Nature vs. Nurture

Nature Vs. Nurture For centuries psychologists have argued over which plays the larger role in child development, heredity or environment. One of the first theories was proposed in the seventeenth century by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke believed that a child was born with an empty mind, tabula rasa (meaning â€Å"blank slate†) and that everything the child learns comes from experience, nothing is established beforehand. Years later, Charles Darwin brought forth his theory of evolution, which led to a return of the hereditarian viewpoint. With the twentieth century, however, came the rise of behaviorism. Behaviorists, like John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, argued that a child can be made into any kind of person, regardless of their heredity. Today, most psychologists agree that both nature (genes) and nurture (environment) play an important role, not independently, but as they interact together (Atkinson, p. 72). One of the most important factors believed to influence a child are parents. Parents are known to share a distinctive bond with their children. This special bond is what enables parents to shape their children. Whether it is into free-willed adolescents, ready to challenge any controversy, or into caring adults willing to spend the seventy cents a day to save a poverty stricken child. Parents have the power to mold their children. Setting firm, yet sensible, guidelines teaches children discipline and good behavior. Using physical abuse produces aggressive children, but having patience and understanding leaves a child better capable to handle stress in later years. How parents raise their children influences how they will turn out (Begley, p. 53). Surprisingly, a new debate is taking place. As the author of The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do; Parents Matter Less Than You Think and Peers Matter More, Judith Rich Harris argues that parents have absolutely no say in what kind of children they raise. She claims that after the parents contribute an egg or sperm filled with DNA, their job of â€Å"creating† a child is complete. Her book is backed by some 750 references, but most of her conclusions come from the observation of her own two daughters; one her own and one adopted (Begley, p. 53). Parents, however, do play an important role in childhood development. For the purposes of this essay, her theory that parents have no lasting effects on a child's personality will be argued. The following contains supporting scientific evidence. The DNA structure of a human, the genes, determines the height a person will reach, whether an individual's eyes will be green or brown, and if a person's hair will be straight or curly (Saplosky, p. 44). Research has also found that genes are 30 to 70 percent responsible for personality traits such as aggression, passion, shyness and intelligence. The other 30 to 70 percent of a person's personality develop from the environment (Pool, p. 2). Genes, however, are not what produces a behavior, an emotion, or even a thought. Instead, genes produce a protein that contains hormones, which carry messages between cells, and neurotransmitters that carry messages between nerve cells. The protein also contains receptors that receive the hormonal and neurotransmitter messages as well as enzymes that read the messages. So what does all this have to do with behavior? Well, the hormone does not cause a behavior either, but rather a reaction. This reaction is a tendency to respond to the individual's environment in a certain way. This response is behavior. Without the ever changing environment, behavior would not happen (Saplosky, p. 42-43). Wouldn't this fact make everyone act the same? Everyone lives in the same world. Everyone is facing the same problems of a growing population, pollution, and disintegrating resources. Wouldn't this make everyone act the same? Not at all. When speaking of the environment that shapes a person's personality, it isn't the environment that the world population shares. It includes more personal things like birth order and personal, unique life experiences. This is the â€Å"environment† that influences behavior. Things like the pollution leave no lasting effect on a child's behavior (Pool, p. 52). Everyone's genes also differ. Of the DNA found in every human being, only 5% can be coded and used to determine which proteins will be used. The other 95% of non coded DNA is used as a instruction manual for the operator. The environment being the operator which regulates the genes. In turn, a personality is produced. As well as having different genes to produce different proteins, the proteins produce hormones at different levels. For example, two people both have the same functioning gene. The hormones produced are the same, but function at different levels. Therefore, one of them may become more prone to depression than the other simply because the proteins in that person's genes function, in a sense, better (Sapolsky, p. 46). Parents can not determine whether or not their family history of shyness is passed on to their children, but they can determine if they are going to let it control their childrens' life. Studies done by Harvard scholar Jerome Kagan prove that parents who push their timid children to try new things end up with children who are far less fearful. On the other hand, overprotective parents did nothing to ease their childrens' discomfort. Intervention studies, studies similar to Kagan's, have shown that parents who purposely change their behavior can change their child's behavior. Although genes cannot be helped, parents can control whether or not they affect the child (Begley, p. 56). Research has also found that a child's experience of his or her parents is an especially strong sculptor in parts of the brain involved with emotion, personality, and behavior. Strong bonds with parents are found to increase a child's ability to learn and cope with stress. On the other hand, abusive parents raise children that in later years grow to express inappropriate aggression and have a small attention span. Having responsive, sensitive parents inspire trust and secure attachments. Yet, insensitive and withdrawn parents create an insecure attachment. Developmental psychologists agree, the bond children have with parents is essential for them to become well-functioning adults (Wright, p. 76). Megan Gunnar, a developmental psychologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, studies relationships between parents and children. One of her studies focused on the relationship between attachment security and reaction to stress. Gunnar found that when infants were exposed to stressful situations, such as vaccinations, strangers, or separation from the mother, the stress hormone cortisol was produced. By the age of two, the hormone wasn't produced by the toddlers in stressful situations, although they acted out as if it were. These children, however, had secure attachments to their parents. Children who didn't have the security still produced the hormone cortisol (Wright, p. 76). Harris, who feels parents leave no impression on their children, believes that â€Å"Parental divorce has no lasting effects on the way children behave† (Begley, p. 56). Heredity, she says, is what makes a child act out about or during a divorce. The fact, though, is that the unstable situation of the family causes a child to act out (Edwards, p. 31). For a child, friends, pets, teachers, and others important people may come and go. Parents and their family, however, should always be there for them. When parents divorce, a child may feel lost and may not know how to handle it (Edwards, p. 31). Acting out is one way of showing anger and hurt. Parents, although they don't realize it, are shaping their child's personality. Whether it is by acting out or holding it all in, children are influenced by their parent's actions. Kids will be kids. It's a common phrase. Everybody uses it, but not everybody understands it. Parents often feel that, despite their efforts, their children will do what they want. They'll smoke and drink and party. They'll cuss and cheat. They'll go against their parents wishes. Why? Because human behavior often follows cultural norms (Pinker, p. 94). If the parents did their job well, the rebellion will only be a stage that the child will grow out of. If parents didn't do their job right, the stage may set the mood for the rest of the child's life. Parents are the most influential â€Å"environmental† factors in a child's behavior. A special bond is shared between children and their parents. As Roger Rosenblatt put it, â€Å"We do what we can as parents, one child at a time. We take what we get in our children, and they take what they get in us, making compromises and adjustments where we are able, making rules and explanations, but for the most part letting things happen. . . † (Rosenblatt, p. 90). Genes may determine the possibilities of personality available, but it is the parents that make those possibilities possible. Parents matter. Bibliography: Arkinson, Rita L. â€Å"Psychological Development† Introduction to Psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. , 1993. Begley, Sharon. â€Å"The Parent Trap,† Newsweek, (September 7, 1998). p. 52-59. Edwards, Randall. Divorce Need Not Harm Children. † in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Bender, David and Leone, Bruno, Series Editors. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Kevles, Behhyann H. and Daniel J. â€Å"Scapegoat Biology. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 58-62. Pinker, Steven. â€Å"Against Nature. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 92-95. Pool, Robert. â⠂¬Å"Portrait of a Gene Guy. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 51-55. Rosenblatt, Roger. â€Å"A Game of Catch,† Time, Vol. 152 (July 13, 1998). p. 90. Sapolsky, Robert. â€Å"A Gene For Nothing,† Discover, (October 1997). p. 40-46. Waldman, Steven. â€Å"Divorce Harms Children. † in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Nature vs. Nurture Nature Vs. Nurture For centuries psychologists have argued over which plays the larger role in child development, heredity or environment. One of the first theories was proposed in the seventeenth century by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke believed that a child was born with an empty mind, tabula rasa (meaning â€Å"blank slate†) and that everything the child learns comes from experience, nothing is established beforehand. Years later, Charles Darwin brought forth his theory of evolution, which led to a return of the hereditarian viewpoint. With the twentieth century, however, came the rise of behaviorism. Behaviorists, like John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, argued that a child can be made into any kind of person, regardless of their heredity. Today, most psychologists agree that both nature (genes) and nurture (environment) play an important role, not independently, but as they interact together (Atkinson, p. 72). One of the most important factors believed to influence a child are parents. Parents are known to share a distinctive bond with their children. This special bond is what enables parents to shape their children. Whether it is into free-willed adolescents, ready to challenge any controversy, or into caring adults willing to spend the seventy cents a day to save a poverty stricken child. Parents have the power to mold their children. Setting firm, yet sensible, guidelines teaches children discipline and good behavior. Using physical abuse produces aggressive children, but having patience and understanding leaves a child better capable to handle stress in later years. How parents raise their children influences how they will turn out (Begley, p. 53). Surprisingly, a new debate is taking place. As the author of The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do; Parents Matter Less Than You Think and Peers Matter More, Judith Rich Harris argues that parents have absolutely no say in what kind of children they raise. She claims that after the parents contribute an egg or sperm filled with DNA, their job of â€Å"creating† a child is complete. Her book is backed by some 750 references, but most of her conclusions come from the observation of her own two daughters; one her own and one adopted (Begley, p. 53). Parents, however, do play an important role in childhood development. For the purposes of this essay, her theory that parents have no lasting effects on a child's personality will be argued. The following contains supporting scientific evidence. The DNA structure of a human, the genes, determines the height a person will reach, whether an individual's eyes will be green or brown, and if a person's hair will be straight or curly (Saplosky, p. 44). Research has also found that genes are 30 to 70 percent responsible for personality traits such as aggression, passion, shyness and intelligence. The other 30 to 70 percent of a person's personality develop from the environment (Pool, p. 2). Genes, however, are not what produces a behavior, an emotion, or even a thought. Instead, genes produce a protein that contains hormones, which carry messages between cells, and neurotransmitters that carry messages between nerve cells. The protein also contains receptors that receive the hormonal and neurotransmitter messages as well as enzymes that read the messages. So what does all this have to do with behavior? Well, the hormone does not cause a behavior either, but rather a reaction. This reaction is a tendency to respond to the individual's environment in a certain way. This response is behavior. Without the ever changing environment, behavior would not happen (Saplosky, p. 42-43). Wouldn't this fact make everyone act the same? Everyone lives in the same world. Everyone is facing the same problems of a growing population, pollution, and disintegrating resources. Wouldn't this make everyone act the same? Not at all. When speaking of the environment that shapes a person's personality, it isn't the environment that the world population shares. It includes more personal things like birth order and personal, unique life experiences. This is the â€Å"environment† that influences behavior. Things like the pollution leave no lasting effect on a child's behavior (Pool, p. 52). Everyone's genes also differ. Of the DNA found in every human being, only 5% can be coded and used to determine which proteins will be used. The other 95% of non coded DNA is used as a instruction manual for the operator. The environment being the operator which regulates the genes. In turn, a personality is produced. As well as having different genes to produce different proteins, the proteins produce hormones at different levels. For example, two people both have the same functioning gene. The hormones produced are the same, but function at different levels. Therefore, one of them may become more prone to depression than the other simply because the proteins in that person's genes function, in a sense, better (Sapolsky, p. 46). Parents can not determine whether or not their family history of shyness is passed on to their children, but they can determine if they are going to let it control their childrens' life. Studies done by Harvard scholar Jerome Kagan prove that parents who push their timid children to try new things end up with children who are far less fearful. On the other hand, overprotective parents did nothing to ease their childrens' discomfort. Intervention studies, studies similar to Kagan's, have shown that parents who purposely change their behavior can change their child's behavior. Although genes cannot be helped, parents can control whether or not they affect the child (Begley, p. 56). Research has also found that a child's experience of his or her parents is an especially strong sculptor in parts of the brain involved with emotion, personality, and behavior. Strong bonds with parents are found to increase a child's ability to learn and cope with stress. On the other hand, abusive parents raise children that in later years grow to express inappropriate aggression and have a small attention span. Having responsive, sensitive parents inspire trust and secure attachments. Yet, insensitive and withdrawn parents create an insecure attachment. Developmental psychologists agree, the bond children have with parents is essential for them to become well-functioning adults (Wright, p. 76). Megan Gunnar, a developmental psychologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, studies relationships between parents and children. One of her studies focused on the relationship between attachment security and reaction to stress. Gunnar found that when infants were exposed to stressful situations, such as vaccinations, strangers, or separation from the mother, the stress hormone cortisol was produced. By the age of two, the hormone wasn't produced by the toddlers in stressful situations, although they acted out as if it were. These children, however, had secure attachments to their parents. Children who didn't have the security still produced the hormone cortisol (Wright, p. 76). Harris, who feels parents leave no impression on their children, believes that â€Å"Parental divorce has no lasting effects on the way children behave† (Begley, p. 56). Heredity, she says, is what makes a child act out about or during a divorce. The fact, though, is that the unstable situation of the family causes a child to act out (Edwards, p. 31). For a child, friends, pets, teachers, and others important people may come and go. Parents and their family, however, should always be there for them. When parents divorce, a child may feel lost and may not know how to handle it (Edwards, p. 31). Acting out is one way of showing anger and hurt. Parents, although they don't realize it, are shaping their child's personality. Whether it is by acting out or holding it all in, children are influenced by their parent's actions. Kids will be kids. It's a common phrase. Everybody uses it, but not everybody understands it. Parents often feel that, despite their efforts, their children will do what they want. They'll smoke and drink and party. They'll cuss and cheat. They'll go against their parents wishes. Why? Because human behavior often follows cultural norms (Pinker, p. 94). If the parents did their job well, the rebellion will only be a stage that the child will grow out of. If parents didn't do their job right, the stage may set the mood for the rest of the child's life. Parents are the most influential â€Å"environmental† factors in a child's behavior. A special bond is shared between children and their parents. As Roger Rosenblatt put it, â€Å"We do what we can as parents, one child at a time. We take what we get in our children, and they take what they get in us, making compromises and adjustments where we are able, making rules and explanations, but for the most part letting things happen. . . † (Rosenblatt, p. 90). Genes may determine the possibilities of personality available, but it is the parents that make those possibilities possible. Parents matter. Bibliography: Arkinson, Rita L. â€Å"Psychological Development† Introduction to Psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. , 1993. Begley, Sharon. â€Å"The Parent Trap,† Newsweek, (September 7, 1998). p. 52-59. Edwards, Randall. Divorce Need Not Harm Children. † in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Bender, David and Leone, Bruno, Series Editors. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Kevles, Behhyann H. and Daniel J. â€Å"Scapegoat Biology. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 58-62. Pinker, Steven. â€Å"Against Nature. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 92-95. Pool, Robert. â⠂¬Å"Portrait of a Gene Guy. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 51-55. Rosenblatt, Roger. â€Å"A Game of Catch,† Time, Vol. 152 (July 13, 1998). p. 90. Sapolsky, Robert. â€Å"A Gene For Nothing,† Discover, (October 1997). p. 40-46. Waldman, Steven. â€Å"Divorce Harms Children. † in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Nature vs. Nurture Nature Vs. Nurture For centuries psychologists have argued over which plays the larger role in child development, heredity or environment. One of the first theories was proposed in the seventeenth century by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke believed that a child was born with an empty mind, tabula rasa (meaning â€Å"blank slate†) and that everything the child learns comes from experience, nothing is established beforehand. Years later, Charles Darwin brought forth his theory of evolution, which led to a return of the hereditarian viewpoint. With the twentieth century, however, came the rise of behaviorism. Behaviorists, like John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, argued that a child can be made into any kind of person, regardless of their heredity. Today, most psychologists agree that both nature (genes) and nurture (environment) play an important role, not independently, but as they interact together (Atkinson, p. 72). One of the most important factors believed to influence a child are parents. Parents are known to share a distinctive bond with their children. This special bond is what enables parents to shape their children. Whether it is into free-willed adolescents, ready to challenge any controversy, or into caring adults willing to spend the seventy cents a day to save a poverty stricken child. Parents have the power to mold their children. Setting firm, yet sensible, guidelines teaches children discipline and good behavior. Using physical abuse produces aggressive children, but having patience and understanding leaves a child better capable to handle stress in later years. How parents raise their children influences how they will turn out (Begley, p. 53). Surprisingly, a new debate is taking place. As the author of The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do; Parents Matter Less Than You Think and Peers Matter More, Judith Rich Harris argues that parents have absolutely no say in what kind of children they raise. She claims that after the parents contribute an egg or sperm filled with DNA, their job of â€Å"creating† a child is complete. Her book is backed by some 750 references, but most of her conclusions come from the observation of her own two daughters; one her own and one adopted (Begley, p. 53). Parents, however, do play an important role in childhood development. For the purposes of this essay, her theory that parents have no lasting effects on a child's personality will be argued. The following contains supporting scientific evidence. The DNA structure of a human, the genes, determines the height a person will reach, whether an individual's eyes will be green or brown, and if a person's hair will be straight or curly (Saplosky, p. 44). Research has also found that genes are 30 to 70 percent responsible for personality traits such as aggression, passion, shyness and intelligence. The other 30 to 70 percent of a person's personality develop from the environment (Pool, p. 2). Genes, however, are not what produces a behavior, an emotion, or even a thought. Instead, genes produce a protein that contains hormones, which carry messages between cells, and neurotransmitters that carry messages between nerve cells. The protein also contains receptors that receive the hormonal and neurotransmitter messages as well as enzymes that read the messages. So what does all this have to do with behavior? Well, the hormone does not cause a behavior either, but rather a reaction. This reaction is a tendency to respond to the individual's environment in a certain way. This response is behavior. Without the ever changing environment, behavior would not happen (Saplosky, p. 42-43). Wouldn't this fact make everyone act the same? Everyone lives in the same world. Everyone is facing the same problems of a growing population, pollution, and disintegrating resources. Wouldn't this make everyone act the same? Not at all. When speaking of the environment that shapes a person's personality, it isn't the environment that the world population shares. It includes more personal things like birth order and personal, unique life experiences. This is the â€Å"environment† that influences behavior. Things like the pollution leave no lasting effect on a child's behavior (Pool, p. 52). Everyone's genes also differ. Of the DNA found in every human being, only 5% can be coded and used to determine which proteins will be used. The other 95% of non coded DNA is used as a instruction manual for the operator. The environment being the operator which regulates the genes. In turn, a personality is produced. As well as having different genes to produce different proteins, the proteins produce hormones at different levels. For example, two people both have the same functioning gene. The hormones produced are the same, but function at different levels. Therefore, one of them may become more prone to depression than the other simply because the proteins in that person's genes function, in a sense, better (Sapolsky, p. 46). Parents can not determine whether or not their family history of shyness is passed on to their children, but they can determine if they are going to let it control their childrens' life. Studies done by Harvard scholar Jerome Kagan prove that parents who push their timid children to try new things end up with children who are far less fearful. On the other hand, overprotective parents did nothing to ease their childrens' discomfort. Intervention studies, studies similar to Kagan's, have shown that parents who purposely change their behavior can change their child's behavior. Although genes cannot be helped, parents can control whether or not they affect the child (Begley, p. 56). Research has also found that a child's experience of his or her parents is an especially strong sculptor in parts of the brain involved with emotion, personality, and behavior. Strong bonds with parents are found to increase a child's ability to learn and cope with stress. On the other hand, abusive parents raise children that in later years grow to express inappropriate aggression and have a small attention span. Having responsive, sensitive parents inspire trust and secure attachments. Yet, insensitive and withdrawn parents create an insecure attachment. Developmental psychologists agree, the bond children have with parents is essential for them to become well-functioning adults (Wright, p. 76). Megan Gunnar, a developmental psychologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, studies relationships between parents and children. One of her studies focused on the relationship between attachment security and reaction to stress. Gunnar found that when infants were exposed to stressful situations, such as vaccinations, strangers, or separation from the mother, the stress hormone cortisol was produced. By the age of two, the hormone wasn't produced by the toddlers in stressful situations, although they acted out as if it were. These children, however, had secure attachments to their parents. Children who didn't have the security still produced the hormone cortisol (Wright, p. 76). Harris, who feels parents leave no impression on their children, believes that â€Å"Parental divorce has no lasting effects on the way children behave† (Begley, p. 56). Heredity, she says, is what makes a child act out about or during a divorce. The fact, though, is that the unstable situation of the family causes a child to act out (Edwards, p. 31). For a child, friends, pets, teachers, and others important people may come and go. Parents and their family, however, should always be there for them. When parents divorce, a child may feel lost and may not know how to handle it (Edwards, p. 31). Acting out is one way of showing anger and hurt. Parents, although they don't realize it, are shaping their child's personality. Whether it is by acting out or holding it all in, children are influenced by their parent's actions. Kids will be kids. It's a common phrase. Everybody uses it, but not everybody understands it. Parents often feel that, despite their efforts, their children will do what they want. They'll smoke and drink and party. They'll cuss and cheat. They'll go against their parents wishes. Why? Because human behavior often follows cultural norms (Pinker, p. 94). If the parents did their job well, the rebellion will only be a stage that the child will grow out of. If parents didn't do their job right, the stage may set the mood for the rest of the child's life. Parents are the most influential â€Å"environmental† factors in a child's behavior. A special bond is shared between children and their parents. As Roger Rosenblatt put it, â€Å"We do what we can as parents, one child at a time. We take what we get in our children, and they take what they get in us, making compromises and adjustments where we are able, making rules and explanations, but for the most part letting things happen. . . † (Rosenblatt, p. 90). Genes may determine the possibilities of personality available, but it is the parents that make those possibilities possible. Parents matter. Bibliography: Arkinson, Rita L. â€Å"Psychological Development† Introduction to Psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. , 1993. Begley, Sharon. â€Å"The Parent Trap,† Newsweek, (September 7, 1998). p. 52-59. Edwards, Randall. Divorce Need Not Harm Children. † in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Bender, David and Leone, Bruno, Series Editors. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Kevles, Behhyann H. and Daniel J. â€Å"Scapegoat Biology. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 58-62. Pinker, Steven. â€Å"Against Nature. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 92-95. Pool, Robert. â⠂¬Å"Portrait of a Gene Guy. † Discover, (October 1997). p. 51-55. Rosenblatt, Roger. â€Å"A Game of Catch,† Time, Vol. 152 (July 13, 1998). p. 90. Sapolsky, Robert. â€Å"A Gene For Nothing,† Discover, (October 1997). p. 40-46. Waldman, Steven. â€Å"Divorce Harms Children. † in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints.

