20th history of art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

20th history of art - Essay Example The passage has explanations on how an artist ought to arrange and use those several essentials in his artistic work. This is the chief concern of the excerpt as well as the formal analysis requirement. The passage indicates that an artist should figure out and describe and interpret those decisions and why the artist may have made them It requires one to go out in places like the museums and other related artistic places to find an artistic object to be analyzed and interpreted. Comprehensive description and notes on the object are to be taken by visualizing the object and then putting it into text. This is a fundamental part of an artistic work. I will discuss Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in this assignment. In the six weeks, Rivera and his staff proved helpful feverishly on this convenient artwork in a vacant collection of the museum that had been transformed into a short-term studio room. By starting day he had created five sections that presented New Yorkers to some of the brand new visuals from his Spanish painting periods. One presented a swashbuckling image of the agricultural innovator Emiliano Zapata; another outlined the grimacing jaguar cover up of an Aztec soldier crouching over his deceased challenger (Diego 4). The display, only the second single display by a residing specialist at MoMA (the first was Henri Matisse), was an immediate hit. And Rivera kept working, previous the deadline: he converted out three more moments of regional attention, glimpses of a frustrated but diligent New York are in accordance with the rapid development he experienced during his residing in Midtown. These were included to the display, illustrating more crowds of people. On his first journey to France, in 1920, Rivera analyzed the task of French Rebirth experts, spending particular attention to the techniques and components of fresco artwork. He later upgraded the method by

What is the function of the theory of games within the academic Essay

What is the function of the theory of games within the academic literature Discuss - Essay Example In these natures of games, intellectual personnel's intermingle with each other in an endeavor to accomplish their objective. Later than this economists developed interest in non-unvarying sum playoffs and this brought Nash Equilibrium into subsistence by John Nash in 1950. This contribution was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1994. This hypothesis can be advantageous to economic, political and business circumstances and gradually it is been used in numerous line of work. Nash equilibrium is that game theory where no player has an encouragement to alteration of his or her stratagem whilst the game is iterated, but on one clause that no other player modifies his or her line of attack either. One or more Nash equilibrium is conventional for games. For example: There is an alternative to choose between x and y for the two players 1 and 2. Then it is apparent that if the player 1 chooses x then the other player also has to choose x. correspondingly this stipulation is applied in case for choosing y. This game repetitively, again and again permits the player to structure prospect about the others preference and will tag along. With the help of game theory it is uncomplicated to discover the most excellent and most advantageous elucidation in the intermediate of the argument. Oligopolistic markets have interdependence owing to which these variances take place. Game theory gives us the picture about fundamental commencement for the various fields. It accomplishes a language to correspond mutually supporting linking firms, administrators, personnel, administrations, further countries and the like. This moreover is of assistance to assess the commonsensical uniformity of profitable domino effect concerning to mutually dependent. As a result it involves the economic representation such as trustworthiness resulting from the subordinate game by faultless Nash equilibrium methodology, which is made known to reallocate feedback purpose. It assists to recognize the most favorable line of attack for commerce and administrations, which were observed at some point in the Cold War. Therefore it is a helpful source for t he managers in occurrence of the argument or any improbability. Hierarchy The complete game theory is alienated into subsequent three uninterrupted hierarchy: Distinctiveness to capitalize on profits Economic judiciousness implementing the contentious hypothesis which, selfish people are there and work for own reimbursement. Organizations accomplishment might have an effect on one another; mutual supporting. For instance, the way it ensues in Oligopolistic antagonism, one organizations promotion may have an effect on alternative organizations revenue. In these individuals, firms, etc. are the main players, which perform like decision creator. Then the stratagems are obtainable, through which the organization can acquire achievement and whichever energetic or up to standard line of attack by the player. There are the payoffs acknowledged by the players subsequent to the dealings are been embarked on. Its tenure for revenue and thus be part of the cause a language for the game theory. This will help us to know how

