Instructional Leadership Supervision Education Essay

Instructional Leadership Supervision Education Essay Abstract: Leadership is a discussion in every issue and everybody recognize how essential and valuable leadership is. Why some companies, teams, and schools do well as other fails? The credit or fault generally goes to the manager, coach, or principal. In school scenario the principal has to accept these consequences, as he occupies a distinct and key responsibility that has an effect on the quality of schooling. The questions about school scenario are (i) what is the main purpose of school (ii) How their students learn in the school (iii) How he coordinates all the activities i.e. students, teachers and curriculum. The focus of this article was on the theoretical basis of the instructional leadership and to review the model to build up the understanding of instructional leadership. Objectives: Following were the major objectives of the study To explain the concept of instructional leadership To review the James Weber Instructional leadership model What is leadership? Leadership is defined differently by different authors (Terry, 1960) called it the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group goals. In the context of this definition the knowledge, values, structure, and skills are necessary for a principal as a leader to inspire all members of the school community to work together toward the goal of an excellent education for all students. According to (Thomson, 1980) Leadership is best defined as getting the job done through people. This definition means that two things are necessary for effective leadership: accomplishment (getting the job done) and influencing the others (through people). According to (Weber, 1987) leadership is described as power granted with the will of the followers. It is authority readily invested in a trusted person and thus qualifies as a kind of moral and transformational power over the organization. In most definitions of leadership the two functions are generally considered indispensable to its meaning: setting directions and exercising influence. Each of these functions can be carried out in different ways, with such differences distinguishing the many models of leadership from one another.(Yukl, 1994) comments, leadership influences the interpretation of events for followers, the choice of objectives for the group or organization, the organization of work activities accomplish objectives, the motivation of followers to achieve the objectives, the maintenance of cooperative relationships and teamwork, and the enlistment support and cooperation from people outside the group or organization. He further explained the popular distinction between doing things right (management) and doing right things (leadership) as largely meaningless: accomplishing success as a leader, requires doing right things right. What is Instructional Leadership? (Debevoise, 1984) encompasses Instructional leadership as those measures that a principal takes, or assigns to others, to raise growth in student learning and consists of following tasks: describing the purpose of schooling; setting school-wide goals; providing the resources needed for learning to occur; supervising and evaluating teachers; coordinating staff development programs; and creating collegial relationships with and among teachers. Student Learning Instructional Leadership Supervision Teacher Development Teacher Performance Figure -A The above figure depicts that Instructional leadership consists of principal behaviors that set high expectations and clear goals for student and teacher performance, monitor and provide feedback regarding the technical core (teaching and learning) of schools, provide and promote professional growth for all staff members, and help create and maintain a school climate of high academic press. (Hoy Hoy, 2003) explained that the principal must communicate a clear vision on instructional excellence and continuous professional development consistent with the goal of the improvement of teaching and learning. The instructional leaders are listeners as well as talkers; they are collaborators with teachers and students, whose needs present the most important demands in an instructional role. The leadership process is interpersonal as well as dynamics. Particularly it becomes dynamics when the principals are accountable for whole instructional program. As instructional leader the principal is the pivotal within the school who affects the quality of individual teacher instruction, the height of student achievement, and the degree of efficiency in school functioning. According to (Mendez, 1989) there are three major forces that serve to shape and describe a school the public, the staff and the students and that these forces interact through curriculum. The role of the principal is to manipulate these forces in order to maximize the quality of instruction. The three key elements of learning: Teacher, students and curriculum Teacher Curriculum Student Instructional leadership is a complex task, it means that becoming a leader of leaders- learning and working with others i.e. teachers, students and parents to improve the instructional quality and curriculum. A Model of Instructional Leadership This is a model presented by James Weber (1987) which is based on two assumptions. The principal is the main instructional leader. The principal works with the leadership functions that are sometime shared and sometime not sheared. The functions of the Webers model are as under 1. Setting Academic Objectives A principal who is an instructional leader provides guidance for the school program, and describe the objectives to the general understanding. Vision for success (Leithwood, Doris, Alicia, 1993) and his colleagues found in a study that teachers commitment to change in instructional programs was affected the most by leadership that gave direction, purpose, and meaning to their work, e.g. the purpose of the school is to educate all students to high levels of academic performance. The principals responsibility is to ensure that the school has a clear academic mission and communicate it to the staff, which is focused on the academic progress of the students. 