Discipleship in Matthew Essay Example

Discipleship in Matthew Essay Global discipleship making disciples for the sake of the nations A study of the Gospel according to Matthew Introduction Matthew’s handbook for the church Why did Matthew write his gospel? John clearly had an evangelistic aim (Jn 20:31), but Matthew wrote his gospel for the church, for those who already follow Jesus. It is a teaching gospel, which arranges its material into subjects, summarising the teaching of Jesus and illustrating it with examples from his life. Matthew’s is the only gospel that mentions the church (16:18; 18:17). In short, Matthew wrote the first discipleship training course! Matthew divides his material into 5 sections, each of which contains a number of stories from the life of Jesus, and concludes with a chapter (or two or three) of extended teaching by Jesus to his disciples, before finishing with the passion narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This fivefold division was no accident, for Matthew was a Jewish Christian (and former tax-collector), and all Jewish writings of his time followed this pattern (based on the 5 books of Torah Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). Why did Matthew write this gospel for the church? He probably wrote it at a time when church and synagogue were growing apart, when the distinction between Jew and Christian was becoming more obvious. At first, most if not all followers of Jesus were Jewish. But over time, as more and more Gentiles found new life in Jesus, an ‘either/or’ situation developed. Matthew’s church was probably made up of Jewish Christians, facing increasing pressure over their (apparently) divided loyalties. We will write a custom essay sample on Discipleship in Matthew specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Discipleship in Matthew specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Discipleship in Matthew specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And he wanted to show them that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Messiah, fulfilment of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that they were not being unfaithful to their roots by being Christians. So how is this relevant to us? Matthew’s church has been described as â€Å"a community cut off from its roots divided in itself as to what its priorities should be, groping for direction in the face of previously-unknown problems† (David Bosch, ‘Transforming Mission’, p58). Does this sound familiar, such as our own context today? And Matthew’s response? â€Å"His concern is not simply to help his people cope with the new pressures they confront, but to assist them in developing a missionary ethos that will match the challenges of a new epoch† (Bosch, ibid). Matthew’s aim is therefore both pastoral and missionary – pastoral, in wishing to convey selfconfidence to a community of Christians facing a crisis of identity; and missionary, in seeking to embolden them toward seeing opportunities for witness and service around them. So this is very relevant to us. Matthew has written a gospel for the church, for those who follow Jesus, to encourage and motivate them, to give them confidence about who they are, and to direct them outwards, to share the good news with others. Matthew’s understanding of mission making disciples The theme of discipleship is central to Matthew’s gospel, and the term ‘disciple’ is used far more often by him than by Mark or Luke (Mt 73, Mk 46, Lk 37 times). But while in Mark and Luke, ‘disciple’ is the term reserved only for the Twelve, in Matthew it is used more widely, of any follower of Jesus. The Twelve are the prototypes for all disciples, who are to copy them, doing the things they did. And as well as being linked to the first band of disciples, any contemporary disciples are also linked to each other. No disciple can follow Jesus alone, but is irrevocably linked to the fellowship of disciples, the ekklesia, the church (which, as above, is why Matthew mentions it). There is a strong emphasis in Matthew’s gospel on doing God’s will, keeping his commands, and the challenge to be perfect, to surpass or excel, to observe or keep, to teach, and to bear fruit. Consider for example the concern for doing God’s will. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are to pray that His will be done (6:10); only those who do the will of the Father will be saved (7:21-23); in the parable of the two sons, it is the one who did his father’s will who is commended, not the one who said he would (21:28-31). For Matthew, actions are the test of the authenticity of words. It is not what we say, but what we do, that matters. Orthodoxy is not as important as orthopraxis right action surpasses right belief. Discipleship is about doing, about service. Another concern for Matthew is that any disciple of Jesus should give evidence of dikaiosyne, that is, justice-righteousness. It is a difficult word to translate into English, since it carries the connotations of both these words. ‘Righteousness’ refers to a right relationship with God; ‘justice’ refers to a right relationship with our fellow human-beings. It is neither only spiritual, nor only pragmatic. A right relationship with God protects us from legalism, and a right relationship with others protects us from empty words (both mortal sins in Matthew’s eyes). Discipleship includes a concern for both justice and righteousness. Who is to be discipled? This is the most Jewish of the gospels, full of direct Old Testament quotations and allusions. On two occasions, Jesus appears to restrict the work of himself and his disciples only to Israel (10:5-6; 15:24). And yet Matthew still manages to conclude his gospel with one of his most famous passages, the ‘Great Commission’, sending his disciples to make more disciples, of all the nations (28:18-20). Is this a bit of a surprise to the disciples, an afterthought by the soon-departing Jesus? As if he were saying, â€Å"Oh, by the way, here’s something I should have mentioned earlier, but I forgot. If you feel like it, and are not too busy, could you disciple a few nations for me? †. But the ‘nations’ (Gentiles, ethne) are in fact never far from sight throughout Matthew’s gospel. They are included in Jesus’ genealogy (1:5); they are the first to worship the new-born Christ (magi 2:1-11); Jesus lived in Galilee ‘of the Gentiles’ (4:15); news of his activities ‘spread all over Syria’ (4:24); the ‘plentiful harvest’ of 9:37 alludes to a wider perspective; the quotation of Isa 42:1-4 in 12:18-21 mentions ‘the nations’ twice; in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the field is ‘the world’ (13:38); Jesus was willing to enter non-Jewish homes (8:7); Jesus commends the faith of Gentiles, including the Canaanite woman whom he apparently initially rejects (8:10; 15:28); he explicitly promises that many from ‘the nations’ will participate in the messianic feast (8:11), and that finally the gospel will be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to ‘all nations’ (24:14). Thus, for Matthew, the mission of the church is to make disciples, followers of Jesus, who will do the Father’s will, from every nation. Discipleship is self-reproducing. Disciples will make disciples, who will in turn do the same, into every nation on earth. The ‘Great Commission’ Matthew’s summary of what disciple-making means When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, â€Å"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and makes disciples of all nations, baptising them in the names of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age† (Matt 28:17-29). These are some of the most used (and abused? ) verses in recent Christian history. Often taken out of context, and used to support missionary appeals of all kinds, this ignores the context we have outlined so far. They are not, as I suggested above, an afterthought, but rather the climax, a culmination of everything said up to this point, a summary of Matthew’s entire gospel, written so that we might â€Å"make disciples of all nations†. For Matthew, discipleship is the mission of the church, with all the nations in view. The content of this disciplemaking is teaching and baptising. The ‘going’ is not an imperative in Greek but a present participle thus it is not a command, but an assumption. The overall aim of the church, and therefore of all discipleship, is the winning of all nations to the status of true followers of Jesus. So how does Matthew suggest this is to be done? Mark uses ‘proclaim’ (kerysso) and ‘teach’ (didasko) interchangeably. Matthew never does. Jesus never ‘preaches’ to his disciples. He teaches them. In the first commissioning, the disciples are sent to ‘preach’ (10:7), a ‘proper’ missionary activity. But in the Great Commission, this is not so. The disciples are sent to ‘teach’, an activity reserved for the benefit of disciples, those who already follow Jesus. To understand this, we need to remember that, for Matthew, teaching is no mere intellectual enterprise. Jesus’ teaching appeals not to the mind, but to the will. It is a call for a concrete decision to follow him, and to submit to God’s will (as revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus). Proper actions, not words, are what count. This is what it will mean to disciple the nations. It is not enough simply to proclaim that ‘Jesus is Lord’ people from every nation are to be turned into mature, active followers of him. Jesus has universal authority. Why then make disciples? Because this fact has to be proclaimed to all. If Jesus really is Lord, it simply has to be proclaimed. No-one who knows can keep silent about it. They can only do one thing help others to acknowledge Jesus’ lordship. Only Jesus’ authority inaugurates and makes possible a worldwide mission. The universal, unlimited dominion of the risen Jesus evokes an equally universal, limitless response from his followers. Jesus promises to be with the disciples always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:20), is rooted in the first title given to him Immanuel, God with us (1:23). This presence is permanent, FACT, based on nothing more spectacular than a simple promise. No fireworks, no Pentecost. This presence and empowering is not simply for our own comfort, but is intimately connected with mission. It is only as it makes disciples that the church knows the presence of Jesus. The disciples are clearly modelled on Jesus, to do the things that he did (â€Å"teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you†; cf 10:24-25). But the disciples are not expected to be perfect. They are referred to as being ‘of little faith’, ‘afraid’, or ‘full of doubt’. Even in Matt 28:17, all worship, but some doubt. This communicates that mission never takes place in self-confidence, but in the knowledge of our own weakness, at the point of crisis where danger and opportunity come together. Like the first disciples, we stand in the place of tension between worship and doubt, faith and fear. Mission is â€Å"not a fringe activity of a strongly-established church, a pious cause which may be attended to once the home fires are first brightly burning† (David Bosch) . it is not one of the things the church does. It is the framework for all that the church does and is. It is the reason, the goal, the end of discipleship.  © Richard Tiplady December 1996 Discipleship in Matthew Essay Example Discipleship in Matthew Essay Global discipleship making disciples for the sake of the nations A study of the Gospel according to Matthew Introduction Matthew’s handbook for the church Why did Matthew write his gospel? John clearly had an evangelistic aim (Jn 20:31), but Matthew wrote his gospel for the church, for those who already follow Jesus. It is a teaching gospel, which arranges its material into subjects, summarising the teaching of Jesus and illustrating it with examples from his life. Matthew’s is the only gospel that mentions the church (16:18; 18:17). In short, Matthew wrote the first discipleship training course! Matthew divides his material into 5 sections, each of which contains a number of stories from the life of Jesus, and concludes with a chapter (or two or three) of extended teaching by Jesus to his disciples, before finishing with the passion narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This fivefold division was no accident, for Matthew was a Jewish Christian (and former tax-collector), and all Jewish writings of his time followed this pattern (based on the 5 books of Torah Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). Why did Matthew write this gospel for the church? He probably wrote it at a time when church and synagogue were growing apart, when the distinction between Jew and Christian was becoming more obvious. At first, most if not all followers of Jesus were Jewish. But over time, as more and more Gentiles found new life in Jesus, an ‘either/or’ situation developed. Matthew’s church was probably made up of Jewish Christians, facing increasing pressure over their (apparently) divided loyalties. We will write a custom essay sample on Discipleship in Matthew specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Discipleship in Matthew specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Discipleship in Matthew specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And he wanted to show them that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Messiah, fulfilment of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that they were not being unfaithful to their roots by being Christians. So how is this relevant to us? Matthew’s church has been described as â€Å"a community cut off from its roots divided in itself as to what its priorities should be, groping for direction in the face of previously-unknown problems† (David Bosch, ‘Transforming Mission’, p58). Does this sound familiar, such as our own context today? And Matthew’s response? â€Å"His concern is not simply to help his people cope with the new pressures they confront, but to assist them in developing a missionary ethos that will match the challenges of a new epoch† (Bosch, ibid). Matthew’s aim is therefore both pastoral and missionary – pastoral, in wishing to convey selfconfidence to a community of Christians facing a crisis of identity; and missionary, in seeking to embolden them toward seeing opportunities for witness and service around them. So this is very relevant to us. Matthew has written a gospel for the church, for those who follow Jesus, to encourage and motivate them, to give them confidence about who they are, and to direct them outwards, to share the good news with others. Matthew’s understanding of mission making disciples The theme of discipleship is central to Matthew’s gospel, and the term ‘disciple’ is used far more often by him than by Mark or Luke (Mt 73, Mk 46, Lk 37 times). But while in Mark and Luke, ‘disciple’ is the term reserved only for the Twelve, in Matthew it is used more widely, of any follower of Jesus. The Twelve are the prototypes for all disciples, who are to copy them, doing the things they did. And as well as being linked to the first band of disciples, any contemporary disciples are also linked to each other. No disciple can follow Jesus alone, but is irrevocably linked to the fellowship of disciples, the ekklesia, the church (which, as above, is why Matthew mentions it). There is a strong emphasis in Matthew’s gospel on doing God’s will, keeping his commands, and the challenge to be perfect, to surpass or excel, to observe or keep, to teach, and to bear fruit. Consider for example the concern for doing God’s will. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are to pray that His will be done (6:10); only those who do the will of the Father will be saved (7:21-23); in the parable of the two sons, it is the one who did his father’s will who is commended, not the one who said he would (21:28-31). For Matthew, actions are the test of the authenticity of words. It is not what we say, but what we do, that matters. Orthodoxy is not as important as orthopraxis right action surpasses right belief. Discipleship is about doing, about service. Another concern for Matthew is that any disciple of Jesus should give evidence of dikaiosyne, that is, justice-righteousness. It is a difficult word to translate into English, since it carries the connotations of both these words. ‘Righteousness’ refers to a right relationship with God; ‘justice’ refers to a right relationship with our fellow human-beings. It is neither only spiritual, nor only pragmatic. A right relationship with God protects us from legalism, and a right relationship with others protects us from empty words (both mortal sins in Matthew’s eyes). Discipleship includes a concern for both justice and righteousness. Who is to be discipled? This is the most Jewish of the gospels, full of direct Old Testament quotations and allusions. On two occasions, Jesus appears to restrict the work of himself and his disciples only to Israel (10:5-6; 15:24). And yet Matthew still manages to conclude his gospel with one of his most famous passages, the ‘Great Commission’, sending his disciples to make more disciples, of all the nations (28:18-20). Is this a bit of a surprise to the disciples, an afterthought by the soon-departing Jesus? As if he were saying, â€Å"Oh, by the way, here’s something I should have mentioned earlier, but I forgot. If you feel like it, and are not too busy, could you disciple a few nations for me? †. But the ‘nations’ (Gentiles, ethne) are in fact never far from sight throughout Matthew’s gospel. They are included in Jesus’ genealogy (1:5); they are the first to worship the new-born Christ (magi 2:1-11); Jesus lived in Galilee ‘of the Gentiles’ (4:15); news of his activities ‘spread all over Syria’ (4:24); the ‘plentiful harvest’ of 9:37 alludes to a wider perspective; the quotation of Isa 42:1-4 in 12:18-21 mentions ‘the nations’ twice; in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the field is ‘the world’ (13:38); Jesus was willing to enter non-Jewish homes (8:7); Jesus commends the faith of Gentiles, including the Canaanite woman whom he apparently initially rejects (8:10; 15:28); he explicitly promises that many from ‘the nations’ will participate in the messianic feast (8:11), and that finally the gospel will be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to ‘all nations’ (24:14). Thus, for Matthew, the mission of the church is to make disciples, followers of Jesus, who will do the Father’s will, from every nation. Discipleship is self-reproducing. Disciples will make disciples, who will in turn do the same, into every nation on earth. The ‘Great Commission’ Matthew’s summary of what disciple-making means When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, â€Å"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and makes disciples of all nations, baptising them in the names of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age† (Matt 28:17-29). These are some of the most used (and abused? ) verses in recent Christian history. Often taken out of context, and used to support missionary appeals of all kinds, this ignores the context we have outlined so far. They are not, as I suggested above, an afterthought, but rather the climax, a culmination of everything said up to this point, a summary of Matthew’s entire gospel, written so that we might â€Å"make disciples of all nations†. For Matthew, discipleship is the mission of the church, with all the nations in view. The content of this disciplemaking is teaching and baptising. The ‘going’ is not an imperative in Greek but a present participle thus it is not a command, but an assumption. The overall aim of the church, and therefore of all discipleship, is the winning of all nations to the status of true followers of Jesus. So how does Matthew suggest this is to be done? Mark uses ‘proclaim’ (kerysso) and ‘teach’ (didasko) interchangeably. Matthew never does. Jesus never ‘preaches’ to his disciples. He teaches them. In the first commissioning, the disciples are sent to ‘preach’ (10:7), a ‘proper’ missionary activity. But in the Great Commission, this is not so. The disciples are sent to ‘teach’, an activity reserved for the benefit of disciples, those who already follow Jesus. To understand this, we need to remember that, for Matthew, teaching is no mere intellectual enterprise. Jesus’ teaching appeals not to the mind, but to the will. It is a call for a concrete decision to follow him, and to submit to God’s will (as revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus). Proper actions, not words, are what count. This is what it will mean to disciple the nations. It is not enough simply to proclaim that ‘Jesus is Lord’ people from every nation are to be turned into mature, active followers of him. Jesus has universal authority. Why then make disciples? Because this fact has to be proclaimed to all. If Jesus really is Lord, it simply has to be proclaimed. No-one who knows can keep silent about it. They can only do one thing help others to acknowledge Jesus’ lordship. Only Jesus’ authority inaugurates and makes possible a worldwide mission. The universal, unlimited dominion of the risen Jesus evokes an equally universal, limitless response from his followers. Jesus promises to be with the disciples always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:20), is rooted in the first title given to him Immanuel, God with us (1:23). This presence is permanent, FACT, based on nothing more spectacular than a simple promise. No fireworks, no Pentecost. This presence and empowering is not simply for our own comfort, but is intimately connected with mission. It is only as it makes disciples that the church knows the presence of Jesus. The disciples are clearly modelled on Jesus, to do the things that he did (â€Å"teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you†; cf 10:24-25). But the disciples are not expected to be perfect. They are referred to as being ‘of little faith’, ‘afraid’, or ‘full of doubt’. Even in Matt 28:17, all worship, but some doubt. This communicates that mission never takes place in self-confidence, but in the knowledge of our own weakness, at the point of crisis where danger and opportunity come together. Like the first disciples, we stand in the place of tension between worship and doubt, faith and fear. Mission is â€Å"not a fringe activity of a strongly-established church, a pious cause which may be attended to once the home fires are first brightly burning† (David Bosch) . it is not one of the things the church does. It is the framework for all that the church does and is. It is the reason, the goal, the end of discipleship.  © Richard Tiplady December 1996

