In the Line of Fire Essay Example for Free

In the Line of Fire Essay Author. Pervez Musharraf 3. Chapters 22 4. Pages 237 5. Price. Not Known 6. Year of Pub 2006 Introduction 7. With the publication of his memoir, In the Line of Fire, Pervez Musharraf has virtually launched his campaign for the next presidential election due towards the end of 2007. Through the medium of this book he intends to convey to the people of Pakistan what he has accomplished for his country, and to the world community, how he has endeavored to counter the forces of extremism and obscurantism that have brought bad name to Pakistan. About The Author 8. The title, In the Line of Fire, serves to project Musharraf’s image as a bold and courageous leader of a country beset by innumerable internal and external difficulties and threats. The idea is to make him appear as a man of crisis and saviour of the nation ,a leader who salvaged the sinking ship of Pakistan. SUMMARY Of THE BOOK 9. Divided into six parts and thirty-two chapters, In the Line of Fire contains a â€Å"Prologue† and an â€Å"Epilogue†. Inclusive of â€Å"Index†, the book is spread over three hundred and fifty-two pages, and contains several memorable photographs. 10. The book’s part one, â€Å"In the Beginning†, comprises chapters 1 to 5 and is devoted to Musharraf’s early life and youthful years. a. The chapter 1. Entitled same as Khushwant Singh’s famous novel, â€Å"Train to Pakistan†, opens with the words: â€Å"These were troubled times. These were momentous times. There was the light of freedom; there was the darkness of genocide. It was the dawn of hope; it was the twilight of empire. † (p. 11) Any student of English literature would immediately gather that the source of inspiration for this paragraph is Charles Dickens’ classic A Tale of Two Cities. Set in the background of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities begins thus: â€Å"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair . . . .† b. Chapter 2. The Chapter 2 â€Å"Settling in Karachi†, narrates the story of housing and other problems faced by Musharraf’s family in their new homeland. Representing the ordeal of nearly every Mohajir household, Musharraf states: â€Å"Other uprooted members of our family assorted aunts and uncles and cousins came to live with us. At one time there were eighteen of us living in those two rooms. † (p. 15) Ultimately, Musharraf’s family settles down, and he as â€Å"an uprooted little boy found earth that was natural to him. He took root in it forever. † (p. 18) There is the commitment emanating from the innermost depth of his heart: â€Å"I would protect that earth with my life. † (p. 8) This represents the crisis of Mohajir identity: preoccupation with the search for roots after having been uprooted, and a desire to monopolize patriotism. c. Chapter 3. In chapter 3, â€Å"Turkey: The Formative Years†, Musharraf talks about his adolescent years in that country where his father was posted in Pakistan’s embassy. It was here that he developed admiration for the founder of modern Turkey: â€Å"Wi th the fall of the Ottoman caliphate, Mustafa Kemal had saved Turkey from balkanization and modernized it by dragging it out of dogma and obscurantism. † (p. 9) Ataturk is the role model, Musharraf is in search of his footsteps but the terrain is entirely different. As if to prove that his family was not â€Å"obscurantist†, the author says, â€Å"Both my parents loved music and dancing, especially ballroom dancing,† (p. 20) He seems to be conscious of the controversy that was created by the photograph in which he was carrying two puppies, as he reminds, â€Å"My love of dogs began in Turkey. †(p. 24). d. Chapter4. The chapter 4. â€Å"Home†, describes his life back in Pakistan where first Musharraf’s family took residence in Nazimabad Block 3. Here â€Å"a boy had to be street-smart to survive. There were the inevitable street gangs, and needless to say, I joined one. Needless to say, too, I was one of the tough boys. † (p. 26). While living in this Mohajir neighbourhood, Musharraf relates with pride that he thrashed a bully and became known as a â€Å"dada geer† (p. 27). The discernable reader would not fail to observe the author’s mental affinity to the stuff from which the MQM was to emerge. Perhaps Musharraf feels that without reference to some love affairs the story of his youthful years would remain incomplete and barren. So one finds mention of a couple of superficial love affairs. e. Chapter5. The next chapter, â€Å"Leaving the Nest†, takes the reader to Musharraf’s college years where he got his first experience in public speaking as a candidate in the election for class representative. (p. 32) Musharraf also got introduced to Tariq Aziz who was destined to become his principal secretary after he became president and was later to be appointed secretary to the National Security Council. It was also in the FC College that he â€Å"learned how to make a time bomb, which I later used as a commando to good effect. (p. 33). f. Chapter 6. The part two, â€Å"Life in the Army†, chapter 6, â€Å"The Potter’s Wheel†, is devoted to the author’s life in Pakistan Military Academy (PMA). Musharraf is all praise for the PMA, and describes it as the best in the world (p. 41). This is the beginning of his lifetime love with the institution of the armed forces. Here one in cident took place that probably became significant in the future: â€Å"I was one of four candidates short-listed to go to Sandhurst, England, to complete my training, but another cadet, Ali Kuli Khan Khattak, was selected. He retired as a lieutenant general and chief of general staff when I became army chief, but I suspect that his retirement, which was optional, had more to do with disappointment at not becoming chief himself, which is perfectly understandable. † (p. 41) . A little circumspection and Musharraf could have skipped the mention of above incident. g. Chapter 7. In chapter 7, â€Å"Into the Fire†, Musharraf gives account of his valiant contribution to the India-Pakistan War of 1965, which earned him an award for gallantry. He could have earned two awards but due to certain act of indiscipline court-martial proceedings were to be taken against him, which were dropped as a reward for his performance in the war. The author is silent about the Operation Gibraltar and Operation Grand Slam that had provoked India to attack Pakistan in the early hours of September 6, 1965. His comments on the developments preceding the war would have enhanced the value of the book. h. Chapter 8. In chapter 8, â€Å"Life in the Fire†, Musharraf makes