2. Organizing the Instructional Program After setting the goals for the school, the next step by instructional leader is to develop the strategies for bringing that goals into reality by allocating the staff, student grouping, and organizing the curriculum. These also involve the collaborative planning between instructional leader, students and parents. e.g. decision to place a student in one class or another. Certainly, the decision to place a student in one or another classroom, study group, or program is a decision that involves teachers, principals and the parents. The following are the some principals behavior that proved generally effective. Listen actively to staff and faculty ideas and produces opportunities for staff to implement innovative coaching arrangements. Make available resources and a encouraging environment for collaborative planning. Organize planning sessions to discuss grouping and scheduling arrangements with staff. Utilize staff recommendations. Keeps staff informed of policy changes. Expands options by varying periods in school day and days in cycle. 3. Supervision and Evaluation The most important task of principals instructional leadership is teachers supervision and evaluation. Instructional leadership means very little unless leaders are willing and able to observe teachers, offer advice about problems, and make formative evaluations that support and pinpoint areas to improve. Supervisors must have the knowledge of curriculum and instruction to know what to look for. According to (Gardner, 1988) To help others believe in themselves is one of a leaders highest duties. Following are the some tips that are effective for supervision. Classroom observations will be used to observe what is actually going on in the class rooms. What is the teacher and what are students are actually performing. Meets with teachers after each visit to discuss what was observed. Encourages teacher to express feelings and opinions about observational data and class activities. Offers teacher alternatives teaching techniques and explanations of class room events. Give praise for specific development of teachers skill if observed. Recommends resources and training programs in areas in which teacher need to improve. 4. Protecting Instructional Time and Program A study by (Cusick, 1973) found that 200 minutes of a students normal school day were spending on routine or maintenance tasks. He noted that the time spent actively engaged with some teacher over a matter of cognitive importance may not exceed twenty minutes a period for five periods a day. This is a high estimate. I would say that if an average student spent an hour to one and half hours involved on subject matter that was a good day. Teachers use instructional time for taking attendance, distributing materials entering and leaving the classroom, late start or early ending or such non classroom activities as field trips etc. grouping practices, instructional strategies, and the size of the class can all determine how time is spent in classrooms. Finally, achievement and instructional time both suffer when students are not in school or find it hard to concentrate because of disciplinary problems in the environment. Truancy and absenteeism can arise from a great variety of social and personal conditions, ranging from poverty and peer group influence to boredom and poor academic background. Discipline problems often emerge from conflicts, misunderstanding about rules, or the absence of clear boundaries for behaviors. Following are some of the behaviors associated in the research with increasing academic learning time (that is, time spent learning). The list focuses two crucial dimensions for learning time: ensuring c lass attendance and allocated time for instruction. For improving attendance Identify problems in enforcing rules on attendance and discipline observe that policies are clearly communicated to the staff members Put together community support particularly with parents Help teachers to set up a reward system for good attendance Distribute duty with teachers in informing parents of class absence. Allocated time for instruction Holds staff meeting to discuss common problems in instructional planning and offer solutions Protects classroom instructional time from interruption Insists on observing schedule Expects teachers to start and end classes on time, using the full allocated time for instruction Streamlines clerical tasks so that teachers can perform them more quickly. Visits classrooms to observe teachers and students 5. Creating a Climate for Learning All the important factors that appear to affect students learning possibly having the greatest influence is the set of beliefs, values, and attitudes that administrators, teachers, and students hold about learning. When a staff commits to support specific values, the concept of school improvement moves from the future to the present, and from the abstract to the concrete. So important is learning climate that it has been defined as the standard, viewpoint, and attitudes reflected in institutional patterns and behavior routine that improve student learning. The attitude that students shape about academic learning come, at least in part, from the adults in the school. It is clear that the norms for learning come from the staffs requirement of students: the amount of time needed for studying, the amount of work assigned, the degree of independent work that students can do, the degree of attentiveness students feel about the work given to them. High expectations are the fulcrum point that instructional leaders can use to get involved teachers, students and parents away from unhelpful unencouraging attitudes. Following are elements which are used to raise or lower the expectations Amount and quality of praise for correct answers Actual amount of teaching that students receive Content covered Teacher encouragement and support Teacher assistance and willingness to help Wait time Response opportunity factor (No of times students are called on) 6. Monitoring Achievement and evaluating programs It is a primary task of instructional leaders to assess and revise the instructional programs in schools. As in the case of supervising and evaluating teachers, whole programs can be reviewed for planning, objectives, success in reaching the objectives, and particular successes and problems. Ultimately the success of any educational program comes down to the performance of the students. Are they reaching the objectives proposed? Where are they failing and why? The more specifically that problems can be identified, the more successfully the learning problems can be remedied or traced