Use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Depression

Use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Depression Major depressive disorders destroy a persons ability to enjoy many ordinary parts of life. All of the activities which many consider normal such as eating, sleeping, working and playing, become empty for the depressed individual. Research has attempted to address the prevalence of depression and pharmacological treatments have often been the first line of defence in its treatment. Medications, however, usually have unpleasant side-effects and so psychological or talking therapies are often preferred by patients. One type of therapy that has been found to be effective in the treatment of depression is cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). This essay will first address the basic features and use of CBT in the treatment of depression before moving on to behavioural activation therapy which effectively uses a subset of the approaches used in CBT, finally the approaches will be compared and contrasted. CBT is often referred to as though it was a single treatment, but it actually comprises a number of approaches from both the cognitive and behavioural theories. Aaron Beck, the grandfather of cognitive therapy, describes the cognitive aspect of the approach as targeting the way that people interpret the events around them (Beck, 1991). In depression, within the theory, people are seen to have beliefs that are essentially maladaptive to the world around them. Their powers of interpretation have a number of significant biases which contribute towards their depression. In order to treat depression, then, cognitive therapy attempts to challenge the way that patients interpret the world. This is done by working through the various beliefs which are considered maladaptive by the therapist and testing them against the real world. Along with the cognitive aspects of CBT, behavioural approaches are also used. The behavioural aspect is based on ideas put forward by behaviourist psychologists such as B. F. Skinner, which describe peoples behaviour in terms of whether it is encouraged or discouraged by the environment. Hollon, Thase Markowitz (2002) point out that one of the assumptions of the therapy is that people who are depressed receive a high degree of reinforcement for their depressive thoughts and a low degree for their non-depressive thoughts. Behavioural strategies are particularly useful in CBT for allowing the patient to carry out behavioural experiments in which they are encouraged to try out different types of behaviour and check how the outcomes marry with their beliefs. The aim in CBT is that the evidence of these experiments will help to convince the patient that, through testing their contact with reality, they will come to adjust those maladaptive beliefs. The typical belief that a depressed pe rson has is that they are unlikely to succeed in many activities because of their have low expectations of their own abilities. Hollon et al. (2002) emphasise that the aim of CBT is not to think happy thoughts, but rather to try and encourage the patient to become more accurate in the way they perceive the world. One of the most important aspects of CBT is encouraging the patient themselves to continue to use the strategies learned in CBT after the therapy has finished. Compared to psychodynamic therapies, CBT is relatively brief at around 14-16 one-hour sessions, and so these learned strategies and changed beliefs need to be maintained after the contact with the therapist is finished. A large range of different studies have been carried out into the effectiveness of the use of CBT. Gloaguen, Cottraux, Cucherat Blackburn (1998), for example, used a meta-analytic approach to examine the evaluation of cognitive therapy (CT) in 78 studies between 1977 and 1996. Overall this meta-analysis showed that CT was effective in cases of mild to moderate forms of depression when compared to placebo or control conditions. There was even some evidence that the use of CT produced a better outcome than the use of anti-depressant medications and other psychotherapies. Criticisms of this research were aimed at the fact that this meta-analysis amalgamated wait-list groups with placebo groups, which, Parker, Roy Eyers (2003) argue, are not equivalent. Further, the effectiveness of the other therapies category to which CT was compared, was weakened by the inclusion of weaker types of intervention such as bibliotherapy. This research has also been questioned by Wampold, Minami, Baskin Tierney (2002) who, in reanalysing the meta-analytic data taking into account the control treatments, found that CT was not superior but equivalent to other forms of psychological therapy. The results discussed so far were mainly obtained for the treatment of mild to moderate depression. In the treatment of severe depression, however, the use of CT compared to pharmacological interventions has been questioned. Elkin, Gibbons, Shea, Sotsky, Watkins, Pilkonis Hedeker (1995) carried out a large study and found that CT was less effective than medication and only as effective as the placebo combined with clinical management. Hollon et al. (2002), however, point out that this, despite being a large influential study, was one of the only published studies that questioned the effectiveness of CT. Hollon et al. (2002) argue that the results were weak because of the lack of therapist training in two of the three sites at which the CT was given. In comparison, Jarrett, Schaffer, McIntire, Witt-Browder, Kraft Risser (1999) in a placebo-controlled, double-blind study looked at the use of CT compared to the most effective medication in the treatment of atypical depression. This st udy found that CT was as effective as the medication and better than the placebo in the treatment of atypical depression. The criticism of this study is that not all of the patients selected were suffering from severe depression, although many were. DeRubeis, Gelfand, Tang Simons (1999) carried out a mega-analysis[1] of severely depressed patients using the data from sub-groups of studies already carried out. Included in the analysis was the data from the study carried out by Elkin et al. (1995). Aggregating the results they found that, in fact, in this patient group with severe depression, CBT was as effective as medication. Indeed there was a small, but non-significant advantage for CBT over medications. This backed up findings from Hollon, DeRubeis, Evans, Wiemer, Garvey, Grove Tuason (1992) who had found a small, although non-significant, advantage for CBT over a pharmacological intervention. Hollon et al. (2002) argue that it is the expertise of the therapist that is most important, and those studies that do not support the use of CT or CBT tend not to involve the best trained therapists. So far, the way in which the studies have been discussed has treated depression as though the only variable in its makeup is its severity. Parker et al. (2003) point out that many of the studies report headline findings of the overall efficacy of the treatment of depression by CBT rather than examining the gradations in between. In fact, instead of talking about the severity of depression, Parker et al. (2003) suggest it is better to consider the different types of depression. Parker et al. (2003) split depression into psychotic, melancholic and other non-melancholic depressive disorders. The first two categories, Parker et al. (2003) argue, are considered more biological in origin and are, therefore, more responsive to pharmacological treatment. It is suggested that the last, more heterogeneous group of those with severe non-melancholic depression, are more responsive to psychotherapies, especially CBT. Taking a closer look at the way in which CBT works reveals a more ambivalent picture. MacLeod (1988) points to the distinction in psychotherapies between what are called common and specific factors. The common factors that have been found to be effective in all types of therapy include the therapists warmth, acceptance and empathy. Examining this idea, Strupp (1996) found that across different psychotherapies, as much as 85% of the variability could be accounted for by common factors. In other words, it doesnt matter which therapeutic modality is used, the simple fact that someone is taking an interest and being supportive has a beneficial effect. In addition, Ilardi Craighead (1994) point out that many of the major improvements during CBT occur before cognitive restructuring techniques are introduced. This also suggests that the importance of non-specific factors of the psychotherapy is paramount. A further factor which needs to be considered in the efficacy of CBT is the prevention of relapses. While patients often show good response to CBT, the suggestion is that, once the therapists support has been removed, a patient can easily regress. Gloaguen et al.s (1998) study suggested only tentatively that, when followed up, patients who had been treated with CBT were better able to maintain their gains than those treated with pharmacological treatments. Fava, Rafanelli, Grandi, Canestrari Morphy (1998) examined a relatively small sample of patients (40) in a follow-up study to compare the standard clinical management[2] with CBT. After 4 years, the CBT was shown to have a significant preventative effect against depression; however, this had faded at the 6 year follow-up. In similar work, Scott, Teasdale, Paykel, Johnson, Abbott, Hayhurst, Moore Garland (2000) looked at the effect of using CT on those with residual depressive symptoms and compared it to clinical management. The a uthors found that CT did significantly reduce residual depressive symptoms although there were some methodological problems with the study including the fact that the patients response could be a placebo effect as well as the authors suggesting that the effects seen might not have clinical significance in other words, they might not be practically useful. Parker et al. (2003) argue that, overall, these studies show only limited support for CT in the prevention of relapses and, in any case, do not provide the most useful comparisons as they do not compare CT to other psychotherapeutic or psychopharmacological approaches. Overall, Parker et al. (2003) argue that the efficacy of CBT and/or CT for all types of depression has yet to be established definitively, despite major positive findings in much of the research. Despite their critical approach to CT, Parker et al. (2003) do admit that CT is useful in certain situations. The problem for the research is identifying the situation specifically those with what is labelled depression do not represent a homogenous group and therefore when interventions are tested, it is not surprising that the results are equivocal. All of the research discussed so far has addressed cognitive behavioural or purely cognitive models of treatments for depression. The behavioural components of this type of therapy are normally used to augment the cognitive approach, with purely behavioural approaches having lost favour after the 1970s. As Parker et al. (2003) point out, though, there are problems with a reliance on cognitive strategies. They find little evidence for some of the basic assumptions of cognitive therapy, such as the centrality of global negative views of self and the world (Beck, Rush, Shaw Emery, 1979). One example of this is the work of Ingram, Miranda Segal (1998) who failed to find any support in the literature for cognitive vulnerability, an important factor in the model. While this does not disprove the model, Parker et al. (2003) argue that, overall, the evidence is somewhat inconclusive. For this reason and because of the increasing pressure to provide brief cost-effective interventions for de pression, there is now an effort to examine the efficacy of more behavioural methods, specifically behaviour activation (BA) therapies. As Hopko, Lejuez, Ruggiero Eifert (2003) point out, the roots of BA come from the radical behaviourism of Skinner (1953) who argued that depression was caused by those reinforcements that encourage healthy behaviour being, for one reason or another, interrupted in the social environment. At its most fundamental, then, those behaviours that are seen as healthy are not reinforced, or may even be punished, while unhealthy behaviours are reinforced. Jacobson, Martell Dimidjian (2001) claim that it is possible that CT and CBT do also tap into these ideas (as discussed earlier) but also place considerable emphasis on cognitive models. Jacobson, Martell Dimidjian (2001) see BA theories as concentrating more on the environment than the internal processes of the individual, and therefore aid in the de-medicalisation of depression. The empirical roots of BA can be seen in the Harmon, Nelson, and Hayes (1980) who found that they could prompt depressed patients into activity using a beeper an d increase their activity by more than double. Similarly, Zeiss, Lewinsohn Muà ±oz (1979) found that depression could be alleviated to a similar level as comparable interventions through the increasing of patients activity levels. BA concentrates, then, on behaviour, returning to formulations developed earlier, but with some modern enhancements. At heart, though, BA relies on some basic behaviourist principles. Extinction is used to attempt to remove those behaviours that lead to depressive feelings through the encouragement of approach behaviour (Hopko et al., 2003). At first, in BA, rigid structures are used to attempt to inculcate new behaviours but over time fading is used to minimise these structures as new behaviours become embedded. Shaping is also used in BA, although to a lesser extent than either extinction or fading. The reason it is not seen as shaping in BA is that the new target behaviours that the therapist hopes to embed in the patient are considered to already be there within the client. Shaping is sometimes required to reach more difficult goals that require a number of steps. Many of the ideas used in BA rely on classical behaviourism, but there are a number of major differences that Hopko et al. (2003) identifies. Firstly, BA approaches concentrate more on the functional aspects of a persons behaviour, i.e. those aspects of their environment that reinforce the depressive state. Secondly, close attention is paid in BA to the ongoing assessment of whether particular behaviours are related to depressive symptoms. Thirdly, instead of targeting thoughts, BA targets behaviours specifically and places this as the focus of change for the patient, with the assumption of the model being that these changes will flow back into affective states as well as thoughts. Finally, BA affects the environmental component of depression by influencing a person to change their behaviour and so experience positive consequences. Early work examining the efficacy of BA as a treatment for depression produced some encouraging results. Jacobson, Dobson, Truax Addis (1996) attempted to separate out the BA aspects of CT and compare them with each other. The results showed that there was little difference between the groups that received just the BA aspects of CT and those that received the full CT treatment. What was also encouraging for the researchers was that although the BA treatment did not specifically address the idea of negative automatic thoughts an extremely important component of the cognitive model of depression they showed the same levels of reduction across both the BA and CT treatment groups. Hopko and his colleagues went on to develop a specific manualised intervention aimed at depression called the Behaviour Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) (Lejuez, Hopko Hopko, 2001). At heart this method uses the matching law developed by Hernstein (1970). This states that the amount of behaviour a person tends to give to a particular activity is directly proportional to the amount of reinforcement they receive while conducting that activity. The therapist therefore encourages the patient to change their behaviour, with much of the expected change happening outside the therapy sessions. The advantage of this type of treatment is that it is generally delivered over 10 to 12 sessions and is therefore shorter than CBT. In addition, sessions are often reduced in length towards the end of the intervention (Lejuez, Hopko Hopko, 2001). In this technique, once the baseline levels of activity and depression have been assessed, the patient moves on to look at the possible activities that could be targeted for increase. Examples provided are such things as the improvement of family and social relationships or courses of education or training that might be embarked upon. The emphasis at all times is focussing on those activities that the patient would find pleasurable and then these are ranked in order of difficulty. The patient also provides them self with rewards if their targeted behaviours have been completed (Lejuez, Hopko Hopko, 2001). Week by week the patient, with the help of the therapist, moves up through the hierarchy of activities, as they slowly get more and more difficult. The extra exposure to positive reinforcement for healthy behaviours is, within the theoretical model, supposed to encourage them to continue performing these behaviours and so decrease their depression. Hopko, Lejuez, LePage, Hopko McNeil (2003) used BATD in a small sample of 25 patients at a psychiatric in-patient facility. BATD was compared to the standard supportive treatments that the in-patient hospital provided. The results showed that, with the BATD requiring fairly low levels of training to implement, significant reductions in depression as measured on the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck Steer, 1987), such that the effect size and also the clinical significance of the intervention were substantial. In work that looked at both depression and anxiety in a case study, Ruggiero, Morris, Hopko Lejuez (2005) also found support for the use of BATD. In their most recent research, Hopko, Bell, Armento, Hunt Lejuez (2005) have examined the use of BATD in the treatment of depression in cancer patients in a primary care setting. This study was a preliminary clinical trial and therefore only included 6 participants. Each of these participants was suffering from major depression and being treated for cancer. After the BA intervention a variety of different measures showed considerable improvement with significant effect sizes. On top of this, the intervention was reported to be relatively easy to implement and did not require a large amount of resources. The advantages were maintained three months after the intervention and there was also an improvement in the amount of bodily pain. BA, while being based on techniques that have been long-established, in its current formulation is actually a relatively new method. As such, the types of evaluation that have been carried out to assess its efficacy are, as yet, fairly limited. While the work of Hopko and colleagues certainly provides some interesting and encouraging results, there are not the same scale of studies carried out into BA that have been carried out into CT and CBT. The CT and CBT studies include more than a handful of controlled, double-blinded studies which are the gold-standard of health psychology research. In comparison, the studies into BA have mostly small numbers of participants and do not provide the same rigorous comparisons as those carried out into CT and CBT. The reason for this is that the research into BA is still at an early stage and consequently, even though it is encouraging, cannot hope to provide the same solid evidence base as is already available to CBT. In conclusion, it can be seen that CBT and CT have a huge and growing evidence base that is largely positive. These cognitive based interventions have been repeatedly shown to be effective in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. For the treatment of severe depression there are some questions as to whether these cognitive methods are effective. Some researchers have suggested that the studies that have looked at CT and CBT have treated those with depression as though they are heterogeneous group which they are not. Future research should aim to look at which types of intervention are best suited to which types of depression. In comparison, BA shares many roots with CBT but only pays attention to the cognitive component indirectly. In this intervention the changing of behaviour is paramount, and the cognitive changes are thought to flow from these. One of the strongest advantages for BA despite its relative lack of supporting evidence is the easy with which it can be implemen ted. The evidence base for BA is clearly not as strong as that for CBT and so it will require more research before it can be confidently endorsed. References Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., Emery, G. (1979) Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford. Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. (1987). Beck Depression Inventory: Manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychiatric Corporation. Beck, A. T. (1991) Cognitive therapy. A 30-year retrospective. American Psychologist, 46(4), 368-75. DeRubeis, R. J., Gelfand, L. A., Tang, T. Z., Simons, A. D. (1999) Medications versus cognitive behavior therapy for severely depressed outpatients: mega-analysis of four randomized comparisons. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(7), 1007-13. Elkin, I., Gibbons, R. D., Shea, M. T., Sotsky, S. M., Watkins, J. T., Pilkonis, P. A., Hedeker, D. (1995) Initial severity and differential treatment outcome in the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(5), 841-7. Fava, G. A., Rafanelli, C., Grandi, S., Canestrari, R., Morphy, M. A. (1998) Six-year outcome for cognitive behavioral treatment of residual symptoms in major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 1443–1445. Gloaguen, V., Cottraux, J., Cucherat, M., Blackburn, I. M. (1998) A meta-analysis of the effects of cognitive therapy in depressed patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 49(1), 59-72. Harmon, T. M., Nelson, R. O., Hayes, S. C. (1980) Self-monitoring of mood versus activity by depressed clients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 30-38. Hernstein, R. J. (1970) On the law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 13, 243-266. Hollon, S. D., DeRubeis, R. J., Evans, M. D., Wiemer, M. J., Garvey, M. J., Grove, W. M., Tuason, V. B. (1992) Cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy for depression: singly and in combination. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 774–781 Hollon, S. D., Thase, M. E., Markowitz, J. C. (2002) Treatment and prevention of depression. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 3, 39-77. Hopko, D. R., Bell, J. L., Armento, M. E. A., Hunt, M. K., Lejuez, C. W. (2005) Behavior Therapy For Depressed Cancer Patients In Primary Care. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 42(2), 236–243. Hopko, D.R., Lejuez, C. W., LePage, J.P., Hopko, S. D., McNeil, D. W. (2003) A brief behavioral activation treatment for depression. A randomized pilot trial within an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Behavior Modification, 27(4), 458-69. Hopko, D. R., Lejuez, C. W., Ruggiero, K. J., Eifert, G. H. (2003) Contemporary behavioral activation treatments for depression: procedures, principles, and progress. Clinical Psychology Review, 23(5), 699-717. Ilardi, S. S., Craighead, W. E. (1994) The role of nonspecific factors in cognitive-behavior therapy for depression. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 1, 138–156. Ingram, R. E., Miranda, J., Segal, Z. V. (1998) Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression.  New York: Guilford. Jacobson, N. S., Dobson, K. S., Truax, P. A., Addis, M. E. (1996) A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 295-304. Jacobson, N. S., Martell, C. R., Dimidjian, S. (2001) Behavioral activation treatment for depression: Returning to contextual roots. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8, 255–270. Jarrett, R. B., Schaffer, M., McIntire, D., Witt-Browder, A., Kraft, D., Risser, R. C. (1999) Treatment of atypical depression with cognitive therapy or phenelzine: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(5), 431-7. Lejuez, C. W., Hopko, D. R., Hopko, S. D. (2001) A brief behavioral activation treatment for depression: Treatment manual. Behavior Modification, 25, 255–286. MacLeod, A. (1998) Therapeutic interventions, In M. W. Eysenck, (Ed.), Psychology, an integrated approach. London: Prentice Hall. Parker, G., Roy, K., Eyers, K. (2003) Cognitive behavior therapy for depression? Choose horses for courses. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(5), 825-34. Ruggiero, K.J., Morris, T.L., Hopko, D.R., Lejuez, C.W. (2005) Application of Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression to an adolescent with a history of child maltreatment. Clinical Case Studies, 2(10), 1-17. Scott, J., Teasdale, J. D., Paykel, E. S., Johnson, A. L., Abbott, R., Hayhurst, H., Moore, R., Garland, A. (2000) Effects of cognitive therapy on psychological symptoms and social functioning in residual depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 440–446. Skinner, B. F. (1953) Science and human behavior. New York: Free Press. Strupp, H. H. (1996). The tripartite model and the Consumer Reports study. American Psychologist, 51(10), 1017-1024. Wampold, B., Minami, T., Baskin, T., Tierney, S. (2002) A meta-(re)analysis of the effects of cognitive therapy versus other therapies for depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 68, 159–165. Zeiss, A. M., Lewinsohn, P. M., Muà ±oz, R. F. (1979) Nonspecific improvement effects in depression using interpersonal skills training, pleasant activity schedules, or cognitive training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 427-439. Footnotes [1] Mega-analysis differs from meta-analysis in that the former pools the raw data from separate studies while the latter pools the summary statistics from separate studies. [2] This generally includes discussion and education of the patient, and sometimes their family, about depression as well as any other care normally provided by the clinician.