Are Television, Movies, and Music Responsible for Teen Violence?

Are Television, Movies, and Music responsible for teen violence? Most people would like to know why violence among teens is rising. Most people blame parents for the way the child acts. Others blame the kids they’re around. In my opinion, I don’t think neither parents nor peers are to blame. The media is responsible for teen violence in our society. The media teaches teens that violence is acceptable. Children will try to imitate the things they see on television.For example in Toronto, a six year old boy wearing a Ninja Turtle costume stabbed his friend in the arm for not giving back a toy he had borrowed. When the child is young and watches shows that have violence in it like SpongeBob Square pants children will want more violence when they grow older. The more they grow the more violence they want. This makes them less sensitive to violence. Only 16% of shows actually show the long-term effects of violence. The other way media portrays violence is by music.Rappers li ke Eminem have violent lyrics. One example is when Eminem wanted to kill his wife and ask his daughter to help throw her mom in the bottom of the ocean because he made a bed at the bottom of the ocean. When reporters ask him why he has such violent lyrics he blames his alter ego Slim for everything that happens, with his family, and work, that is bad. â€Å"I do promote violence and I don't care. †-Eminem. Artists don’t get in trouble for the negative message they send to teens. Rap music puts teens at risk to get arrested 2. times more. 66% of 13- to 17-year-olds believe violence in music is partly responsible for violent crimes. Music has a big impact on a teenagers life it helps up when were down and to make us happy. The last way media portrays violence is in Video games. More than 70 percent of American teenage boys have played the violent and adult-rated Grand Theft Auto video games. This will make them more aggressive. This can cause teens to fight with their pe ers by using what they see in the game to attack their peers. 8 percent of games show aggression that went unpunished. Video games are a form of entertainment among youth. 70 percent of children from ages 2 to 18 have access to video games at home. Teens that aren’t exposed to violence in media will be less likely to have violent behaviors. If parents don’t allow their child to watch too much T. V and play less video games than they will be less likely to have violent behaviors. People say it’s not the media’s fault if that is true than whose fault is it?Most teens grow up with T. V. Violence on T. V starts off young and they grow up with it and the more they grow the more violence they want. Violence in the media has negative effects on children. For example it increases aggressiveness and anti-social behavior. It also increases their fear of becoming victims because they see what happens and they are scared if it will happen to them. In summation media is a major component in the upbringing of a child whether good or bad, the key to stopping it is to not purchase it.

The Reconstruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Reconstruction - Essay Example There were many challenges in the period trying to safeguard rights for African Americans leading to passage of various Acts and constitutional Amendments to guide the process. However, the aim of this paper is to compare the presidential and congressional Reconstruction and to develop a 3-point plan for Reconstruction which would have been more successful than the other plans. The main difference between presidential and congress plans was that the presidential plans were very lenient to the confederates contrary to what Radical Republicans expected. The Congressional Acts and Amendments were very stringent aimed at punishing the rebel states and especially the people in high ranks during the war. The 10% plan by Lincoln entailed pardoning those who swore allegiance to the union as well as the US constitution (Franklin 16). New governments were to be formed using new constitution and abolishment of slavery was a necessity for readmission to the union. Just like Lincoln, Johnson†™s plan was even more lenient. It involved pardoning those who took loyalty oaths except high ranking confederate political and military leaders (Ferrell 27). Though Republican and a Southerner by birth, Johnson loathed the wealthy planters as he believed they are the ones who led the secession of south. Those with property worth more than $ 20,000 were thus not allowed to take loyalty oaths and this meant they couldn’t hold public offices or vote. However, he did not address the plight of Freedmen giving room for southerners to establish Black Codes to limit black rights. Those states which created new governments were readmitted to the union on condition that they abolished slavery. The congressional plan was very radical. Republicans wanted to confiscate land of rebels and divide it among the Freedmen and the Freedmen bureau was entrusted with that task. The congress also refused to accept those elected from former confederate states in the congress especially former hig h ranking officers. The congress unlike Johnson was bent on securing rights and citizenship for former slaves thus passed the Civil Rights Act in 1866 that gave blacks equality under the law and due process of law. It also extended the life of Freedmen’s Bureau and overturned the Black Codes. To further black rights, the congress entrenched these rights in the constitution by passing the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the constitution. Fourteenth Amendment gave citizenship to freedmen, equal protection of law and due process of law. It was passed in 1868 and stated â€Å"all persons born or naturalized in the U.S and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of U.S and of state wherein they reside† (Foner 251). The Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 gave blacks suffrage and stated â€Å"the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account race, color, or previous condition of servitude† (Ferrell 41). However , it did not guarantee voting as states could still deny blacks right to vote based on other criteria such as poll tax. Besides, gangs like Ku Klux Klan could not allow to them to vote thus unleashed terror on them. States had to ratify both amendments to be readmitted to the union. Besides the two amendments, the congress also devised Reconstruction Acts in 1867 to act as its plan for Reconstruction. Under these four acts, the remaining ten former confederate states which had not ratified the fourteenth Amendment

You need to answer the following question in the instruction Assignment

You need to answer the following question in the instruction - Assignment Example It is assumed that she is working at Dream Group for more than four years. It is assumed that Sarah has been continually employed with no significant breaks by the Dream Group on a fixed-term contract after 10th July 2002. In such scenario, she should make a protest for change of her employment status to a casual worker. She should ask Dream Group to serve a statement corroborating that Sarah is now a permanent employee. If Sarah’s employer fails to serve a statement or served a statement of reason that they would keep her only on fixed terms’ contract, and if she is aggrieved over it, she can make a claim to an Employment Tribunal for breaching the terms of the employment contract (Furber 2011). Sarah may request the management to provide her work in one of the hotels in the group which is adjacent to her home or to provide flexible working hours to take her child’s educational requirements. In Brennan v Park Vista Care Homes Ltd (ET/3401225/13, 26 Jun 2014), EAT held that there was no legitimate aim in turning down flexible working hour (Equal Opportunity Review 2013). Sarah can demonstrate that the scheme (with no hours of work set) would disadvantage her in that way as well. However, Dreams Ltd may show that the scheme is an impartial way of accomplishing a genuine business aim. As held in Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes UKEAT/0434/13, this should be based on a fair and detailed analysis of the working practices and business considerations (Employment Opportunity Review 2013). In â€Å"Khan v. NIC Hygiene ET† (case no 1803250/04), where a Muslim employee was prohibited from completing his Haji, once in a lifetime commitment for a Muslim, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca was a religious discrimination as held by EAT (Meer 2010:197). In Abdirsak Aden & Mahamed Hasan v Tesco, Bedford EAT on 3rd October 2013 held that the act of managers of Tesco, who locked the prayer room meant for Muslim employees and asked them to sign in/out when they

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a federal system of Research Paper

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a federal system of government Is it better than a unitary system of government Why or why not Be specific - Research Paper Example There is another advantage that states are able to settle its own policies and regulation to govern themselves, this system ensures government to remain close with people so they can be acquainted with necessitate and wants of the people. The weakness of this system is that there is a different system and each state government that can lead to over-lapping contradictory policies in various parts of the country. This system creates inequality between the states and this may steer the states to unhealthy hostility among them. Misuse of power can lead governments to corruption and in federal system corruption is very frequently practiced. (Baluyot) In unitary system, political and governing power resides with central government. In this system the central government usually delegates command to sub-national units and guide policy verdicts for implementation. This system is in contrast of federal system (K). Federal government system is better than a unitary government system because it has multiple hierarchy levels with central and local authority, also the central policy dominates over state policy and it is shared between national and local levels. But in unitary government there is no hierarchy of independent powers, states have no authority to pass their own laws, central government is the sole power to issue directives to do

Write a paper which reflects your understanding of the relation Essay

Write a paper which reflects your understanding of the relation between religious views of creation and the way that humans based on these views think - Essay Example The definite stand of Christian left for instance, is to go for same-sex marriage, has become controversial, contrary to the Christian right’s beliefs, but this group has remarkable explanation appealing to the human intellect and reason for justification. According to the Christian left, God has created everyone equal and it is the ultimate goal of Jesus Christ to liberate the oppressed and give freedom to those who are in bondage of sin. From their own interpretation of some Biblical texts associated with this thought, Christian left remakably reflected that Jesus would want to end the oppression against the third gender, and so legalizing the same-sex marriage as they believe would substantially end the repression against the homosexuals. Christian views nowadays are therefore trying to create a way to justify the human actions, unlike from the past which the literal interpretation of the Bible was most likely emphasized. Today, Christian views are still remarkably placing higher authority on God’s Word, but some views are susceptible to create justification leading to the belief system that is highly intellectualize and rich in substantial reasons. However, no matter how diverse these doctrines are, Christians have been united with the basic idea that God from the start would want to ensure a good plan for his creation, but as the humanity failed, he wants restoration and this was made possible through the death of Christ at the cross. This is the basic foundation of the Christian belief, as Christians remain to believe that God is the ultimate creator and source of everything. Furthermore, as creator of all things, God allows calamities at present to inflict remarkable consequences and pains on the humanity. A Christian view concerning this may lead to the very characteristic Jesus would want to show to the mankind. With his

Organizational development and strategies common to Essay

Organizational development and strategies common to technology-intensive enterprises - Essay Example The procedure of organizational improvement starts with an intensive association-wide examination of the current circumstance and of future necessities. The principle motivation behind the change is the obtaining of new markets, innovation and directions by the association because of the requesting outside condition. Organizational techniques are normal approach utilized by associations to motivate the improvement culture to the proposed representatives. Prior to the advancement happens, determination of the entire circumstance ought to be done to help the association call attention to the conceivable issues. This can be accomplished through the sourcing of an outer master who can inspect the association's objectives, plans, structures, mission, and advances to decide the adequacy of the action. The association can in this way proceed with tending to the principal intercessions through the action plan. Intercession comes in where change stages are sequenced, advance is observed and r esponsibility of partner is supported. The last stride of assessment will be actualized to gage the achievement and effect of the change grasped. To aggregate it all, the achievement of an association relying upon the organizational improvement is exceptionally considered. Organizational advancement is subsequently an analytical procedure that prompts to enhanced efficiency, practices or execution through a plan of group exercises and organized individual concentrating on how and what workers do in the association.

Smart Growth Anthony Flint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smart Growth Anthony Flint - Essay Example Planning for the growth of contemporary towns entails early preparation of its entire infrastructure. Urban developers focus on the developments of their towns in aspects that will enhance growth. Sustainability is a significant element during planning for the growth of cities. This is because planners succeed when they ensure that their infrastructure is sustainable. This also implies that appropriate leadership ensures that planning of any project benefits several people. This kind of leadership is likely to establish several policies that facilitate development of practical procedures. For example, the political leadership of a state could create policies that encourage its entire citizenry to acknowledge the value of development. Such policies include the establishment of commissions that focus on developmental issues. The commissions also identify suitable human resources that will ensure the design of creative plans (Randall & Weber 78). There is need for proper legislation that will enable the entire planning of modern towns to be effective. Such legislation is effective because it passes Acts that tend to support the growth of infrastructure. The presence of growth management plans is an essential inclusion in planning strategies. This is because the plans help experts to ensure there is a systematic execution of appropriate strategies that enhance development. These strategies include intentional initiatives that attempt to assess the potential development of infrastructure in several places. Others include the preservation of landscapes that is funded by transfer of taxes from estates. The issue of taxes is fundamental because it helps planners have adequate funds for their various operations. Insufficient funds tend to derail all the procedures that attempt to grow modern towns (Williams 49). Incentives are fascinating ways of encouraging both experts and citizens to

Kentucky Fried Chicken Business Expansion Marketing Plan Case Study - 3

Kentucky Fried Chicken Business Expansion Marketing Plan - Case Study Example The research design will be based on a random sample and small community that has a KFC located nearby. The qualitative and quantitative research will define the overall trends on a global level, they will focus on a survey sample to identify why KFC is experiencing changes within the franchise. The benefit of this will provide KFC with a new marketing approach that will help to expand their services as a leading fast food restaurant. KFC, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, first opened its doors in 1930, beginning at the Great Depression. The first restaurant opened in Corbin, Kentucky, and was then known as Sanders Court and Cafà ©, named after the founder, Harland Sanders. By 1936, Sanders was named a Colonel for the cuisine and was able to expand his restaurant to include more recipes and a higher amount of traffic. By 1940, the original recipe, which is one of the secret ingredients of the chicken was introduced, which instantly led to the widespread popularity of the restaurant and the kitchen. In 1955, Sanders began to sell his recipe to other restaurants to pay off debts, which led to the opening of KFC in 1957. By 1960, KFC became a franchise and grew into a national commodity with some of the best-known chicken, which quickly grew into restaurants in Canada and in Europe. By 1982, KFC became a subsidiary of R.J. Reynolds Industries and was able to be a part of fast food chains known internationally, such as Taco Bell. The popularity of KFC continued to grow with several newer recipes, including â€Å"finger-lick in' good† chicken recipes and new options for low fat and healthy options for the different menu items (KFC, 2010). The changes in KFC and the building of this brand have allowed the corporation to become one of the most popular alternatives for those that enjoy chicken. This particular brand stands apart from others because of the ability to offer chicken as the main menu item.