a lot of criticism of Z. A. Bhutto. In his zeal for Bhutto-bashing, Musharraf makes an absurd point that instead of becoming chief martial law administrator Bhutto could have reverted to the Constitution of 1956 with amendments to the clauses that pertained to East Pakistan. (p. 57) He conveniently ignores that Yahya Khan had done away with â€Å"One Unit† with effect from July 1, 1970, and elections for four separate provincial assemblies had been held in December 1970. i. Chapter 9. The chapter 9, â€Å"Living through the Dreadful Decade†, is primarily an indictment of the civilian facade, 1988-1999: Never in the history of Pakistan had we seen such a combination of the worst kind of governance or rather, a nearly total lack of governance along with corruption and the plunder of national wealth. During these eleven years, every army chief there were four of them eventually clashed with the prime minister. The head of the government invariably got on the wrong side of the president and the army chief. Ad vice to Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto fell on deaf ears, leading every time to a confrontation. † (p. 78). j. Chapter 10. In chapter 10, â€Å"From Chief to Chief executive†, Musharraf relates the story of his becoming the army chief and not â€Å"chief executive† of the country as the title wrongly suggests. This glaring mistake cannot be condoned in a book meant for high caliber audience. Musharraf gives some detail of the conflict between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the one hand and President Farooq Leghari and Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on the other. He accuses Nawaz Sharif of sending â€Å"his party goons to storm the Supreme Court building while the court was in session. . Chapter 11. In chapter 11, â€Å"The Kargil Conflict†, Musharraf gives his side of the Kargil story. He stresses that the Kargil operartion was just one in a series of moves and counter-moves at tactical level by India and Pakistan along the Line of Control in Northern Areas. (p. 87). According to him the Indians could have possibly used the reportedly increasing activities of the â€Å"mujahideenâ⠂¬  as a casus belli to launch operation against the positions of Pakistan armed forces. He states, â€Å"We knew that thousands of mujahideen, mostly indigenous to Indian-held Kashmir but also supported by freelance sympathizers from Pakistan, did operate against the Indian forces. † (p. 88) l. Chapter 12. The part three, â€Å"The Hijacking Drama†, chapter 12, â€Å"Plane to Pakistan†, contains detail of what happened on board flight PK 805, which was bringing Musharraf back to Karachi from Colombo. Musharraf accuses Nawaz Sharif of not allowing his flight to land in Karachi even if it had to be diverted to Bombay, Oman, Abu Dhabi or Bandar Abbas. The reason: â€Å"I had been dismissed and Ziauddin had been made the chief. Obviously, Nawaz Sharif did not want me around to counter his illegal action. † (p. 107) m. Chapter 13. In chapter 13, â€Å"The Conspiracy†, Musharraf charges Nawaz Sharif of staging a coup against him. According to Musharraf, â€Å"It was a gross misuse and misapplication of the law: you cannot summarily dismiss the army chief, a constitutional appointee, without giving him just cause and affording him due process. †(p. 109) n. Chapter 14 The chapter 14, â€Å"The Countercoup†, describes how the loyalists of Musharraf managed to thwart the alleged plan of Nawaz Sharif and removed him from power. . Chapter 15. In chapter 15, â€Å"Anatomy of Suicide†, Musharraf tries to explain why Nawaz Sharif took the decision to remove him. He refers to various irritants that had developed between him and the prime minister. He conjectures, â€Å"It could be that such affronts on my part made the prime minister realize his folly in selecting me for my position. He had probably thought that being the son of immigrant parents, I would acquiesce in his demands ___ that I would feel insecure and vulnerable and do his bidding. He couldn’t have been more wrong. . Chapter 16. In chapter 16, â€Å"Pakistan First†, Musharraf explains the reasons why he did not impose martial law repeating the earlier argument: â€Å"Our past experience had amply demonstrated that martial law damages not only military but also civilian institutions, because as the army gets superimposed on civil institutions the bureaucracy becomes dependent on army officers to make the crucial decisions that they themselves should be making. I therefore decided that there would be no martial law. †(p. 143). q. Chapter 17. The chapter 17, â€Å"The Quest for Democracy† makes a brief and superficial survey of constitutional developments, and government and politics in Pakistan. Here too Musharraf does not spare Bhutto: â€Å"Zulfikar Ali Bhutto masqueraded as a democrat but ruled like an autocrat. † (p. 159) Nawaz also becomes Musharraf’s target: â€Å" This time he had a brute two-third majority in the National Assembly and could bludgeon through any amendment to the constitution he wanted. He used his majority to silence dissent. He forced the army chief out of office. He attacked the press and arrested many journalists. And he had his party’s goons physically attack the Supreme Court. † (p. 162) r. Chapter 18. In chapter 18, â€Å"Putting the System Right†, Musharraf points out the flaws in Pakistan’s politico-constitutional setup, and discusses the measures that he has adopted to remove them. He primarily identifies two problems: â€Å"the absence of democracy at the grassroots level and the absence of effective checks and balances over the three power brokers of Pakistan: the president, the prime minister and the army chief. (p. 164) s. Chapter 19. In chapter 19, â€Å"Kick-Starting the Economy†, Musharraf presents a lot of figures to make the point that under his government there has been a revival of economy. What he conveniently ignores is the fact that since early 1990s Pakistan was facing sanctions whereas the actual starting point of revival was 9/11 when Pakistan became a US ally in its â€Å"war on ter ror. † And sanctions were lifted. It is yet to be seen if there has been any structural change in the economy or the present kick off is short-lived. The recent scandal concerning the sale of Pakistan Still Mills, the sugar crisis and uncontrollable inflationary trends are black spots on the management of Pakistan’s economy. The part five of the book deals with â€Å"The War on Terror†. t. Chapter 20. This part begins with chapter 20, â€Å"One Day that Changed the World†, an obvious reference to 9/11. During an important meeting at