How to Improve Low SAT Math Scores 9 Strategies

How to Improve Low SAT Math Scores 9 Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you struggling with SAT Math scores between 300-500? You're not alone- hundreds of thousands of students are scoring in this range. But many don't know the best ways to break out of this score range and score a 600 or above. Here we'll discuss how to improve your SAT math score effectively, and why it's so important to do so. Put these principles to work and I'm confident you'll be able to improve your score. Brief note: This article is suited for students scoring below a 600 and goes over basic SAT math strategies. If you're already above this range, my perfect SAT Math score article is more appropriate for you. In this article, I'm going to discuss why scoring high is a good idea, what it takes to score a 600, and then go into test strategies. Stick with me - this is like building a house. First you need to lay a good foundation before putting up the walls of the house and pretty windows. Similarly, we need to first understand why you're doing what you're doing, before diving into tips and strategies. (In this guide, I talk mainly about getting to a 600. But if your goal is a 500 or below, these concepts still equally apply). Understand the Stakes At this SAT score range, improving your low SAT math score to a 600 range will dramatically boost your chances of getting into better colleges. Let's take a popular school, University of Alabama, as an example. Its average SAT score is a 20.Its 25th percentile score is a 980, and 75th percentile is an 1240. Furthermore, its acceptance rate is 57%. In other words, a little over half of all applicants are admitted. But the lower your scores, the worse your chances. In our analysis, if you score around a 980, your chance of admission drops to 35%, or around 1/3 chance. But if you raise your score to a 1240, your chance of admission goes up to 72% - a really good chance of admission. For the Math section, this is especially true if you want to apply to engineering or science programs. They expect your math score to be better than your other sections, and if you score low, they'll doubt your ability to do college-level quantitative work. It's really worth your time to improve your SAT score. Hour for hour,it's the best thing you can do to raise your chance of getting into college. Curious what chances you have with an 1800 SAT score? Check out ourexpert college admissions guide for an 1800 SAT score(equivalent to 1200 on the 1600 scale). Know That You Can Do It This isn't just some fuzzy feel-good message you see on the back of a Starbucks cup. I mean, literally, you and every other student can do this. In my work with PrepScholar, I've worked with thousands of students scoring in the lower ranges of 300-500. Time after time, I see students who beat themselves up over their low score and think improving it is impossible. "I know I'm not smart." "I just don't get algebra and I can't see myself scoring high." "I don't know what to study to improve my score." It breaks my heart. Because I know that more than anything else, your SAT score is a reflection ofhow hard you work and how smartly you study. Not your IQ and not your school grades. Not how Ms. Huffington in 9th grade said you'd never get geometry. Here's why: the SAT is a weird test. When you take it, don't you get the sense that the questions are nothing like what you've seen in school? It's purposely designed this way. The SAT can't test difficult concepts, because this would be unfair for students who never took AP Calculus. It can't ask you to solve Fermat's Last Theorem. The SAT is a national test, which means it needs a level playing field for all students around the country. So it HAS to test concepts that all high school students will cover.Basic algebra (solving for x, manipulating equations), data analysis (mean, median, mode), advanced algebra (solving systems of equations, quadratic equations), and geometry (triangles, circles, lines). You've learned all of this before in high school. But the SAT still has to make the test difficult, so it needs to test these concepts in strange ways. This trips up students who don't prepare, but it rewards students who understand the test well. Here's an example: Find the area of the shaded region below, if the radius of the circle is 5. This is a classic SAT type question. The first time you see this, it might be confusing. How do you get the area of each of the shaded corners? It kind of looks like a triangle, but not really because of the curve region. But you've learned all the concepts you need to solve this. Notice that the shaded area is the area of the square, with the area of the circle punched out. Imagine the square is cookie dough, and the circle is a cookie cutter you punch out. OK. Now you just need to use the area formulas.The area of a square is side x side, or 10 x 10 = 100. The area of a circle isÏ€r2, orÏ€ * 5 * 5 = 25Ï€. So the area of the shaded region is 100 - 25Ï€. This might have been confusing the first time, but the next time you see a question like this, you'll know exactly what to do: find the area of the larger shape, and subtract out the inner piece. The SAT math section is full of examples like this. To improve your score, you just need to: Learn the types of questions that the SAT tests, like the one above Put together the concepts you already know to solve the questions Practice on a lot of questions so you learn from your mistakes I'll go into more detail about exactly how to do this. First, let's see how many questions you need to get right. What It Takes to Get a 600 in Math If we have a target score in mind, it helps to understand what you need to get that score on the actual test. We're going to use 600 as our score target, because this is above average and will make you competitive for a lot of schools. Here's the raw score to SAT Math Score conversion table. (If you could use a refresher on how the SAT is scored and how raw scores are calculated, read this.) Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled 58 800 43 640 28 520 13 370 57 790 42 630 27 510 12 360 56 780 41 620 26 500 340 55 760 40 610 25 490 10 330 54 750 39 600 24 480 9 320 53 740 38 600 23 480 8 310 52 730 37 590 22 470 7 290 51 710 36 580 21 460 6 280 50 700 35 570 20 450 5 260 49 690 34 560 19 440 4 240 48 680 33 560 18 430 3 230 47 670 32 550 17 420 2 210 46 670 31 540 16 410 1 200 45 660 30 530 15 390 0 200 44 650 29 520 14 380 Notice that if you're aiming for a 600, you only need a raw score of 38 out of 58 questions. This is a 65% score. This has serious implications for your testing strategy. In essence, you only need to answer 2/3 of all questions right. Is this fewer than you thought? A 65% on a math test at school might give you a D, but on the SAT it's actually not that bad and can be more than enough for your target score. We'll go into more detail below about what this means for your testing strategy. Whatever you're scoring now, take note of the difference you need to get to a 600. For example, if you're scoring a 480, you need to answer 14-15 more questions right to get to a 600. Once again, if your goal is a 500, the same analysis applies - just swap the numbers. OK - so we've covered why scoring a higher SAT math score is important, why you specifically are capable of improving your score, and the raw score you need to get to your target. Now we'll actually get into actionable strategies that you should use in your own studying to maximize your score improvement. 9 Strategies to Improve Your Low SAT Math Score If you're struggling with your SAT Math score, follow these nine strategies to help you reach the score goal you're aiming for. Strategy 1: Skip the Most Difficult Math Questions Here's an easy strategy most students don't do enough. Remember what I said above about raw score? To score a 600, you only need a 38 out of 58. What does this mean?You can completely guess on 20 questions and still score a 600if you answer the other 38 correctly. In fact, because when you guess you have a 25% shot at getting it right, guessing will give you an extra 5 points - which means you can miss 5 questions and still get a 600. Wow - you can completely skip the hardest 30% of all questions and still hit your goal. Skip questions carefree - like this woman. Why is this such a powerful strategy? It gives you way more time on easy and medium difficulty questions - the questions you have a good chance of getting right. If you're usually pressed for time on your SAT section, this will be a huge help. Here's an example. On Section 3, you get 25 minutes to answer 20 math questions. This is usually pretty hard for most students to get through - it's just 75 seconds to answer each question. The average student will try to push through all the questions. "I've got to get through them all, since I've got a shot at getting each question right," they think. Along the way, they'll probably rush and make careless mistakes on questions they SHOULD have gotten right. And then they spend 5 minutes on the last question, making no progress and wasting time. Wrong approach. Here's what I suggest instead.Completely skip the last 20% of questions in each subsection.Don't even look at them, don't even read them. Instead, focus all your energy on getting the first 80% of questions correct. This works because, unlike Reading and Writing, Math questions are ordered in difficulty.The hardest questions are always the questions at the end of the subsection. I've been using the term subsection, because Section 3 and Section 4 each have two parts. The first part is the multiple choice subsection. The second choice is the free response question. Let's use an example from real practice tests. This is the Question #15, last question of the multiple choice subsection in Section 3: Pretty tough, right? This is one of the questions you should skip. But here's the next one, Question 16, the first question in the Free Response subsection: Pretty easy, right? This is the type of question you're likely to get right and should thus spend more time on. So, section by section, here's your skipping strategy: Section Subsection Total Questions Questions to Skip Section 3 Multiple Choice 15 3 Free Response 5 1 Section 4 Multiple Choice 30 6 Free Response 8 2 By doing this, you raise your time per question from 82 to 104 seconds per question. This is huge! It's a 25% boost to the time you get per question. This raises your chances of getting easy/medium questions right a lot. And the 12 questions you skipped? Like the example above, they're so hard you're honestly better off not even trying them. These questions are meant for 700-800 scorers who have really mastered all the SAT math skills on the test. If you get to a 600, then you have the right to try these questions. Not before you to get to 600. Important note: skipping does not mean LEAVING BLANK!There is no guessing penalty on the SAT, so you MUST make sure you bubble in every single blank answer on your answer sheet before the section ends. Not doing so will cost you valuable points. Next strategy: find your weak links and fix them. Strategy 2: Find Your Math Weaknesses and Drill Them If you're like most students, you're better at some areas in math than others. You might have done better in algebra than geometry. Or maybe you really like statistics, but hate fractions. If you're like most students, you also don't have an unlimited amount of time to study. You have a lot of homework, you might be an athlete or have band practice, and you have friends to hang out with. This means for every hour you study for the SAT, it needs to be the most effective hour possible. In concrete terms,you need to find your greatest areas of improvement and work on those. Too many students study the 'dumb' way. They just buy a book and read it cover to cover. When they don't improve, they're SHOCKED. I'm not. Studying effectively for the SAT isn't like painting a house. You're not trying to cover all