Woolworth’s Marketing Analysis Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Examine about the Woolworths Marketing Analysis. Answer: Strategic Vision The organizations strategic to convey to clients the correct shopping experience every single time. In this manner, the firm furnishes clients with quality, esteem, and ordinary low estimated items in its retail business while guaranteeing the wellbeing of the clients and its staff. Woolworths vision is to keep up and upgrade its retail business, offering top quality to clients, more noteworthy accommodation, esteem for cash, a wide scope of items, low cost and top of the line administrations (Woolworths, 2016). The organization accomplishes this by resolving to convey extraordinary and best nature of items to its clients. Anybody going over the brand name of the firm relates it to the quality conveyed and accordingly draws in clients and holds them in its retail business. Circumstance Analysis Woolworths SWOT Analysis Quality The organizations solid brand name as a market chief in the Australias retail industry enables it to contend well with the rest. Simultaneously, the firm appreciates a solid asset base of innovative and human asset in the business. The firm uses financially savvy and proficient methods for decreasing bundling in this manner diminishes squander. Shortcoming The organizations development procedure has an attention on the worldwide scene subsequently constraining its development at the neighborhood level. Opportunity The retail business in the nation is promising coupled by the advancement in the gracefully chain, expanded purchaser consumption, and increment in populace presents open door for the firm. The accessibility of multi-alternative empowers the firm to adapt up to enhanced necessities of its clients. Dangers Rivalry from top of the line retailers, for example, Cole Supermarkets presents a danger to the market strength of the firm. Simultaneously, the administration mediation by ordering rivalry approaches diminishes the attractiveness for the firm as it opens up rivalry from other little scope retailers. Clients Clients stay an important resource for the retail firm, who base on comfort and reserve funds. Along these lines, the firm serves a colossal base of clients from all ages and has outlets in differing areas in this manner catching countless clients. Providers Opportune and compelling flexibly is significant in the retail business where providers convey merchandise for the firm. Woolworth has a wide system of providers who help convey products for the clients every week that end up on their racks. The firm has a decent stock framework where items are requested before lessening consequently keeping up prepared items at the rack. Contenders The firm faces a few rivals in the business with new contestants to the firm just as the current ones. A portion of the significant contenders incorporate Wesfarmers Limited, Alde and Metcash Limited. The contenders set the firm on the movement in endeavors to remunerate clients in an offer to draw unwaveringness and long haul connection with the purchasers. Thusly, the clients get most extreme administrations and great products. PESTEL Analysis The class includes different elements influencing the firm in the retail business. Political The world of politics influences the tasks of the organization in the nation just as the locale. For example, the dispatch of the strategies on rivalry disposing of rivalry confines the development and strength of the firm since it expands the quantity of players in the area weakening the objective market. Monetary The economy of countries and the universal scene influences business efficiency. In this regard, a decrease in the monetary market diminishes the quantity of clients visiting the store consequently restricting the benefits of the organization. Simultaneously, the change in the cash rates influences the importation of merchandise. Social Woolworth as a business is entrusted to remain socially capable to its condition where clients become acquainted with organizations that are dependable, in this regard, the firm needs to add to the general public to stay productive in a given zone of activity. Innovation Innovation assumes a huge job in the retail business where it influences the flexibly chain decidedly relying upon the strategy applied. Woolworths utilizes innovation in its flexibly chain the board and refrigeration framework expanding its storeroom and ability. MarketingResearch Information Showcasing is an idea that needs a nearby investigation to decide how and when to move toward a given market for a specific item in expanding the fulfillment of the objective populace. Data on shopper examples can be acquired from an assortment of sources. For example, the firm gets the vast majority of its data from the showcasing agency, watching buyer buy designs, online media, reviews, and notice reaction to the real deals (Hair and Lukas, 2014). The firm does a review via web-based networking media on its clients on the inclination and alters its showcasing endeavors to suit the necessities of the clients. In addition, it utilizes the market execution measurements on various firms execution at long last year results to determine its rivals in the business. When the firm decides the inflow of clients, it turns out to be anything but difficult to decide if a firm is flourishing or being set down in the retail part. Through the medium, the firm can assess its rivals as indicated by the benefits and client maintenance capacity. The setting of the business is changing with the development of the online life showcasing where the greater part of the clients exist. Along these lines, the market target has moved to theonline promoting and bears a tremendous importance to the statistical surveying and knowledge required by Woolworths. The fan pages on the web based life for various organizations structure a valuable instrument fundamental for social occasion measurable data on the inclination examples of people. Through this, the firm can create methodologies to execute comparative or elective measures to battle the opposition offered by the contenders and enhancing the systems that work for the association (Zikmund, Babin, Carr Griffin, 2013). Clients issue their questions and likes dependent on the administrations and items conveyed to the customers. In this regard, the firm can assemble data on the items with an enormous after and make important prerequisites to push the non-performing items through advertising. Aldi and Metcash Supermarket are the biggest contender of the firm where it deals comparative items and advertising procedures that draw in a gigantic after by its clients. There are other little retail outlets in the district however come up short on a solid brand name and nearness to promote its items. The three firms are the biggest in strength in the retail part which continue vieing for the consistently developing populace. Along these lines, the firm invests in amounts of energy to deflect the opposition presented by the firm. The associates help firms in deciding the business capability of various firms since a portion of the colleague's flexibly items in differing outlets in the retail area. In this regard, the partners help with deciding the opposition level by transferring data on the deals of various firms to the financial specialists accordingly empowering Woolworths to figure out where to expand its advertising. Simultaneously, the data transferred can be utilized to know the expected dangers and execute the vital techniques to conquer the emergency. Providers assume a tremendous job by publicizing their items while unveiling the area of stores where the items stay accessible. Now and again, a few merchandise up for a prologue to the market are promoted from the Woolworths stores in this manner developing the brand acknowledgment for explicit items. Then again, the providers appreciate item promoting through the wide stock existent in the Woolworths stores. Creating Market Strategy Target Market Market improvement alludes to the endeavors acquired in expanding deals by advancing the offer of current items to another objective market. The objective of an advertising technique is to distinguish and stop an objective market for its items and administrations. For this situation, one needs to choose an objective market that draws in the biggest group of people utilizing the four ps of showcasing, for example, item, spot, cost, and advancement. There are three center techniques that the firm can use in choosing the objective market. Since the firm sells general items that can be utilized and devoured by a differing gathering of individuals, it can utilize the three procedures to take advantage of the Australian Market. The Multi-Segment Targeting The methodology is basic in accomplishing an enormous objective where the people on center originate from an alternate market fragment (Diamond, Diamond Litt, 2015). The system offers an assortment of advantages to the firm since it arrives at a wide objective of people subsequently advancing a similar firm by expanding its image name. Woolworth has a huge objective market highlighting both the veggie lover and non-vegans where it needs to provide food for the requirements of the two gatherings. For this situation, it conducts separate advertising endeavors to accomplish a huge client base of both the veggie lovers and non-vegans. Since a general notice neglects to speak to the two gatherings at a go, the firm needs to do a different objective market division to catch the dependability of the two gatherings. Be that as it may, the strategy includes tremendous money since the administration needs to take part in independent exploration endeavors to yield benefits for the firm. Undifferentiated Targeting As per Babin Zikmund (2015), target advertising system includes the utilization of a solitary promoting channel arriving at an assorted gathering of individuals. Since the firm exchanges general merchandise helpful to a different gathering of individuals, for example, adolescents, kids, and the old, a solitary methodology is fundamental for this situation. Items, for example, drinks bid to an assorted populace and can abandon predisposition. In this manner, it is basic to utilize a solitary strategy in publicizing the items that intrigue to everyone.