Finance Manager in Home and Personal Care Products Essay - 37

Finance Manager in Home and Personal Care Products - Essay Example The researcher states that while investigating the financial activities and the operations of the newly acquired company, she found out that the company had issues with appropriate accounting practices that were geared towards inflating sales and earnings of workers. Most conspicuously, the company was involved in the very expensive commercial aimed at marketing and creating awareness of the company. The expenses were exorbitantly high amounting to millions of dollar. Secondly, the company had a number of assets without a clear list of their nature. However, on the deeper examination of these assets, she found out that, the controversial and expensive commercials were among the assets. To deal with the issues, Lisa as a finance manager had to follow the right procedure in solving an ethical issue as presented by IMA. To do so, she went on to Anderson, who was her immediate supervisor in the newly acquired company. Before doing the visit, she prepared herself adequately well with the plan of valuations of the parent company. The plan was supposed to inform Anderson on the requirement of the mergers and acquired the company by the mother company’s policy on a valuation of her assets and financial control at large. However, to her surprise, Anderson did not pay much attention to the plan that was fundamental in harmonizing the organization with the operation of the parent company. The issue at hand juts needed the intervention of the chief financial officer of the newly acquired company Anderson, to be resolved by providing clear information on the assets that the company held. This is because they are the major stakeholders of the stalemate that has been identified by Lisa. He rubbished the need of Lisa to gain more understanding of the other accrued liabilities. Anderson turns her down and insists that it is none of her business. Anderson is quick to assert that Lisa does not understand and comprehend the business, and the journal entries are standard pra ctice. He claims that if Lisa understood the nature of uncertainty of the prestige fragrance business, she would be able to go in line with what the company wants.

Cipd Recording Essay Example for Free

Cipd Recording Essay Organisations need to collect data in order to comply with regulations such as minimum wage, working time directive, health and safety and even health and safety. 2) Keeping training and performance records on employees enables management to assess individual productivity and performance and allows them to help the employee reach there full potential and in turn increase productivity. Two Types Of Data Collected and How Each Supports HR Practices 1) Statutory Records Such as tax, national insurance contributions, sickness and SSP, hours worked and accident book. These types of records ensure that the HR department complies with all regulatory requirements 2) Organisational Records – Such as Recruitment and Selection records, absence, staff turnover records, learning and development records. These types of records are essential for the HR department and allows them to monitor staffing levels and recruit when necessary, monitor staff sickness to ensure productivity is not being affected and also to if there is anything the organization can do to cut down on sickness levels and records to ensure that staff are maintaining a high level of efficiency through learning and development activities. Two Methods of storing records and benefits of each Manual System: Filing Cabinet – Files are easily accessible and doesn’t require a computer to be turned on. Manual system cannot be affected by loss of power or hackers cannot access a manual filing system from another computer Computerised System: The benefits of a computerised filing system are numerous, and include reduced costs to the company, benefits to the environment, increased ease of sorting, finding, and moving documents. Another benefit is that it allows the office to operate in a smaller environment, because a great deal of space is not required for storing documents in a paper filing system. Two Essential Items of UK Legislation relating to Recording and Storing HR Data Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Act 1998 applies to most personnel records, whether held in paper or computerised format. Under the Data Protection Act, data must not be kept any longer than is necessary for a particular purpose. Computerised systems are covered by the law, as are certain manual systems: to be covered, manual systems must be organised into a relevant filing system. Subject to certain exceptions as detailed in Schedule 7 of the Data Protection Act, employees have the right to access their records and the employer is under an obligation to ensure that the data is accurate. Before releasing such data to a third party, the employer must seek the permission of the individual concerned. The Information Commissioner has issued an Employment Practices Data Protection Code in four parts: †¢ Part 1: Recruitment and selection †¢ Part 2: Employment records †¢ Part 3: Monitoring at work †¢ Part 4: Information about workers health. In the event that employment contracts/accident record books and other personnel records are needed for the purpose of a legal action, the riginals must be made available if possible  or the employer must explain what happened to the original documents backed up by what is known as a statement of truth. When employers really no longer need to keep certain data, destruction must take place securely and effectively, for example by shredding. Freedom of Information Act (2000) NI The Freedom Of Information Act gives people the right to ask any public body for information they have on any subject you choose. Also, unless theres a good reason, the organisation must provide the information within 20 working days. You can also ask for all the personal information it holds on you. The act applies to all public authorities including: †¢ government departments and the Northern Ireland Assembly †¢ local authorities †¢ health trusts, hospitals and doctors surgeries †¢ schools, colleges and universities †¢ publicly funded museums †¢ the police †¢ many other non-departmental public bodies, committees and advisory bodies Any person can make a request for information under the Act there is no restrictions on your age, nationality, or where you live. You can ask for any information at all but some information might be withheld to protect various interests which are allowed for by the Act. If this is the case, the public authority must tell you why they have withheld information. If you ask for information about yourself, then your request will be handled under the Data Protection Act; if you ask for information about other people (third parties), the Freedom of Information Act will apply. However, disclosure of personal information which would breach anyone elses rights under the Data Protection Act is not permitted.

Juvenile Justice Essay Example for Free

Juvenile Justice Essay Crimes are usually assumed to have been committed by adults, unfortunately, in today’s society; crimes are committed by juveniles at a growing rate. Maybe juveniles are viewing too many violent television shows or movies, playing too many violent video games, or maybe juveniles are committing crimes out of boredom. Nevertheless, the pertinent issue is the fact that juveniles are participating in the commission of criminal activity at an adult level. Juveniles are no longer stealing candy bars from the local grocery store, but they are committing violent crimes against other people. Even more astounding is the fact that these same juvenile offenders are walking away with only probation as their punishment. For the most part, juveniles commit offenses pertaining to property, public nuisances, and underage drug and alcohol related crimes. Violent crimes against other persons such as assault and battery and murder are now included in the list of crimes committed by juveniles (Torbet, 1996). In order to understand why specific crimes are committed, one must carefully examine the juvenile offender. Juvenile offenders are both male and female. Some come from broken or single-parent homes lacking adequate supervision of the juvenile during the evening hours. Some juveniles are suffering from an undiagnosed psychological disorder whereby making it difficult for the juvenile to understand the consequences of his or her criminal actions. Finally, some juveniles have become associated with local gangs or gang members as a means of joining the group. Probation is a necessary factor within the juvenile justice system. There is however, the lingering question as to what crimes constitute a probationary sentence and what crimes mandate incarceration. First time offenders have almost always been guaranteed probation as a means of scaring the juvenile into straightening out their life (Gaines Miller, 2008). Juveniles having committed petty larceny, underage drinking violations, and simple assaults may also be good candidates for probation, but juveniles who have committed felonies should not be afforded probation. Juvenile probation enacts specific mandates in order to retrain and discipline the offender for his or her wrongdoing against society. Community service and attending school are most common requirements of probation. Some courts even order the juvenile to pay restitution to the victims. Curfews are strictly enforced as are daily or weekly reporting to the assigned probation officer (Torbet, 1996). In certain cases, substance abuse counseling and attending groups such as narcotics anonymous or alcoholics anonymous are provisioned. Counseling is generally enforced as a condition of probation and may include anger management classes and social skills building therapy (Gaines Miller, 2008). If a juvenile fails to meet any provisions set forth by the probation officer, the juvenile’s probation could ultimately be revoked. It is difficult to combat or devise a universal solution to the juvenile delinquency problem in this country. Many programs have been created in order to aid the juvenile justice system by attempting to discourage repeat offenders. Some courts may find it necessary to require random urinalysis screenings of any or all juvenile offenders. Juvenile probation officers may discover in the course of monitoring certain juveniles that family counseling may be necessary in order to provide the juvenile with structure and stability. In more severe cases, it could be suggested that the juvenile may need to be removed from the home and placed into foster care in order to protect the juvenile from imminent danger created by addicted parents or crime filled neighborhoods. The juvenile justice system is in dire need of reorganization, and the best starting point would definitely be in the juvenile probation department.

