two woods worked to negate the French numerical advantage. Three hours passed and the French, awaiting reinforcements and perhaps having learned from their defeat at Crà ©cy, did not attack. Forced to make the first move, Henry took a risk and advanced between the woods to within extreme range for his archers. The French failed to strike with the English were vulnerable (Map). As a result, Henry was able to establish a new defensive position and his archers were able to fortify their lines with stakes. This done, they unleashed a barrage with their longbows. With the English archers filling the sky with arrows, the French cavalry began a disorganized charge against the English position with the first line of men-at-arms following. Cut down by the archers, the cavalry failed to breach the English line and succeeded in doing little more than churning the mud between the two armies. Hemmed in by the woods, they retreated through the first line weakening its formation. Slogging forward through the mud, the French infantry was exhausted by the exertion while also taking losses from the English archers. Reaching the English men-at-arms, they were able to initially push them back. Rallying, the English soon began inflicting heavy losses as the terrain prevented the greater French numbers from telling. The French were also hampered by the press of numbers from the side and behind which limited their ability to attack or defend effectively. As the English archers expended their arrows, they drew swords and other weapons and began attacking the French flanks. As a melee developed, the second French line joined the fray. As the battle raged, dAlbret was killed and sources indicate that Henry played an active role at the front. Having defeated the first two French lines, Henry remained wary as the third line, led by the Counts of Dammartin and Fauconberg, remained a threat. The only French success during the fighting came when Ysembart dAzincourt led a small force in a successful raid on the English baggage train. This, along with the menacing actions of the remaining French troops, led Henry to order the killing of the majority of his prisoners to prevent them from attacking should the battle resume. Though criticized by modern scholars, this action was accepted as necessary at the time. Assessing the massive losses already sustained, the remaining French troops departed the area. Battle of Agincourt - Aftermath: Casualties for the Battle of Agincourt are not known with certainty, though many scholars estimate the French suffered 7,000-10,000 with another 1,500 nobles taken prisoner. English losses are generally accepted to be around 100 and perhaps as high as 500. Though he had won a stunning victory, Henry was unable to press home his advantage due to the weakened state of his army. Reaching Calais on October 29, Henry returned to England the following month where he was greeted as a hero. Though it would take several more years of campaigning to achieve his goals, the devastation wrought upon the French nobility at Agincourt made Henrys later efforts easier. In 1420, he was able to conclude the Treaty of Troyes which recognized him as the regent and heir to the French throne. Selected Sources History of War: Battle of Agincourt

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Classification of Accounting Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Classification of Accounting Systems - Essay Example (Shalin and Alan, 1999). The main differences between the two systems is in terms of reasoning and degree of complexity. The deductive approach considers a priori theory based on knowledge or beliefs of the classifier while the inductive approach infers the general from the particular. It is data driven, considers large number of countries and rules and generates categories by making use of statistcs. Muller's classification system as cited by Gray(1998) states that the deductive approach is based on four distinct approaches to accounting development in western nations with market oriented economic systems including: This system was extended by Nobes who adopted a structural approach to the identification of accounting practices and assessed major features including the use of conservative accounting, the importance of tax rules, the strictness of application of historical costs, the making of replacement cost adjustments, the use of consolidation techniques the generous use of provisions, and uniformity between companies in application of rules. (Shalin and Alan, 1999). Although the deductive approach is very broad, it fails to take into consideration the effects of culture in the classification. There was also a failure in the methods used to obtain the groupings. (Shalin and Alan, 1999; Gray, 1998). According to Roberts et al, the classification systems under the inductive approach are as follows: Use of price water house data; Da Costa et al's study; Nair and Frank's Study; D'Arcy's Stucy; Having outlined the classification systems under the inductive approach, the paper will now give a more detail discussion of Nair and frank's study. In the inductive approach statistical analysis were carried out by Nair and Frank in which they analysed accounting practices in forty four countries using data from price water house coopers. in the course of their study, a distinction was made between measurement and disclosure practices. Five groups were identified in terms of measurement while seven groups were identified in terms of practice. An attempt was made to study the relationship of the groups with independent variables. there was no signicant relationship between disclosure practices and culture as well as between disclosure and economic variables. there was also no significant relationship