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman Essay -- Lion Winter James Goldman

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lion in Winter is the chess game as portrayed in Becket. There are kings and queens, but the most important ones are the pawns. The pawns are what makes this story grow. Everyone in this story is playing their own chess game for their own reasons. The most dangerous ones are the one that have nothing to lose.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyone is hungry for power: Henry, Eleanor, Richard, John, Geoffrey, and Phillip. This thirst for power all started when Henry III, the rightful heir, died. In a normal setting, the next in line should receive the kingdom, but this is not a normal family. So, everyone vying for the throne will use manipulation to get what they want. In Lion in Winter, there are many ultimatums, ulterior motives, and broken promises which equal out to manipulation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alice is King Phillips of Frances' sister. She was betrothed to Henry III, so whomever marries her gets the kingdom. Phillip wants her to get married or he wants his dowry back. Alice is used as a pawn to see whom inherits the thrown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eleanor wants her son, Richard to be king, but she mostly wants to hurt Henry. The way to hurt Henry is to see that John does not get the thrown and to see to it that she has the Aquitaine province. Those who know Richard know that the way to get at him is to tell them how much they love him. Eleanor calls for Richard in her bedroom and he is curious about her true intentions. She says that she merely wants a reunion. He list... The Lion in Winter by James Goldman Essay -- Lion Winter James Goldman The Lion in Winter by James Goldman   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lion in Winter is the chess game as portrayed in Becket. There are kings and queens, but the most important ones are the pawns. The pawns are what makes this story grow. Everyone in this story is playing their own chess game for their own reasons. The most dangerous ones are the one that have nothing to lose.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyone is hungry for power: Henry, Eleanor, Richard, John, Geoffrey, and Phillip. This thirst for power all started when Henry III, the rightful heir, died. In a normal setting, the next in line should receive the kingdom, but this is not a normal family. So, everyone vying for the throne will use manipulation to get what they want. In Lion in Winter, there are many ultimatums, ulterior motives, and broken promises which equal out to manipulation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alice is King Phillips of Frances' sister. She was betrothed to Henry III, so whomever marries her gets the kingdom. Phillip wants her to get married or he wants his dowry back. Alice is used as a pawn to see whom inherits the thrown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eleanor wants her son, Richard to be king, but she mostly wants to hurt Henry. The way to hurt Henry is to see that John does not get the thrown and to see to it that she has the Aquitaine province. Those who know Richard know that the way to get at him is to tell them how much they love him. Eleanor calls for Richard in her bedroom and he is curious about her true intentions. She says that she merely wants a reunion. He list...