to particular objectives, units, or course activities. Supervision and Teacher Development: Ernest Boyer (in Sparks, 1984) observed that when you talk about school progress, you are talking about people development. Thats the only aspect to improve schools unless you mean painting the buildings and fixing the floors. But thats not the school, thats the shell. The school is people, so when we talk about excellence or improvement or progress, were really talking about the people who make up the building. Focusing on people is the most useful way to change any organization. In fact, it can be claimed that organizations do not change, only persons change. It is only when a sufficient number of people within an organization change that the organization can be transformed. So, supervision means helping workers by offering professional advice and technical support in speed up efficiency and improving effectiveness of the process of production and product itself. Support and evaluation are the two major function of the instructional supervision. Support provides the support to improve the teaching process in terms of effective use of text books helping materials and methodologies needed for the individual needs of the students. Evaluation is the process of collecting the information for improvement in instruction and analyzing the data which then be used to improve the quality. If this assumption that people are the key to school improvement is correct, then it follows that the fundamental role of the principal is to help create the conditions which enable a staff to develop so that the school can achieve its goals more effectively. In short, a key to school improvement is the willingness and ability of principals to assume the role of staff developers who make it their mission to alter the professional practices, beliefs, and understandings of school personnel toward an articulated end. Supervision and teacher development go hand in hand. Supervision provides support and help to teachers. Principals have a responsibility to help teachers, improve their practice and to hold them accountable for meeting their commitments to teaching and learning. These responsibilities are usually referred to as supervision. Supervision enhances teacher development. The principal should keep in mind that what actions should be taken to bring about greater understanding of te aching and learning? Principals must encourage teachers to acquire new skills, support them during the inevitable frustrations, and recognize their efforts. Procedures must be in place to gather data on the impact of staff development initiatives, and principals must publicly celebrate indicators of improvement in order to help sustain those initiatives. Supervision is primarily formative and collegial, being concerned with improving teaching effectiveness. It is also important that principals be committed to continuous improvement. Schools can become learning organizations capable of significant change only if those within them recognize that school improvement is a complex, ongoing process rather than a task to be completed. While it is important that principals celebrate the attainment of improvement goals, it is even more important that such celebrations serve as motivators for staying the course rather than signal that the improvement process has ended. Most importantly, principals must not mistake congeniality with collegiality. They must strive to create a culture in which teachers talk about teaching and learning; observe each other teach; plan, design, research, and evaluate the curriculum, and teach each other what they have learned about their craft.

Comparing the Male Characters of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess

Comparing the Male Characters of Porphyria’s Lover and My Last Duchess The creation of a plausible character within literature is one of the most difficult challenges to a writer, and development to a level at which the reader identifies with them can take a long time. However, through the masterful use of poetic devices and language Browning is able to create two living and breathing characters in sixty or less lines. When one examines these works one has to that they are quite the achievements for they not only display the persona’s of two distinct men but also when compared show large differences while dealing with essentially the same subject. A brief examination of the structural aspects of â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† is needed before further analysis is done. One can break the poem up into twelve stanzas with an ababb stanzaic rhyme structure, though it is most often printed as a block poem. This would make it an alternately rhymed quatrain with a fifth line attached to create a couplet ending. The majority of the lines contain four iambic feet, though a few are nonasyllabic. Five of the twelve stanzas spill into the next stanza, thus detracting from their free-standing integrity. These stanzas are not syntactically self-containing and therefore the end-couplet value is undercut. If we examine the end of the eighth stanza we see that there is enjambment into the ninth stanza. In one long yellow string I wound, Three times her little throat around, And strangled her. (Browning, Porphyria’s Lover†, Lines 39-41) This does detract from the couplet though it emphasizes the tone, making the understated nature even more sociopathic. This is one example of how this simple tool in itself masterfully accentuates the overall tone of u... ...em we can learn the nature of love should allow people to conquer class distinction and that marriage should avoid sexist male tendencies. Inadequacy is a feeling that pervades both poems, and is evident through the voices of their protagonists. One can see its horrifying effect immediately. Men need to learn to deal with their possessive and aggressive natures in a way that creates a love that is beneficial to both partners not to just one. Browning, in these works, is painting the side the Romantics before him neglected to. Works Cited Browning, Robert, Robert Browning: Selected Poetry, (London: Penguin Books, 1989), pp. 17-8 and 25-6 Burrows, Leonard, Browning the Poet, (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1969), pp. 51-61 and 115-121 DeVane, William Clyde, A Browning Handbook, (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 1955), pp. 108-9

Is Faster Economic Growth a Good Thing?