the Governor’s House, Musharraf received the famous phone call of the US secretary of state. He recalls, â€Å"Powell was quite candid: ‘You are either with us or against us. I took this as a blatant ultimatum. † (p. 201). u. Chapter 21. The chapter 21, â€Å"Omar and Osama†, contains details about Mulla Omar’s and bin Laden’s background and their worldview, and discusses the origin of the Taliban. Musharraf â€Å"suspects† that the United States did not disapprove of the Taliban phenomenon in the hope that they could bring peace to A fghanistan. (p. 211). v. Chapter 22. The chapters 22, â€Å"The War Comes to Pakistan†, 23, â€Å"Manhunt† and 24, â€Å"Tightening the Noose† are about the network and activities of Al-Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan. These chapters also contain the details of Pakistani agencies’ operations to break terrorist network in the country. Referring to Al-Qaeda members, Musharraf boasts: â€Å"We have captured 689 and handed 369 to the United States. We have earned bounties totaling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of ‘not doing enough’ in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the government of Pakistan. † (p. 237).

Computerized Cognitive and Psychomotor Battery

Computerized Cognitive and Psychomotor Battery The primary goal of this study was to develop and validate the computerized cognitive and psychomotor battery for the sharp shooters. In order to construct the test, task analysis were carried out. For the experts in the field of psychology, experienced shooters and coaches were interviewed in the army marksmanship training center. Based on that skills and abilities required for the shooters were identified. In order to quantify those skills eight tests were identified i.e. Reasoning, visualization, shifting of attention, simple reaction time, complex reaction time, sustained attention, Eye- Hand Co-ordination and mental stamina (to with stand the match pressure). Initially the test protocols and requirement were developed and those were discussed with the software experts. The software professionals prepared the test software by using OPENGL and MYSQL software packages. After computerized the battery, validation process were started. In order to establish the psychometric properties , the study has carried out in two phase. In the first part of the research was focused on the validation of cognitive and psychomotor battery and in the second part validation of self reported mental toughness scale. In order to establish the psychometric properties of perceptual and motor battery around 650 samples were collected from shooters in IMA and Army Marksmanship unit. To establish the reliability, test retest method employed to investigate the temporal stability, for this 45 shooters were collected from Army marksmanship Unit (8 months’ time interval) (Mean age 24.2 SD 3.8 Average year of experience in shooting 3.5) .Overall the correlation was moderate, the lowest value was obtained in simple reaction time (See table No).For rests of the scales temporal consistency was moderate level. Apart from that pair sample t tests used to check the consistency of the score in the two levels. There was no significant difference between the mean test and retest scores mean scores. This findings supports the test battery is maintaining adequate temporal consistency. To study the factorial validity, exploratory factor analysis was carried out. Findings shows that three factor were emerged and it explains 60.2 %. In factor I reasoning and perceptual style test is loaded (), Factor II Vigilance, Eye hand Coordination and shifting of attention is loaded and in Factor 3 simple and choice reaction time is loaded (). The tests loaded on factor I, it measures logical reasoning and decision making of an indivual, and both the tests are non verbal matrix test, which may be the cause of loading both the test in Factor I.In the second factor, Sustained attention Shifting of attention and Eye hand Coordination are loaded, theoretically it was not expected the psychomotor test shared common variance with the test that measures attention and concentration. In the Eye hand coordination test subject has to focus and move the ball with the help of the Joystick, and to perform the task the subject is not only required psychomotor skills but the subject has to conc entrate and focused the task, which may be the cause of loading this test in Factor II.In the Factor III, the tests measures the psychomotor skills (simple and Choice reaction time) are loaded. To cross validate the latent structure emerged in the exploratory analysis, a separate confirmatory factor analysis were carried. Two competing models were developed but the results shows that the three dimensional oblique model is adequately fitting the data. After factorial validity, to establish the predictive validity of cognitive and psychomotor battery, separate set of data were collected from the participants of talent shooting competition and shooters performance appraisal data from the training institute. And to establish the validity, t-test and discriminant analysis were carried out to predict how far the battery is predicting the performance of the shooters. In the talent shooting competition around 415 IMA cadets were participated in the shooting competition, in this only 397 cadets were under gone cognitive and psychomotor battery. After competition only 17 cadets were recommended for shooter sport. Results of the analysis reveals shows that there is a significant difference between the recommended and non recommended shooters in cognitive and psychomotor skills. Particularly reasoning ability, spatial visualization, handy steadiness, reaction time and sustained attention of recommended shooters (N=17) significantly different from than the below non recommended shooters and this indicated that they are better in cognitive and psychomotor abilities (except divided attention) than non-recommended shooters. To further validate the battery, performance appraisal reports were received. Trainer and coaches assessed the shooters, based on the performance in the national and international competitions, based on those shooters were rated as below average and above average shooters. Data were collected from 50 experienced shooters; finally 36 pistol shooters (mean age 23.1 and SD 3.25) reports were received for validation, in these 11 shooters were rated as below average and 25 shooters as above average shooters. Results shows that above average shooters are better in sustained attention and handsteadyness. In