Mental and Emotional Development Essay

Going to school marks a new horizon of a child’s life at a time when he/she thinks they are ready for the greater challenges. Children are curious about the use of letters and words to convey meaning, and have the manual dexterity to hold a pen or pencil and begin to write. Together reading and writing broadens the child’s experience enabling him/her to learn more about the world he/she lives in. Their mental ability allows him/her to understand the symbols of letters and numbers and by manipulating these new experiences develop. The vocabulary of a five year old should be 2000 words and with exposure to new ideas and other children this will rapidly increase. The English language, for example are hard to learn, children can use increasingly complex sentences and make fewer grammar errors as they progress through school. One of the key tasks involves in metal development at this age is logical and consistent thinking. The school aged child also learns to create more and more sophisticated classication systems, such as the characteristics of reptiles and mammals, or the differences between towns and cities. They often involve these new skills in their play such as playing cards. Relational concepts such as left and right are tackled during this phase of childhood, although this is difficult for the child to learn. When number skills are developing, concepts such as clock time can be introduced and also the use of money. The mental developments: Five year olds: 2,000 word vocabulary talks consistently, know primary colours; yellow, red and blue, can count to ten, names days of the week, asks for definitions. Six year olds: Learns to read with understanding, knows some streets in local neighbourhood, and knows difference between morning and afternoon. Seven year olds: Begins to show interest in cause and effect, knows the value of coins, gains satisfaction in conclusions and logical endings, understanding past, present and future time concepts. Eight years old: begins to understand logical reasoning and implications, aware of time, can begin to plan activities for a day, develops understanding of left and right, and appreciates degrees of concepts such as light and pain. Nine years old: Likes to have secrets, can break down difficult skills into manageable component parts, focuses on details. Ten years old: enjoys learning, likes to memorise, and identifies facts concrete and specific thinking. Eleven years old: likes action in learning, concentrates well when working, able to identify and discuss problems. Twelve years old: motivated more by inner drive then competition, able to classify, arrange and generalise; can be critical of own work. Emotional Development: During school years the child learns from the peer group and from friends. By comparing themselves with others in their class, children can adjust their behaviour to meet the society’s expectations. They can also gain more insight into themselves. They also learn to identify which situations require co-operation and which are more competitive. Emotions such as anger and aggression can be seen in a variety of expressions physical shoving and swearing. Many will be aware of the child’s enjoyment of jokes and use of humour. Schools can also provide the child with opportunities for self evaluation, developing self confidence and doubt. Being picked by other children to join a team game, or being sent to a remedial group for reading, will give the child messages about how others perceive them this can differ to the perceptions at home. It is important for those caring for children that they are aware of the attitudes of others and offer opportunities to the child to talk about this. Praise means a lot to a child of this age as it would to a lot of other people. Efforts should be made to recognise each child’s special attributes. Summary of Major Developments: For 5 to 11 year olds: 1. Decreasing dependence on family and developing relationships with other adults and children. 2. Becoming an active, contributing member of the family. 3. Learning how to deal with strong feelings appropriately. 4. Learning how to reason and solve problems logically. 5. Developing understandings of concepts such as number, time and money. 6. Adjusting to changing body image and coming to terms with sex role identity. Adolescence Mental and Emotional Development: Adolescence has been charactised as a time of storm and stress, but many adolescents make the transition from child to adult with relative ease and with little trauma either to themselves or to their parents. It is not surprising that, while their bodies are so rapidly changing, youngsters become quite preoccupied with them and wonder what they will become. Girls see their first period as a positive achievement towards adulthood or a dreadful event which signifies the end of childhood. Boys fear to speak as their voice breaks or they are delighted as their facial hair becomes obviously present. The attitudes displayed will often reflect the attitudes and values held by those close to them, the family or the peer group. Friendships with peers become increasingly close during adolescence as young person seeks acceptance and also friends with who to share the new feelings and experience. It is important that the adult determines the best way to cope with this. Each child is an individual, so the problem will have dealt with taking the child’s particular personality, needs etc into account. The older child also needs to think about their diet school children grow and develop rapidly and expend vast amount of energy. This calls for a diet which is high in protein, iron, calcium and essential vitamins. Studies have shown that there is a difference in the eating pattern between adults and children. Children tend to want to eat more frequently, at any time of the day and prefer foods which they can eat with their hands. Eating habits are established early in the childhood and in societies where television and advertising play a large part in family life it is difficult for parents and carers to insist that the child adheres in a healthy diet. Exercise: All children need to make sure they are getting enough exercise. It is important to encourage activities such as: swimming, walking and cycling. Children should also be encouraged to participate in exercises which they enjoy and which makes them feel good about themselves. They should also make sure that they get plenty of rest and sleep the amount of sleep differs from one person to the next. The amount of sleep for the average child is 8 to 10 hours sleep a night.