The Modern Theory Of Business Strategy Business Essay

The Modern Theory Of Business Strategy Business Essay Strategizing is much more than just visioning, forecasting, planning and reviewing. In the new rapidly changing economy, all important tasks of strategy have been redefined as issues of implementation. These days strategizing is concerned with the match between the internal capabilities of the company and its external environment. The modern subject of business strategy is a set of analytic tools techniques for understanding better, and so influencing, a companys position in its actual and potential marketplace. As strategy today is a subject of application; the obvious key disciplines for strategy are economics and organizational culture. One needs to employ them to define a structure in which the process of strategy formulation and its implementation are bound together. Putting it simply, strategy refers to the technique or direction one would adopt in achieving a certain objective. For business purposes, objectives are usually more precisely defined using numerical values 10% increase in sales in the next year could be an example of a business objective (sales). Objectives differ depending upon the conditions one may find himself in and therefore would result in the adoption of varied strategies. Business strategy refers to the combined strategies of single business firm or a strategic business unit (SBU) in a diversified corporation. A firm must devise a business strategy that incorporates either cost leadership, differentiation or focus and the like in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term success in its areas or industries. 1b) How strategy can be constructed and carried out effectively, even by small businesses? There could be political strategies, business strategies, social strategies and so on. It is nothing but natural for strategies to differ in matter but they all share some common issues that get addressed in the process. So, in order to work on strategic substance it is imperative to understand the issues that need to be answered in our strategic choices. Firstly, strategies are to be thought of in long term basis. Strategies are formed keeping in mind the vision of an organization that helps further decide the direction to be taken. Vision is basically the broad reason for an organizations existence. This being the first structural block. Secondly, strategies are formulated under the characteristics of an organizations strengths and weaknesses. The resources and competencies of a firm help define and shape the variety of strategic choices available to the management to choose from. This forms the second major structural block and alongside the first lays the basic foundation for strategy formation. The rest is basically a web where we need to analyse the current domain of the organizations activities and possible future expansion, the culture of the organization, the values and expectations of stakeholders, the operational and business environment and the competition. Once this analysis is done, strategies can be derived that help to provide a competitive advantage in the current environment after considering its expected future outcome. This aspect is very important as strategies cannot be altered time and again. They should keep room for a little change as they have to stand the test of time and therefore need to be aligned correspondingly to dynamic business environments. To sum it up, strategies are essentially long term choices of an organization that define the manner in which competitive advantage shall be obtained, alongside the fulfillment of stakeholders expectations, within the boundaries of the organizations strengths and weaknesses. Evidently, the process of developing strategies is a tedious one and requires concrete analysis of many inter-related factors. It is extremely complex and has an inherent uncertainty about its conception. However, a careful analysis of the business environment including that of competitors can greatly reduce this complexity. As a strategy developer one has to be in harmony with the vagueness of the opportunity costs for a particular strategic choice and once decided, should focus entirely on the chosen strategic direction. All actions are linked to the strategy of the organization and hence a thorough analysis of various direct and indirect factors is critical to its success. The most important strategic choice a small organization can make is prepare to do battle with the future, which includes five steps. Step 1: Anticipate both threats and windows of opportunities for the vision and mission of the organization. Step 2: Decide how to react to these emerging threats and opportunities. Step 3: Identify the source from which those risks and opportunities will come from. Step 4: Identify when the risks will hit or if the opportunity is really valuable. Step 5: Execute necessary actions to mitigate the threats or take advantage of the opportunities. Strategic planning for a small business doesnt have to be as formal, or as detailed as with a large company. The most important step to take is to strike up a discussion with your customers, employees, vendors, investors, and do your homework about your competitors. It helps to talk about your strategy with a partner, advisor, or trusted consultant to reduce ambiguity and bring some focus to your mind around the strategic issues that could impact your business in the future. The biggest mistake a small business owner can do for his organization is, be unprepared or surprised by unfolding future events. Even if he simply thinks things through in his mind and then briefly share his strategic choices or decisions with his employees, he will be ahead of the curve and enabling people to understand how they can connect with his strategy. For a small business working toward a strategic plan the one thing that can make a lot of difference is to commit all the strategic decision to paper. This is one move ahead of many of its competitors. Inviting the strongest employees to respond to the strategic issues, concerns and getting them involved so they feel some ownership in this simple process brings a clear and thorough insight into the strategic planning. Arranging a strategy adaptation meeting with all hands twice a year for a couple of hours to clarify the direction, make adjustments and respond to questions is yet another time-proven way of facing the changing business demographics. The strategic analysis should look at six aspects of the business. The customers: Figure out who your customers are now, who they will be in the future, how they are changing, and what they will want in the future. The people and talent: What skills and capabilities will be needed to address the threats and opportunities? How many people, what kind of new roles will be needed, how will peoples roles change in the future to handle the threats and grab the opportunities? Will the organization grow and are we developing the leadership to manage the changes coming? The Suppliers and Vendor: Can they give you what will be required to meet future challenges? Are there new offerings that can help you resolve your particular business issues? The Competitors: Who are the players in your market? What are the strengths they possess? How can you take advantage of their vulnerabilities with your unique capabilities? The Products and Services: Are you preparing something new and value added for your customers or users which enable them to be more productive? The Organizational infrastructure technology: What will the organization need to do differently in the future to keep up with new and emerging customers? Are you using technology to improve productivity? Strategy really isnt rocket science; rather it is a common sense and a willingness to ask some challenging questions and bringing the workable answers. Be willing to think it through, communicate with others, and solicit additional perspectives. Writing down the conclusions and sharing them with the rest of the organization. Lastly, issuing a call to work on strategic action each day to compliment the routine tactical work that has to be done to pay the bills and meet current obligations. All of the above help the small business stay ahead of the curve. 1c) The value of using key analytical tools to help in the strategy-making process Strategic Analysis This is all about analysing the strength of position of business and understanding the important external factors that may influence that position. The process of Strategic Analysis can be helped by a number of tools, including: PEST Analysis a technique for understanding the environmentin which a business operates [See Appendix A for details] Porters Five Forces Analysis a technique for identifying the forces which affect the level of competition within an industry [See Appendix A for details] Competitor Analysis a broad range of techniques and analysis that seeks to summarise a businessesoverall competitive position Critical Success Factor Analysis a technique to identify those key areas in which a business must outperform the competition in order to succeed SWOT Analysis a useful summary technique for summarising the key issues arising from an assessment of a businesses internalposition and externalenvironmental influences. Analytical methods and tools are key to ensuring that consistency and an appropriate level of rigour is applied to the analysis. The aim of the analytical tool is to intensify the focus of the analysis and to ensure a methodical and a balanced approach. All analytical tools rely on historical and statistical data to extrapolate future assumptions. It is important to exercise caution when interpreting strategic analysis results. Otherwise the analysis may be influenced by preconceived notions within the organisation which seek to validate a particular strategic assumption. One of the key skills of a strategic analyst is in understanding which analytical tools or techniques are most appropriate to the objectives of the analysis. One of the most common analytical tool used in devising a business strategy is SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis is a simple but widely used tool that helps in understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or business activity. It starts by defining the objective of the business activity and identifies the internal and external factors that are important to achieving that objective. strengths and weaknesses are usually internal to the organisation, while opportunities and threats are usually external. Often these are plotted on a simple 22 matrix. Strengths à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What does your organisation do better than others? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What are your unique selling points? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What do your competitors and customers in your market perceive as your strengths? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What is your organisations competitive edge? Opportunities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What political, economic, social-cultural, or technology (PEST) changes are taking place that could be favourable to you? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Where are there currently gaps in the market or unfulfilled demand? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What new innovation could your organisation bring to the market? Weakness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What do other organisations do better than you? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What elements of your business add little or no value? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What do competitors and customers in your market perceive as your weakness? Threats à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What political, economic, social-cultural, or technology (PEST) changes are taking place that could be unfavourable to you? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What restraints to you face? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What is your competition doing that could negatively impact you? 2) Based on the case study, carry out an analysis of Making It Bigs: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ strengths and weaknesses, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ opportunities and threats Strengths Making It Big has had wonderful years over the past couple of years. For the last 10 years MIB enjoyed steady average sales increase of 12%. This was made possible due to the fact that Cynthia, the owner of the business, contributed significant amount of her time and effort to keep the cash flow running. Cynthia learned the whole trade of a business at an early age and rode on the surge of the feminism movements. She was already mentally prepared and economically challenged to take on the risky path of setting up her own venture. Her earlier stint with Cheap Frills also enabled her to learn the tricks of trade and get really close to the suppliers, manufacturers, whole-sellers and customers. This proved to be a foundational platform that let her project her thoughts and evaluate an opportunity that can be filled. Hence, the birth of Making It Big took place. This opportunity was plus-size clothing manufacturing selling business. It was only possible for her to evaluate and pick such an opportunity because she was able to put herself in the shoes of the her potential customers. She, being a female and a fat one at that, helped her empathize her customers and bring to them a product that can truly add value to their lives. Besides, she had personal beliefs of strengthening fat women. For that she had to attend various seminars, feminism conferences, fashion shows and other such social events to market her clothing collection of the season as well as learning more about the reservations of her customers. She had to use these platforms to raise awareness and to strengthen the fat category of female population to lead a normal life. This step of approaching a new customer bracket is always risky and frought with FUD phenomena among customers. FUD phenomena also known as Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, leaves a whole set of problems of manufacturin g, marketing and selling for the niche to be addressed. It also turned out in the very beginning that no manufacturer is willing to accept orders to custom make plus-sized ladies garments for a new venture. To overcome these challenges, Cynthia needed a partner, an expert in the area of ladies garments manufacturing, a dedicated sales person, a manufacturing facility, long list of suppliers, transporters, sewing staff and other office personnel. Moreover, she was also supposed to raise awareness and market her products to the category of fat women who usually stay indoor. One of her strengths played in the initial stages of her setup was a brilliant discovery of an expert seamstress as a contractor who helped MIB hire/train more such experts. This solved a major issue of getting the staff ready to take on the challenges that may lay ahead. It has been observed over years that staffing alone can take running businesses down if care is not taken and successful businesses have always invested largely on human resources functions. Therefore Cynthia focused on selecting and grooming a culture among employees who were hard-working and committed individuals. This strengthened the confidence of MIBs management on employees performance especially during times of tight money supply. This enables management to take sound decisions and face competition without fear of being wiped out. Another factor that improved the success rate of MIB tremendously was that Cynthia had two parallel businesses Cheap Frills and MIB running in parallel; with one complementing the other. In such circumstances, its easy to loose sight of the direction due to the division of owners attention. However, Cynthia managed it well and had highly motivated staff to take care of both of her businesses. This helped Cynthia maintain a healthy level of cash flow and also to acquire short-term credit from financial institution. Since, the two businesses were identical therefore there was also some overlap in their customers. Later on, when Cynthia dissolved one of her business, Cheap Frills, she was not only able to generate cash on liquidating its assets but she also converted it to MIBs warehouse. In short, running two businesses had a symbiotic relationship not parasitic and when she sold one of them it benefited the other even more. When it comes to manufacturing, MIB also met with a good luck in that it developed a product line that could carry over the season and still look new item because of different colors. This helped MIB manage SKUs and inventory at the very early stages of manufacturing. This also streamlined MIBs manufacturing processes so that the owner-manager could divert her attention on the more pressing tasks of sales and marketing. Another strength that MIB was successfully able to capitalize on was the idea of using various marketing channels; retail store ads, catalog for mail-in orders and a comprehensive website. Especially, when it comes to mail-in orders, Cynthia used a very unconventional approach of reaching out to the customer segment of fat women. This approach let MIB reach true potential customers, read fat women, rather than shot-gunning all the housholds in the area for search of potential customers. This caused MIB to develop strong relationship with new customers and repeat sales were possible apart from saving tremendous amounts of marketing budgets for a yet growing MIB. Weaknesses One of the biggest weaknesses that was figured out for MIB is the improvisational style of business that cannot cope with change. This style, although good for executing short-term goals while maintaining a tight grip on cash flow, is difficult to adapt to changing external factors. Cynthia, being the owner-manager, did not have a business degree to start with. She was working on her business purely through determination and intuition. This can bring short-term success but to really succeed in the global scale and expand the business beyond the territorial boundaries, one has to endeavour into the realm of experimentation and critical analysis of the various medium-term strategies and its market acceptance. Secondly, Cynthias partner Janet wasnt contributing much in the early days of MIB as a business startup. Although, she provided the much needed cash other financial help but she lacked dedication. This naturally led Cynthia to take on the role of both the partners and hence the role of strategist in MIB was lost forever. Had Janet been taking care of some of the daily sales and marketing matters then Cynthia would be in a better shape to use the above mentioned analytical tools to provide regular insight into business and the way to look forward to. This lack of strategic planning skills among the top management of MIB caused sales growth to come to stall. Another weakness cited in the case study was that MIB was serving a niche market. Niche markets are always a headache for sales and marketing professional. Customers, fat women staying indoors, were hard to find and their buying patterns, no prior experience or passion of shopping, caused MIB to look for alternate channels of marketing. The case study also points to a claim by industry experts that most retailers dont know how to sell to larger or fat customers. The reason for that was the buying behaviour of those customers in that those women were not working due to their hesitation of the social gathering in general. Thus those women were confined to the indoors and therefore they have to approached within the boundaries of their household. Even though MIB tried various marketing channels but they were still not their. The financial figures show that most of their sales were within their base state, California, and thus there was a huge market outside their base state that still needs to be accessed. Lastly, the case study reveals that MIB employees are over-worked so there is a chance of them leaving MIB despite of their loyalty. This problem is not limited to the leaving of managers only but also to all of the staff members within the organisation. Every year, industry experts quote a huge replacement cost associated with an employee. Therefore its in the best interest of firms to provide enough benefits and compliant human resource policies to retain existing employees. It has also been observed that small firms often make the mistake of not hiring enough employees matching the increase in their business activity. This ultimately leads to employees being overworked and eventually leaving the firm for one of their competitor with better work ethics. The weakness has also been found in MIBs case. Opportunities There are a lot of opportunities that MIB can exploit to project its sales and come out as a successful firm in the long run. In the very early days of MIB setting up its business, Cynthia developed a small line of credit with a bank to improve growth and opportunity. This is very important to enable a startup fulfill the orders that are beyond the financial capacity of the firm. This immediate or sometimes seasonal surge in sales can only be managed by taking short-term loans. MIB easily managed this opportunity and was able to keep sales growing at a steady rate of 12% over 10 years. Another opportunity that knocked on the MIBs door was the fact that Cynthia had no familiarity with mail-order business rules. Those rules were in fact good for marketing of only general household products but MIB was serving a niche market. Had Cynthia invested heavily in a certain mail-order marketing firm, it would have caused severe budgeting problems with no tangible impact on actual sales growth. That niche of a customer segment only stayed indoors and was not very easily approachable. Thus an unconventional approach helped MIB reach its true customers and enable it to cause recurring sales to existing customers. To reach those difficult to find customer, Cynthia regularly attended trade shows to keep up with the trends and new potential customers. This helped her stay in touch with few of her existing customers as well as attract new ones. Since, MIB needed brand awareness and brand recognition all throughout its lifespan apart from saving finances from huge marketing budgets therefore it was prudent to specifically target the potential customers in such events. Cashing on this opportunity caused MIB to stick in this niche marketplace. Another bright opportunity that was unveiled was that women plus-size market is growing in 2000s to $47 billion in 2005. MIB being an established player in this market only has to increase its capacity and reach out to customers. This rather unique opportunity that even the statistics agree is hard to miss for MIB. Moreover, careful strategic planning and evaluation of the outcome can result in tremendous growth of MIB in the years to come. Another NPD groups survey revealed 35% adult Americans as overweight and 26% as obese, 60% women wear 12 plus size and 16% teenage girls are overweight. This revelation is proof enough for Cynthia to invest in finding the right mix of short-term and long-term strategies to boost its sales and in the process increase market share. Thus there are ample growth opportunities that MIB needs to cash in and raise its business value. Threats There are numerous threats that were mentioned in the case study. However, how many of these MIB has been able to identify and take necessary steps is what we have yet to see. One of its competitor Charming Shoppes has a huge market share in plus size apparel industry. Charming Shoppes is acquiring its competitors and growing its business annually with billions of sales and thousands of retail outlets. Taking this competitor head on is difficult and unmanageable. However, the more troublesome situation is if Charming Shoppes shows interest in taking over MIB. Not only will this result in doubts among its customers, suppliers and other stakeholders but it will also create an environment of uncertainty among its employees. This will cause reduction in the productivity of its employees internally and loosing its sales instantly externally. This hostile bid may eventually result in Cynthia succumbing to pressure and even agreeing on weaker terms to sales her business to the giant competitor. Another threat that this niche market is facing is that famous brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Old Navy, have also started releasing plus-size women apparel. With big brands entering this market, there is little room for breathing left for smaller players like MIB. IT currently does not carry any brand recognition. Therefore big brands pose a significant threat to the existing sales of MIB. The market leader, Charming Shoppes, is investing heavily on sophisticated MIS to keep detailed profiles of customers and thus refine direct sales. MIB currently does not possess the financial backbone to undertake such a huge task. The best it can do is to hire more effective sales and marketing personnel to increase market reach beyond its base city and state in order to beat the onslaught of the competition. Lastly, as can be seen from its balance sheet that MIB has more business coming from mail-orders and internet. However, it has been observed over the past year by the top management of MIB that mail-orders are decreasing over the past few quarters. Therefore, it needs to immediately look for alternatives to mail-orders in order to keep running a positive cash flow. 3) From your analysis above, write a considered assessment of what needs to be done to develop and strengthen Making It Bigs competencies and capabilities, to the point where the company has a competitive advantage. The SWOT analysis conducted above presents a picture for MIB that if proper steps are not taken immediately, it could risk loosing its business to the competition. The owner-manager, Cynthia, needs to take helm of affairs and be able to come up with a business strategy and a plan to implement it that not only neutralizes all the threats but also drastically contribute to the growth of MIB as an enterprise. One important part of the overall strategy that MIB needs to develop must include augmenting the strength of already hard-working and committed employees in the form of better marketing sales professionals. Care must be taken that the hired marketing personnel are able to launch effective campaigns that can drive sales even in hard economic times. Cynthia herself has not been able to fulfill this role properly and there are currently no one in this position within the organisation. Small business generally do not have the resources ot plan and purchase external advice and support; they are very susceptible to small environmental changes; owner-managers may not have the necessary experience for managing all aspects of a small business; and owner-managers cannot devote a lot of time to consciously working through plans because of day-to-day work pressures. A consequence of this is that owner-managers tend to have a shorter and more functional emphasis on planning. (S. Carter D. Jones-Evans, 2006) Therefore this emphasis on marketing can cause positive change for MIB at large. Another strategic planning that MIB needs to conduct is to look for sales outside the confines of its base city and state of California. Even though MIB is not geared for globalization just yet but it is in a position to dramatically increase its market share as well as its brand recognition by effectively marketing its products in the rest of the states of Americas. MIB has a very strong manufacturing arm and an able manufacturing manager, which can handle increasing the production capacity as well as increase in order processing. Going beyond the psychological boundaries of its base city and state isnt easy. MIB may have to forge new partnerships with garments retailers in other parts of America. This can eventually result in reduction of financial pressure due to marketing and also raise its brand recognition among the new set of customers across the country. It has also been observed that the mail-in orders are decreasing over the last few quarters. This may be because of the increase in the usage of internet based business. MIB needs to invest heavily on generating more business electronically by investing heavily on its e-commerce infrastructure. This will not only prove to be a viable alternative but if executed correctly can give significant boost to the existing sales. Another aspect that Cynthia as an owner of MIB can improve upon is by hiring experienced managers with relevant educational background. It seems that the new hired managers have matching skills and relevant past experience yet they fail to build a sound strategy that can help Cynthia steer the business towards increasing sales. A couple of vocational training courses may not be adequate to make these managers think outside the box. Therefore, MIB needs to invest in hiring seriously strong candidates with relevant qualifications and education. Cynthia needs to take some vocational training as well as management courses to improve her perspective of her business and the market in general. Another aspect clearly missing from the case study as well as Cynthias perspective is that there is no mention of any SWOT analysis done for the MIBs competitors. Without a competitors analysis there can be no strategic planning that can yield significant positive change. 4) How well do you think the tools and techniques for crafting and executing business strategy work for small businesses run by owner-managers with limited resources (including key staff members)? Overtime strategic planning has been evolved into a concept that is commonly considered as the most effective solution to all the business issues. Some businesses follow strategic planning so religiously and focus so much of their energies on their strategic plan that it seems like their primary product. Even though, appropriately executed strategic plans are wonderful. However, they must be taken as a tool of a corporation to achieve its goals, not to make them a goal unto themselves. Most importantly the strategic plans must not take most of the valuable time of employer or employees. Several business ventures also carry a misguided belief that strategic planning is reserved only for large businesses that can afford the effort, time and resources to develop a sound plan. However, a small business intends to compete against the industrial big guns in the marketplace then it is imperative to guess some of their tactics and game plans and strategic planning is a primary component of any successful and large venture. It also does not suggests that a small venture needs all the bells and whistles and the complexity of larger corporations strategic plans. For a working entrepreneur it is possible to devise a good working draft in a matter of hours that is sound enough for the small business to keep on the course to becoming a solid competitor. The original idea of strategic planning is to set up a strategy that a small business is going to follow over a short to medium term of time period. It can be for a specific business unit, like strategizing a production planning strategy, or it can for the whole of a business. Usually its the job of board of directors to set an overall strategy for the whole of business and to execute that high-level strategy each area of the company plans their strategy which is compliant with the overall strategy. Various businesses use various periods of time for the planning of their strategies. Basically, this time period depends on rate of change the industry is going through. In a fast-changing environment for example the internet, devising a 5-year plan is worthless. For slowly changing industries th