Free Essays on Absolute Monarchy

An outright government is a type of government where the ruler has the ability to run their nation and residents uninhibitedly with out any laws or lawfully sorted out resistance instructing the government, albeit some strict authority might have the option to impact the ruler. Fundamentally a flat out ruler has absolute control over its kin and land which incorporates the nobility. The political hypothesis which frames the premise of outright government was that the ruler held their situation by the finesse of God and was hence not responsible to anybody but rather God. Outright government created in the late Middle Ages from feudalism during which rulers were still first among the honorability. The intensity of the ruler is restricted by the need to have some proportion of help by the gentry. The privileged would be subordinate to the government, offer political and military help for the government, yet may likewise, now and again, challenge its position. A significant part of the fascination of outright government in the Middle Ages was that it guaranteed a conclusion to common wars, could stop debasement by the gentry, and reestablish regard for the Church's ethical codes. The political idea of the Enlightenment was impacted by savants, for example, Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes, and Jacques-Benigne Bossuet. Jean Bodin was a French Renaissance rationalist and one of the main masterminds to safeguard absolutism. He composed Six livres de la Rã ¨publique in 1576 (Six Books of the Republic). He contended how Kings ought to be given the option to control over everybody of his subjects and the political establishments they had by excessive laws. Nonetheless, he additionally restricted the force by saying rulers ought to be held by social traditions and common law. Thomas Hobbes had confidence in the hypothesis of absulte government. Thomas had survived the English common wars and the execution of Charles I in 1649 which had fortified his purpose that absolutism was the most sensible and attractive... Free Essays on Absolute Monarchy Free Essays on Absolute Monarchy A flat out government is a type of government where the ruler has the ability to lead their nation and residents openly with out any laws or lawfully sorted out resistance guiding the government, albeit some strict authority might have the option to impact the ruler. Essentially an outright ruler has complete control over its kin and land which incorporates the gentry. The political hypothesis which frames the premise of outright government was that the ruler held their situation by the finesse of God and was thusly not liable to anybody but rather God. Total government created in the late Middle Ages from feudalism during which rulers were still first among the respectability. The intensity of the ruler is constrained by the need to have some proportion of help by the privileged. The privileged would be subordinate to the government, offer political and military help for the government, yet may likewise, now and again, challenge its position. A significant part of the fascination of total government in the Middle Ages was that it guaranteed a conclusion to common wars, could stop debasement by the privileged, and reestablish thoughtfulness regarding the Church's ethical codes. The political idea of the Enlightenment was impacted by savants, for example, Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes, and Jacques-Benigne Bossuet. Jean Bodin was a French Renaissance rationalist and one of the primary scholars to safeguard absolutism. He composed Six livres de la Rã ¨publique in 1576 (Six Books of the Republic). He contended how Kings ought to be given the option to administer over everybody of his subjects and the political establishments they had by unreasonable laws. Be that as it may, he additionally restricted the force by saying rulers ought to be held by social traditions and common law. Thomas Hobbes had faith in the hypothesis of absulte government. Thomas had survived the English common wars and the execution of Charles I in 1649 which had reinforced his purpose that absolutism was the most consistent and attractive...

Business School Rankings Factors and List of Leading Universities

Business School Rankings Factors and List of Leading Universities When you hear the phrase “best business school”, the usual suspects include Harvard, Stanford and Yale. These three names often come up in conversations and debates on what the top business schools in the United States are â€" and even globally â€" are.But you’ll be surprised to find other names on the list of top ranked business schools and universities, with some of them even adjudged to be better than the three mentioned. In the following discussion, we will be taking a look at business school rankings and identify the leading universities when it comes to their business programs. Before that, however, it would be a good idea to have a bit of a background on these rankings, and how they are formulated.RANKING BUSINESS SCHOOLSThere are several websites, organizations and agencies that release their own rankings, using their own sets of criteria as a guideline or basis for coming up with the ranks. The most trusted “rankers” include:ForbesAccording to Forbes, their ranking is based solely on the return on investment of the graduates of the business schools in the 5 years since they completed or earned their MBA. This means they consider parameters such as average base salary, signing bonus and employment rate, among others.They basically make a comparison of the earnings of the alumni within the 5-year period and the total compensation that they have foregone while attending business school, combined with the cost of tuition and other fees paid during the period of attendance.Currently, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business tops Forbes’ list of best business schools, followed closely by Harvard Business School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.Bloomberg BusinessweekThe ranking index used by Bloomberg Businessweek is comprised of the evaluation from surveys done with employers (35%), alumni (30%) and students (15%). The remaining 20% is split evenly between Salary and Job Placement.The 2016 ranking of Bloomberg Businessweek named Harvard as its best business school in the US. Stanford comes in second, followed by Duke (Fuqua) in third place.The Financial TimesThe Financial Times comes out with its rankings every year, covering not just universities in the US but in other countries all over the world. In its ranking model, it considers the weighted salary of alumni three years after graduation and the salary percentage increase, or the difference in the alumnus’ salary pre- and post-MBA.In its Global MBA 2017 Special Report, the best business school with an MBA program in the world is INSEAD, which has campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. In the US, the leading university is the Stanford Graduate School of Business, followed by the University of Pennsylvania: Wharton and Harvard.The EconomistIf you compare the rankings, you might notice that The Economist’s list differs slightly from the others. That is because their ranking draws heavily on student satisfaction, and how it permeates each criterion. Ranking is done based on career opportunities, educational experience, salary boost and networking opportunities.The Economist also comes out with its MBA rankings every year. For 2016, the top three names on their list are the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.US NewsIncluded in the criteria used by US News in its ranking model are enrollment rate, the average GMAT score, the acceptance rate into the university’s MBA program, salary of gra duates, and employment statistics. It also takes financial aid information on the business schools into account.US News lists Harvard University at the top. The top three is rounded out by Stanford University and Chicago’s Booth.FACTORS CONSIDERED IN RANKING BUSINESS SCHOOLSThe differences in rankings of best business schools stem from the corresponding differences in the factors or criteria that these rankers use in evaluating the schools and their programs.Usually, ranking methodologies involve the conduct of surveys, and the most common respondents include employers, alumni of the business school being ranked, and its current students. This makes for a very comprehensive ranking model, particularly when the following factors are also put into play.Career OpportunitiesRankers put a lot of weight on employment rates and job placement success. Often, the employment rates used in ranking methodologies are those that cover the period before