Is faster economic growth always a good thing? Argue the case for and against faster growth and then come to your conclusion. Economics growth has been studied in differences camps. economics, environmentalist and sociologist have been debating years about the causes and effects of this one, it is a fact that economic growth is link with life quality and the first one can affect the second one in positive and negative ways, this essay will expose a number of advantages and disadvantages of a rapid economic growth. The concept of â€Å"economic growth† 50 years ago was quite different from the concept nowadays, before, the concept focus on the industrialization and the economy of the country, until the seventies decade when the professor Dudley Seers introduces the concept with strong consequences in equality, unemployment rate, etc. Economic growth, it is describe in different economic dictionaries as â€Å"an increase in the  capacity of an economy to produce goods and services,  compared  from one  period of time to another†. And it is an important part in the development of the economy to permit the right utilization of the goods and the improvement of living standards; however, there are some cases that â€Å"economic growth† it is not a steeply process making a rapid economic growth which brought some positives and negatives consequences for the society. One advantage of the â€Å"growth†, it is definitely the fact that governments can reduce or eliminate the money borrowing, due to the tax revenue is higher and also there is less money spend on benefits for unemployed people, then there is an greater inversion in public services and education, which are important aspects in the measure of the development of a country. An increasing of outputs because of the growth, will generate that companies start to employ more and more workers to supply the necessities of the costumer, reducing the level of unemployment and at the same time making higher incomes, giving the opportunity to get more and better quality goods for consumers It is part of this phenomenon that consumer demand is going to increase leading to an increase as well in the investment this one can be implanted in different ways, one important is â€Å"technology† and innovations making easier and cheaper the production. conomic growth it is working as well improving the business confident making this one more interesting for international investment, this one has also a strong relationship with the unemployment mention before due to the investment will rise the level of employment and incomes. These group of advantages are a clearly prove of how important it is a rapid economic growth for the society, improving the life quality and making business profitable which increase the employment rate and income levels, we can find an example of this if we study the economy of some Asian country where a rapid economic growth produce that the percentage of people living with $1 a day decrease 12% from 1990 to 2004, however, there are some risks that we have to consider when the economy growth too quickly. When the process of economic growth is too quickly or â€Å"unsustainable† the results are not always good, one disadvantage of this kind of growth is the inflation that is the situation when the average of demand is higher than the average of supply leading an increase in the price of services and goods which is dangerous for the economy because it can be a reduccion in the real value of the money then an inflationary growth could stimulate a recession in the economy. Also if the economic growth is caused by an increase in the customer spending, causing a rise in the level of imports this one can be higher than the level of exports producing a deficit follow by balance of payments problems. Another problem of economic growth is that this one can increase inequality income and wealth, because sometimes all the benefit of the growth does not have a right distribution, economics measure that by the â€Å"Gini co-efficient† ant this have a big impact in the society such as corruption and regional, also the gap between rich and poor people can become bigger. A different negative factor of economic growth is the big impact of this one on the environment, According to Booth (1991, p. 552), the† long-run economic growth relies on the creation of new industries and new forms of economic activity, these new forms of economic activity create new kinds of environmental problems† and this problems are becoming worse every day, this is because the level of production and consumption of non renewable recourses has increases the same than the level of air pollution, waste, etc. Basically these are in general some of the advantages and disadvantages of a repid economic growth and we can see that this one play and important role in the increase of the life quality however is not coming risk free, the inequalitie of income a wheat can make an effect in the society the same that the enviroment effects, the important point is that we have to take actions of this a possible way to do it is the sustainable development that is defined In 1987 by the Bruntland Commission n Environment and Development as:†development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†.