your bases with a very thin layer of understanding. What these students did wrong was they wasted time on subjects they already knew, and they didn't spend enough time on their weaknesses. Instead, studying effectively for the SAT is like plugging up the holes of a leaky boat. You need to find the biggest hole, and fill it. Then you find the next biggest hole, and you fix that. Soon you'll find that your boat isn't sinking at all. How does this relate to SAT math? You need to find the sub-skills that you're weakest in, and then drill those until you're no longer weak in them. Fixing up the biggest holes. Here's our complete mapping of all 24 skills tested on SAT Math: Basic Algebra Linear functions Single variable equations Systems of linear equations Absolute value Advanced Algebra Manipulating polynomials Quadratic equations Dividing polynomials Exponential functions Function notation Solving exponential equations Systems of equations with nonlinear equations Problem Solving and Data Analysis Ratios and proportions Scatterplots and graphs Categorical data and probabilities Experimental interpretation Medan, median, mode, standard deviation Additional Topics Coordinate geometry - lines and slopes Coordinate geometry -nonlinear functions Geometry - circles Geometry -lines and angles Geometry - solid geometry Geometry - triangles and polygons Trigonometry Complex numbers I know this is overwhelming. SAT Math covers most of basic high school math, which is a LOT of stuff. Looking at this list, do you know where your weaknesses are? Do you know what you need to train on to get the most out of your study time? If not, I'm not surprised. This is hard for even the best students to do. It takes a lot of test knowledge to be able to categorize questions, and it takes a lot of discipline to analyze your mistakes. For every question that you miss, you need to identify the type of question it is. When you notice patterns to the questions you miss, you then need to find extra practice for this subskill. Say you miss a lot of coordinate geometry questions (the ones involving an x-y grid and lines). You need to find a way to get lesson material to teach yourself the main concepts that you're forgetting. Then you need to find more practice questions for this skill so you can drill your mistakes. Quick Plug: If all of this is making sense to you, you'd love our SAT prep program, PrepScholar. We designed our program around the concepts in this article, because they actually work.When you start with PrepScholar, you’ll take a diagnostic that will determine your weaknesses in over forty SAT skills. PrepScholar then creates a study program specifically customized for you. To improve each skill, you’ll take focused lessons dedicated to each skill, with over 20 practice questions per skill. This will train you for your specific area weaknesses, so your time is always spent most effectively to raise your score. There’s no other prep system out there that does it this way, which is why we get better score results than any other program on the market. Check it out today with a 5-day free trial: Strategy 3: Focus on the Most Important Skills and Ignore the Rest Remember the 24 skills listed above? Not all of them are made equal. Some are represented FAR more often than others. In fact, the most common skill (algebra - solving single variable equations) is 29 TIMES more likely to appear than the least common skill (algebra - function notation). As you can see, it's not enough just to divide into rough subjects like algebra, geometry, and data analysis. Even within algebra, some concepts appear FAR more often than others. If you ignore this distinction, you'll waste a lot of time studying things you don't even have to know! So I'm about to make your day. I'm going to tell you the most important skills you HAVE to practice hard, and all the skills you DON'T need to study. If you've been nervous about how much SAT Math material you need to know, you'll feel a lot better soon. First, hereare the most common SAT Math skills. I'll explain the % of questions for that skill, and the # of questions you can expect to see: Skill Frequency # of Q's Solving single variable equations 12.50% 7 Define and interpret linear function .21% 7 Ratios and proportions 10.78% 6 Solving systems of linear equations 7.76% 5 Manipulating polynomials 7.33% 4 Scatterplots and Graphs 6.47% 4 Solving quadratic equations 5.60% 3 Coordinate geometry of nonlinear functions 4.74% 3 Exponential functions 4.74% 3 TOTAL 71.13% 42 This is great news - with just eight skills (33% of all 24 skills), you cover 71% of the test! For example, if you mastered just these skills and got all 42 questions right, that would already bring you up to a 630. In reality, this is unrealistic because some of these 42 questions are going to be pretty tough, and questions I recommend you skip as mentioned in Strategy 1. But you can see how important the most important skills are. Focus on what really makes up most of the pie. Now, what skills do you NOT have to know? Here are the LEAST common skills on SAT Math: Skill Frequency Expected Questions Per Test Dividing polynomials 1.72% 1 Trigonometry, radians 1.72% 1 Absolute value 1.29% 0.75 Complex numbers 1.29% 0.75 Experimental interpretation 0.86% 0.5 Lines and angles 0.86% 0.5 Solid geometry 0.86% 0.5 Systems of equations with nonlinear equations 0.86% 0.5 Function notation 0.43% 0.25 TOTAL 9.89% 5.75 Look at these nine skills. Altogether, they add up to a measly 10% of the entire test. Remember what % of the test you need to get right to get a 600? It's 66%. If you completely ignored these nine skills, you'd still be able to get a maximum score of 730. So good news! You don't need to study trigonometry, complex numbers, solid geometry, and other subjects above. Good riddance, because these are some of the more complicated subjects. When you study make sure you focus your time on what's really impactful. Once again, I believe in this strategy so much that I designed our PrepScholar SAT program around this idea. Your PrepScholar programdoes all the hard work for you by automatically customizing your prep program to exactly what you need to do to improve your score most. You'll work on the most important skills first so that you get the most out of every hour you study. You just need to focus on learning and doing questions. Strategy 4: Use Only Realistic, High-Quality Sources After reading the three strategies above, you might be hyped up to go out and practice. The question is - what are you actually going to use to study? Books? A prep program? Be really careful about which sources you choose to use. Honestly, most of them are pretty bad. To begin with, most books that claim to be adapted for the New SAT are actually just minimally edited versions of their Old SAT books. Math has changed a lot between the two versions of the test, both in terms of which skills are tested and how the questions are structured.The worst books copy over the exact same questions from the Old SAT book - this is hugely misleading and can end up wasting a ton of your time with no improvement in score. Second, a lot of prep programs and books don't have very realistic SAT Math questions. They're either too hard, too easy, or structured incorrectly. The root of this problem is lack of true understanding of the SAT Math section. Without going through a full question by question analysis of the test, you really can't understand the test deeply. This means your materials will be terrible. OK - so what do you use? The very, very best sources for SAT Math questions is the Official SAT Tests.This is why as part of PrepScholar, we include these official practice tests to gauge your progress and train you on the real thing. The problem is, for the New SAT there aren't that many practice tests available right now. Because you want to use these to train your endurance and sitting for a full-length test, you do need to conserve this precious resource. This means to get enough SAT Math practice, you DO need to use extra materials. If you want to study exclusively through books, I recommend the best books for SAT Math here. If you're interested in a prep program that can provide all the test content you need to excel, I'd suggest you consider PrepScholar. Obviously as creator of the program I can be biased, but I honestly believe we have the highest quality Math questions available anywhere. This is because of the level of scrutiny and understanding of the test that I think no other company has achieved: We've deconstructed every available official SAT Practice Test, question by question, answer choice by answer choice. We've statistically studied every question type on the test (like you saw above). We understand exactly how questions are phrased and how wrong answer choices are constructed. As head of product, I'm responsible for content quality. I hire only the most qualified content writers to craft our test content. This means people who have scored perfect scores on the SAT, have hundreds of hours of SAT teaching experience, and have graduated from Ivy League schools. This results in the most realistic, highest quality SAT Math questions possible. Even if you don't use PrepScholar, you should be confident that whatever resource you DO use undergoes the same scrutiny as we do. If you're not sure, or you see reviews saying otherwise, then avoid it. Make sure you avoid duds. Strategy 5: Understand All Your Math Mistakes Every mistake you make on a test happens for a reason.If you don't understand exactly why you missed that question, you will make that mistake over and over again. Too many students scoring at the 400-600 level refuse to study their mistakes. It's harsh. I get it. It sucks to stare your mistakes in the face. It's draining to learn difficult concepts you don't already understand. So the average student will breeze past their mistakes and instead focus on areas they're already comfortable with. It's like a warm blanket. Their thinking goes like this: "So I'm good at geometry? I should do more geometry problems! They make me feel good about myself." The result? NO SCORE IMPROVEMENT. You don't want to be like these students. So here'swhat you need to do: On every practice test or question set that you take, mark every question that you're even 20% unsure about. When you grade your test or quiz, review every single question that you marked, and every incorrect question. This way even if you guessed a question correctly, you'll make sure to review it. In a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you'll do to avoid that mistake in the future. Have separate sections by subject and sub-topic (number theory - fractions, algebra - solving equations, etc.). It's not enough to just think about it and move on. It's not enough to just read the answer explanation. You have to think hard about why you specifically failed on this question. By taking this structured approach to your mistakes,you'll now have a running log of every question you missed, and your reflection on why. No excuses when it comes to your mistakes. But don't stop there. Go Deeper - WHY Did You Miss a Math Question? Now, what are some common reasons that you missed a question? Don't just say, "I didn't know this material." That's a cop out. Always take it one step further - what specifically did you miss, and what do you have to improve in the future? Here are some examples of common reasons you miss a question, and how you take the analysis one step further: Content:I didn't learn the skill or knowledge needed to answer this question. One step further:What specific skill do I need to learn, and how will I learn this skill? Incorrect Approach:I knew the content, but I didn't know how to approach this question. One step further:How do I solve the question? How will I solve questions like this in the future? Careless Error:I misread what the question was asking for or solved for the wrong thing One step further:Why did I misread the question? What should I do in the future to