and during graduation, and several months after graduation. Naturally, to get a more accurate picture, the data gathered does not include the graduates who are not seeking employment.A university will have higher points in the ranking model if it manages to demonstrate having high employment and placement rates among its graduates.Usually, this is partly down to the quality and performance of the career assistance and placement services of the school, which means that universities with dedicated career service centers providing aid to its students and graduates when it comes to employment will have greater chances of getting a higher rank than the universities without them.Educational ExperienceAlumni and students are also often asked about their experience while in the institution. What did they think of their overall experience in the business school? What is their opinion of the teaching quality? Do they think they made the right decision in picking that university for their MBA?To some extent, this will also be affected by the quality of the teaching staff and faculty of the program. If a prominent name or authority figure is attached to the program, it’s bound to attract many prospective business school enrollees, thus increasing the application rate into that university.This affiliation also lends greater credibility to the MBA program as a whole, so that anyone that eventually becomes associated with it â€" in this case, the graduate or alumnus â€" will also benefit.Quality of EducationOften, this entails the conduct of peer and recruiter assessments to evaluate quality of education provided by the business schools. Peer assessments involve the deans, directors and other high-ranking officials of business schools with MBA programs. Students and alumni are also tapped for their opinion.Respondents also sometimes include recruiters, corporations and companies that have firsthand information and experience recruiting and hiring graduates from the different business schools. Basically, they will be asked to evaluate the schools’ business programs.Starting Salary and Salary IncreaseThis refers to the average starting salary of business graduates. Graduates provide information on their salaries right after completing their stint at the business school. This also includes any signing bonuses they get once they start employment.Aside from the mean starting salary and other incentives and bonuses, some ranking methodologies also take salary boosts into account. This refers to the difference in the salary of the alumnus before he graduated in business school and after he has earned his business school credentials.Student SelectionSpecifically, this ultimately refers to the quality of graduates that will be produced by the business school. Schools that focus greatly on student selectively have greater chances of producing the best business graduates.Usually, many gripe about the difficulty of getting into this or that business school. For example, the university may require appl icants to their graduate program to be able to meet a minimum GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) and GRE test scores, as well as a specific GPA (Grade-Point Average) when they were still in their undergraduate levels.There is a general perception that the harder it is to get admitted to a business school, the higher its standards and, ergo, quality, are. If universities set high criteria in selecting its students that only a few are able to get in, there is a greater chance that the quality of the graduates will also be higher. It is for this reason that student selectivity is often a factor considered in ranking models.Networking OpportunitiesHow does the university aid the graduate in terms of networking? There are business schools that provide a lot of opportunities for its students to expand their “reach”, whether through the conduct of networking events or sponsorship of workshops and programs that specifically aid in their networking.Business schools also greatly in vest a lot in providing their students access to a wealth of opportunities for their professional and business networks. The best part is that this extends even after they have graduated. This means they keep in touch with their alumni, closely monitoring their progress.ReputationLet’s face it: there are simply some business schools that have established a solid and outstanding reputation when it comes to its MBA program. It takes years â€" dozens of decades, even â€" for some universities to build and nurture such a reputation, and it is a given that this should factor into the rankings.LEADING UNIVERSITIES AND BUSINESS SCHOOLSNot surprisingly, the lists of top business schools and universities of the various ranking authorities don’t have much difference, especially in their top five rankings.Their places on the lists may be different, and there are some names on a couple of lists that are not present in the others, and vice versa. However, overall, their lists are pretty cons istent with each other.Below are ten of the top ranked universities cited on the most authoritative lists discussed earlier.Harvard Business School, Harvard UniversityLocation: Boston, MassachusettsAverage GMAT: 730Annual Enrollment: 935Acceptance Rate: 12%Employment Rate: 89%Harvard is famous for its many programs, including Law and Medicine, but its business school is definitely one of the reasons why it is considered to be one of the most prestigious and esteemed business schools in the world. If you look at some of the biggest names in business, there is a very high likelihood that they are graduates â€" or have attended â€" HBS.Annually, HBS accepts an average of 935 applicants. What makes HBS alumni more marketable is the fact that they are highly likely to be holders of dual degrees: business and any of the other degrees offered by Harvard. They are mostly in demand in the fields of accounting and finance, consulting, marketing/sales and general management.Businessweek ranks Harvard at #1, giving it a ranking index score of 100%. It ranks at the top in surveys conducted among employers, and 2nd only to Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business on the basis of salary or compensation rates received by its graduates.Forbes’ ranking indicated that the gain or return for 5 years after graduation is $83,500. The average base salary and signing bonus of a HBS graduate are $125,000 and $25,000, respectively.Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford UniversityLocation: Palo Alto, CaliforniaAverage GMAT: 730Annual Enrollment: 410Acceptance Rate: 7%Employment Rate: 92%This business school in Palo Alto, California boasts an acceptance percentage of 7%, the lowest in the country, and even in the world. This makes Stanford Graduate School of Business  the most difficult business school to get into in the United States, and this point is driven home by its annual enrollment, which is tagged at 410 students.Stanford GSB graduates become even more attra ctive to employers because of this stringent selection process. Its program also requires its students to spend some time abroad, further expanding their entrepreneurial horizons and gaining useful experience in the process. Job placement of GSB graduates are distributed primarily in the fields of accounting and finance (29%), consulting (25%), and marketing/sales (24%).Bloomberg’s ranking methodologies revealed that GSU topped the survey among alumni and in terms of salary, only narrowly beating Harvard University’s HBS.Statistics also show that 92% of Stanford GSB graduates get employed, with anaverage base salary of $125,000 and average signing bonus of $25,000. The total cost of getting an MBA in Stanford is around $126,600. Over a 5-year period, the gain amounts to $89,100, but it will only take 4.2 years to payback.In The Financial Times ranking, it was obvious how, among US institutions, Stanford GSB graduates had the highest weighted salary, which it estimated at $195,32 2. This is probably one of the most compelling reasons that it beat HBS in the ranking, with the latter registering a lower weighted annual salary of $178,113.The University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessLocation: Chicago, IllinoisAverage GMAT: 730Annual Enrollment: 583Acceptance Rate: 24%Employment Rate: 97%Part of the prestige accorded the University of Chicago is the fact that it is one of the oldest universities in the country. However, that reputation is cemented by its solid offerings, and one of its greatest strengths is, undoubtedly, the Booth School of Business.Booth has been the consistent topnotcher in The Economist’s ranking of the best business schools in the world, having remained at #1 for the fifth year. It cited how Booth excels in providing new career opportunities to its graduates, as well as promoting personal development and an outstanding overall educational experience.If you look at Booth’s curriculum, it is easy to see that this business school is fo cused on shaping leaders. At the same time, looking over the list of faculty members, professors and some notable alumni will reveal Booth’s history of having awardees of the Nobel Prize in economics.Booth also boasts a very high employment rate, with the graduates getting hired in less than 3 months from graduation, by the likes of Accenture, Bain, Credit Suisse, McKinsey, and the Boston Consulting Group. That means they excel the best in Accounting, Finance and Consulting. A study of 2010 graduates of Booth showed that, on average, they earn $200,000 annually.Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern UniversityLocation: Evanston, IllinoisAverage GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 544Employment Rate: 90%If you are a graduate of Kellogg, you will have a great chance of being hired by employers such as McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, and the Boston Consulting Group.This is because the business school of Northwestern has established itself to be one of the best producers of managers with superi or knowledge, skills and competencies in finance, marketing, operations and strategy. In the Class of 2014, for example, 42% of the graduates found lucrative jobs in consulting.The average base salary of graduates from Kellogg is $120,000, plus a signing bonus of $25,000. The average payback period to start earning your MBA gain of $72,700 is 4 years.Haas School of Business, University of California-BerkeleyLocation: Berkeley, CaliforniaAverage GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 241Acceptance Rate: 13%Employment Rate: 87%Annually, UC-Berkeley’s Haas only gets an average number of enrollees of 241. This is relatively low, compared to the other business schools on this list, since it’s just at around 13%. It does, however, get a lot of credit for offering a diverse business program that caters across nationalities, as evidenced by the high number of foreign nationals in its student body. The Class of 2016 alone showed that 43% of the school’s enrollees are foreigners.Over the past seve ral years, Haas’ curriculum started to integrate global business in its courses, encouraging students to venture abroad to gain more knowledge and experience, preparing them for employment either in general management, marketing/sales and consulting.The gain over 5 years if you get your MBA from Haas is a total of $64,200. In 2014, the salary of a Haas 2010 graduate is around $180,000, which is definitely a major jump from the base or starting salary of $120,000 four years ago.In US News’ ranking model, it was revealed that Haas has the lowest tuition among the top 10 leading universities with business programs, with full-time MBA students paying just $53,907 annually, while the others were past the $60,000 mark.Wharton School, University of PennsylvaniaLocation: Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaAverage GMAT: 728Annual Enrollment: 859Acceptance Rate: 20%Employment Rate: 96%We cannot talk about the rankings of top universities or best business schools in the US without mentioning Wharto n. The University of Pennsylvania’s business school is the oldest in the country and also boasts one of the biggest faculty, with many of them even coming from overseas.The strength of Wharton as a business school is how it equips its graduates with impressive credentials that are sure to make them a shoo-in for any leadership or managerial position in large companies and corporations, which include the likes of Amazon, McKinsey, and Bain. If you get accepted at Wharton, you can choose from the 18 business majors, and even go for a dual degree with the other Wharton schools.But here’s another plus: you can also have a chance to take advantage of the partnership struck by Wharton and the Kennedy School (of Harvard University) and the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies. This pretty much ensures that you can take advantage of networking opportunities and gain global exposure.Graduates of Wharton either find themselves in consulting or finance and accounting, and their chances of getting employed are actually very high, with Wharton having an employment rate of 96%.Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute Of TechnologyLocation: Cambridge, MassachusettsAverage GMAT: 710Annual Enrollment: 406Acceptance Rate: 14%Employment Rate: 93%Over at MIT, there is the Sloan School of Management for anyone looking for a good business school that offers courses related to enterprise management, entrepreneurship and innovations, and finance.If the high employment rate of 93% and higher average signing bonus of $28,996 does not convince you that Sloan is an excellent choice of a business school, then you should just look at the courses on offer. Noteworthy courses are the Lab ones, such as the Entrepreneurship Lab, the Action Leaning Lab, Global Entrepreneurship Lab and the Leadership Lab, to name a few. There is even a Trading Lab for anyone aspiring to work in trading and stock exchanges.Clearly, Sloan’s program successfully produces well-r ounded business graduates, which is why it comes second to Harvard in Businessweek’s employer survey. Companies such as Apple, Boston Consulting Group and Bain often seek out business school graduates of MIT.Tuck School of Business, DartmouthLocation: Hanover, New HampshireAverage GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 281Acceptance Rate: 18%Employment Rate: 98%The MBA program of the Tuck School of Business seems focused on producing the best consulting graduates, since new entrants immediately start the program with consulting projects, with additional options of learning consulting for companies and organizations overseas.What Tuck is impressive at is its high rate of employment. 98% of its graduates find employment, and they are mostly in consulting (40%) while the rest are distributed in finance, general management and marketing/sales.The gain over 5 years from graduation is estimated to be $68,400, which is markedly lower than the others. However, the payback period is still estimated a t 4 years, which is roughly the same than that of the other business schools.Columbia Business School, Columbia UniversityLocation: New York, New YorkAverage GMAT: 716Annual Enrollment: 743Acceptance Rate: 18%Employment Rate: 91%On average, the Columbia Business School has 743 enrollees every year, and that makes up 18% of the total number of applicants. That is quite a low acceptance rate, considering that CBS is one of the largest business schools in the US. One of the main draws of this business school are its top-rated faculty members, which include Nobel Prize winner for Economics Joseph Stiglitz.A great majority (41%) of the graduates from this business school find employment in the field of accounting and finance, with most of them excelling in investing.Compared to most of the other business schools, graduates from CBS has a lower average base salary of $119,400, but the average signing bonus is roughly the same, at $25,000. The 5-year MBA gain, according to Forbes’ assess ment, is $71,100. It is noticeable how, among the 10 universities on this list, Columbia has the highest tuition fee per year for full-time MBA students, amounting to $65,988. That does not, however, negate the fact that it still happens to be one of the leading business schools in the country.Yale School of Management, Yale UniversityLocation: New Haven, Connecticut                                                           Average GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 323Acceptance Rate: 24%Employment Rate: 89%Consulting and Accounting/Finance are the areas where Yale SOM alumni are usually employed in, and for good reason. Enrollees accepted into the program are explicitly urged to enter the public sector or work in nonprofits, even going so far as setting up an Internship Fund for those who are going to do so.Alumni of Yale SOM are also appreciative of how their school still support them even after graduation, through its Loan Forgiveness Program. However, this program is only geared towar ds alumni who choose to work in the nonprofit sector.In 4 years, expect to gain $61,000. In addition, if you happen to be one of the graduates in 2010, you’re probably earning an average annual salary of $188,000. According to the ranking of The Financial Times, a Yale SOM graduate can expect a 110% increase in salary post-MBA. The other university that has the same percentage increase is Booth.