The Inventor of Duct Tape

The Inventor of Duct Tape During the second world war, U.S. troops in the heat of battle had a strangely impractical way of reloading their weapons. Cartridges used for grenade launchers was one example. Boxed, sealed with wax and taped over to protect them moisture, soldiers would need to pull on a tab to peel off the paper tape and break the seal. Sure, it worked... except when it didnt, soldiers were left scrambling to pry the boxes open. The Story of Vesta Stoudt Vesta Stoudt had been working at factory packing and inspecting these cartridges when she got to thinking that there had to be a better way. She also happened to be a mother of two sons serving in the Navy and was particularly perturbed that their lives and countless others were left to such chance. Concerned for the welfare of sons, she discussed with her supervisors an idea she had to fabricate a tape made from strong, water-resistant cloth. And when nothing came of her efforts, she penned a letter to then-President Franklin Roosevelt detailing her proposal (which included a hand-sketched diagram) and closing by making a plea to his conscience: We cant let them down by giving them a box of cartridges that takes a minute or two to open, enabling the enemy to take lives that might be saved had the box been taped with strong tape that can be opened in a split second. Please, Mr. President, do something about this at once; not tomorrow or soon, but now. Oddly enough, Roosevelt passed Stoudts recommendation on to military officials, and in two weeks time, she received notice that her suggestion is being considered and not too long after was informed that her proposal had been approved. The letter also commended her idea was of exceptional merit. Before long, Johnson Johnson, which specialized in medical supplies, was assigned and developed a sturdy cloth tape with a strong adhesive that would come to be known as â€Å"duck tape,† which garnered the company an Army-Navy E Award, an honor given out as a distinction of excellence in the production of war equipment. While Johnson Johnson was officially credited with the invention of duct tape, it’s a concerned mother who will be remembered as the mother of duct tape.  Ã‚   How Duct Tape Works The initial iteration that Johnson Johnson came up with isn’t much different from the version on the market today. Comprised of a piece of mesh cloth, which gives it tensile strength and rigidity to be torn by hand and waterproof polyethylene (plastic), duct tape is made by feeding the materials into a mixture that forms the rubber-based adhesive. Unlike glue, which forms a bond once the substance hardens, duct tape is a pressure-sensitive adhesive that relies on the degree in which pressure is applied. The stronger the pressure, the stronger the bond, particularly with surfaces that are clean, smooth and hard. Who uses duct tape? Duct tape was a huge hit with soldiers due to its strength, versatility and waterproof properties. Used to make all sorts of repairs from boots to furniture, it’s also a popular fixture in the world of motorsports, where crews use strips to patch up dents. Film crews working on-set have a version called gaffer’s tape, which doesn’t leave a sticky residue. Even NASA Astronauts pack a roll when they go on space missions. Besides repairs, other creative uses for duct tape include strengthening cellular reception on the Apple iPhone 4 and as a form of medical treatment for removing warts called duct tape occlusion therapy, which research hasn’t been proven to be effective. Duct tape or duck tape? In this case, either pronunciation would be correct. According to Johnson Johnson’s website, the original green sticky cloth tape got its name during world war II when soldiers started calling it duck tape for the way liquids seem to roll off like water off a duck’s back. Not long after the war, the company launched a metallic-silver version called duct tape after executives discovered it can also be used to seal heating ducts. Interestingly enough, however, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory conducted field tests on heating ducts and determined that duct tape was insufficient for sealing leaks or cracks.