avoid this? Get the idea? You're really digging into understanding why you're missing questions. Yes, this is hard, and it's draining, and it takes work. That's why most students who study ineffectively don't improve. But you're different. Just by reading this guide, you're already proving that you care more than other students. And if you apply these principles and analyze your mistakes, you'll improve more than other students too. Strategy 6: Experiment With Different Strategies to Solve Math Problems Sometimes, you get really stuck on a question. You just have no idea how to solve it, and the first step doesn't seem obvious. When this happens, a really useful skill to learn is having a toolkit of alternative strategies to solve a question. Broadly speaking, there are two that will come up most often: Plugging in Numbers, and Plugging in Answers. Let's see an example in action: Let's say you don't know how to solve this with algebra. Let's break down the question. It asks, "which of the following numbers is NOT a solution of this inequality?" What that really means is, "Three of these answer choices, when plugged in, will result in a true statement. One answer choice will result in a false statement." So let's try plugging in each answer choice, one by one. Start with A) -1: 3(-1) - 5≠¥ 4(-1) -3 -3 -5≠¥ -4 -3 -8≠¥ -7 Wait, that's not true! -8 is not greater than -7. Thus answer choice A is tentatively marked as the correct answer choice. Just in case, let's try answer choice B. 3(-2) - 5≠¥ 4(-2) -3 -6 -5≠¥ -8 -3 - ≠¥ - Yes, - is equal to -! Choice A is likely the right answer. (You can evaluate answer choices C and D too, but this is unnecessary since you checked your work and A seems pretty sound). Bonus: Algebraicway You can also solve this question by moving x to one side and the number to the other: 3x - 5≠¥ 4x - 3 3x - 5 - 4x≠¥ 4x - 3 - 4x -x -5≠¥ -3 -x -5 + 5≠¥ -3 +5 -x≠¥ 2 x≠¤ -2 This gets you answer choice A as well! In both your practice and your real test, try to get unstuck by approaching the question differently. Check out our strategy guides on Plugging in Answers and Plugging in Numbers to see more details on how these work. Strategy 7: Monitor Your Time During the Math Section Once again, time pressure is a big problem for 400-500 scorers. Because many questions are difficult, it's easy to get sucked into a hard problem. This takes away time from other questions that you can solve and get points for. There are two ways to ease time pressure for yourself. The first way is by getting better at the test.By doing more practice, you'll automatically get faster at solving each question. By learning patterns to what the SAT asks, more questions will just 'click' for you. The other way is to monitor the time you're spending on each question. What you want to avoid is spending too much time on a single question, since this gives you less time for other math problems. Remember: all points on the SAT are worth the same as each other. An easy question is worth 1 point, as is the most difficult question on the entire test. So here's what I recommend: if you spend 30 seconds on a problem and aren't clear how you can get to the answer, skip and go to the next question. If you finish the section early, you'll have time to get back to the questions you skipped. You'll especially have extra time if you follow my first skipping strategy (skip the most difficult questions). Even if you don't have time to get back to the questions you skipped, you just bought yourself time to try a lot of other questions. Strategy 8:Bubble in Your Answers All at Once Here's a bubbling tip that will save you at least three minutes per section. When I first started test taking in high school, I did what many students do: after I finished one question, I went to the bubble sheet and filled it in. Then I went back to the booklet and solved the next question. Finish question 1, bubble in answer 1. Finish question 2, bubble in answer 2. And so forth. This actually wastes a lot of time. You're distracting yourself doing two things at once - solving questions, and bubbling in answers. This is like rubbing your belly and patting your head. This costs you time in both mental distraction and in physically moving your hand and eyes to different areas of the test. Here's a better method: solve all your questions first in the book, then bubble all of them in at once. This has several huge advantages: you focus on each task one at a time, rather than switching between two different tasks. You also eliminate careless entry errors, like if you skip question 7 and bubble in question 8's answer into question 7's slot. By saving just 5 seconds per question, you get back 100 seconds on a section that has 20 questions. This is huge - you can use that to solve a whole other problem. Note: Be careful as you watch your time that you fill in all your current answers with at least five minutes remaining!Otherwise, you might run out of time before you have the chance to bubble in the answer choices all at once. Make sure you practice this on a full-length practice test so you're confident with it. Strategy 9: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know You might already know this one, but if you don't, you're about to earn some serious points. Starting in 2016, the SAT no longer has a wrong answer penalty. In the old SAT, each wrong answer would deduct 0.25 points from your raw score. This required you to have a logical guessing strategy based on how many answers you could rule out. No longer! Now there is no penalty for getting a wrong answer. That means there's no reason to leave any question blank. Now, before you finish the section,make sure every blank question has an answer filled in. You do not want to look at your answer sheet and see any blank questions. For every question you're unsure about, make sure you guess as best you can.If you can eliminate just one answer choice, that gives you a much better shot at getting it right. If you have no idea, just guess! You have a 25% chance of getting it right. Most people know this strategy already, so if you don't do this, you're at a SERIOUS disadvantage. This is really important when you use Strategy #1 of skipping questions - if you don't guess on the questions, you'll miss out on free points! In Overview Those are the main strategies I have for you to improve your SAT math score. If you're scoring a 330, you can improve it to a 500. If you're scoring a 460, you can boost it to a 600. I guarantee it, if you put in the right amount of work, and study like I'm suggesting above. Notice that I didn't actually teach you any math content. I didn't point to any formulas that you need to know, or specific math solutions that will instantly raise your score. That's because these one-size-fits-all, guaranteed strategies don't really exist. (And anyone who tells you this is deceiving you). Every student is different. Instead, you need to understand where you're falling short, and drill those weaknesses continuously. You also need to be thoughtful about your mistakes and leave no mistake ignored. This is really important to your future. Make sure you give SAT prep the attention it deserves, before it's too late, and you get a rejection letter you didn't want. If you want to review any of the strategies, here's a list of all of them: Strategy 1: Skip the Most Difficult Math Questions Strategy 2: Find Your Math Weaknesses and Drill Them Strategy 3: Focus On the Most Important Skills. Ignore the Rest Strategy 4: Use Only Realistic, High-Quality Sources Strategy 5: Understand All Your Math Mistakes Strategy 6: Experiment with Different Strategies to Solve Math Problems Strategy 7: Monitor Your Time During the Math Section Strategy 8:Bubble In Your Answers All At Once Strategy 9: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know What's Next? We have a lot more useful guides to raise your SAT score. What's a good SAT score for you? Read our detailed guide on figuring out your SAT target score.This is important to set YOUR target score and give you something to aim for. Want a bunch of free SAT practice tests to practice with? Here's our comprehensive list of every free SAT practice test. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Allen Cheng About the Author As co-founder and head of product design at PrepScholar, Allen has guided thousands of students to success in SAT/ACT prep and college admissions. He's committed to providing the highest quality resources to help you succeed. Allen graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude and earned two perfect scores on the SAT (1600 in 2004, and 2400 in 2014) and a perfect score on the ACT. You can also find Allen on his personal website, Shortform, or the Shortform blog. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. No spam ever. hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: '360031', formId: '2167ba30-e68e-4777-b88d-8bf3c84579af', formInstanceId: '2', submitButtonClass: 'btn-red-light btn', target: '#hubspot-container2', redirectUrl: 'http://ww2.prepscholar.com/blog-subscribe-thank-you', css: '.post-bottom .hs-form.stacked label {display:none;} .post-bottom .hs-form.stacked .field div.input {padding-top: 55px; padding-left: 300px;} .post-bottom .hs-input {width: 220px} .post-bottom .btn-primary, .hs-button.primary {margin-top:0px; padding-left:350px} .post-bottom .hs-form-field {margin-bottom:5px}' }); $(function(){ $(".exclusive-tip-form #hubspot-container2 label").hide(); }); function replace_tag(a, b){ $(a).each(function(index) { var thisTD = this; var newElement = $(""); $.each(this.attributes, function(index) { $(newElement).attr(thisTD.attributes[index].name, thisTD.attributes[index].value); }); $(this).after(newElement).remove(); }); } $(function(){ replace_tag($(".posts-by-topic h3"), "h2"); }) Ask a Question BelowHave any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply! Search the Blog Search jQuery(function(){ var $ = jQuery; var url = 'http://google.com/search?q=site:' + location.protocol + '//' + location.hostname + ' '; var $searchModule = $('.hs-search-module.a7c60103-7c8a-432c-b1be-fe07bcb459ef'); var $input = $searchModule.find('input'); var $button = $searchModule.find('.hs-button.primary'); if (false) { $input.val(decodeURIComponent(location.pathname.split('/').join(' ').split('.').join(' ').split('-').join(' ').split('_').join(''))); } $button.click(function(){ var newUrl = url + $input.val(); var win = window.open(newUrl, '_blank'); if (win) { //Browser has allowed it to be opened win.focus(); } else { //Browser has blocked it location.href = newUrl; } }); $input.keypress(function(e){ if (e.keyCode !== 13) return; e.preventDefault(); $button.click(); }); }); Improve With Our Famous Guides SATPrep ACTPrep For All Students The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section: Score 800 on SAT Math Score 800 on SAT Reading Score 800 on SAT Writing Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section: Score 600 on SAT Math Score 600 on SAT Reading Score 600 on SAT Writing Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? 15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section: 36 on ACT English 36 on ACT Math 36 on ACT Reading 36 on ACT Science Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section: 24 on ACT English 24 on ACT Math 24 on ACT Reading 24 on ACT Science What ACT target score should you be aiming for? ACT Vocabulary You Must Know ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA How to Write an Amazing College Essay What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For? Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide Should you retake your SAT or ACT? When should you take the SAT or ACT? Michael improved by 370 POINTS! Find Out How Stay Informed Get the latest articles and test prep tips! Looking for Graduate School Test Prep? Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: GRE Online Prep Blog GMAT Online Prep Blog TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Technology effect essays