A reflection of Odysseus and Modern Day Heroes Essay

Written about two thousand and seven hundred years earlier, the Odyssey is still influencing modern storytelling today. Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca and protagonist of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey was recognized as a great hero of his time. He was known for his defining qualities of superior strength and athleticism, sharp intellect, sensual ness, and a thirst for glory. These character traits are still being used to attribute modern day fictional heroes such as Neo, Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond, and Spiderman. Accordingly, the heroic qualities of Odysseus can be still be seen in today’s modern day fictional heroes. Odysseus’s superior strength and athleticism resembles to modern day character of Neo in The Matrix. In the Odyssey, Penelope told the suitors that she would marry who ever was able to string Odysseus’s old bow and shoot it through twelve axe heads. Many suitors attempted this task but not a single one was even strong enough to string the bow. However, â€Å"Without any strain, Odysseus strung the great bow†¦ Taking the string and the head grooves he drew to the middle grip, and from the very chair where he sat, bending the bow before him, let the arrow fly, nor missed any axes from the first handle on, but the bronze-weighted arrow passed through all, and out the other end† (Homer, 319 – 320). Odysseus’s ability to string the incredibly stiff bow and to shoot it through twelve axe heads when not a single other suitor could do it depicts his sheer strength and athleticism. This ability is also apparent with Neo from the movie The Matrix. In the movie, Neo has the ability to freely manipulate the simulated reality of the Matrix. This skill, allows him to have superhuman strength and agility, and the ability to brush off attacks that would kill or disable a normal human being with relative ease. There is a particular scene that exemplifies this where Neo fights off about thirty agents with his bare hands. As depicted in the script written by the Wachowski Brothers, â€Å"Their attack is a devastating onslaught of speed and power closing in around Neo like a vise. But Neo is a mirage, slipping and flipping around them in a deadly counter attack, heaving agents in the air† (Wachowski Brother, 18). Neo’s superhuman strength and athleticism is comparable to Odysseus. Both characters are way stronger and quicker than the average warrior, which enables them to fight off exceptional opponents. Besides Brute strength, Odysseus shares many  other deeper qualities with modern day heroes. Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean shares Odysseus’s knack for quick thinking and cleverness. Odysseus demonstrates this trait when trying to escape from the Polyphemus’s cave by tricking Polyphemus into thinking that his name is Nobody. When Odysseus finally attacks the Cyclops and blinds him, Polyphemus cries for help saying, â€Å"‘Good Friends, Nobody is killing me by force or treachery.’ So then the others speaking in winged words gave him an answer: ‘If alone as you are none uses violence on you,'† (Homer, 147). Odysseus’s cleverness to say that his name is Nobody prevents the other Cyclopes from entering the cave and allows him escape with his men. Captain Jack Sparrow also possesses this same trait of cleverness. Sparrow is often out skilled in sword fighting by other characters so he resorts to using negotiation in order to distract his enemies or turn them against each other. Sparrow stated, â€Å"Why fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the proper leverage† (Walt Disney Pictures). There is a scene that exemplifies this when a group of soldiers catch Sparrow trying to steal one of their ships. The Soldiers ask Sparrow, â€Å"What’s your business in Port Royal,? And no lies!† Sparrow answers, â€Å"I confess: I intend to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, and go on the account, do a little honest pirating† (Walt Disney Pictures). Sparrow is so openly honest about his mischief that the soldiers don’t even believe him. This clever use of words and psychology help Sparrow escape from the Soldiers and eventually steal their ship. Both Sparrow and Odysseus use this type of sharp cunning intellect to get what they need. Odysseus also shares his trait of sensual ness to women with the modern day hero of James Bond. There were numerous occasions where Odysseus came across a beautiful woman and lived a luxurious life with her before continuing his journey home. Three such examples were Calypso, Nausicaa, and Circe. With Circe in particular, Circe turned all of Odysseus crew into swine, but he was able to resist her powers, which caused her to fall in love with him. Odysseus then decided to spend a year of luxury on her island as her lover. Odysseus said, â€Å"We sat there feasting on unlimited meat and sweet wine. But when the sun went down and the sacred darkness came over†¦ but I, mounting  the surpassingly beautiful bed of Circe, clasped her by the knees and entreated her† (Homer, 164). Odysseus enjoyed his luxurious life with Circe in an exotic land, but only to a point. Eventually, he decided to focus on the greater task at hand and return home to Ithaca. James Bond possesses this same trait of sensual ness towards women throughout all of the bond films. In just about every film, Bond comes across a beautiful female that he ends up spending an intimate time with before going off to save the world. In Casino Royal, Bond enters a relationship with Solange. Solange says to Bond, â€Å"What is it about bad men? You†¦ my husband. I had so many chances to be happy, so many nice guys. Why can’t nice guys be more like you?† Bond replies, â€Å"Because then they’d be bad.† Solange kissing him some more, â€Å"Mmmmm, yeah†¦!† (MGM). Bonds smoothness and intellect help him win over the hearts of numerous women just like Odysseus. However, both Bond and Odysseus never get too wrapped up in a relationship to forget what their greater goals are. Bond always moves on and saves the world and Odysseus always leaves his lover in order to return home to Ithaca. Both characters have a strong sense of sensual n ess towards females, but it never seems to distract them from their main goals. Lastly, a trait that may not be seen as positive is Odysseus’ lust for pride and glory, which is shared with the modern day hero, Spiderman. Like other Greek heroes, Odysseus longed to win kleos, which is glory won through great deeds. This kleos sometimes led Odysseus into taking pride in his own glorious acts when it wasn’t really necessary. After cleverly tricking the Polyphemus and escaping from his lair, Odysseus said, â€Å"Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shameful blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities† (150, Homer). Odysseus could not resist his thirst for glory after defeating the Cyclops and needed to reveal his name for the sake of his own pride. Peter Parker as Spiderman possesses this same quality. When Peter first learned of his new spider powers, he tried to use them to impress other people. He took pictures of himself fighting criminals and sent them to the newspa per for people to see. He wanted other people to see how amazing his powers were and to glorify him for them. According to the story synopsis, â€Å"At first, Peter decides to use these powers to make money to  impress Mary Jane. He appears in a wrestling match and, armed with his new spider strength, wins the match in record time† (Marvel, and Columbia Pictures). Peter used his powers to glorify his own image just like Odysseus. However, this trait between the two characters does not benefit them in any way, so why is it relevant between two heroes?The fact that both Odysseus and Spiderman had a strong sense of pride provided room in the stories for it to be overcome. This trait of pride had drastic consequences for both characters. Spiderman’s pride caused him to spend too much time on impressing other people when he could have been a hero. This prevented him from saving his uncle Ben from being murdered because he was preoccupied. Odysseus pride caused him to reveal his true identity to Poseidon, who in turn seeked vengeance on him. This lead to a great amount suffering that Odysseus had to endure on his journey home. However, both characters were able to overcome their pride to a certain degree by the end of the stories. Spiderman eventually learned that â€Å"with great power, comes great responsibility† and to use his powers to protect the city from evil and not for his own glory (Marvel, and Columbia Pictures). By the end of the epic, Odysseus seemed much more willing to temper pride with patience. When disguised as a beggar, he did not immediately react to the abuse he received from the suitors. Instead, he endured it until the trap was set for him to strike down on them. In a sense, the quality that was passed down from the Odyssey to modern day heroes is the ability to overcome pride and the glorified self. Many of today’s fictional heroes resemble the character traits of Odysseus. Odysseus’ brute strength and athleticism can be seen in Neo. His cleverness and quick thinking resemble Captain Jack Sparrow. His sensual ness towards women, but without losing sight of the greater goal is comparable to James Bond. And his pride and thirst for glory is shared with Spiderman and how both of them were able to suppress it. Overall, it’s remarkable that today’s characters still resemble such an ancient hero. Will our idea of what makes a hero ever change? Works Cited Elliot, Ted, Terry Roscio, and Walt Disney Pictures. â€Å"Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl Screenplay.† hundland.com. 3 Nov. 2008 . Homer. The Odyssey. 1967. Trans. Richard Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 2007. Marvel, and Columbia Pictures. â€Å"Spider-Man The Story.† Spider-Man Official site. 3 Nov. 2008 . Purvis, Neal, Robert Wade, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). â€Å"Casino Royale Script.† Script-O-Rama. 3 Nov. 2008 . Wachowski Brothers. â€Å"The Matrix Reloaded Screenplay.† horrorlair.com. 3 Nov. 2008 .

Amritsar and Kerala Essays

Amritsar and Kerala Essays Amritsar and Kerala Essay Amritsar and Kerala Essay Amritsar Amritsar is a city in north-western part in India. It is the spiritual centre for the Sikh religion and the administrative headquarters of the Amritsar district in the state of Punjab.It is home to the Harmandir Sahib (referred to as the Golden Temple in the western media), the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion.Punjabi culturePunjabi culture: encompasses cuisine, science, technology, military warfare, architecture, traditions, values and history.Punjabi music: Music and Dances of Punjab Bhangra is one of the many Punjabi musical art forms that is increasingly being listened to in the west and is becoming a mainstream favourite. The overall style can range from the high energy Bhangra mens dance to the more reserved Jhumar, the Gidha womens dance. Punjabi dresses: The traditional dress for Punjabi men is the Punjabi Kurta and Tehmat which is being replaced by the kurta and pajama, especially the popular Muktsari style in India. The traditional dress for women is the Punjabi Salwar Suit which replaced the traditional Punjabi Ghagra. The Patiala salwar is also very popular.Kerala Kerala, regionally referred to as Keralam, is a state in the south-west region of India on the Malabar coast. There are mostly Malayalam-speaking regions. The state capital is Thiruvananthapuram, other major cities include Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur, and Kollam.Kerala Music and Dances A Kathakali artist A mohiniattam performance Festivals of Kerala The annual snake boat race is performed during Onam Celebrations on the Pamba RiverOnam is a harvest festival celebrated by the people of Kerala, India. It is also the state festival of Kerala.Dresses of Kerala The mundu is a garment worn around the waist in Kerala, the Tulunadu region, and also in Maldives. This garment is closely related to the Dhoti, Sarong, and Lungi. In South Kanara, a district

This essay is about Admiral Fisher from ww1. We had to write a biography on an influencial figure from that time

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An Analysis Into The Uk Food Retail Industry Marketing Essay

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Global Marketing and Measuring Competitive Advantage Essay

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Global Marketing and Measuring Competitive Advantage Essay

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Compliance of Apple Inc Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compliance of Apple Inc - Research Paper Example Companies have shifted their operations to developing countries in order to curtail their costs and improve through economic ways. With such an approach, businesses have saved heavy taxes that could be imposed while operating in their homelands. The Economic factor is most influencing for the businesses as it directly affects revenues and profitability. Apple Inc has suppliers from China, India and other parts of the world that serve the company virtually or provide the required hardware, supplies, etc. The company has to assure compliance with standard ethics and variable economic obligations that exist in each country. It attempts to choose most reputed suppliers from around the globe so that economic and legal compliance may not be compromised while quality is maintained throughout operations (King, 2011). In the present era, societies are driven through global values and the gulf between different societies is contracting due to expanding embrace of international social values. H owever social circumstances differ geographically (Zylla, 2013). Apple Inc behaves as socially responsible entity and endeavors to aid workers as and when required to bring them in pace with the rapidly changing dynamics of the world. Apple does not allow the suppliers to overburden employees and limits the working hours per week so that they stay in good health and work efficiently in the long run. The company attempts to educate manpower of its suppliers through SEED (Supplier Employee Education Development) program.