Purification :: essays research papers fc

On an excavation of the Mohenjo-Daro and Dholavira, in modern day Pakistan, archeologist stumbled upon a civilization, thriving in the Indus Valley from 2500 BCE to 1500 BC. They named the civilization, Harappan. Though archeologists found little conclusive evidence of temples in the Harappan cities, the assumed advanced, ancient Sanatana Dharma (preferred term of people commonly referred to as Hindu, meaning â€Å"ageless way of moral order, duty, and natural law of cosmos.† (Fisher 61)) had plumbing and irrigation systems. Bathing rooms, wells, and built in latrines equipped houses, and brick drains carried away waste. However the most striking discovery was the â€Å"Great Bath,† a large lined tank, 39 feet long, 23 feet wide, and 8 feet deep. Today, this is assumed to be a ritualistic purification center for the people. From the time of the Harappans, up to today, purification is essential part of Sanatana Dharma life. Purification is an essential part of worship. Before starting the puja, the honor, respect, or worship of a deity, the murti, a statue of the deity in the home, must be bathed in running water. However to show purity, the worshipper must sip a little water, three times. Washing the murti is important, because as a royal guest (the worshipper considers the murti a royal guest) after arriving from a long journey, wherever the god or goddess comes from, a bath is needed. The feet, face, and teeth receive special attention, considering the dustiness of Indian streets. Sometimes this washing is symbolic, a flower dipped gently in the water is lightly touched to the deity’s face. The act of bathing the deity both purifies and shows servitude. In another aspect of worship, worship at the temple, the worshiper must be pure to enter. That means the worshiper must remove their shoes, because â€Å"leather is a highly polluting material, as is the street dust attached to them† (Fo wler 48). Worshipers also must not be menstruating or dalits, the untouchable caste. An additional aspect of worship is a pilgrimage to a sacred body of water. The most famous, Benares is at the tributary where the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers join, because of the asrams, the homes of famous sages, and the belief that the god, Siva lived there as an ascetic. Prayers are also considered a form of purification, because prayer helps to absolve the soul, giving better samsara. Worship for Sanatana Dharmas deeply embodies purification.

My Experience with Computers :: Personal Narrative Writing

My Experience with Computers I remember walking single file to the computer Lab. It was a room that was completely new to my whole fifth grade class. What did it look like inside? Did we all really get to play on these machines? I had never even typed on a computer before. This was fifth grade and my computer experience was, well, let's just say lacking. Learning to use these computers was a great experience for me. I was pretty scared but I learned how to play a lot of games and the teachers were very kind and helpful. Computers were a thing of the future, and more and more kids needed to learn how to use them. This was the case at our school. They thought it was time to conquer our fear, they were no longer valued as precious treasures that were only available to those over the age of eighteen. I had seen computers before but had never learned how to use them because I was never allowed, my mother always looked at me as an accident waiting to happen when it came to expensive things. Now that I am in college, I must say that I have gained some knowledge in this area, though I wouldn't consider myself an expert. I use my computer now for typing papers to turn in for school, using America Online to talk to friends, and downloading music to burn CD's. In sixth grade I moved from a poor public elementary school to a wealthy middle school. This meant I went from sharing fifteen computers with the whole school of five different grades, to having my very own computer in each individual class, teachers in the classes learned my name and my strengths and weaknesses when it came to these machines. I was terrible at typing but was awesome at just about any game you could put in front of me. I believe this also helped me gain experience. Having more access to these computers and I didn't have to bother waiting in line anymore, I wanted to participate because I had more of an opportunity to do so. I began to play around with games like "The Oregon Trail" and programs like "Microsoft Word" which helped me learn the proper technique to typing. I got my first computer from a friend of my mom's.

Child Prostitution and Pornography :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Child Prostitution and Pornography Sexual abuse of children has become a public concern only recently in the United States, young girls and boys have been used to satisfy adult sexual desires for most of our history. Castration of boys, fondling, forced genital or anal intercourse, and sale for prostitution were common through much of Western history. "It was not until the sixteenth century that laws were enacted in England to protect girls and boys under the age of ten from rape and sodomy." (Knudsen,106) p In the nineteenth century, after the exposure of the "white slave" trade, in which young girls were sold or kidnapped and forced into prostitution, the concept of "age of consent" developed in England, defining the age at which a girl could consent to sexual intercourse initially at ten, then at twelve, and finally, in 1885, at sixteen."(Knudson,106) Over the past ten years , the availability of literature on sexual assault has increased significantly. However, clinical data are increasingly suggesting that boys m ay be at equal risk for sexual victimization, since they are the preffered targets of habitual pedophiles and victims of child sex rings. Law inforcement investigations have verified the pedophiles almost always collect child pornography or child erotica. Pedophiles do not merely view pornography: They save it. It represents their most cherished sexual fantasies. They typically collect books, magazines, articles, newspapers, negatives, movies, slides, photographs, albums, drawings, audiotapes, personal letters, video tapes and equipment, diaries, clothing, sexual aids, souvenirs, toys, games, lists, paintings, ledgers, and photographic equipment. Ã ¾Better educated and more affluent pedophiles tend to have largewr collections. Pedophiles whose living or working arrangements give them a higher degree of privacy tend to have larger collections. Because collections are accumulated over a period of time, older pedophiles tend to have larger collections. Pedophiles with the economic means are converting more and more to videotape systems. They are even converting their books, magazines, photographs, and movies to videotape . For less than $1,500, a pedophile can have his own video camera and two video recorders, which give him the capability to produce and duplicate child pornography and erotica with little fear of discovery.Ã ¾(Lanning,236-7) There are four kinds of collectors: (a) closet, (b) isolated, (c) cottage, and (d) commercial. Ã ¾The closet collector keeps his collection a secret and is not actively involved in molesting children. Materials are usually purchased discreetly through commercial channels.