Technology effect essays In the article Cybergrace: The Search for God in the Digital World, ¡ Jennifer Cobb wonders if a collective and self-reflective intelligence,  ¡Ã‚ °God ¡ isn't embodying itself in cyberspace. She observes the God-like nature that humans may gain in cyberspace and warns that we must proceed with caution. To me, the only thing I could think about with technology is it ¡Ã‚ ¯s ability to make almost anything possible such as, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, robotics, and increasing computer power, decreasing computer size. In last decades, the modern technology industry relies very explicitly on faith that the software will work, that the demo won't crash, and that the market will keep going up. Technology is technology; it is a means for communication and transportation over space, and nothing more. Technology that plays a significant role in all aspects of my life today, for example a computer, allows me to use technology benefits me by enhancing my learning capabilities and development in my college education. As a future engineer, the technology makes our life much easier, and it can be a powerful tool for educational use. During my high school years, or even now, a computer is the one of instructional tools that provides the discovery and exchange of information, communication, exploration, learning, and teaching. However, after I read Cobb ¡Ã‚ ¯s article, I must admit a little concept as I begin to see a growing awareness of spirituality in our relationship to machines even in this most secular of worlds. At first, this article starts comparing unlikely subjects that is the Internet and the divine, in Cobb's able hands, a seamlessly woven web of connection. Cobb urges us not to abandon the online world to commercial forces but to realize that "through the medium of computation, our spiritual experience can be extended in profound ways."(160) She proceeds toward an in-depth discussion of the nature of divinity. ...