Riding the Black Cockatoo & Company Sin Representation Essay Example for Free

Riding the Black Cockatoo Company Sin Representation Essay Words are powerful tools that can be used to represent people and shape opinions about others. In a similar way, certain actions and our treatment of other cultures demonstrate our understandings and acceptance of, different beliefs and cultures. Two texts that support these statements and include representations of Indigenous Australian culture and beliefs are: ‘Riding the Black Cockatoo’ by John Danalis and ‘Company Sin’ by John Butler Trio. John Danalis wrote a captivating novel about his journey towards righting the wrongs his family committed, by returning an Indigenous skull that was kept on his family’s mantelpiece. Throughout his writing, John portrays the sense of oneness towards the land of the Indigenous community and his need to come to terms with all the connections he never knew existed. ‘Company Sin’ symbolises a young man’s ignorance and indifference towards the Indigenous culture. Ben naively participates in a mining company’s desecration of an Indigenous Australian burial site. The words in the song portray his struggle with dreams and what these dreams actually embody. Symbolic use of words and language creates vivid images of the song and novel in the audience’s minds. Through representations in the text readers have been positioned to perceive qualities of Indigenous Australian’s heritage, spirituality and their relationship with mother earth. In ‘Riding the Black Cockatoo’, words and language are used purposefully to demonstrate the significance of returning Indigenous Australian’s bones to the tribal elders for burial. Danalis realises through his journey of reconciliation that for Indigenous Australians, the disturbance or non-burial of bones means that a soul remains in a state of unrest. Current generations know that it is their spiritual duty to ensure that bones are returned â€Å"home†, to the earth. Danalis begins to realise that Indigenous Australians â€Å"†¦feel death very differently to white folk.† The handover of the skull is significant for both Danalis and the Indigenous people. The Indigenous community worked with Danalis and did not condemn him for what his family had done with the skull. They even included them in the ceremony and both â€Å"sides† working through some sensitive issues, with the common aim of returning â€Å"Mary† to the rightful place †¦ the earth. The Indigenous community led Danalis through a learning process about the â€Å"rights† of their ancestors and the need for the land to be a central part of their spirituality. With this, the land is positioned to be the sacred resting place for those who have passed on. The relationship Danalis developed with the Indigenous community and being invited to participate in the ritual ceremony, gave him an insight into Indigenous cultural traditions. Indigenous Australian culture believes that when a person dies, their spirit goes back to the ancestral land, when the correct ceremonial rituals are conducted. This ceremony encompasses many traditions for the clan, such as: the cloak of possum fur and the Yorta Yorta song man making a Cockatoo cry: â€Å"We waited ‘KAR-AAK’ †¦ There was a clack-clack of clapping sticks, and then another ‘KAR-AAK!’ †¦ His black cockatoo cries cascaded down the stairwells, echoed off overhead walkway escarpments and bounced through the air-conditioning ducts.† This linkage of nature connotes Indigenous Australian’s strong connections of culture with land. It shows they treat nature with full respect and incorporate it into their lives. Ceremonial objects specific for the ceremonies come from the land. Danalis describes Bob when requiring a smoking bowl, called a coolamon and not having one there, saying: â€Å"I’ll make one†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bob finds the bark needed, pulls it off and makes the bowl. This demonstrates their strong reliance on nature. Through his description of this event, Danalis was sure that they would have to go without a bowl for the ceremony and was surprised by Bob’s actions, in being able to create what they needed from the land. Indigenous Australians do not own the land. They see it as part of them and that it is their duty to respect and look after their mother earth. They use the land to live on, to gain food from, to make items they need and then to return their ancestors to the earth, when they pass on. This is a different concept to the culture White Australians have grown up with. Danalis has to explore his own prejudices and realises that he lives in a nation with some, who are trying to come to terms with both heritages, cultures and beliefs. Indigenous Australians bury their ancestors on what average Australians see as prime land, where profits could be made from farming or mining. Indigenous Australians do this, as they believe they can: â€Å"†¦enter the spirit world and become one with their mother†¦ the Earth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Calling the earth their Mother, solidifies Indigenous Australian’s strong connectivity of their spiritual heritage with the land. This is something that White Australians do not have in their heritage. The Indigenous people care for and love the earth they live on. They have a spiritual connection to it, not just a physical one. Simply, this is not part of how White Australians view the land and it is not part of their heritage.