Business School Rankings Factors and List of Leading Universities

Business School Rankings Factors and List of Leading Universities When you hear the phrase “best business school”, the usual suspects include Harvard, Stanford and Yale. These three names often come up in conversations and debates on what the top business schools in the United States are â€" and even globally â€" are.But you’ll be surprised to find other names on the list of top ranked business schools and universities, with some of them even adjudged to be better than the three mentioned. In the following discussion, we will be taking a look at business school rankings and identify the leading universities when it comes to their business programs. Before that, however, it would be a good idea to have a bit of a background on these rankings, and how they are formulated.RANKING BUSINESS SCHOOLSThere are several websites, organizations and agencies that release their own rankings, using their own sets of criteria as a guideline or basis for coming up with the ranks. The most trusted “rankers” include:ForbesAccording to Forbes, their ranking is based solely on the return on investment of the graduates of the business schools in the 5 years since they completed or earned their MBA. This means they consider parameters such as average base salary, signing bonus and employment rate, among others.They basically make a comparison of the earnings of the alumni within the 5-year period and the total compensation that they have foregone while attending business school, combined with the cost of tuition and other fees paid during the period of attendance.Currently, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business tops Forbes’ list of best business schools, followed closely by Harvard Business School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.Bloomberg BusinessweekThe ranking index used by Bloomberg Businessweek is comprised of the evaluation from surveys done with employers (35%), alumni (30%) and students (15%). The remaining 20% is split evenly between Salary and Job Placement.The 2016 ranking of Bloomberg Businessweek named Harvard as its best business school in the US. Stanford comes in second, followed by Duke (Fuqua) in third place.The Financial TimesThe Financial Times comes out with its rankings every year, covering not just universities in the US but in other countries all over the world. In its ranking model, it considers the weighted salary of alumni three years after graduation and the salary percentage increase, or the difference in the alumnus’ salary pre- and post-MBA.In its Global MBA 2017 Special Report, the best business school with an MBA program in the world is INSEAD, which has campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. In the US, the leading university is the Stanford Graduate School of Business, followed by the University of Pennsylvania: Wharton and Harvard.The EconomistIf you compare the rankings, you might notice that The Economist’s list differs slightly from the others. That is because their ranking draws heavily on student satisfaction, and how it permeates each criterion. Ranking is done based on career opportunities, educational experience, salary boost and networking opportunities.The Economist also comes out with its MBA rankings every year. For 2016, the top three names on their list are the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.US NewsIncluded in the criteria used by US News in its ranking model are enrollment rate, the average GMAT score, the acceptance rate into the university’s MBA program, salary of gra duates, and employment statistics. It also takes financial aid information on the business schools into account.US News lists Harvard University at the top. The top three is rounded out by Stanford University and Chicago’s Booth.FACTORS CONSIDERED IN RANKING BUSINESS SCHOOLSThe differences in rankings of best business schools stem from the corresponding differences in the factors or criteria that these rankers use in evaluating the schools and their programs.Usually, ranking methodologies involve the conduct of surveys, and the most common respondents include employers, alumni of the business school being ranked, and its current students. This makes for a very comprehensive ranking model, particularly when the following factors are also put into play.Career OpportunitiesRankers put a lot of weight on employment rates and job placement success. Often, the employment rates used in ranking methodologies are those that cover the period before and during graduation, and several months after graduation. Naturally, to get a more accurate picture, the data gathered does not include the graduates who are not seeking employment.A university will have higher points in the ranking model if it manages to demonstrate having high employment and placement rates among its graduates.Usually, this is partly down to the quality and performance of the career assistance and placement services of the school, which means that universities with dedicated career service centers providing aid to its students and graduates when it comes to employment will have greater chances of getting a higher rank than the universities without them.Educational ExperienceAlumni and students are also often asked about their experience while in the institution. What did they think of their overall experience in the business school? What is their opinion of the teaching quality? Do they think they made the right decision in picking that university for their MBA?To some extent, this will also be affected by the quality of the teaching staff and faculty of the program. If a prominent name or authority figure is attached to the program, it’s bound to attract many prospective business school enrollees, thus increasing the application rate into that university.This affiliation also lends greater credibility to the MBA program as a whole, so that anyone that eventually becomes associated with it â€" in this case, the graduate or alumnus â€" will also benefit.Quality of EducationOften, this entails the conduct of peer and recruiter assessments to evaluate quality of education provided by the business schools. Peer assessments involve the deans, directors and other high-ranking officials of business schools with MBA programs. Students and alumni are also tapped for their opinion.Respondents also sometimes include recruiters, corporations and companies that have firsthand information and experience recruiting and hiring graduates from the different business schools. Basically, they will be asked to evaluate the schools’ business programs.Starting Salary and Salary IncreaseThis refers to the average starting salary of business graduates. Graduates provide information on their salaries right after completing their stint at the business school. This also includes any signing bonuses they get once they start employment.Aside from the mean starting salary and other incentives and bonuses, some ranking methodologies also take salary boosts into account. This refers to the difference in the salary of the alumnus before he graduated in business school and after he has earned his business school credentials.Student SelectionSpecifically, this ultimately refers to the quality of graduates that will be produced by the business school. Schools that focus greatly on student selectively have greater chances of producing the best business graduates.Usually, many gripe about the difficulty of getting into this or that business school. For example, the university may require appl icants to their graduate program to be able to meet a minimum GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) and GRE test scores, as well as a specific GPA (Grade-Point Average) when they were still in their undergraduate levels.There is a general perception that the harder it is to get admitted to a business school, the higher its standards and, ergo, quality, are. If universities set high criteria in selecting its students that only a few are able to get in, there is a greater chance that the quality of the graduates will also be higher. It is for this reason that student selectivity is often a factor considered in ranking models.Networking OpportunitiesHow does the university aid the graduate in terms of networking? There are business schools that provide a lot of opportunities for its students to expand their “reach”, whether through the conduct of networking events or sponsorship of workshops and programs that specifically aid in their networking.Business schools also greatly in vest a lot in providing their students access to a wealth of opportunities for their professional and business networks. The best part is that this extends even after they have graduated. This means they keep in touch with their alumni, closely monitoring their progress.ReputationLet’s face it: there are simply some business schools that have established a solid and outstanding reputation when it comes to its MBA program. It takes years â€" dozens of decades, even â€" for some universities to build and nurture such a reputation, and it is a given that this should factor into the rankings.LEADING UNIVERSITIES AND BUSINESS SCHOOLSNot surprisingly, the lists of top business schools and universities of the various ranking authorities don’t have much difference, especially in their top five rankings.Their places on the lists may be different, and there are some names on a couple of lists that are not present in the others, and vice versa. However, overall, their lists are pretty cons istent with each other.Below are ten of the top ranked universities cited on the most authoritative lists discussed earlier.Harvard Business School, Harvard UniversityLocation: Boston, MassachusettsAverage GMAT: 730Annual Enrollment: 935Acceptance Rate: 12%Employment Rate: 89%Harvard is famous for its many programs, including Law and Medicine, but its business school is definitely one of the reasons why it is considered to be one of the most prestigious and esteemed business schools in the world. If you look at some of the biggest names in business, there is a very high likelihood that they are graduates â€" or have attended â€" HBS.Annually, HBS accepts an average of 935 applicants. What makes HBS alumni more marketable is the fact that they are highly likely to be holders of dual degrees: business and any of the other degrees offered by Harvard. They are mostly in demand in the fields of accounting and finance, consulting, marketing/sales and general management.Businessweek ranks Harvard at #1, giving it a ranking index score of 100%. It ranks at the top in surveys conducted among employers, and 2nd only to Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business on the basis of salary or compensation rates received by its graduates.Forbes’ ranking indicated that the gain or return for 5 years after graduation is $83,500. The average base salary and signing bonus of a HBS graduate are $125,000 and $25,000, respectively.Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford UniversityLocation: Palo Alto, CaliforniaAverage GMAT: 730Annual Enrollment: 410Acceptance Rate: 7%Employment Rate: 92%This business school in Palo Alto, California boasts an acceptance percentage of 7%, the lowest in the country, and even in the world. This makes Stanford Graduate School of Business  the most difficult business school to get into in the United States, and this point is driven home by its annual enrollment, which is tagged at 410 students.Stanford GSB graduates become even more attra ctive to employers because of this stringent selection process. Its program also requires its students to spend some time abroad, further expanding their entrepreneurial horizons and gaining useful experience in the process. Job placement of GSB graduates are distributed primarily in the fields of accounting and finance (29%), consulting (25%), and marketing/sales (24%).Bloomberg’s ranking methodologies revealed that GSU topped the survey among alumni and in terms of salary, only narrowly beating Harvard University’s HBS.Statistics also show that 92% of Stanford GSB graduates get employed, with anaverage base salary of $125,000 and average signing bonus of $25,000. The total cost of getting an MBA in Stanford is around $126,600. Over a 5-year period, the gain amounts to $89,100, but it will only take 4.2 years to payback.In The Financial Times ranking, it was obvious how, among US institutions, Stanford GSB graduates had the highest weighted salary, which it estimated at $195,32 2. This is probably one of the most compelling reasons that it beat HBS in the ranking, with the latter registering a lower weighted annual salary of $178,113.The University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessLocation: Chicago, IllinoisAverage GMAT: 730Annual Enrollment: 583Acceptance Rate: 24%Employment Rate: 97%Part of the prestige accorded the University of Chicago is the fact that it is one of the oldest universities in the country. However, that reputation is cemented by its solid offerings, and one of its greatest strengths is, undoubtedly, the Booth School of Business.Booth has been the consistent topnotcher in The Economist’s ranking of the best business schools in the world, having remained at #1 for the fifth year. It cited how Booth excels in providing new career opportunities to its graduates, as well as promoting personal development and an outstanding overall educational experience.If you look at Booth’s curriculum, it is easy to see that this business school is fo cused on shaping leaders. At the same time, looking over the list of faculty members, professors and some notable alumni will reveal Booth’s history of having awardees of the Nobel Prize in economics.Booth also boasts a very high employment rate, with the graduates getting hired in less than 3 months from graduation, by the likes of Accenture, Bain, Credit Suisse, McKinsey, and the Boston Consulting Group. That means they excel the best in Accounting, Finance and Consulting. A study of 2010 graduates of Booth showed that, on average, they earn $200,000 annually.Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern UniversityLocation: Evanston, IllinoisAverage GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 544Employment Rate: 90%If you are a graduate of Kellogg, you will have a great chance of being hired by employers such as McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, and the Boston Consulting Group.This is because the business school of Northwestern has established itself to be one of the best producers of managers with superi or knowledge, skills and competencies in finance, marketing, operations and strategy. In the Class of 2014, for example, 42% of the graduates found lucrative jobs in consulting.The average base salary of graduates from Kellogg is $120,000, plus a signing bonus of $25,000. The average payback period to start earning your MBA gain of $72,700 is 4 years.Haas School of Business, University of California-BerkeleyLocation: Berkeley, CaliforniaAverage GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 241Acceptance Rate: 13%Employment Rate: 87%Annually, UC-Berkeley’s Haas only gets an average number of enrollees of 241. This is relatively low, compared to the other business schools on this list, since it’s just at around 13%. It does, however, get a lot of credit for offering a diverse business program that caters across nationalities, as evidenced by the high number of foreign nationals in its student body. The Class of 2016 alone showed that 43% of the school’s enrollees are foreigners.Over the past seve ral years, Haas’ curriculum started to integrate global business in its courses, encouraging students to venture abroad to gain more knowledge and experience, preparing them for employment either in general management, marketing/sales and consulting.The gain over 5 years if you get your MBA from Haas is a total of $64,200. In 2014, the salary of a Haas 2010 graduate is around $180,000, which is definitely a major jump from the base or starting salary of $120,000 four years ago.In US News’ ranking model, it was revealed that Haas has the lowest tuition among the top 10 leading universities with business programs, with full-time MBA students paying just $53,907 annually, while the others were past the $60,000 mark.Wharton School, University of PennsylvaniaLocation: Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaAverage GMAT: 728Annual Enrollment: 859Acceptance Rate: 20%Employment Rate: 96%We cannot talk about the rankings of top universities or best business schools in the US without mentioning Wharto n. The University of Pennsylvania’s business school is the oldest in the country and also boasts one of the biggest faculty, with many of them even coming from overseas.The strength of Wharton as a business school is how it equips its graduates with impressive credentials that are sure to make them a shoo-in for any leadership or managerial position in large companies and corporations, which include the likes of Amazon, McKinsey, and Bain. If you get accepted at Wharton, you can choose from the 18 business majors, and even go for a dual degree with the other Wharton schools.But here’s another plus: you can also have a chance to take advantage of the partnership struck by Wharton and the Kennedy School (of Harvard University) and the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies. This pretty much ensures that you can take advantage of networking opportunities and gain global exposure.Graduates of Wharton either find themselves in consulting or finance and accounting, and their chances of getting employed are actually very high, with Wharton having an employment rate of 96%.Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute Of TechnologyLocation: Cambridge, MassachusettsAverage GMAT: 710Annual Enrollment: 406Acceptance Rate: 14%Employment Rate: 93%Over at MIT, there is the Sloan School of Management for anyone looking for a good business school that offers courses related to enterprise management, entrepreneurship and innovations, and finance.If the high employment rate of 93% and higher average signing bonus of $28,996 does not convince you that Sloan is an excellent choice of a business school, then you should just look at the courses on offer. Noteworthy courses are the Lab ones, such as the Entrepreneurship Lab, the Action Leaning Lab, Global Entrepreneurship Lab and the Leadership Lab, to name a few. There is even a Trading Lab for anyone aspiring to work in trading and stock exchanges.Clearly, Sloan’s program successfully produces well-r ounded business graduates, which is why it comes second to Harvard in Businessweek’s employer survey. Companies such as Apple, Boston Consulting Group and Bain often seek out business school graduates of MIT.Tuck School of Business, DartmouthLocation: Hanover, New HampshireAverage GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 281Acceptance Rate: 18%Employment Rate: 98%The MBA program of the Tuck School of Business seems focused on producing the best consulting graduates, since new entrants immediately start the program with consulting projects, with additional options of learning consulting for companies and organizations overseas.What Tuck is impressive at is its high rate of employment. 98% of its graduates find employment, and they are mostly in consulting (40%) while the rest are distributed in finance, general management and marketing/sales.The gain over 5 years from graduation is estimated to be $68,400, which is markedly lower than the others. However, the payback period is still estimated a t 4 years, which is roughly the same than that of the other business schools.Columbia Business School, Columbia UniversityLocation: New York, New YorkAverage GMAT: 716Annual Enrollment: 743Acceptance Rate: 18%Employment Rate: 91%On average, the Columbia Business School has 743 enrollees every year, and that makes up 18% of the total number of applicants. That is quite a low acceptance rate, considering that CBS is one of the largest business schools in the US. One of the main draws of this business school are its top-rated faculty members, which include Nobel Prize winner for Economics Joseph Stiglitz.A great majority (41%) of the graduates from this business school find employment in the field of accounting and finance, with most of them excelling in investing.Compared to most of the other business schools, graduates from CBS has a lower average base salary of $119,400, but the average signing bonus is roughly the same, at $25,000. The 5-year MBA gain, according to Forbes’ assess ment, is $71,100. It is noticeable how, among the 10 universities on this list, Columbia has the highest tuition fee per year for full-time MBA students, amounting to $65,988. That does not, however, negate the fact that it still happens to be one of the leading business schools in the country.Yale School of Management, Yale UniversityLocation: New Haven, Connecticut                                                           Average GMAT: 720Annual Enrollment: 323Acceptance Rate: 24%Employment Rate: 89%Consulting and Accounting/Finance are the areas where Yale SOM alumni are usually employed in, and for good reason. Enrollees accepted into the program are explicitly urged to enter the public sector or work in nonprofits, even going so far as setting up an Internship Fund for those who are going to do so.Alumni of Yale SOM are also appreciative of how their school still support them even after graduation, through its Loan Forgiveness Program. However, this program is only geared towar ds alumni who choose to work in the nonprofit sector.In 4 years, expect to gain $61,000. In addition, if you happen to be one of the graduates in 2010, you’re probably earning an average annual salary of $188,000. According to the ranking of The Financial Times, a Yale SOM graduate can expect a 110% increase in salary post-MBA. The other university that has the same percentage increase is Booth.