Battle of Cryslers Farm in the War of 1812

Battle of Crysler's Farm in the War of 1812 Â  The Battle of Cryslers Farm was fought November 11, 1813, during the War of 1812 (1812-1815) and saw an American campaign along the St. Lawrence River halted. In 1813, Secretary of War John Armstrong directed American forces to begin a two-pronged advance against Montreal. While one thrust was to advance down the St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario, the other was to move north from Lake Champlain. Commanding the western attack was Major General James Wilkinson. Known as a scoundrel before the war, he had served as an agent of the Spanish government as well as was involved in the conspiracy that saw former Vice President Aaron Burr charged with treason. Preparations As a result of Wilkinsons reputation, the commander on Lake Champlain, Major General Wade Hampton, refused to take orders from him. This led to Armstrong constructing an unwieldy command structure that would see all orders for coordinating the two forces pass through the War Department. Though he possessed around 8,000 men at Sackets Harbor, NY, Wilkinsons force was poorly trained and ill-supplied. Additionally, it lacked experienced officers and was suffering from an outbreak of disease. To the east, Hamptons command consisted of around 4,000 men. Together, the combined force was twice the size of the mobile forces available to the British in Montreal. American Plans Early planning for the campaign called for Wilkinson to capture the key British naval base at Kingston prior to moving on Montreal. Though this would have deprived Commodore Sir Jame Yeos squadron of its primary base, the senior American naval commander on Lake Ontario, Commodore Isaac Chauncey, did not wish to risk his ships in an attack on the town. As a result, Wilkinson intended to make a feint toward Kingston before slipping down the St. Lawrence. Delayed in departing Sackets Harbor due to bad weather, the army final moved out on October 17 using around 300 small craft and bateaux. the American army entered the St. Lawrence on November 1 and reached French Creek three days later. British Response It was at French Creek that the first shots of the campaign were fired when brigs and gunboats led by Commander William Mulcaster attacked the American anchorage before being driven off by artillery fire. Returning to Kingston, Mulcaster informed Major General Francis de Rottenburg of the American advance. Though focused on defending Kingston, Rottenburg dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Morrison with a Corps of Observation to harry the American rear. Initially consisting of 650 men drawn from the 49th and 89th Regiments, Morrison increased his strength to around 900 by absorbing local garrisons as he advanced. His corps was supported on the river by two schooners and seven gunboats. A Change of Plans On November 6, Wilkinson learned that Hampton had been beaten at Chateauguay on October 26. Though the Americans successfully bypassed a British fort at Prescott the following night, Wilkinson was unsure of how to proceed after receiving the news regarding Hamptons defeat. On November 9, he convened a council of war and met with his officers. The result was an agreement to continue on with the campaign and Brigadier General Jacob Brown was sent ahead with an advance force. Before the main body of the army embarked, Wilkinson was informed that a British force was in pursuit. Halting, he prepared to deal with Morrisons approaching force and established his headquarters at Cooks Tavern on November 10. Pressing hard, Morrisons troops spent that night encamped near Cryslers Farm approximately two miles from the American position. Armies Commanders Americans Major General James WilkinsonBrigadier General John Parker Boyd8,000 men British Lieutenant Colonel James MorrisonCommander William Mulcasterapprox. 900 men Dispositions On the morning of November 11, a series of confused reports led each side to believe that the other was preparing to attack. At Cryslers Farm, Morrison formed the 89th and 49th Regiments in a line with detachments under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pearson and Captain G.W. Barnes in advance and to the right. These occupied buildings near the river and gully extending north from the shore. A skirmish line of Canadian Voltigeurs and Native American allies occupied a ravine in advance of Pearson as well as a large wood to the north of the British position. Around 10:30 AM, Wilkinson received a report from Brown stating that he had defeated a militia force at Hooples Creek the previous evening and the line of advance was open. As the American boats would shortly need to run Long Sault Rapids, Wilkinson decided to clear his rear before moving forward. Fighting an illness, Wilkinson was not in a condition to lead the attack and his second-in-command, Major General Morgan Lewis, was unavailable. As a result, command of the assault fell to Brigadier General John Parker Boyd. For the assault, he had the brigades of Brigadier Generals Leonard Covington and Robert Swartwout. The Americans Turned Back Forming for battle, Boyd placed Covingtons regiments on the left extending north from the river, while Swartwouts brigade was on the right extending north into the woods. Advancing that afternoon, Colonel Eleazer W. Ripleys 21st US Infantry from Swartwouts brigade drove back the British skirmishers. On the left, Covingtons brigade struggled to deploy due to a ravine on their front. Finally attacking across the field, Covingtons men came under heavy fire from the Pearsons troops. In the course of the fighting, Covington was mortally wounded as was his second-in-command. This led to a breakdown in organization on this part of the field. To the north, Boyd attempted to push troops across the field and around the British left. These efforts failed as they were met by heavy fire from the 49th and 89th. All across the field, the American attack lost momentum and Boyds men began falling back. Having struggled to bring up his artillery, it was not in place until his infantry was retreating. Opening fire, they inflicted losses on the enemy. Seeking to drive off the Americans and capture the guns, Morrisons men began a counterattack across the field. As the 49th neared the American artillery, the 2nd US Dragoons, led by Colonel John Walbach, arrived and in a series of charges bought sufficient time for all but one of Boyds guns to be withdrawn. Aftermath A stunning victory for a much smaller British force, Cryslers Farm saw Morrisons command inflict losses of 102 killed, 237 wounded, and 120 captured on the Americans. His force lost 31 killed, 148 wounded, 13 missing. Though disheartened by the defeat, Wilkinson pressed on and moved through the Long Sault rapids. On November 12, Wilkinson united with Browns advance detachment and a short time later received Colonel Henry Atkinson from Hamptons staff. Atkinson brought word that his superior had retired to Plattsburgh, NY, citing a lack of supplies, rather than move west around Chateauguay and to join Wilkinsons army on the river as originally ordered. Again meeting with his officers, Wilkinson decided to end the campaign and the army went into winter quarters at French Mills, NY. Following a defeat at Lacolle Mills in March 1814, Wilkinson was removed from command by Armstrong.