Rational Performance Testing

Hello World: Rational Performance Tester Get to the bottom of application performance issues Skill Level: Intermediate Dennis Schultz (dennis. [email  protected] ibm. com) Marketing Engineer IBM 12 Mar 2007 This tutorial in the Hello World series introduces you to IBM ® Rational ® Performance Tester and highlights its basic features. Practical, hands-on exercises teach you how to record automated performance tests, use data-driven techniques to ensure randomization, play-back tests, and evaluate real-time performance reports.Upon completing the tutorial you will be able to use Rational Performance Tester to determine the cause of performance problems in your applications. Section 1. Before you start About this series The Hello World series is for novice developers who want a high-level, hands-on overview of IBM software products. Each tutorial in the series provides simple exercises and step-by-step instructions to familiarize you with the components and use of a particular pro duct. Upon completing a tutorial in the Hello World series you will know enough about the product to begin exploring and using it on your own.About this tutorial This tutorial uses hands-on exercises to familiarize you with Rational Performance Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks Tester. Step-by-step instructions teach you how to record an automated performance test, enhance the test using built-in data-driven techniques, play-back the test as part of a performance schedule, and evaluate real-time reports to determine the root cause of a performance problem. The maximum estimated running time for the tutorial is three hours. ObjectivesAfter completing this tutorial you should understand the basic functions of Rational Performance Tester and be able to use it to discover and analyze performance problems in your applications. Prerequisites This tutorial is for testers new to test automation and unfamiliar with Rational Performance Tester. As you are taking the tutorial, you can practice the steps yourself if you have access to the environment the tutorial requires. If you don't have access to the environment, you can still read the tutorial and view the animated demos. You just won't be able to try the steps for yourself.The easiest way to access the tutorial environment is through the Rational Performance Tester online trial system created for the tutorial. The trial system uses the Citrix Access Platform to provide you with a connection from your workstation to a remote server running Rational Performance Tester, WebSphere Application Server 6. 0, and the sample application to be tested. If you choose to set up the tutorial environment on your own machine, please use the Hello World: Rational Performance Tester (for downloadable trial code) version of this tutorial that is written for this purpose.In order to view the animated demos for the tutorial you must enable JavaScript in your browser and install Macromedia Flash Player 6 or higher. Animated demos If this is your first encounter with a developerWorks tutorial that includes animated demos you might want to know a few things about them: †¢ Demos are an optional way to see the steps described in the tutorial done for you. To view an animated demo, click the given Show me link and the demo will open in a new browser window. †¢ Each demo contains a navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.Use the navigation bar to pause, exit, rewind, or fast-forward portions of the demo. Rational Performance Tester Page 2 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® †¢ The demos are 800 x 600 pixels. If this is the maximum resolution of your screen or if your resolution is lower than this then you will have to scroll to see some areas of the demo. †¢ You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser and Macromedia Flash Player 6 or higher installed to view the demos. Section 2. Getting started Overview of Rational Performance TesterIBM Rational Performance Tester, hereafter known as Performance Tester, is a performance test creation, execution, and analysis tool that helps development teams validate the scalability and reliability of their Web-based applications before deployment. Many of Performance Tester's features have been explicitly designed with the novice load tester in mind. Performance Tester allows you to use one of several Web browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, or Firefox) to test a Web-based application. The results of your interaction are captured and recorded on the operating system of your choice (Windows or Linux).The test is presented in a concise tree-based editor that is capable of exposing underlying details to the expert on an â€Å"as needed† basis. Test scripts are then grouped together in various combinations to reflect the multiple types of user that comprise the projected user population. You can specify the number of simulated system users at execution time. Test execution is accompanied by easy-to-read, real-time reports that update throughout the test run. Bottlenecks based on metrics such as round-trip performance, transaction rates, and system diagnostics are highlighted in these reports.You can also use Performance Tester to further identify the root cause of poor performance problems from the hardware- or software-component level through advanced resource monitoring and response-time tracking. Although this tutorial focuses on testing a J2EE, Web-based application, you can use Performance Tester to test any Web-based application. You can also extend Performance Tester to test the performance of additional application types such as Siebel, SAP, and Citrix (see Resources). Setting up the tutorial environment Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008.All rights reserved. Page 3 of 26 develop erWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks As previously mentioned, the easiest way to access this tutorial is through the online trial system developed using the Citrix Access Platform. The trial system gives you free access to Performance Tester, WebSphere Application Server 6. 0, and the Adventure Builder sample application, and minimizes your installation and configuration time for the tutorial. Once you have registered for the online trial system, installed the Citrix Metaframe Presentation Server, and logged into the server, you are ready to begin.Performance Tester will launch in a Citrix client session and will appear just as if it were running on your local desktop. You can interact with it just as you would if it were installed locally. The countdown clock on the Rational Test Drive Environment Web page will keep track of the time remaining in your session. If you choose to set up the tutorial environment locally you will need to install and configure Rational Performance Tester and WebSphere Application Server 6. 0 in your workstation. Note that the Adventure Builder sample application used by this tutorial is only available with WebSphere Application Server 6. , not 6. 1. You should also allow additional time to create and configure a project in which to store your test artifacts before starting. The tutorial is written from the assumption that you are using the online trial system. Performance Tester and Eclipse Performance Tester is based on the open-source Eclipse platform. Eclipse provides a rich working environment for many tools, both open source and commercial, including many of the offerings of the Rational Software Delivery Platform such as Rational Software Architect, Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software, and Rational Functional Tester (see Resources).This provides a common user experience for tooling across the software development life cycle. Not only are these tools all based on Eclipse, but often times they actually share th e same shell. In other words, the capability of each of these tools is presented to the user as a new perspective in the same shell. A perspective is a consolidation of tools and views focused on one particular task. The perspective for Performance Tester is known as the Test perspective. As the name implies, the Test perspective provides views that are needed by a developer or QA professional focused on testing a software application or system.The tutorial workspace and sample projects Assuming you are using the online trial system, Performance Tester will be associated to a pre-configured workspace. A workspace can be any directory location where your work is stored. In your case, this workspace contains two projects. The first project is the Adventure Builder Application. This project contains the source code for the Adventure Builder sample application you will be testing. The application has already been deployed to WebSphere Application Server on the online trial system. The p roject is only in your workspace so that Rational Performance Tester Page 4 of 26 Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® Performance Tester can navigate to the source code later when you are attempting to find the root cause of a performance bottleneck. The second project, Adventure Builder Performance Tests, is the test project you will use to store your tests, datapools, schedules, and results. If you expand the project, you will see several folders used to organize your test assets. You can add, remove, and customize folders as you like. There isn't much to examine in this project yet. You will look more closely at it once you have recorded a test.Figure 1. A Performance Tester workspace viewed in the Test Navigator Section 3. Record a test scenario Performance tests are most often created by recording your manual interactions with the system under test. In this section of the tutorial, you will use the automated HTTP recorder to capture the scenario of interacting with the Adventure Builder sample application to construct a vacation package and purchase it. The Adventure Builder application is already running in the online trial environment. All you need to do is connect to it through a Web browser while the recorder is engaged.Browser support Although you are using Internet Explorer in this tutorial, Performance Tester can work with any Web browser that supports SOCKS proxies. Performance Tester can automatically launch Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Firefox. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 5 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show Start the recorder 1. Start the recorder by clicking Create a Test from Recording on the toolbar . This opens the Create New Test From Recording window.Figure 2. The Create New Test From Recording window 2. Select H TTP Recording and click Next. Rational Performance Tester Page 6 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® 3. 4. On the next page of the wizard, select Adventure Builder Performance Tests > Tests as the location to create the file. Enter PurchaseIslandAdventure as the test-file name and click Finish. Figure 3. The Create New Test From Recording window, page 2 5. The recorder is engaged and Internet Explorer is launched to the â€Å"Welcome to Performance Testing† page.Clear the cache of temporary files by selecting Internet Explorer Tools > Internet Options †¦. Under Temporary Internet Files, click Delete Cookies and confirm. Then click Delete Files. Check Delete all offline content and click OK to confirm. Click OK to dismiss the Internet Options window. 6. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 7 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWor ks 7. Launch the Adventure Builder application by clicking the Adventure Builder button in the Internet Explorer Links toolbar. Figure 4. Launch the Adventure Builder applicationNavigate the application Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show Now that the recorder is engaged, you will navigate the application just as you normally would. 1. In the left navigation area of the page, click Island Adventures. Figure 5. Island Adventures link 2. Here you see an expanded list of island adventure trips. From the submenu on the Available Adventure Packages page, click Maui Survival Adventure. Figure 6. Maui Survival Adventure link Rational Performance Tester Page 8 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks eveloperWorks ® 3. This page shows you the options available for the package you have chosen. Click Select Package on the right side of the Adventure Package Details page. You are taken to the Packa ge Options page. Here you can personalize your vacation package by changing the number of people, start date, number of days, etc. For now, just accept the defaults by clicking Set Package Options. On the Adventure Package Details page, click I Will Provide My Own Transportation. On the Adventure Package page, click Checkout. Let's keep it simple for now: on the Sign On page, click Sign In as a returning customer.On the Enter Order Details page, scroll to the bottom and click Submit. After a moment, you will be taken to the Checkout page. Here you should see your order ID. Figure 7. The Order ID link on the Checkout page 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 9 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks Note that your order ID will be unique and will not be exactly as shown here. Wait for several seconds after the checkout page loads, then check on the status of your order by clicking on the Order ID l ink. 10.Once the Order Tracking Results page loads, close the browser. This will cause Performance Tester to begin generating the test based on the traffic it has captured. Section 4. Review and customize the test Performance Tester generates a test based on the HTTP traffic it captured during the recording. The test is much more than a simple HTTP trace log, however. Behind the scenes, Performance Tester does a lot of processing to create a test that is robust, extensible, and easy to maintain. In this section, you will examine the generated test in greater detail and customize it to use unique data.Examine the test Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show The test is represented in a tree format in the left portion of the Test Editor view. Each top-level node in the tree represents a Web page visited during your recording session. The name of the node is based on the name of the Web page. Figure 8. The Test Contents tree view Rational Performan ce Tester Page 10 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® 1. Expand the Welcome to the Adventure Builder Reference application node.Here is where the advanced performance test engineer can see all the details of the transactions behind the page. The first element is highlighted in blue to indicate that it is the primary request — the request for the page HTML contents. Figure 9. The expanded page in the Test Contents tree view 2. Click on the Protocol Data view in the bottom portion of the window, then Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 11 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks click on the primary request highlighted in blue in the tree.The details of the request and its corresponding response are shown in the Request, Response Headers, and Response Content tabs of the Protocol Data view. The Browser tab even renders the contents of the selected element. Figure 10. The Browser tab in the Protocol Data view 3. Detailed information about the selected element is also presented in the right-hand portion of the Test Editor view. You can edit this data if you need to change the host, URL, request header values, or any other field. Automatic data correlation Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me ShowWeb applications tend to be highly dynamic. For example, in the scenario you recorded you placed an order for a vacation package and were given a unique order ID. You then used that order ID to check the status of your purchase. When you play-back this test, it will place another order and you will be given a different order ID. You would want Performance Tester to check the status of that new order ID, not the one you previously recorded. For that reason, Performance Tester performs automatic data correlation. That is, it looks at data parameters sent to the server and matches them up w ith prior response data from the server.Accessing the correlated data is easy. Rational Performance Tester Page 12 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® 1. Highlight the Order Tracking Results node in the Test Contents area of the Performance Test view. Now right-click inside the Test Data area to the right and select Show References. Notice that the orderId field is being substituted with data from a prior response. Figure 11. Show References for data correlation 2. Double-click orderId. This takes you to the URL of the actual request for that page.Figure 12. Correlated data in the URL of a request 3. Right-click the highlighted string and select Go To. This takes you directly to the orderId value in the response text of the Checkout request. During test playback, Performance Tester will substitute the orderId value it receives in this response for the orderId in the request for order tracking. Figure 13. Co rrelated data in the prior response Granted, you now know far more than you probably wanted to know about data correlation; but that is the beauty of Performance Tester: it does all this for youRational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 13 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks without any hand coding or other effort on your part. Randomize the data Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show In performance testing it is essential to be able to randomize the data being sent to the server. Modern Web applications have many layers of caching. If you were to emulate a thousand users using the application doing exactly the same thing, you would not observe typical performance behavior.Once the first emulated user performed the transaction, all the subsequent users would be drawing information from the cache. For this reason, performance test engineers often spend much of their time configur ing tests to pull random data from a â€Å"datapool† so that each emulated user uses unique information. Performance Tester automatically identifies likely candidates for datapool access and makes it possible to associate these fields with data sources you provide. 