the discriminant analysis, both the variables explain 25.4% of the variation in the dependent variable and it correctly classify 75 % of respondents into ‘Above average’ or ‘below average shooters. Overall predictive accuracy of the discriminant function is called the ‘hit ratio’. Non Recommended shooters were classified with slightly better accuracy (76%) than recommended shooters (72.7 %). Overall the cognitive and Psychomotor test are significantly predicting the performance of the shooters. Particularly in the novice shooters, parameters related to perceptual style, choice reaction time and handsteadyness play a major factor for predicting the performance. These parameters (except handsteadyness) are measuring the constructs related to logical reasoning and decision making. It may be due the participants are not skilled shooters they are novice, while shooting they required more cognitive resources, because they are in the learning phase. But in the skilled shooters (experienced shooters) sustained attention and Eye hand coordination is significantly predicting performance. Basically these constructs are measuring the alertness and psychomotor coordination, this may be due to the shooters are experienced and they are in the automatic phase, so they are not required much cognitive resources to perform the task. Findings of this study partially support the Ackermanâ₠¬â„¢s theory of skill development. According to Ackerman’s (1988) theory of skill development predicts differential relations of cognitive and psychomotor to different phases of skill development. When participants are learning the task, cognitive variables should have a higher impact on performance than psychomotor variables, with the opposite relation when participants are in the practice phase. Further to explore is there any difference between the different categories of shooters in cognitive and psychomotor abilities. For this, test were administered to slow and rapid shooters, in this category particularly trap and skeet shooters has to hit the fast moving target in the different direction, for this task, the shooter has to be extra cautious, proper Psychomotor coordination and quick reaction time is required, but the findings of the study shows that the rapid shooters mean score of shifting of attention, handsteadyness and reaction time is slightly better than the slow shooters, but it’s not statistically significant. As a part of this research ,to explore how training and experience in shooting competition improves on perceptual and motor skills, in order to answer this question , newly inducted (less than five years ) and experienced shooters (more than five years ) were identified and administered the psychomotor battery. Results show that there is no statistically significant difference between the groups in the cognitive and psychomotor abilities. It revealed that training, exposure and experience in shooting are not improved much in cognitive and psychomotor skills. From this we can infer that, if the skills are not improved much in training and experience, better it can be identified in the induction level to make successful shooters, but further in-depth longitudinal study has to be carried out to support this finding. Overall the validation study reveals that cognitive and psychomotor skills are significantly contributing for shooting performance. Apart from the cognitive Psycho-motor abilities, emotional component plays a vital role in shooting sports performance. He/she may be technically competent and innate aptitude for shooting but if he is not able to control the emotion and with stand the match pressure, he/she will lose the game. The next part of the research is focused on the construct of mental toughness. Although mental toughness is a broad term that has been associated with a variety of mental skills, little has been done to quantify mental toughness for research and assessment purposes. The current study is conceptually based on the available literature and previous concepts believed to be related to mental toughness. The next part describes the method used to establish a mental toughness questionnaire The second part of the research focused on development and validation of Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ), for that available literature and concepts to be related to mental toughness were explored, based on that initially 120 items were generated, subsequently which were reduced to 100 items based on expert opinion. Consequently, the same was subjected to items analysis (item total correlation and factor loading) and it finally reduced to 40 items. Further to explore whether the mental toughness scale is uni-dimensional or multidimensional in nature, and to study the latent structure of the questionnaire, principal component factor analysis was employed. In the factor analysis, three factors were emerged and it’s explained 45.4 % of variance and it termed as self confident, self control and resilience and to cross validate the latent structural model, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out ,which rejected the alternative models ( uni-dimensional three dimensional orthogonal and second order factor model) and supported the three dimensional oblique model. In order to establish the reliability of the tool, Test retest reliability (r = 0.635) and internal consistency reliability (r = 0.912) was established. Apart from the face and content validity and to establish criterion validity, concurrent, construct and predictive validity were identified. In the concurrent validity the mental toughness tool is significantly correlated (0.683**) with the existing mental toughness scale and to establish the construct validity both convergent and divergent validity were established. In the convergent validity it is related with the theoretically relevant constructs (i.e. Resilience, Hardiness, neuroticism and positive Negative affectivity) and for divergent validity it’s not correlated with the theoretically irrelevant constructs. Further to identify how far the mental toughness scale is predicting the efficiency of the shooters performance. For this predictive validity is established with the following criteria’s i.e. Expert Novice shooters, shooting score in the competition and successful unsuccessful shooters in the competition. In order to establish the predictive validity, the tests were administered to the expert and novice shooters. Finding shows that mean mental toughness score for expert shooters (M = 174 SD =?) was significantly different from Novice shooters (M=162, SD=.54) and