Top 5 Jobs in the Southwest

Top 5 Jobs in the Southwest If you’re looking for a career change (or a change of scenery!),   here are some of the fastest-growing jobs for 2016 in the southwestern part of the united states, a region  that  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Home to a number of vibrant and diverse cultures from Santa Fe to Houston to New Orleans, the Southwestern part of the country is also a hotbed of growth and renewal in a number of industries. if you have a taste for the spicy (steaming tex-mex plates or New Mexico’s famous hatch chili peppers, anyone?) and are looking for a career jumpstart, definitely consider this region.1. Java DeveloperAustin, TX, is one of the growing tech start-up hubs putting the southwest on the map. it also has some old-school tech flavor as well: IBM, Dell, Google, and Facebook all have outposts in the region. one of the fastest-growing positions in the region is for java developers, who develop an d refine code specifically for the java programming language across different platforms.Developers have a median salary of $97,990, and the field is likely to expand by at least 17% per the BLS.2. Health Services ManagerLike everywhere else in the nation, the Southwest is seeing a booming healthcare industry as the population ages and insurance coverage gets more complex. and while you might think of medical professionals like nurses and physician assistants as the primary career path in the industry, there’s also the administrative arm, as well. Health services managers are not directly involved in patient medical care, but they work with the patients and families to plan, direct, and coordinate health services. They can advise on insurance coverage issues, and ensure that patients and medical facilities are up to date on changes in healthcare regulations and technology.The median salary for this role is $92,810 per year, with 17% growth expected in the near future.3. Oil/Ga s Truck DriverThe Southwestern part of the U.S. is home to much of the country’s energy industry, which includes some of the largest oil reserves and refineries. this calls for specialized truck drivers to transport oil and related materials. Truck driving in general requires on-the-job experience rather than specific degrees, but oil and gas driving jobs may require additional hazardous material licensing.The median salary for truck drivers is $38,200, and the field is expected to grow by at least 11% in the coming years. These specialized drivers will continue to be in high demand as the nation’s energy needs continue to grow and change.4. Medical AssistantIn a hectic medical office or hospital, the medical assistants are often the busiest people around. medical assistants may be called on to help with administrative tasks (processing patient records, receiving patients) or clinical ones (taking vital signs, preparing equipment, handling samples for testing). In addi tion to a high school diploma, this role often calls for additional certification, depending on the state.The median salary is $29,960, and the field is expected to grow by at least 23% in the near future.5. Personal Financial AdvisorWith the realities of housing, student loans, and healthcare coverage growing more complex all the time, the need for personal financial advisors is definitely expanding. Financial advisors work with clients to create personal financial plans for investments, insurance, mortgages, education, taxes, and retirement planning.One of the quickest-growing industries in the southwest, overall demand for these advisors is expected to grow by an astounding 30% by 2022. This position typically requires a bachelor’s degree, and the median salary is $81,060.So what do you think? Is a career change with a Southwestern flair on deck for you?

Inflation Control by Government of UK Economy Essay

Inflation Control by Government of UK Economy - Essay Example The rate of overall fixed capital formation in the UK is depressed by the very low level of public investment. During the 1970s and much of the 1980s the UK endured persistently high inflation. Despite high levels of unemployment, wage increases in the 1980s exceeded productivity growth, provoking strong upward pressure on prices. The boom of the late 1980s created a new inflationary surge, painfully controlled only by high interest rates and the early 1990s recession. Since then, however, the UK's inflation performance has improved markedly. The government has preferred measure of inflation, the RPIX (which excludes mortgage interest payments), has fluctuated within a narrow range in recent years and even came in below the official central target of 2.5% in 1999-2001. Meanwhile, inflation as measured by the EU's harmonised index averaged just 1.2% over 2001, the lowest rate in the EU. Two aspects of the UK's recent inflation performance are worth recording, however. The first is that there has been a significant divergence since mid-1998 between goods and service sector inflation, with the latter accounting for most of the increase in the consumer price index. In fact, in many parts of the goods sector (notably clothing, footwear and audio-visual equipment); prices actually fell in 2000 and 2001. A second aspect worth noting is the sharp (and probably unsustainable) appreciation of sterling's trade-weighted exchange rate since 1996, which has exerted considerable downward pressure on import prices. This paper discusses the inflation control methodologies in United Kingdom from 1994 to 2004. It shall also discuss how UK has managed its inflation in the last few decades. The paper shall also provide recommendations for inflation control by effective governance. Historical Monetary and Fiscal policies of UK Monetary policy The UK has experimented with numerous frameworks for monetary policy over the past 15 years. In the 1980s, the Conservative government tried in vain to target various measures of the money supply, before deciding to target the exchange rate. After "tracking" the D-mark in the late 1980s, the UK joined the EU's exchange-rate mechanism (ERM) in October 1990, only to be ejected two years later, in September 1992, when speculative pressures forced sterling out of the ERM. Following its exit, the UK was one of the first OECD countries to adopt inflation control. An inflation target range of 1-4% was initially set, but responsibility for setting interest rates remained with the government. When the Labour government came to power in 1997, its first significant decision was to grant operational independence for setting interest rates to a newly constituted Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) within the Bank of England. The responsibility fo

Conduct an empirical investigation of an area of your choice using Essay

Conduct an empirical investigation of an area of your choice using data from the Understanding Society survey - Essay Example The higher the person is satisfied from his job the higher is the performance. Such responses received from the surveys forced the business leaders to develop processes and procedure to make the employee satisfied with his job. The job satisfaction is also called the employee satisfaction and staff morale. This represents the attitude of the employee with regards to the work place (place of employment). The managers who want to make their employees happy about their jobs need to follow the determinants of job satisfaction. The processes must start from the planning phase till the actual job starts. The managers must plan the job in a way that it is beneficial for the organization as well as for the employee; the planning will help to promote the job satisfaction (Bhuvanaiah & Raya, 2014). Opportunity (to use skills and abilities): The capabilities of a person (male or female) must be understood by the supervisor/manager. The person must be recognized for his or her achievements. This will help build motivation for the employee in way that he feels his/her talent is being appreciated. Job Security: In the time of recession the companies cut their cost by reducing the employees. The employees left in the organization feel in secure about their presence and feel de motivated. In 2013 the employment rate globally was 7.9%. In the previous year 2012 the employment rate was 8.3%, the fall in the rate show that a part of the labor force was reduced globally due to recession. When the employees are secure and sure about their jobs, they work better which results in higher performance. Compensation: Employees are motivated if they get handsome amount of pay, the managers must focus on providing the bonuses and raises to employees for their effective and efficient working. This will help to improve the performance of the employee and the organization on the whole. The section of the paper is related to the past writings and theories that reflect the significant

Descriptive Statistics Memo Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Descriptive Memo - Statistics Project Example The average number of students per faculty was 8.48. The average age was 28.36 years. The average local tuition was $ 12,374.92, and foreign tuition was $ 16,581.80. On an average, 28.08 percent of enrolments at schools were foreigners. 56 percent had taken the GMAT, and 32 percent had taken an English test. 76 percent of students had prior work experience. The average starting salary was $ 37,292. The results for scatter plot analyses have been illustrated in figures 1-4, and the results have been summarized in table 1. Student faculty ratio, work experience, or starting salary did not influence full time enrolment. Among all the variables, age had the strongest influence (41.38%) on full time enrolment. Descriptive statistics for full time enrolments, students per faculty ratio, local tuition, foreign tuition, age, percentage foreigners, GMAT takers, English test takers, work experience and starting salaries have been illustrated in table 2. The average foreign tuition was $ 4206.88 higher than the local tuition. The average starting salary for graduates of schools requiring work experience was $ 41305.26, while for schools without work experience was $ 24583.33. The average starting salary for graduates of schools requiring English test was $ 45088, while for schools without work experience was $ 33623.53. The distribution for GMAT has a kurtosis of -2.11 (spread out from the mean). Factors that a school should consider are tuition, student faculty ratio, admission tests and prior work experience. These factors would help attract more students, and increase the number of enrolments in the MBA program. The average student to faculty ratio in schools was 8.48 students per faculty. The average local tuition was $ 12,374.92, and foreign tuition was $ 16,581.80. Graduates with admission tests (GMAT and English) received higher starting salaries than those without. Also, graduates with prior work experience had higher