1. Select the Enter Adventure Package Details page node in the test contents. Notice in the Test Data area the start_month, start_year, and start_day parameters.These were the default values in the Options page, which were subsequently transmitted back to the server when the Set Package Options button was clicked. Figure 14. Datapool candidates 2. 3. 4. Set up a datapool to randomize the values used by your virtual users when you play-back this test. Select start_month in the Test Data area. Click Substitute From below the Test Data area. Select Datapool Value†¦. Figure 15. Substitute start_month from the datapool variable Rational Performance Tester Page 14 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks eveloperWorks ® 5. 6. 7. Click Add Datapool on the â€Å"Select datapool† column window. You will add an association to an existing datapool to this test. Select the existing VacationStartDates datapool and click Select. Back in the â€Å"Select datapool† column window, select start_month and click Use Column. Note that the â€Å"Substituted with† column next to the start_month variable now has a reference to the datapool column. Select start_year in the Test Data area. Repeat the process. This time you will not need to add the datapool reference; just select start_year and click Use Column.Repeat the above procedure for start_day. The three variable rows should be highlighted in green to indicate they are being substituted from the datapool and should show references in the â€Å"Substituted with† column. Figure 16. Variables substituted with datapool variables 8. 9. 10. Press Ctrl-S to save the test when finis hed. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 15 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks Section 5. Schedule a workload One of the keys to a successful performance test is the ability to accurately model the anticipated system workload.Software systems typically have various types of users that perform varied tasks. Performance Tester provides a graphical interface to enable you to model your user activities. Create a schedule Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show 1. Expand the Schedules folder and double-click the AdventureBuilderLoadTest schedule to open it in the Schedule Editor view. This is a schedule that has been partially completed for you. Figure 17. AdventureBuilderLoadTest schedule in Test Navigator view 2. Two user groups have already been defined in this schedule.As you can see from the annotations on the Schedule Contents, browsers represent 20 percent of your emula ted users while buyers represent 80 percent. Figure 18. Schedule Contents shows defined user groups Rational Performance Tester Page 16 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® 3. Expand the Browsers user group and all contained elements in the Schedule Contents. Figure 19. Details of the Browsers user group Performance Tester offers many advanced constructs to help you test the impact of a realistic load on your system.The hierarchy under the Browsers user group can be interpreted as follows: Each browser will peruse three adventure packages. Browsers will randomly choose to look at either mountain adventures or western adventures but are twice as likely to look at mountain adventures. The action of browsing the adventure category is emulated by tests that were recorded in much the same way you recorded your test. After looking at each category, a browser will wait 1000 milliseconds before browsing another cate gory. 4. The Buyers group has not been completed.Use the test you recorded earlier as an implementation for the Buyers test. Click the Buyers user group. Click Add ; Test and select PurchaseIslandAdventure from the Select Performance Tests window. Save the AdventureBuilderLoadTest schedule. 5. Section 6. Run an automated performance test Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 17 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks In this section you will learn how to execute your test against the Adventure Builder application and monitor the results. Launch the test Animated demoWould you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show 1. Select the topmost node in the Schedule Contents — that is, the AdventureBuilderLoadTest node. A number of execution options are available in the tabs on the right-hand portion of the Performance Schedule Editor view. You can specify the number of users you want to emulate in the N umber of users field on the General tab. Since the user groups in this schedule have been defined in terms of percentages, Performance Tester will do all the adjustments for you each time you change the size of your schedule. Leave the Number of users set to 5.The online trial environment is configured for a maximum of five emulated users and attempting to run with more users will result in a license error. Click Run on the toolbar. This launches your performance test. Figure 20. Run button on the toolbar 2. Monitor the test Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show While your test is running, you can monitor its progress in near real-time. The Overall tab of the Performance Report view will show you test progress in the bar across the top. The bar graph will show the status code success rate for pages and elements.Both should show 100%. While the test is running you can browse the various tabs on the report to see what is happening. 1. Select the Summary tab along the bottom of the report. Basic statistics about the test run, pages, and page elements are given here. Note that these statistics will continue to update until the run has completed. Rational Performance Tester Page 18 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® 2. 3. Select the Page Performance tab. This tab presents a bar graph of the average page response time for the 10 pages with the highest times.Feel free to browse through the other report pages. The default information presented is relatively easy to read and gives you quick insights into the performance of Adventure Builder application. Note that the graph on the Resources tab will be blank: this is expected. When the test has finished (note the progress bar on the Overall tab), go back to the Page Performance tab. You should notice that the Checkout page is considerably slower than any of the other pages. 4. Section 7. Analyze the root cause At this point, you have successfully used Performance Tester to uncover a performance problem in your application.The next question you will ask yourself is, â€Å"What is causing the problem? † To get to the bottom of this question you will use Performance Tester's Root Cause Analysis facilities. In this section, you will re-run your test with additional data collection tools engaged. The additional information will help you determine if you are facing a hardware or software issue and drill down to the root cause of the performance bottleneck. Engage resource monitoring Animated demo Would you like to see these steps demonstrated for you? me Show 1. 2. 3. Double-click the AdventureBuilderLoadTest schedule in the Test Navigator view.Revisit some of the additional execution controls on the schedule: start by selecting the top node of the Schedule Contents again. Select the Resource Monitoring tab in the Schedule Element Details area. Resource monitoring enables Performa nce Tester to log any system parameter from Windows perfmon, Unix or Linux rstatd, or Tivoli Monitoring. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 19 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks 4. 5. Check Enable resource monitoring. Click Add New†¦ to define a new server on which to monitor resources.Note that you may need to scroll down the right portion of the Performance Schedule view to see the button. In the Resource Monitoring window, enter localhost as the host name. Check Windows Performance Monitor. Note that in this trial environment, the Web server, application server, and Performance Tester system are all running on a single machine: localhost. This is, of course, not a realistic situation. In a true performance testing environment, you can define any machines that might be part of your application or test system. Select the Resources tab. After a few seconds, you can see the extensive list of counters ava ilable.To keep it simple, deselect all counters except Memory > Pages/sec and Processor > % Processor Time. Click OK to close the Resource Monitoring window. 6. 7. 8. Engage Response Time Breakdown 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Select the Response Time Breakdown tab in the Schedule Element Details area of the Performance Schedule. Check Enable collection of response time data. This enables Performance Tester's response-time data collection infrastructure. Since you know the only test that actually visits the Checkout page is PurchaseIslandAdventure, select only that test. In the Options area, set the Detail level to High.Save the schedule by pressing Ctrl-S. Click the Run button on the toolbar again. Performance Tester launches the test just as before, but this time with resource monitoring and response-time breakdown collection engaged. Examine resource-utilization data 1. While the performance schedule is executing, select the Resources tab Rational Performance Tester Page 20 of 26  © Copyr ight IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® on the Performance Report. This time, you'll see data for the resources you chose to collect in the schedule. Figure 21. The Resources tab on the Performance Report . The data you see here, although accurate, is not really representative of a typical load test. In this trial environment, the Performance Tester load generation, Web server, application server, and database server are all running on a single machine. You would normally track resources on each tier of your application. In addition, the load test you just ran was of very short duration. Normally, performance tests will be significantly longer, allowing the systems to reach a steady state. Nonetheless, the trial system gives you a sense of how easy it is to track resource utilization during a performance test.If you have a concern, you can now go to the Response vs. Time Detail tab, right-click on the graph, and click Add/Remo ve Performance Counters to overlay resource counters onto page response data. This helps you visually correlate any spikes in resource utilization with page activity. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 21 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks 3. Since it doesn't appear that the performance issue with Adventure Builder is hardware related, use the response-time breakdown data to find out if it is software related.Examine the response-time breakdown data 1. 2. Select the Page Performance tab of the Performance Report. Drill down into what went on behind the scenes for the Checkout page. Right-click on the bar in the graph for the Checkout page and choose Display Response Time Breakdown Statistics†¦. Select the /ab/checkout. do URL from the Selection Wizard and click Finish. The Response Time Breakdown Statistics view lists methods called on the server tiers of the Adventure Builder application. There are var ious ways to examine this information.Switch to the Tree Layout view using the Layout button in the upper-right corner of the view. Figure 22. The Tree Layout view 3. 4. Now sort by descending cumulative time by clicking twice on the Cumulative Time column header. Find the root cause of the problem The top node labeled rationaltd represents the machine. In this trial, all system-under-test and test-harness components are running on a single machine. In a real-world test, you would likely see multiple machines listed. The second-level node labeled J2EE/WebSphere†¦ is the WebSphere application server component.From the information here, you can quickly see that the J2EE facet type consuming the most cumulative time is the Servlet. 1. Expand the Servlet node and the com. sun. j2ee. blueprints. waf. controller. web package, and the Rational Performance Tester Page 22 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® Mai nServlet class nodes. This tells you that the four invocations of the doPost method in the MainServlet class consumed 42. 113 seconds. Note that your actual values will probably differ. Figure 23.Response time of the doPost method of MainServlet 2. Right-click the doPost method and choose Open Source. Well, what do you know — you have located the source of your performance problem! Figure 24. A sleep statement in the source code Section 8. Summary This tutorial has introduced you to IBM Rational Performance Tester. In a very short time you were able to construct a test suite by recording a performance test for a Web application, customizing the test to randomize data upon playback, and using that test as part of a realistic performance test schedule.You executed that schedule on a small scale and used the near real-time reports to identify a slow page. Once you had identified the page, you gathered resource utilization data and response-time breakdown statistics, which you th en used to investigate possible hardware and software causes. You then drilled down to the specific source code method causing the problem. Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 23 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorksWhile you may have learned a lot in this tutorial, you have only scratched the surface of what Performance Tester can do. As you continue to explore Performance Tester you will discover many more features to assist you in testing the performance of your applications and releasing them with confidence. See Resources to learn more about Performance Tester and other IBM software products covered in the Hello World tutorial series. Rational Performance Tester Page 24 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. ibm. com/developerWorks developerWorks ® ResourcesLearn †¢ The Hello World: Rational Performance Tester (for downloadable trial code) is another version of this tut orial that is written for people who would prefer to set up their own environment, rather than use the online trial of Rational Performance Tester. †¢ The Hello World series of hands-on tutorials introduces IBM software products that play a critical role in implementing an SOA foundation in your enterprise. †¢ See the Rational Performance Tester product page for technical documentation, how-to articles, education, downloads, and product information about Rational Performance Tester. â€Å"Using IBM Rational Performance Tester to find bottlenecks† (David M. Chadwick, developerWorks, September 2006) presents a real-world case study in using Rational Performance Tester. †¢ IBM Rational performance testing solutions provide scalability and load testing for J2EE, Web-based, Siebel, Citrix, and SAP applications. †¢ Learn more about the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform — a complete set of tools to build, integrate, modernize, extend, and deploy soft ware and software-based systems. †¢ Learn more about the Eclipse development environment.Get products and technologies †¢ Download a free trial version of Rational Performance Tester. †¢ Build your next development project with IBM trial software, available for download directly from developerWorks. Discuss †¢ Participate in the discussion forum for this content. About the author Dennis Schultz Dennis Schultz joined Rational in 1995 as a technical sales engineer. For eight years, he worked closely with numerous clients, implementing Rational solutions in their projects. Dennis helped deploy solutions for software configuration management, change management, requirements management, and test management and implementation.Since 2003, Dennis has been a Technical Marketing Engineer for Rational Performance Tester  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved. Page 25 of 26 developerWorks ® ibm. com/developerWorks IBM Rational software. Dennis holds a B. S. in computer engineering from Iowa State University. He is based in St. Louis, Missouri, and fills his non-work time with his four children. Rational Performance Tester Page 26 of 26  © Copyright IBM Corporation 1994, 2008. All rights reserved.