A full case study analysis of Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A full case study analysis of Facebook - Essay Example The website has made itself available in more than 70 vernacular languages and massive expansion was achieved as most of the users were outside the U.S.A. and Canada. In 2012, the company made its first public offering and has ambitious plans for the future. Political: Government actions can have significant negative impact on the profitability of facebook’s future expansion. For instance, the Chinese government has banned the website from China and the governments of multiple nations like Germany has raised a concern that collecting user information by the company is a breach of security. Economic: Facebook has been able to maintain strong growth even during the period of recession and its revenue has increased significantly from $731 million in 2010 to $1,584 million in 2012 (Rothaermel and Taylor, 2014). Additionally the rising level of internet penetration in developing countries is contributing to its active users regularly. Social: Social tastes and preferences of consumers regarding the usage of social media are changing drastically which is largely visible from the rising popularity of other social websites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. In the U.K. particularly it has been noted that facebook had lost around 2 million users mainly belonging in the teenage group. Technological: As of now, Facebook does not have the technological expertise of Google which is in a better position to generate revenues from the online advertisement market. Google+, another social networking site is technologically more advanced than Facebook (Rothaermel and Taylor, 2014). Threat from buyers: Customers for facebook are the advertisers who pay the company to post their ads on the website. Current estimates of facebook show that $7.64 billion is expected to be earned from the advertising revenues even by charging higher price to them (Rothaermel and Taylor, 2014). This implies that the current customer

Flight Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Flight Center - Essay Example An agency seeks out rates from these suppliers which can be hotels, resorts, airline companies, car rentals and the like, then consolidates it into one package packed with some sight-seeing trips to tourist attractions then sells it to the possible consumers. The Federation of Tour Operators (2006) views the role of travel agents as giving advises and sells bookings. This has always been the way of Flight Centre, incorporating its aim to provide â€Å"value-for-money travel† and offer ‘unbeatable passion and experience, going the extra mile to ensure clients get the best trip at the best price’ (Superbrands 2010). As Flight Centre’s tag-line goes, â€Å"unbeatable†, if another travel provider would give a quotation of rates, Flight Centre will also give their own rate which would be hard to beat because of their price, quality, passion and extensive experience in the travel field. Just like any other business, Flight Centre started their venture eigh t years after Top-Deck, UK based bus company started its operation in 1973; they initially gained success because of providing cheap rates. In nine years time, Turner opened retail stores in United Kingdom, New Zealand and United States of America. Because of what was then a world-wide crisis, the Gulf War, the stores experienced temporary closure but was then reopened after a couple of years. The company also expanded its services to South Africa and Canada, which paved the way for it to conquer a world-wide market. The strength of business establishment outweighs the weaknesses and creates the reason why establishment weathers the changes in the needs and wants of the dynamic world of travel and tourism. As for Flight Centre, there are various aspects why they are experiencing the success envied by others. The company philosophy of volume of margin, the way they create their product with utmost passion and dedication, their well maintained reputation of having an inclination of lo w-cost travel with value-for-money, their credentials which have been given recognitions and citations by other entities, the continuous pledge for corporate social governance of giving something back to the people, their ingenuity in their marketing campaigns, the way management supports its employees and the work atmosphere are among the countless reasons why they managed to stay on top. There are a lot of sources for a travel agency’s income, from commissions, profit margins, incentives, and auxiliary services like documentations and visa processing. The first two are among the primary source of income. Flight Centre proved itself to be different than the rest; the traveller’s volumes were their driving force to stay on top of all the travel providers in the business. The importance of the number of people they give their services over the profit that they will be making indeed set foot a birth-mark for low-cost travel. They settle for more customers at a lower cost than few customers for a high cost. The success of Flight Centre can be credited to the way the company does its products. They maintained a sense of focus; doing what they do best without being too innovative. There are those who would like to set anew, and there are a few who would take advantage for what they know best, the exact philosophy evolving around this high-ranked company. Turner (2006) stated that, ‘