indicated that Expert shooters being more mentally tough than Novice (t = -5.666, df = 279.4p Apart from that, further analysis carried out to identify how far the mental toughness scale is predicting the shooting performance, for that the MTs score has correlated with the shooting score. Findings show that both the variables are significantly positively correlated and in the stepwise regression, mental toughness factor I (Self confident) explains 4.6% variance in shooting score. Martin and Gill (1991) found self-confidence to be significantly and positively related to distance running performance, but found no significant relationship between cognitive anxiety and running performance. Similarly Hardy (1996b) and Parfitt and Pates (1999) found that self-confidence accounted for a significant proportion of performance variance over and above that accounted for by cognitive anxiety Analyses of variance revealed that mean mental toughness score of Successful shooters (Medal recipient) is significantly higher than the average and below average performers. In order to see whether is there any influence of age, gender and experience of shooter is related with mental toughness. Adams Nicholls et.al. (2009) reported that there is a significant relationship between mental toughness and gender, age and sporting experience. According to age, evidence from developmental sports psychology research found young and old adults differ in their self perception social influence motivation and self regulation with regard to sports participation (Weiss 2004).Therefore the role of development factors such as age could influence the mental toughness. Findings of the results showed that there is a significant relationship with age and mental toughness (0.243*). In particular, it appears that when people get older they improve in overall mental toughness, and more specifically in their levels of commitment, emotional control and life control. These findings have significant implications for the development of mental toughness. Clough et al. (2002) have suggested that mental toughness is a trait-like personality characteristic, and Golby and Sheard (2004) have suggested genetic links. But, our findings suggest that life experience may well be an important factor in determining mental toughness levels. In respect of competitive experience, Connaughton Waedey, Hanton and Jones (2008) reported that competitive experience was a crucial factor in the development of mental toughness among athletes. The result of the study shows that there is no significant relation between the shooting experience and mental toughness. It reveals that the training imparted for the shooters and the experience they gained from the shooting exposer is not significantly improved the mental toughness. Age and years of experience are of course closely related variables (r = .79 in this study). Therefore learning experiences and/or biological changes might be responsible for the small changes in the attributes underlying mental toughness. In order to further study whether the shooting experience is improving the mental toughness or not ,a small longttitunel study was conducted to check whether is there any changes in mental toughness after induction in to training and the participation in national and internati onal events. Around 20 participants samples were selected and administer the test during the Young blood competition, in these only 11 participants were selected and inducted for training in Army marksmanship unit. After that participants undergone training and participated competitions, one year after again the MTS data collected from the same candidates to check there is any improvement in MT’s, findings revealed the mean mental toughness score is improved slightly after undergone training and participation in competitions but it’s not statistically significant. Further exploratory analyses examined the relationship between gender and mental toughness. But the result of the study shows that, no gender differences were found on the scale, but previous studies (Nicholls et al., 2009; Findlay Bowker, 2009) suggest that males would have higher mental toughness than females. Social desirability is the tendency for individuals to portray themselves in generally favorable light. Edwards (1957) defined the construct as a tendency to provide socially desirable responses to statements in self-description. Marlowe Crowne (1960) defined it as a tendency to give culturally sanctioned and approved responses. Jackson (1984) saw it as a tendency to describe oneself in terms judged as desirable and to present oneself favorably. These definitions indicate a style of responding that is separate from the specific personality content dimension to be measured by a psychological test. A potential problem for a self-report personality scale is whether an elevated score represents a high score on the test’s content dimension or a tendency to present oneself favorably. Various methods exist for coping with social desirability in self-report inventories. First, a forced-choice format could be used for the test. Response options for any test item would then be matched for social desirability. Second, test items could be selected for a scale based on those items being more strongly representative of the psychological construct of interest than social desirability. Third, test instructions could be tailored to reduce the likelihood that test takers will respond in terms of social desirability. Fourth, social desirability could be statistically removed from the score generated on the test. Fifth, the questionnaires under investigation are correlated with a Social Desirability Scale and consequently demonstrating that the questionnaires under investigation do not correlate with the social desirability scale or if they do, that the correlations of these questionnaires with other variables of interest are not significantly attenuated when scores from Social Desirability Scale are partialled out ( Mummendey, 1981). To identify the social desirability of this tool the 40 items of the newly constructed Mental toughness scale was administered with the Soci al Desirability Scale – 17 (Strà ¶ber, 1991) on a sample of 281. The Social Desirability Scale – 17 was developed because some items the Marlowe-Crowne Scale was found to be inapplicable to the present day. The scale has high reliability (ÃŽ ± = .80). It shows a convergent correlation of r = .68 with the Marlowe-Crowne Scale. The correlation between the two test was found to be statistically significant (r = -.001). Finally, the MTS score was positively correlated(r=0.29, p>.001) with the SDS-17 Score. However its magnitude was relatively small with social desirability accounted for only 7.5% of scale variance. This finding suggests that mental toughness assessment and training may prove valuable in enhancing performance and retention of the shooters