Discuss the theoretical and practical factors that influence the level Essay

Discuss the theoretical and practical factors that influence the level of gearing and the maturity structure of debt in large qu - Essay Example In this context, borrowing has become a common method of financing for large firms, a fact that has influenced the status of these organizations as investment units. Indeed, large firms with high financial obligations, due to borrowing, are likely to be avoided by potential investors. The latter will examine each firm’s financial characteristics before deciding to invest on a particular firm. Current paper focuses on the examination of two important issues related to the debt in large firms: the factors that influence the level of gearing and the maturity structure of debt in large quoted companies are presented and critically discussed. The literature published in the specific subject is used in order to show the various implications of the above issues. It is revealed that the level of gearing and the maturity structure of debt in large quoted firms are likely to be depended on a series of factors which are not standardized. Rather the type and the power of these factors is depended on the characteristics and the rules of the local market, as influenced by the global economic trends. 2. Theoretical and practical factors that influence the level of gearing in large quoted companies Gearing is a term used in order to reflect ‘the proportion of the firm’s total assets owned by long and short – term creditors’ (Chisholm 2002, p.147). In other words, gearing shows the ability of the firm to repay its creditors, even through its assets in case of lack of cash. In the context of gearing, two are the most important factors that are expected to influence the ability of the firm to pay its creditors: the level of debt and the company’s assets. In modern firms, the level of gearing seems to be differentiated in accordance with the size of the firms. The above phenomenon can be explained as follows: in small firms, borrowing is the most common form of financing – aiming to avoid offering part of the firm’s management in order to be financed. In this context, small firms are expected to have high level of gearing. In large quoted firms, where there is no problem with giving part of the firm’s equity to third persons (the investors) for securing the necessary financing, the level of gearing is low (Walton 2000). There is also the opposite view. More specifically, Atrill et al. (2008, p.231) notes that large quoted firms are expected to have higher gearing compared to the small firms. The above view is based on ‘a report of the Bank of England regarding the financing of small businesses’ (Atrill et al. 2008, p.231). This report reveals that the level of borrowing of small firms is lower compared to that of the large firms, probably because the financing needs of large firms in the particular market cannot be covered by the capital of the shareholders (Atrill et al. 2008). Under these terms, the level of gearing in small and large firms cannot be considered as standardized. Rath er, it would be depended on the conditions and the characteristics of the local market – in the context of which the borrowing schemes available to the large firms may be more attractive compared to those offered to small firms, a fact that would minimize the level of gearing in small firms and maximize the level of gearing in large firms. In accordance with Chisholm (2002), normally, the level of debt of firms is lower from their equity

Business strategy report on Ford Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business strategy report on Ford Company - Essay Example Ford Motor Company is a reliable name in the industry since the year 1903. It has now become a global name and has significant shares in different parts of the world. As per Healey (2012), it has 172000 employees globally and 65 plants across the world. It serves 50 markets and employees 65000 employees in Europe. The firm has two main brands Lincoln and Ford and is divided into two departments namely the auto sector and the financial services sector. Under the former it manufactures service cars, trucks, SUVs and vehicle parts. However, as per Naughton and Webb (2012),over 28% of its sales come from the European market, which is suffering for the past five years due to economic downturns. This in turn has affected the firm and it has broken off from the European industry by announcing the shut down of 3 prominent plants in the European region. According to Ramsey (2012), the firm claims that it will be running an annual loss of $ 1.5 billion in Europe. According to Castonguay (2012) , though the closer of these plants will cause the elimination of 5700 jobs directly, it will save the firm $ 500 million. It will decrease the production capacity by 18% and thus cut costs also (European Commission 2012). As per Ford, the market is predicted to fall even more and it was the only feasible solution that they could come up with to curtail their costs and answer their investors. This is a bold step that the firm is planning to take as no other firm in the industry has done so as yet.... This is a bold step that the firm is planning to take as no other firm in the industry has done so as yet. However, Ford is sure that this will work for the firm as an identical model of reducing cost by cutting labour in an attempt to reduce the production capacities has worked in North America (European Commission 2012). The firm needs to take this step as a large part of its revenue depends on the European market. However, there is fierce opposition by the labour union as the firm had earlier committed to build a facility in Genk but instead is going to build one in Spain. The workers need to be compensated and the firm has to face the union before it can take this measure (Ford, 2012). 1.2.1 Purpose of Ford The mission statement of the firm is: People working together as a lean, global enterprise for automotive leadership, as measured by: Customer, Employee, Dealer, Investor, Supplier, Union/Council, and Community Satisfaction. (Ford Motor Company Mission Statement 2012) The firm also aims to restructure itself in an aggressive disposition with the aim to operate with profitability at the on going demand altering the product mix as per the needs of the market, at the same time, work as a single team with the focus on improving the balance sheet. However, currently the firm is not in line with its mission as it is operating below profit and has not been able to alter its product mix with the changing demand (4-traders, 2012). The firm’s focus is not profitability in Europe and has been pressed down by the socio political environment (Thorpe, Slade and Bender, 2009). 1.3 Pestle analysis 1.3.1 Political / legal environment The political and legal environment governing the auto industry in Europe is quite

Gravitational energy Essay Example for Free

Gravitational energy Essay This is the gravitational energy lost by the jumper and when plotted, this graph should be linear. I could plot these on the same axis the point where the two graphs intersect is the extension at which the jumper comes to rest. Unfortunately my Eel-extension graph did not turn out as expected in a nice smooth curve but was instead all over the place and would not intersect g=mg(l+x) at all. To correct this I plotted the cumulative elastic energy against extension giving me the desired curve. Predicting the launch height In theory the point at which to two graphs meet should show the extension at which the jumper comes to rest. I must find the extension where the lines intersect, this can be done from reading off the graph. X=0. 61m To get the appropriate height of the jump for the Lego figure I must add the unstretched length of the chord to the extension where the lines intersect. h=l+x h=0. 5+0. 61 h=1. 11m Jumping from this height would mean the jumper would just skim the floor. The aim is to come within a safe distance of the floor so to get a safe- adjusted height I must add 0. 08m to my launch height. Safe height=1. 11+0. 08 Safe height=1. 19m Analysis According to my graph the point at which the two lines cross and hence the extension at which my Lego figure comes to rest is 0. 61m. Assuming the jumper starts from rest, the launch height for the jumper just to hit the floor will be 0. 5+0. 61=1. 11m. My graph shows no anomalies and both my lines are very smooth showing that the experiment has been carried out to a high degree of accuracy, however they are not plotted quite far enough for me to take a completely accurate reading from the graph of where the two lines intersect. In order to take the reading at all I have had to carry on my lines of best fit further than the points on the graph. When the predicted launch height was tested (not including the 0. 08m safety measure) the figure just hit the ground. When the safety adjusted height was used the jumper reached the bottom of the jump 0. 06m from the ground. This shows that without the safety adjustment the jumper fell 1. 13m showing my predicted launch height of 1. 11m was fairly accurate being only 0. 02m out. Percentage error = 1. 13 1. 11 1. 13 The use of triangles on the force extension graph when it was in fact curved led to small errors, the line was curved both inward and outward however most likely cancelling each other out leading to a fairly accurate total Eel.

Causes of Workplace Accidents

Causes of Workplace Accidents Workplace accidents are generally caused by the unsafe behaviour of employees and the unsafe state of objects (Shi Wenwen, et al., 2011). In the past, root causes of those accidents were reported mainly in terms technological malfunctions and the human element tended to be ignored (Gordon, 1998). Technology and systems have become more reliable and the frequency of technological failures has diminished, there is little uncertainty today that human errors contribute to the majority of safety incidents within high risk industries (Baysari, et al., 2009; Skalle, 2014). The current research on the workplace accidents document that human errors are the root cause of up to 80% of incidents in high risk industries (Liping, 2003; Cullen and Anderson, 2005; Garret and Teizer, 2009; Ganguly, 2011; Quanmin, et al., 2011). As Reason (1997) indicated in an earlier research, it is expected, because human decisions and actions are not only involved in accidents, but also in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and management of complex systems. The significance of human factors contribution to safety has been demonstrated over the past two decades by the often-quoted examples of the contribution of human failures to the major accidents within the process industry such as Bhopal, Piper Alpha, Texas City refinery explosion, Esso Longford gas explosion and Texaco Milford Haven explosion (Hughes and Kornowa-Weichel, 2004). Given this demonstration, it is astounding that the importance of human factors in the safety management has not yet been extensively acknowledged within the high risk industries in the Middle East. There are scarcely any literatures exist within the Middle East on the relevance of human factors in safety management. Some elements of human factors such as training and motivation had always been received attention within the oil and gas industry; however, they have been deliberately managed as part of an integrated safety management system or with the rigour that their contribution to the risk requires. The term ‘human error’ is defined in several literatures (Norman, 1981; Reason, 1990; Sanders and McCormick, 1993; Salmon, et al., 2005). Reason (1990, p.9) defined human error as â€Å"a generic term to encompass all those occasions in which a planned sequence of mental or physical activities fails to achieve its intended outcome, and when these failures cannot be attributed to the intervention of some chance agency.† Salmon, et al. (2005, p.5) defined human error as â€Å"any mental or physical activity, or failure to perform activity, that leads to either an undesired or unacceptable outcome.† Dhillon Liu (2006) and Shi Wenwen, et al. (2011) point out that the causes of human errors are complicated, and the basic reasons can be one’s own unsafe psychological activities, physiological factors, environmental factors, insufficient safety training, poor design factors and inadequate procedures. The term ‘human factor’ is often referred as the thread that runs through the safety management system, the organisation for safety and the culture of a site (Cullen and Anderson, 2005). Cacciabue (2004, p.12) defined human factors as â€Å"the technology concerned with the analysis and optimisation of the relationship between people and their activities, by the integration of human sciences and engineering in systematic applications, in consideration for cognitive aspects and socio-technical working contexts.† The United Kingdom, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defined human factors as â€Å"environmental, organisational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics which influence behaviour at work in a way which can affect health and safety† (HSE, 2005, p.5; Ganguly, 2011, p.14). Hughes Kornowa-Weichel (2004) and Cullen Anderson (2005) highlight that it is important to integrate human factors from the early stages of process design and procedural development to reduce human failures. Hamilton, et al. (2013, p.5) state that â€Å"human factors integration is the principal method for applying human factors to the development of socio-technical systems across safety critical industries.† In this way, the integration helps to ensure that human factors methods and principles are applied appropriately and consistently during the system development in order to achieve a safe and effective design for end users. McLeod (2004) indicates that human factors maturity assessment of an organisation should be in terms of what action organisation takes to minimise the human contribution to incidents and the impact on the health of the workplace through the way it designs the equipment and implements its associated training and procedures. On the whole, the above discussed literatures put forward the claim that management systems, tools and equipment of an organisation to be designed with the potential capabilities and limitations of people in mind to run it safely and effectively as people are the integral and key features of the business systems. Therefore, the best practices of human failure prevention can only be attained when human factors are integrated into the procedural and system development phase rather than considering as a stand-alone activity. For this reason, the success rate of human failure prevention mostly depends on the level of human factors integration into the health and safety management system of that organisation. Background to the organisation Lamprell Energy Limited (LEL) is a leading provider of diversified engineering and contracting services to the onshore and offshore oil and gas and renewable energy industries. Based in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) and with the operations throughout the region, Lamprell has played a prominent role in the development of the energy industry within the Middle East for over 35 years. Lamprell has established a leading market position in the construction, commissioning and installation of rigs, process modules and top sides. The primary facilities of Lamprell are located in Hamariya, Sharjah and Jebel Ali all of which are located within the U.A.E. The facilities cover approximately 910,000 m2 with 2.2 km of quayside. The organisation employs approximately 2400 employees in the Jebel Ali facility where the research was conducted. Reason for the dissertation Health and safety is a core value within Lamprell businesses and a strong health and safety culture exist within the group. The health and safety management system is accredited by the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001:2007 standard. Surveillance audits are carried out by Bureau Veritas, a global leader in the management systems certification with a strong presence within the U.A.E. Kelvin Top Set root cause analysis tool and problem solving methodology is used within the organisation for the investigation of workplace incidents. This ensures that the root causes of all incidents reported within the organisation are systematically identified. An analysis carried out on all the lost time, restricted work, medical treatment accidents and root causes reported in the last 3 years within the Jebel Ali facility of Lamprell reveals that the accidents caused by the human failures are at an alarming rate. There were no fatalities reported during this period within the organisation. It was confirmed that accidents are classified based on the similar reporting criteria across all three years to ensure consistency of collected data. Figure 1. Total Accident Frequency Rate (AFR) and Human Failure Accident Frequency Rate from January 2011 to December 2013. Figure 2. The causes of human failure accidents from January 2011 to December 2013. As Figure 1 indicates, there was a rise in AFR in 2012 compared to 2011 and then dropped in 2013. Human failures contributed 76%, 82% and 83% to the total AFR in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. The causes of these human failure accidents were retrieved from Lamprell’s Single Incident Reporting System (SIRS) and illustrated in Figure 2. The pie chart shows that over half the human failure accidents were due to the noncompliance of procedures, poor competency and environmental factors. The high human failure accident rate and the nature of the causes of these failures are self-explanatory for assessing the human factors integration into the health and safety management system of Lamprell.