The Founding Of The Vanity Fair Brand

The Founding Of The Vanity Fair Brand Founded in 1899, Vanity Fair (VF), the worlds largest publicly owned apparel company, offers various products such as jeans, bags, sportswear, footwear and outerwear. It operates mainly in the US and Europe, but also in developing countries like India, Russia and China. In the last decade, VF made some acquisitions including The North Face, Napapijri, Nautica and Vans. Five major coalitions consist of multiple brands a total of 700 brand stores in 2009 leading the Growth Plan strategy. The company recorded, in 2008, $7,561,621 of revenues. VF brands are attempting to establish close relationships with its suppliers to reduce production costs, respond to changes in other cost factors, and shorten the lead time that occurs with the traditional suppliers. Also, Fraser, the President of the Supply Chain International for VF brands, is concerned that the companys current supply chain strategies will not satisfy the future demand that will occur in the Asia-Pacific areas. In this paper, we will analyze four alternatives that VF brands can execute for its global expansion into the Asian markets. Those 4 alternatives are as follow; (1) To abandon the Third Way; (2) To continue with the current supply chain strategies; (3) To pick the best method for each coalition and products categories; and (4) Gradually switching to Third Way altogether in the end. Based on our analyses of the 4 alternatives and the apparel industry, we will suggest the best solution that will satisfy the new demand and help the other areas to become more e fficient and effective in the future. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Since the company was established more than a century ago, it was able to develop certain competencies in various areas and a good reputation. One of them is the strong performance in its internal plants, and the know-how and expertise involved. All these led to VFs own sustainable competitive advantages. In addition, the company built a technical know-how and engineering capabilities, which are very difficult to imitate. The rapid production at the internal plants and its supply chain are very valuable. Moreover, a large number of suppliers and the experience gained accumulated over time give VF a considerable and reliable network. Also, during the various acquisitions, VF preserved the unique organizational cultures and brand identities to keep the design groups intact. Every brand has then a strong personality that can be managed and developed individually, giving more diversity. Besides, the financial situation of VF is strong with a low level of debts and a high cash position th at can help them in case of tough economic situations and give them more flexibility to respond accordingly. Weaknesses When operating such a big and diversified company, some difficulties may occur. The first one is the lack of coordination and trust among suppliers and the company. A bullwhip effect may be observed due to the lack of inventories. Also, the supply chain is often illogical and highly fragmented due to various outsourcing locations. Certain dependence may be caused by some suppliers, making it very costly (ex: Nicaragua). Thus, building a reliable supplier network is very expensive. VF has a sheer complexity of its product line, leading to different needs and priorities among its numerous brands. The diversity of ideas between coalitions and directors causes some problems in the decision-making as well. Low costs pressuring for outsourcing can lead to quality matters and lack of control. Additionally, not much differentiation can be made in terms of supplying and transportation. Opportunities As the apparel industry is changing at a very rapid rate, innovative companies can see various opportunities. The supply chain management is a very first change in the companys structural changes; then the Third Way is described as an opportunity to gain another competitive advantage, going forward. Partnerships can be developed in a long term vision. Moreover, the expansion of sales in developing countries represents a huge growth opportunity. Asian markets seem like a favourable location for new stores. Also, the development of new line products at a broad range of price can be designed at any time to satisfy a new market segment. Fashion is seen differently around the world, thus, various strategies are used to fulfill each need. Future acquisitions can also contribute to the growth of VF. Threats Apparel industry is very much affected by economic situations. In times of crisis, too much dependence on some suppliers might be fatal; especially that competition is very hard and intense with brands competing directly. Continuous investment must be made, essentially in marketing to maintain margins. Plus, the growing bargaining power of mass retailing chains put pressure to lower the price at all time. Also, the frequent changes in tariffs and quotas make outsourcing unsure sometimes, making the research for suppliers challenging. Agile supply chain and vf brands The third way seems to be a new way to deal with suppliers and with a supply chain in general. However, third way could be seen as an agile supply chain in many aspects. In the next section, we will discuss what are an agile supply chain, the differences between lean supply chain and hybrid supply chain, and the link with VF Brands third Way. This part will give basic information that will be useful for our recommendations. VF BRANDS and THE AGILE SUPPLY CHAIN In a turbulent and volatile world, the only thing that does not change is change by itself . Basically, companies compete at several competitive dimensions like cost, delivery time, quality and flexibility. However, todays intensely competitive market is more and more defined by an instability and unpredictability of demand that represent the new challenges organizations face. For many reasons, the product and technology life cycles are shortening, forcing more frequent product changes in addition to new competitive pressure. Now, companies look beyond cost and quality advantages. Speed to market, speed to delivery and flexibility are being emphasized as a way to be more reactive to the needs of customers. However, more than speed, companies require a high level of maneuverability, or in other words, a high level of agility. What is an Agile Organization? Agility is a business-wide capability that embraces an organizational structure, information and systems, logistics processes, and in particular, mindsets. The key to success of an agile business is speed and flexibility. Agile organizations are market-driven, with more product research, and short development and introduction cycles. An agile organization can be defined as an organization capable to cope with unexpected challenges, to survive unprecedented threats of business environment and to take advantage of changes as opportunities. This kind of organization must be a fast moving, adaptable, robust business able to achieve a competitive advantage in a very instable environment. The basic way to define agility is the ability to quickly match supply, however, it is important to explain that agile is not a synonymous of leanness. Indeed, lean can be seen as doing more with less by implementing a lean manufacturing (Porsche Consulting) with zero inventory or Minimum Reasonable Inventory (MRI) and just in time approach. However, lean manufacturing system does not often mean flexible manufacturing system. A lean manufacturing system can result on less waste and high efficiency, but sometimes with important inventory. Finally, a company with a lean chain of supply can make their consumers wait a longer time to receive their products. We can illustrate that with the automotive industry and more specifically with the Toyota Production System. Indeed Toyota production system can be seen as lean, but that does not mean that consumers do not have to wait, often during months, to have the car of their choice. Therefore, Lean approach works best in high volume, low varie ty, and predictable environment. Whereas, Agility is needed in less predictable environment where demand is volatile and the requirement for variety is high. The Agile Supply Chains and Characteristics All organizations have supply chains of varying degrees, depending upon the size of the organization, the depth and scope of international outsourcing, the type of product manufactured, and the international production network. A supply chain describes the series of linked activities creating a process that changes supplies and components into finished products that will be distributed to customers. The agility of a Supply Chain is a measure of how well the relationship involved in the process enhances four pivotal objectives of agile manufacturing: Customer sensitivity, Virtual integration, Process Integration, and Network integration. First, all the agile supply must have the capacity to understand and respond to real demand quickly, in other words, the supply chain must be customer sensitive. The organization must be able to make forecast based upon past sales or shipment demand and convert these forecasts into inventory. For instance, the main challenge for companies is to be able to hear the voices of the market by receiving Efficient Response from customer (ECR) using information and technology to capture data on demand directly from point-of-sale and point of use. The organization must use information and technology to share data between buyers and suppliers creating a supply chain based on information rather than inventory, basically, create a Virtual Supply Chain. Sharing information using information and system (for example EDI) with our partner will create a collaborative work environment (process integration) that can be illustrated by joint product development and process improvement between buyer and s uppliers. Integrated your process offer the potential for major performance gain. This form of co-operation in supply chain is more and more important as many companies focus on their core competencies and outsource all other activities. Partnerships between buyer and supplier are inevitable to achieve an agile supply chain. To this extent, integration can mean the combination of sell through data, exchange of inventory status information, order coordination, open-book accounting, buyer supplier team, share information about the future products, and change in manufacturing process need to be changed as well as simplified pricing schemes . Figure 1 Dimension of Supply Chain Agility Supply chain agility can be discussed in terms of two dimensions of reach and range of activities covered by networking amongst companies (13;8). The figure shows this two-dimensional framework. On the vertical axis, there is the reach from Personal Division to Global. When, in the horizontal axis, there is the Range of activities from the basic way to send a message (EMAIL for instance) to Internet integration. This figure shows three steps from Bill of Material through Purchasing efficiency with electronic commerce, Supplier coaching, and Relational Database to the top level of planning, and control with Demand Planning, and Capacity Planning, and so on. To achieve agility on the Supply Chain, an organization must go through these steps and access the highest level with planning and control. In fact, the company must achieve the highest level on Reach (Global) and on Range (Integration). Indeed, on the last step, internal operations will be transparent to suppliers and customers. T his transparency allows cross companys team to work. Local teams are able to think globally and discuss the process and requirement without restriction without major problems of communication. Any change, modification, and new project can be implemented quickly, efficiently, and easily without creating high cost, or affecting quality of the output. (Figure 2) Another study, by Vankatranan and Handerson, implemented these three steps in addition with three inter-dependent dimensions of the supply chain (customer interaction, asset configuration, Knowledge Leverage). In fact, these three stages can be implemented to evaluate progress on each dimension of the supply chain and see how well integrated and agile it is. (Figure 3) Hybrid Strategy, another Solution Lean and agile supply chain are two concepts focusing on two different issues. Lean initiative is said to focus on cost and quality and impacts on flexibility and times based technology leadership objective (e.g. TPS), whereas, agile supply chain influence costs and time based technology leadership. However, companies often need to keep in mind cost quality as well as flexibility and technology leadership at the same time. A combination of the two approaches could be appropriate to create a hybrid strategy. Hybrid Supply Chain focuses on the fact that characteristics of demand must be taken into consideration when designing the supply chain. Within a mixed portfolio of product and markets, there could be some products with stable demand and some other with unpredictable demand that is why a supply does not have to be totally agile of lean. For instance, the Supply Chain of the fashion apparel, Zara, could be shown as a agile supply chain with some lean characteristic in order to have the most effective quick-response system in its industry. Indeed Zara is able to quickly understand trends, producing some items with low flexible demand in low cost country (low cost, long time delivery, and so on), but at the same time they are able to be produced quickly in response in Spanish high-automated and very efficient factories that allow quick production, shorter time to delivery in point of sale, lower risk, and more flexibility. We can discuss another case, IKEA. IKEA deals with many suppliers mostly in European Union (more than 50%) and 20% in China. Two ideas must be underlined; Ikea usually implement long-term relationship with strong partnership with its suppliers, however, these partners must respect very strict norms created by IKEA itself. IKEA can help is suppliers (by financings machines, increasing the efficiency of the supply chain, and on) that make these supplier very efficient and very dependent to the buyer. To this point of view, IKEA supply chain can be seen as an agile Supply Chain, however, Ikea produce many products in Asia (China), but these products have a more stable demand trend. VF BRAND and The Third Way: Implementation of an Agile Supply Chain? Vanity Fair brands were used to deal with their own very efficient factories located closed to the companys main market, the US. However, the group decided to extend globally by buying other brands where the policies were sometimes to totally outsource the production. VF brands needed to deal with a very complicated supply chain, very decentralized design, and so on; a kind of mix between traditional sourcing and outsourcing, for some aspect similar to ZARA. However, just chasing low cost and building its own factories are not seen as a long-term solution for Chris Fraser, President Supply Chain international for VF Brand. At the same time, some of the inefficiency was due to lack of coordination and lack of trust between apparel companies and suppliers. A new solution was adopted, the third way. Third way means that VF should focus on supplier network. Suppliers and VF brand would work together. Suppliers would own their factories, but VF brand will help them for free using their ow n resources in engineering and management forces as well as with their purchasing power to procure fabric and other raw materials -resources previously used in their own factories. This solution looks like IKEAs solution, however, Ikea focused on a network of suppliers geographically near its location which is not the case for VF Brand that have to deal with low