The New Deal Essay -- American History Great Depression Essays

The New Deal In the early 1930's in the midst of the largest economic crisis our country has ever seen newly elected Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt was faced with the task of figuring out a way to pull our country out of the terrible depression that seemed to have no end. To rally the country and try and jump start the economy and the people from the apparent standstill that gripped the nation President Roosevelt implemented a plan that became known as the ‘New Deal’. The New Deal was America’s introduction to government entitlement programs. The era of President Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal sparked change in the country that has left lasting effects on our economic, political and social behavior. The New Deal was not purely economically rooted. Roosevelt rather than basing his strategies on the rules of economics he implemented projects based on opportunity and practicality. The overall goal of the New Deal was to introduce America to a larger more expansive federal government which took control and provide services to assist the country out of the depression. The New Deal began with several programs some successful other not so successful, known as the â€Å"Alphabetical Agencies†. These programs and administrations were spread out over the first two terms of President Roosevelt which are seen as the ‘first’ and ‘second’ New Deals. The first New Deal began when Roosevelt entered office in 1932. He opened his New Deal with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation(FDIC), which is still in use today. At its inception, the FDIC insured bank saving up to $5,000 and there were also very severe regulations put upon the sale of securities on the stock exchan... ...s Act, the Social Security Act was also enacted at this time two mainstays of our government even today. The political implications are along party lines. In the 1936 election, because of the New Deal certain groups became strongly aligned with the parties. The Democratic party became the party of labor groups, farmers, immigrants and urban ethnic groups from eastern Europe, African Americans and the South. The Republican Party found its support in the businesses and middle and upper class people in small towns and suburbs. Many of these political alliances continue today as a result of the New Deal. The New Deal also gave us our first and last President to serve 3 terms. FDR won three consecutive Presidency terms on the momentum of the New Deal and the ensuing war. The New Deal although seen as a short term failure by many has turned out to be a long time success.

Negotiating with Chinese Essay -- Business and Management Studies

Negotiating with Chinese Introduction When a company want to establish in China they have to follow some unwritten rules based on the cultural development China ´s. You cannot come to China and doing business as you know it from Germany. That will not work. The chinese people will misunderstand you. In this assay I will give some informations about chinese negotiating methods and how western people can manage it, where they have to be careful. I chose this topic because in my opinion this is very important for doing business in China where you can see heavily the cultural differences between China and western countries. My assay will give information about this topic from the the first contact over the negotiation process to what may happen after the contract is signed. Getting in contact with Chinese companies Before you can negotiate with anyone you need to know with whom you can do business in China. There are different ways to get in contact with Chinese companies. - getting in contact with the â€Å"Außenhandelsgesellschaft† in Shanghai - contact the responsible ministry - trade fairs/exhibitions - specific lectures, lecture travel to institutes/universities/ministries - private advice companies with seat in Hongkong - finding a chinese single person who have good contacts (guanxi) - advertise in magazines and newspapers - contact Chinese great companies of the same branch and try to get in direct contact with them or to get informations about other possible partners - contact an other german company who already established their business in china and asking them to work as a contact person to china - asking the german embassy in china - speak to homebank, consolidated companies, chamber of industry and commerce These different ways to get into china are in a way ranked as how important or effectful they are in my opinion. Pre-Negotiation Negotiation with Chinese or getting in the first contact with Chinese can be made in several ways like mentioned above. The Chinese negotiation process starts with contacts with the Chinese partners. The Chinese are first of all interested in getting to know the other party during first initial contacts. They try to determine whether or not the foreign firm has: - the most advanced technology required for their project, art of business - the willingness... ...s not as worse as it in my assay sometimes seems to be. If you know and understand the cultural differences as a western person it is not easy but you will make good negotiations because in my opinion it is naive to think that chinese people do not know what your values are. They know as much as you know about them so they know that you manage the things in your country in another way round. So if you make a mistake I am sure chinese people will "forgive" (if it is not a part of the negotiating tactic to bring you in embarrassments with your mistakes). Very important maybe most important in my opinion is the face because this is also very important for the chinese. Do not lose ones face. That is for a chinese people often not really forgiveable. The worst case what may happen if you let a chinese negotiating partner lose his face is that the negotiating process finish immediately. So this in my opinion one of the most important thing western people have to take care of in the negotiating process. Last I want to say that it was very interesting to work on this assay because I got a further inside view through chinese negotiating and with this the chinese culture.