Monuments And Meanings Of The Country Of Iraq And France

Monuments Meanings Essay In the country of Iraq and France stand two monuments that hold a distinct purpose in cultural background and architecture: The Ziggurat at Ur, and The Charters Cathedral in Paris. Despite the difference in time, and place the people who built them shared a goal and a dream. Through the importance of their faith, they used that strength to guide them. The people of Ur and Paris created a sanctuary for their god, used that place as an edifice to worship, took the time to make them alluring monuments, and also worked hard to made sure that they would not go unnoticed in their city. The first monument in Mesopotamia, The Ziggurat at UR, is a temple that was built around 2100 B.C.E. by the King Ur-Nammu of the Third Dynasty of Ur. This monument was built for the moon god Nanna, he is the divine patron for the city. This structure is significant because it would have been the highest point in the city. This would be the place that the citizen would come to and bring their surplus and would then receive their food allotments. They would come and store harvested crops in honor of the Nanna. The people would also come to this temple for spiritual needs as well. The people believed it was the place where Nanna chose to come and dwell. With that they created a shrine for the god on top of the ziggurat. They believed that their god had needs just like mortals. To serve their god’s needs they had a chamber that would be occupied by a maiden for the god’sShow MoreRelatedMuslim Spain (711-1492)8971 Words   |  36 PagesAl-Andalus. This land called Al-Andalus, hence often called Andalusia had at one point included Portugal, Southern France, and the Balearic Islands. Within 3 years, in 714, Muslims had occupied almost all the peninsula. Muslims crossed to Sicily and established control there for 130 years, until Muslim rule fell in 1091 to the Normans. Muslims also established rule in parts of France, but they were soon defeated by Charles Martel in 756, in which remains today one of the greatest victories for ChristianRead MoreThe Birth of Civilization18947 Wor ds   |  76 PagesEurope had caught up, and after 1700, it led. India had invented Arabic numerals, and Arab thinkers inspired GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE Paleolithic Age The earliest period when stone tools were used, from about 1,000,000 to 10,000 B.C.E. From the Greek meaning â€Å"old stone.† From Hunter-gatherers to Food-producers- Overcoming Obstacles at myhistorylab.com Read the Document The Toolmaker (3300 B.C.E.) at myhistorylab.com Read the Document The Development of Religion at myhistorylab.com Read theRead MoreNew World Order in Conspiracy Theory13987 Words   |  56 PagesLodges  act as such, and do not agree on many other points of belief and practice. Also, as can be seen from a  survey of famous Freemasons, individual Freemasons hold beliefs that span the  spectrum of politics. The term Masonic government has no meaning since individual Freemasons hold many different opinions on what constitutes a  good government, and Freemasonry as a body has no opinion on the topic.[38] Ultimately, Freemasons argue that even if it were proven that influential individuals have usedRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pageswhich is repeated, along with other aphorisms by the same author, in Book IV, chapter 4 (pp.168-71). The effects of the planets on the geographic regions of the earth are now illustrated, certain products and other features peculiar to foreign countries being specified, in a mixture of the true and the fantastic. In the middle of this section is a list of the products of Spain, the author’s homeland, and the whole concludes, in spite of the author’s leaning towards astrology, with a quotation fromRead More1000 Word Essay85965 Words   |  344 Pageswhat areas? Communicating performance standards to the rated NCO. It should specifically let the rated NCO know what is expected during the rating period. The rater shows the rated NCO the rating chain and a complete duty description, discusses the meaning of the values and responsibilities contained on the NCOER, and explains the standards for success. (DA PAM 623-3 May 2006 / 3-1 / PDF 36) Who is the last individual to sign the NCOER? The rated NCO (AR 623-3 May 2006 / 3-37 / PDF 45) Does the

Definition and Examples of Online Reading

Censorship in Schools Essay - 3746 Words

Censorship in Schools There has recently been a renewed interest and passion in the issue of censorship. In the realm of the censorship of books in schools alone, several hundred cases have surfaced each year for nearly the past decade. Controversies over which books to include in the high school English curriculum present a clash of values between teachers, school systems, and parents over what is appropriate for and meaningful to students. It is important to strike a balance between English that is meaningful to students by relating to their lives and representing diversity and satisfying worries about the appropriateness of what is read. This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss†¦show more content†¦Censorship can take different shapes depending on the public school system: Schools can give teachers a list of acceptable books to teach, just provide guidelines, or leave it up to the teachers to judge which books are appropriate (Agee, 1999). Teachers are often very nervous about including texts that are not traditional or specifically approved by the school, especially because of the highly publicized cases of teachers whose careers have been ruined because of censorship debates in courts and school systems (Agee, 1999). First Amendment Rights Relating to the Censorship of Books Censorship cases often bring about debates over students’ first amendment rights. Students’ first amendment rights are important to preserve so that students can not be excluded from meaningful works or literature. It is understandable for the government to design educational plans as a way to get its voice into classrooms, but â€Å"the truth-promoting function of the First Amendment provides no reason, however, to question the right of students to explore a variety of ideas and perspectives, and to form and express ideas of their own† (Brown, 1994, p. 30). Schools already place a restriction on religious material or material addressing current political controversy (Brown, 1994). Censors typically feel as though the subject material of controversial books in the high school English curriculum is too much for teenagers to handle (Shen, 2002).Show MoreRelatedCensorship in Schools Today788 Words   |  3 PagesThe word censorship is from the Latin word root of censere, which means to give an opinion or expression to be judged upon. Censorship is the restriction of certain material, and due to its expression it is seen offensive to someone else. The origin of expression of censorship can be tracked back to the Roman Empire when Roman officials assessed the conduct and attitudes of other Roman citizens. The Roman government viewed that in order to have a strong government, the behavior and conduct of theRead MoreThe Importance Of Censorship In Schools1085 Words   |  5 PagesCensorship is a threat to our intellectual freedom. However, many support the idea that books should be banned from schools. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech and press. The freedom of speech includes the freedom to have unrestricted access to information. Yet throughout history, the movement against banning books usually falls into three categories: political, moral, and religious. With these disputes in mind, we will discuss the reasons we needRead MoreEssay on Censorship in Schools2179 Words   |  9 PagesCensorship in Schools According to â€Å"Freedom of Speech† by Gerald Leinwand, Abraham Lincoln once asked, â€Å"Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence (7)?† This question is particularly appropriate when considering what is perhaps the most sacred of all our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedom of expression. Lincoln knew well the potential dangers of expression, having steered the Union through the bitterly divisiveRead MoreEssay on Censorship in Schools is not Justifiable959 Words   |  4 PagesCensorship in School is Not Justifiable Walt Whitman once said, â€Å"The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book.