cost countries regulation and particularities and many brands in order to achieve its agile supply chain. The results are not very good for the moment: difficulties to convince shareholders that sharing resources with outsourced suppliers is a good solution, and as well as difficulty linking with the country where products are supplied; which probably is the reasons why. As a conclusion, results from studies like shows that only a few companies have adopted agile supply chain practices. However, most companies have created long term collaboration with suppliers as well as customers; it can be seen as lean Supply chain or hybrid strategy. Indeed study suggests that lean supply chain has a higher level of impact on competitive objectives in contrast to agile supply chain. Nevertheless, this result would probably be discussed within a few years as it will take some time before current companies investments and research effort on agile supply chain lead to more concrete and enjoyable results on competitive outcome compared to lean supply chain. Lets see what VF Brand can achieve if it pursue this third way. ALTERNATIVES Alternative 1 Abandon the Third Way go back to the old way The Third Way could potentially cause many difficulties for VF, hence abandoning this way before investing too much money is a possible alternative. Firstly, you maintain the flexibility to change volumes or to change to a supplier who is offering a lower price. You are also independent from the suppliers problems, for instance if you are not satisfied with the quality of the product, you can simply switch to a different supplier. Following the old way, you do not need to spend money and time until the problem is fixed. Secondly, it is tough to find suppliers willing to form a partnership with the given conditions. To agree to not supply the same category of products to competitors anytime in the future is a huge barrier for a supplier and drags him into dependence on VF. Since the price paid is vague at the establishment of the relationship, the supplier faces the risk to be exploited. The fact that one of the test Third Way suppliers could not manage to survive financially is a hint that the relationship might not work out for suppliers. In Addition, VFs existing suppliers were carefully selected and since they were not interested in a closer relationship. Thus, VF needs to establish the Third Way with unknown companies, a great risk if you are concerning the trust needed. Thirdly, there is still the possibility that VFs knowledge leaks out to competitors. The technology you provide your supplier is not necessarily limited to a specific category of product, but you relationship might be. In this case, the technology could be used by competitors if they buy products of a different kind from that supplier. Since VF is not the owner of the supplier, it is also harder to control the knowledge leaking. For example, an employee may change to a competitors supplier. Fraser and Green called VFs technical capabilities a trump card, therefore it should be highly protected and not being risked. Another point is that the problem of switching costs is also an issue. To establish a Third-Way-relationship VF has to invest money to transfer their knowledge to the supplier. Since the latter is not losing any money in case of termination of the contract, the chance for dropping out is higher. Regardless whether the supplier drops out or is closing down for some reasons, it takes a long time until a new relationship is established, so VF might face severe supply difficulties. Lastly, in a study there was no significant relation between strategic sourcing and gaining competitive advantage. Therefore, the effort spent on the Third Way might not return the expected results. On the other hand, the same study showed that strategic sourcing (and therefore the Third Way) has a positive influence on business performance. A close relationship is also speeding up goods entry. Also keep in mind that the total costs for a five pocket jeans were the lowest of all three ways. Alternative 2 Continue the current supply chain strategies Another alternative strategy for the situation which Vanity Fair brands are facing could be to keep working on the current strategy. As explained in the article and supported by its strong financial performance compared to its competitors, the company has maintain its competitive position in the apparel industry. VF brands have been well established through a series of successful mergers and acquisitions of different brands, products, and styles. In the course of these acquisitions, the company was able to gain huge competitive advantages from operating its own manufacturing plants and traditional outsourcing, simultaneously. This combined strategy allowed the company to juggle between based on the geographic markets, demands, different products and coalitions. Frasers Third Way strategy seems very attractive for VF going forward. Many of the challenges the company faces are due to production inefficiency and supplier relationship based on little or no trust. Fraser and VF brands are at a crucial stage to decide which means to carry on international expansion goals in the future. Despite many benefits of the Third Way, the company must examine if this supply chain strategy is a strong fit for Asian markets. As mentioned previously, there is no doubt that a combination of full integration and traditional sourcing is a VF brands strength. Internal manufacturing sites are able to produce high quality products more efficiently and reliably compared to not only its competitors but also its outsourcing suppliers. The significantly reduced production time is a great strength with respect to the products that experiences a high inventory turnover rate. Another advantage arises in unexpected crisis such as the global economic downturn in 2008-2009. If the company operated solely based on outsourcing, it would have been very difficult to survive due to the shutdown of small shops and short notice of their discontinuation. On the other hand, outsourcing for certain coalitions or products due to the nature of its operations is inevitable. Cut and make (CM) contracts allowed the company to oversee cost drivers at each stage, mostly for heritage lines supplied in Central American and Caribbean. Full package sourcing was mainly used for the lifestyle brands in Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa. Outsourcing strategy provides VF brands with more flexibility when dealing with different suppliers across different geographic regions, especially with regards to tariffs and quotas. While the Third Way has many benefits going forward, this strategy also involves a high risk and costs associated, more so if executed without thorough research and examinations. Besides the concerns from different areas of the company itself, the Third Way should be carefully selected and applied to the most suitable product lines. For example, the strategy is most suitable for products that require the steady and regular supply of its inventory with the staffs of a certain level of education. Also these potential suppliers should be willing to build the strategic partnership for a long term. As mentioned before, switching costs are another hindrance. Since it is much easier to persuade new suppliers than existing suppliers, the company needs to thoroughly examine the qualifications of potential suppliers and there is always a risk that the supplier might not meet the standards later on. Rather than expanding globally extensively through the Third Way, Fraser and the company must fi rst identify the strategic fit for certain geographic regions for certain products/coalitions, and then pursue this strategy. A product line which makes up a small volume or not much techniques or skills should rather be outsourced. Alternative 3: Hybrid Supply Chain VF Corporation world headquarters is located in Greesboro, North Carolina where the senior management team is based, along with the corporate strategy, Finance, Global Business Technology, Law, Human resources and finally, Global Supply Chain. VF Brand Business model focuses on supporting the individuality of lifestyle of each VF Brand and has to deal with each headquarter. Indeed, each Brand has its own headquarter and focuses on its own consumers and customers.(1) However, VF Brands had divided the globe into 4 areas: US Region, Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia-Pacific. VF Corporation has a specific strategy for each region even some brands are in different regions and are often global. Each brand has specific suppliers that can deliver globally and deal with the headquarter of this specific brand (not with VF Corporation). However, different brands in different regions might need the same supplier for almost the same product. For instance, two brands may need the cheapest supplier as possible for a specific type of product that can accept a long lead time whereas some other products may need a short lead time as the demand trend could fluctuate a lot. The next recommendation could be for VF Brand to have a more original and customized production and purchasing strategy. The basic idea is to create more coherence between where suppliers are based and where products are distributed. Lets take backpacks for example. Backpacks are needed for many companies inside the group, however the demand for backpacks is not fluctuating a lot and the demand is often lower for a backpacks than for jeans or a shirts or t-shirt. This implies that these backpacks could be produced in Asia with lower prices and longer lead time with classic suppliers. However, Jeans for the US market could be manufactured in Mexico in highly automated factories owned by VF Brand, and shipped quickly to the US. Manufacturing these Jeans in Mexico allowed shorter lead times and flexibility depending on fashion trend and thus, demand. The idea is to base suppliers where it is more significant for distribution. If goods are produced in Eastern Europe or Asia, these produc ts should be shipped directly from suppliers to a distribution center that will be located near where products will be sold. Indeed, nowadays, many products are produced in Asia and shipped to the US to finally be sold in Asia. This new approach will significantly reduce lead times and cost. Previously, we only talked about regular suppliers and factory owned by VF. However, VF Brands do not own their own factories for instance in the European and Asian markets. The key idea is to implement the third way in this case. Indeed, some products in the Asian or European market could have a very fluctuating demand trend; for these specific products some brand may need suppliers as efficient as VF Brands factories. Choosing specific suppliers and implementing the third way with them could be a good solution. These third way suppliers could produce for different brands of the VF Corp when they want to produce common products for a specific period of time or deal with specific products for different brands of the group. These third way suppliers could act like VF Brands factories; but in this case, close to EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region or Asia-Pacific region markets. To avoid sending products to other part of the world and then send them back to the original region , regional centers could be created. These centers will received product from normal suppliers (common for all VF Corp Brands) and then send these product to other regional centers, reducing lead time and cost. At the same time, Third Way suppliers will only focus on production for their actual area of the world. VF Brands must act local and think global. However as I will show, VF Brands do not have to think global just with its supply chain. Indeed, as we previously said, some products -like backpacks- are not often a trendy product. These not-so-specific products could have a common base -platform- share between the brands that will allow mass production with the same suppliers-reducing cost by dealing with more significant volumes-. In other words, some products could probably be designed by and for a different brand of the group but with the possibility of customization to differentiate these products. Exhibit 1 shows you an example for 3 areas, (EMEA, USA, ASIA) 1- VF Corporation Website http://www.vfc.com/about/global-presence VF CORP, how to think Globally Alternative 4: Gradually switch to Third Way altogether in the end Another alternative is that VF could gradually change their strategy to Third Way altogether in the end. As mentioned in the given case, VF can achieve more efficiency and long term stability through the Third Way. In our previous alternatives, we mentioned our concerns about the Third Way that it would not succeed. According to this point of view, the Third Way will bring loss of flexibility, leakage of VFs technology to outside and many other losses that will not benefit the company. However, to survive in apparel market of today, it is crucial for a company to satisfy various needs of consumers while supplying products as quickly as possible, which can be achieved by the Third Way. In order to quickly respond to market changes, it is important for VF to have a simplified, efficient production process so that it can immediately act when necessary. By achieving the Third Way, VF can gain two advantages. First, it can bring efficiency to its supply process. Second, it will result in a long term and sustainable supplier relationship. First, by implementing the Third Way, VF can make its supply process more efficient. By providing high technology engineering resources of VF, suppliers of VF can improve its production processes. This will result in cost benefits for VF as it will shorten lead time, and decrease production and inventory cost. Not only that, improving production process and shortening lead time mean VF can act more quickly. It is important for an apparel company to react quickly to changes to satisfy ever changing needs of the fashion market. Second, VF can create a long term and sustainable supplier relationship with its suppliers by following Third Way. As previously mentioned, contract of Third Way includes long term contract with its supplier in producing goods. By having a long term relationship, VF can decrease cost of finding new supplier for every new season. Also, by providing VFs engineering resources to improve the production process for suppliers, VF can gain trust from its suppliers. By building trust with suppliers, VF can minimize the cost of excess inventory and long lead time. Those against the Third Way argue that it will result in low flexibility, technology leakage. However, recent experiments in countries like Bangladesh showed the Third Way suppliers were able to greatly shorten lead time, allowing VF to respond to market more quickly than compared to traditional ways. Also, no leakages of VFs technology were reported. Those against the Third Way argue that the Third Way has many holes and also it is unable to persuade existing suppliers to change into the Third Way and therefore risky and ineffective strategy. However, this is a myopic view of the issue. Such problems are transitional errors that can be dealt with in the long term. Holes that might appear through the Third Way can be revised when such problems are found. Also, the supplier persuasion issue can be dealt by gradually replacing existing suppliers with the Third Way suppliers while continually trying to convert existing suppliers into the Third Way. It is essential for VF in order to sur vive in apparel market to build a supplier relationship that is sustainable and interactive; hence, the Third Way is the answer. RECOMMENDATION The company is currently in a no-return process. It needs to find the best way to satisfy the growing demand all around the world but parti