Bad Medicine

The continuing rate of unemployment not only continues to cripple the economic standing of the nation but it also poses hard-hitting and greater effects to the people, most especially in their psychological and bodily wellness. This fact is evident on the rate of deaths unemployment has caused to a great number of people over the past years. Most victims of unemployment died due to heart attacks. Unemployment also pushes people to go over the edge and commit crimes, putting people to state prisons.Others lack the psychological capacity to handle the stresses and pains of unemployment leading to insanity and other mental illnesses. The result is the influx of people admitted to mental hospitals and the rising number of mortality caused by suicide. On the economic level, unemployment lowers tax revenue but at the same time heightens the nation’s expenditure due to the need to spend on social welfare programs for unemployed citizens. 2. What are the costs of inflation?The negativ e effects of inflation are less detrimental than the costs of unemployment. This scheme is due to the fact that the effects of inflation can be stabilized through the implementation of fitting policies or programs. Doing so would alleviate the consequences of inflation. To achieve this objective, there is a continuous monitoring for the ratio between the rate of fixed income and the rate of inflation. The government has already implemented a program called the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to realize this end.Moreover, the cost of inflation has moved on to another level where it also takes great effects on housing. Banks do avoid the possible effects of inflation in the future by requiring people in the present to pay for an increased rate in mortgage. This leads to a decline in the number of people who buy lands and houses. Other costs of unemployment have proven to be insignificant and less damaging to the economy and the people. For instance, the shoe leather cost. 3. Who bear s the burden for each of these macroeconomic scourges?In any case, ongoing unemployment or inflation, the people of the nation suffer the most. The citizens, most especially feel and experience the demands of these macroeconomic scourges. For instance, in the relationship of inflation and unemployment, it was stated in the article that a flourishing economy tends to lower the rate of unemployment, as the business sector would look to employ a number of people due to the demands of the growing economy. When this happens, employees would look forward to salary increases and added benefits.If firms and business establishments do so, they would reclaim the finances they lost to the salary increases and added benefits by increasing the prices of commodities and services. In this scenario, it is evident that the people would bear this burden as they are forced to pay for their needs and for services alike on a higher cost and value. If, on the other hand, the economy slows down, there wou ld be a high unemployment rate. The prices of commodities and services would be on the parallel, but as mentioned above, unemployment would lead to higher crime rates, mental illnesses, and deaths.4. Which one do you fear the most? It is evident that both unemployment and inflation pushes down the standing of the people in society. They endure the effects of these macroeconomic circumstances that plague the nation. However, since the facts of the costs of inflation and unemployment are stated above, the one that I fear most is unemployment. Unemployment harms the people as opposed to inflation where it can still be stabilized by the government.

Marketing Spotlight Coca-cola Essay

1- What have been the key success factors for COCA-COLA? From the text, it seems that the key success factors are summarized by: Marketing: Coca-Cola is seen as one of the founding fathers of the modern day marketing model. They were among the pioneers of advertising techniques and styles used to capture an audience. Innovation: It was apparent that the market was changing and in order to keep up with these changes, Coca-Cola had to move from a single core product to a total beverage company. This was a major change because their past success was base on having one successful core product. Globalization: Technology is continually changing business, and these constant changes have been making it more feasible and profitable for businesses to expand their operations globally in order to serve all different types of diverse markets around the world, Coca-Cola is taking advantage of the large revenue opportunities made possible by participating in a global market and now offers products in 200 countries around the world. 2- Where is COCA-COLA vulnerable? What should they watch for? global brand strategy and local, it must think global but act local, now the effectiveness of TV ads is declining due to media fragmentation and use of devices like TIVO that let viewer zap commercials. Flight ads are that ad, which temporarily attracts the customers but doesn’t say much about core values of the company or the product. An ad should describe a brands personality and value driver, which drives the personality. Most of the recent ads just endorsed by celebrities don’t much explain about cokes value, in long run this may make people to forget what coke stand for. They should work to make values more fresh and relevant and study alternatives for communications strategies. They should find another ways to enter some countries that COCA-COLA doesn’t enter. 3- What recommendations would you make to their senior marketing executives going forward? What should they be sure to do with their marketing? Position it differently for example like refresher for a farmer/ who is doing hard work in farmland to penetrate deep into Bottom of the pyramid. Think global but act local. Flight ads are that ad, which temporarily attracts the customers but doesn’t say much about core values of the company or the product. An ad should describe a brands personality and value driver, which drives the personality.

Marketing of Banking Services

Marketing scope in banking sector should be considered under the service marketing framework. Performed marketing strategy is the case which is determination of the place of financial institutions on customers’ mind. Bank marketing does not only include service selling of the bank but also is the function which gets personality and image for bank on its customers’ mind. On the other hand, financial marketing is the function which relates uncongenitalies, differences and non similar applications between financial institutions and judgement standards of their customers.The reasons for marketing scope to have importance in banking and for banks to interest in marketing subject can be arranged as:Change in demographic structure: Differentiation of population in the number and composition affect quality and attribute of customer whom benefits from banking services.Intense competition in financial service sector: The competition became intense due to the growing international banking perceptiveness and recently being non limiting for new enterprises in the sector. Increase in liberalization of interest rates has intensified the competition.Bank’s wish for increasing profit: Banks have to increase their profits to create new markets, to protect and develop their market shares and to survive on the basis of intense competition and demographic chance levels.SERVICERecently, banks are in a period that they earn money in servicing beyond selling money. The prestige is get as they offer their services to the masses. Like other services, banking services are also intangible. Banking services are about the money in different types and attributes like lending, depositing and transferring procedures. These intangible services are shaped in contracts. The