Malcolm X Essay -- essays research papers

Malcolm Little was born May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. He grew up around eight siblings. His mother was a mixed woman because her mother was raped by a white man. His father was a very outspoken black Baptist church minister, who preached that blacks should go back to Africa. Due to death threats by white supremacist his family had to relocate to different places to live. After all that time his father was murdered when police found his body on the trolley tracks. The mother new it was by white supremacist. After his death his mother was committed to an insane asylum. Malcolm and his brother and sisters were split up and sent to foster homes and orphanages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Malcolm graduated at the top of his junior high class. He then located to Harlem, New York. He then ...

if i shoulddie b4 i wake Essay example -- essays research papers

In the book â€Å"If I Die Before I Wake† by Han Nolan a girl named Hilary Burke has been severely injured in a motorcycle accident while riding with her boyfriend, Brad, the leader of a local neo-Nazi gang. The closest hospital is a Jewish hospital and Hilary is taken there, Nazi armband and everything. In a strange twist of fate, Hilary is transported back through flashbacks to the German occupation of Poland where she becomes a girl named Chana. Chana is a young girl who, along with her Polish family, is faced with the horrors of being a Jew in wartime Poland .Hilary sees World War II in the perspective of Chana. The story flips back and forth between Chana and Hilary with one major plot in each girl’s life. Before her accident, Hilary helped out with her friends to kidnap her Jewish neighbor, Simon, and they stuffed him in a gym locker at school. There is a large search underway to find him. While Hilary thinks treating the Jews differently is funny, she has to live in the eyes of a Jewish person while she flashes back into Chana’s time. In Chana’s story she goes through the full horror of being Jewish under Nazi rule which includes the complete breaking down of her family, the horrors of the Lodz ghetto, and ultimately the suffering of Auschwitz. Meanwhile, Hilary and her mother don’t have the best bond. Yet Hilary’s mother does all she can to help nurse her back to stable heath, and she sits by her side the whole time while she is at the Jewish hospital. Even when there was...

Pelican Instruments Inc Essay

1. Prepare the Report that you feel Amy Shultz should present to Mr.Park. 2. Put yourself in the position of the following six managers: general manager(EM); marketing manager (EM); manufacturing manager (EM); general manager (EI); marketing manager (EI); manufacturing manager (EI). These six managers compete for a share in the company’s bonus pool. For each of the six, how would you make a case for your obtaining a share of the bonus pool? Six managers, three from the EM division and three from the EI division compete for a share in the company’s bonus pool. For the purpose of this analysis, we take into account different variances within each division, From the EM side, the General Manager could argue that his business unit must without a doubt follow the strategy of low cost, as he is dealing with a mature product. Because of this, he lowered his selling price compared to his competition by $ 10, resulting in a $ 1.4MM profit loss. However, he can strengthen his position by saying that thanks to his lower price, he was able to penetrate the market even more, achieving an additional $ 2.6MM in profit from changes in market share. Furthermore, he can argue that the lower price also got him an increase in volume, which earned him $ 679k more in profits. Clearly, the general manager’s decision to lower his selling price was more than beneficial for his business unit. The Marketing Manager would argue that thanks to his efforts, he was able to go from a 10% market share to a 16% market share, becoming partially responsible for the additional $ 2.6MM in profits. Although industry demand affected the division negatively, losing the division $ 724k, the positive effects of the increased sales were advantageous for the division. Furthermore, the Marketing Manager can say he is partially responsible for the savings in marketing fixed costs for the company, amounting to $ 416k. The Manufacturing Manager for the division must defend his increase in cost from $ 20 to $ 21. His argument can be perhaps that he was focusing more on quality of product, and that because his product was now of better quality he also is partially responsible for the increase in sales volume. He can  also say that he is partially responsible for saving the company $ 342k in fixed manufacturing costs. From the EI General Manager’s point of view, the fact was that he was able to sell his product at a much higher price, earning his division an additional $ 1.6MM in profits. Although unfortunately he lost $ 689k from a lower sales volume, he clearly made it up to his division by earning them $ 6.9MM from market share changes, and an extra $ 4.9MM from changes in industry demand. As opposed to the EM division, the EI Division strategy must be one that follows differentiation and that focuses on building and penetrating market share in a fast growing industry. EI’s Marketing Manager can argue that thanks to his efforts, he was able to end the year with a 9% market share. Despite the fact that this is a lower percentage than what was budgeted, the Marketing Manager can argue that the size of the market is growing by the minute, therefore defending his 9% and proving that he earned $ 6.9MM from being able to own a larger piece of the pie (or the market). Because industry demand for the product is also increasing, the product is hot, a factor that also allowed his division to sell above standard prices. Like the EM Marketing Manager, he can finally also argue he is partially responsible for the important savings in fixed marketing expenses. The Manufacturing Manager for the EI division can claim that like the EM manager, he was also partially responsible for the savings in fixed manufacturing costs. Because his division is focusing on a differentiation strategy, he could claim that the increase in variable cost per unit comes from value-added features that will allow the company to have a better product than its competitors. 3. As Mr. Park, how would you feel about the 1997 performance of each of the six managers who are competing for a share of the bonus pool? Taking into account the fact that the EM business is a â€Å"Harvest† business dealing with a mature product, Mr. Park should seriously consider getting rid of the division by slowly discontinuing the product, as it is performing worse than  budget and losing $ 4MM in profits for the company as a whole. If Mr. Park decides to maintain the division, the best way for it to compete will be by following a low cost strategy. Based on the characteristics of a â€Å"Harvest† business, EM managers should be strictly held to budget, and total compensation should be based more on base salary and less on performance measures. In analyzing each manager’s performance, Mr. Park should feel positively about granting the bonuses to both the Marketing Manager and the General Manager, but not the Manufacturing Manager, as his variable costs per product increased, going against the low cost strategy discussed. In terms of the EI division, this is a high potential market segment that is growing exponentially and the company is doing well in this business. This division follows a â€Å"Build† strategy and therefore he should be more flexible with his managers, acknowledging that their strategy of differentiation and growth is risky. These managers should be evaluated less according to budget and more according to long term criteria such as R&D spending, product development, and market development. Manager salaries should be more based on performance bonuses and less on base pay so they are more willing to take risks in their strategy. In analyzing each manager’s performance, Mr. Park should feel positively about granting the bonuses to the Marketing Manager, who had a positive variance for the department in terms of market share (aside from industry demand factors). Similarly, the Manufacturing Manager increased his variable costs by a large percent, but this could be defendable from the point of view of creating a better and more differentiated product. However, Mr. Park should feel negatively about the General Manager, since he could have offered the product at a slightly lower price and attained more sales volume and advantages from product mix as well.