structure of banking services affects the success of institution in long term. Besides the basic attributes like speed, security  and ease in banking services, the rights like consultancy for services to be compounded are also preferred.PRICEThe price which is an important component of marketing mix is named differently in the base of transaction exchange that it takes place. Banks have to estimate the prices of their services offered. By performing this, they keep their relations with extant customers and take new ones. The prices in banking have names like interest, commission and expenses. Price is the sole element of marketing variables that create earnings, while others cause expenditure. While marketing mix elements other than price affect sales volume, price affect both profit and sales volume directly.Banks should be very careful in determining their prices and price policies. Because mistakes in pricing cause customers’ shift toward the rivals offering likewise services. Traditionally, banks use three methods called â€Å"cost-plus†, â€Å"transaction volume base† and â€Å"challenging leader† in pricing of their services.DISTRIBUTIONThe complex ity of banking services are resulted from different kinds of them. The most important feature of banking is the persuasion of customers benefiting from services.Most banks’ services are complex in attribute and when this feature joins the intangibility characteristics, offerings take also mental intangibility in addition to physical intangibility. On the other hand, value of service and benefits taken from it mostly depend on knowledge, capability and participation of customers besides features of offerings. This is resulted from the fact that production and consumption have non separable characteristics in those services.Most authors argue that those features of banking services makes personal interaction between customer and bank obligatory and the direct distribution is the sole alternative. Due to this reason, like preceding applications in  recent years, branch offices use traditional method in distribution of banking services.PROMOTIONOne of the most important element of marketing mix of services is promotion which is consist of personal selling, advertising, public relations, and selling promotional tools.PERSONAL SELLINGDue to the characteristics of banking services, personal selling is the way that most banks prefer in expanding selling and use of them.Personal selling occurs in two ways. First occurs in a way that customer and banker perform interaction face to face at branch office. In this case, whole personnel, bank employees, chief and office manager, takes part in selling. Second occurs in a way that customer representatives go to customers’ place. Customer representatives are specialist in banks’ services to be offered and they shape the relationship between bank and customer.ADVERTISING Banks have too many goals which they want to achieve. Those goals are for accomplishing the objectives as follows in a way that banks develop advertising campaigns and use media.1. Conceive customers to examine all kinds of services that banks offer 2. Increase use of services 3. Create well fit image about banks and services 4. Change customers’ attitudes 5. Introduce services of banks 6. Support personal selling 7. Emphasize well serviceAdvertising media and channels that banks prefer are newspaper, magazine, radio, direct posting and outdoor ads and TV commercials. In the selection of media, target market should be determined and the media that reach this target easily and cheaply must be preferred.Banks should care about following criteria for selection of media.1. Which media the target market prefer 2. Characteristics of service 3. Content of message 4. Cost 5. Situation of rivalsAds should be mostly educative, image making and provide the information as follows:1. Activities of banks, results, programs, new services 2. Situation of market, government decisions, future developments 3. The opportunities offered for industry branches whose development meets national benefits.PUBLIC RELATIONS Public relati ons in banking should provide;1. Establishing most effective communication system 2. Creating sympathy about relationship between bank and customer 3. Giving broadest information about activities of bank.SELLING PROMOTIONAL TOOLSAnother element of the promotion mixes of banks is improvement of selling. Mostly used selling improvement tools are layout at selling point, rewarding personnel, seminaries, special gifts, premiums, contests.DEVELOPMENT IN MARKETING SCOPE AT THE ASPECT OF SERVICE MARKETINGMarketing scope develops day to day. These developments carry special significance for service sector in which customer and service producer interact closely.INTERNAL MARKETINGEspecially in service sector like external relations, internal relations also have significance. It requires finding and keeping successful personnel.For personnel of the organization to be considered their own goals and  service situation, values of the organization are sold to them. The communication techniques c arried out for customers are also performed for the personnel in internal marketing and this two techniques go together. For example, the ads that aim creating firm’s image should be prepared with regarding to audience which is composed of firm’s personnel.NETWORK MARKETINGThis approach takes the organization as a sequence which involves producer and customer that market services to each other in the organization. In this structure, the activities of departments that compose organization would be more focused on market. This will also affect the structure of organization.RELATIONSHIP MARKETINGIt was mentioned that close relationship was established between producer and customer in service sector. In addition to this, life cycle of a customer relationship was also mentioned under the product outline.According to the researchers, maintaining the relationship for extant customer increases the profit of firms. It should be emphasized that this fact has an importance for se rvice sector.Life cycle of a customer relationship is composed of three stages. At the first stage, firms try to be well known and to acquire new customers. At the second stage, the connection between customer and firm has been achieved. During the stage, firms intensified their activities on acquired customers and both of them promises mutually. At the third stage, these promises are accomplished and the service is consumed. During the stage, firms face â€Å"Reality Instants† which could possibly achieve satisfaction of customer and continuous relationship. This could be also true for second stage. So, these instants should be managed successfully. Implementation of close relations with customer successively and true applications at reality instants could not be accomplished by responsibilities of a marketing personnel.Besides, it should be remembered that consumption and production of service are closely interrelated. At this context, marketing should have role not  only in production-consumption between instants, but also at points that these intersect. In this case, 4P that was mentioned at second section would be insufficient. So, we could divide service marketing into two parts as specialist function (marketing mix, marketing researches) and marketing function buyerseller interactions)Efforts in first stage in which customers are not so clear, at the customer relationship life cycle could be minimized for lasting customers. This is achieved by successful customer relations. In this approach, marketing may be defined as; â€Å"Marketing is for establishing, keeping, developing relationship with customers in a manner that profit is got (especially in long term). So, objectives of two relevant sides would be achieved. This would be accomplished by shared promises and carrying out the promises.†