† Between the years 2000 and 2009 a total of 3200 books were challenged in school libraries in an attempt to expurgate, or censor, the content in books provided to students. Today the trend of censorship continues as popular novels such as The Hunger Games, The Fault in Our Stars, and Captain Underpants are censored from schools across the nation (Challenges by Reason).Censorship in regardsRead More Censorship in American Schools Essay1156 Words   |  5 PagesCensorship in American Schools You may not realize this but our government plays a large role in governing what sort of information America’s children are exposed to. The average American child receives the majority of their knowledge and education from school, so the information that is allowed to be taught is a very delicate and controversial issue. Literature is often altered or banned from public schools and libraries because they contain of vulgar language, excessive violence, or connotationsRead More Censorship in Public Schools Essay1625 Words   |  7 Pages(Berger 59). -A Vermont high school librarian is forced to resign because she fought the school boards decision to remove Richard Prices The Wanderers, and to quot;restrictquot; the use of Stephen Kings Carrie and Patrick Manns Dog Day Afternoon (Jones 33). -An Indiana school board takes action that leads to the burning of many copies of a textbook that deals with drugs and the sexual behavior of teenagers (Berger 61). These cases of censorship in public schools are not unusual and there isRead MorePros and Cons of Censorship in Schools801 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Censorship is the process of suppressing something that is considered objectionable or offensive† (Emert 1). In order for a work to become censored, some authority figure imposes restrictions that establish what would be and would not be allowed to be put in front of the public for people to read. The standards those in authority base their restrictions off of are the standards set by the publishers, producers, and agencies of that work. Censorship is something that affects many people especiallyRead MoreEssay on Censorship in Libraries and Schools1074 Words   |  5 PagesCensorship in Libraries and Schools What would you do if you went to your childs school and saw that they were looking at inappropriate material on the internet? Would you react the same way if they were in a public library? Who decides what is okay for your children to view? Who decides where they can view it? What can you do about them being able to view these things? Are there any laws that can prevent this from happening? What are some schools and libraries doing to help prevent childrenRead MoreCensorship For Middle School Students Essay1111 Words   |  5 PagesCensorship by definition is the suppression of speech or removal of communicative material which may be considered objectionable or repulsive. Censorship is nothing new and its effects are constantly felt throughout society. Many societies use censorship to protect the established moral and social order. Book censorship in western cultures can be traced to the earliest years of Christianity, when the church began to suppress opposing views as unorthodox. In ancient times, before the printing pressRead More High School Internet Censorship Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesHigh School Internet Censorship       The common image that comes to mind on the topic of censorship is that of book burning. Dating back to ancient times, the easiest way to deal with unwanted writings has been to get rid of them, usually by heaping them into a blazing pyre. In his most famous science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury warns of a futuristic society where all literature is destroyed under a kerosene flame and the citizens freedoms are kept in check by the lack of written

Discourse Cultural Politics of Education

Question: Discuss about the Discourse Cultural Politics of Education. Answer: Introduction: ACARA has expressed that an Australian curriculum would be contributing to the stipulation of a world class edification in Australia by setting out the information, indulgent and skills essential for life and effort in the twenty first century and by situations in frequent high standards of attainment athwart the country (ACARA, 2013). The following essay is going to analyse the mode of national curricular structure in Australia. The focus of the essay is going to be on the primary and the secondary schools in the country. The Assessment and Reporting Authority develops, designs and reviews the Australian curriculum.. Schools in Australia have been undergoing different phases since the age of colonisation in the country. In the beginning period, the schools were segmented into major three categories. These are the catholic schools, the government schools and the private run schools (White, 2014). The divisional categories of the schools somehow created an economic class division in t he Australian society. However, the major issues of national curriculum in the country have been pertaining to the funding. Governments initiative to provide substantial and adequate funds in the government schools have been much talked about. The essay is going to cover the entire process of curricular structure in all modes of Schools in Australia. Since 2014 the all the kindergartens in the country have been taken under the national curriculum of Australia. However, introduction of the national curriculum in Australia has raised several questions pertaining to its authenticity because it was not introduced in a straightforward matter (Thomas, 2015). In the year 2014, the Australian Government declared that there would be an independent review on the Australian Curriculum in order to ensure independence and prowess of the framework. Earlier, the curricular structure in the country used to differ according to the schools and their ownership and location. In the year 1962, Goulburn Strike foresaw that the academic structure of the country was going to be changed and brought under the same shade (Ditchburn, 2015). Before, the emergence of the twenty first century, the Australian schools were categorised into major three segments- depending on ownership and authority- these were the schools run by the Catholic Church, the schools run by the Government and the schools run by the private owners. However, most of the schools sought for government- specifically public funding. Lack of funding in the public (government) schools entailed poor academic infrastructure and lack of cohesive study. In the catholic schools, the students were tau ght the religious scriptures more than science and modern social study (Lynch, 2014). Fortunately, Goulburn Strike of 1962 gave way to the formation of Australian schools Commission in the nineteen seventies. In the later years, the public schools were relieved from the problem and tension of proper funding, however, the funding was only done by the Federal Government whereas it was supposed to be implemented by the provincial governments who could took better care of the public schools. With the ultra capitalist mindset of the Commonwealth Government in Australia, the private or other non-government schools received ample aid and funding whereas the public schools kept suffering from the poor academic and curricular facility. This was highly criticised by the Australian Labour Party. The commission head Gonski, who reviewed the contemporary situation and recommended funding systems for the public schools, looked after Reformation in the mode of funding in the public schools in Australia. Gonski Review recommended increase of funding in a heterogeneous way to the scho ols. (educationtoday.com.au, 2017) Despite extremity in the funding, the schools did not experience better learning opportunity. Several critics argue that funding does not bring in proper infrastructure in the schools. It needs pedagogical and teaching reformation. This concept entailed the notion and idea of free learning. According to the constitution, the responsibility of the schools in the country ought to be shouldered upon by the state and territory governments. Therefore, the state and territory governments invigilate the rules and regulation pertaining to the school education, funding and administration. Introduction and establishment of the Australian Curriculum in the academic institutes has been a phenomenal initiative by the Australian government. It is, no doubt, a joint venture of all the provincial and territorial powers. Having departed from the entire concept of sole funding method in the schools, the Australian Curriculum has now emphasised upon the external and internal development of the students through solid academic support from the government. ACARA has reviewed that fund was not the ultimate way to generate academic interest among the students or other greater masses. Funding could not be the foundation for education; rather knowledge was a better substitute. Incorporation of knowledge, discipline, competency, standard, assessment and reporting became the pillar of academic institutes under this particular initiative (Review of the Australian Curriculum, 2017). Australian Curriculum has been designed in different structures: Learning F-2, Learning 3-6 and Learning 7-10. The main objective of the implementation of Australian Curriculum was to provide a global learning opportunity to the students and build innovative pedagogy among the teachers. There are some disciplinary segments in the learning areas of the national curriculum. It is nothing but a firm amalgamation of knowledge, skill and understanding of cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities (australia ncurriculum.edu.au, 2017). The Australian Curriculum highly differed from the conventional method of supporting school education. Now the schools focused on acquiring better teachers who could generate competency in a student. Individual development became the focus of the initiative. This endeavour relieved the schools from a problem of academic differentiation. Due to verities of teaching and examination method, the students would suffer the most while shifting from one state to another state. The concept of one nation one curriculum was generated in order to omit the complexities in diverse curricular system. The national document of Australian Curriculum was written focusing on two sections in the Curriculum Development Process v6.0 and the Curriculum Design Paper v3.1. The documents regarding the development of the Australian Curriculum has four major phases namely shaping, writing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Though the government took the initiative, it has witnessed a huge setback in term of implementation. The reason behind such lacuna was sudden change in Government. The new commonwealth government formed a committee to review the existing curriculum directions in a critical way (aph.gov.au, 2017). It has been experienced that constant flux in the national curriculum in Australia has adversely affected the primary and middle school teachers. Since the major responsibility of educational reformation lies on the shoulder of the state and territorial governments, most of the regional authorities are found to implement their own approach towards educational reformation. Development of C2C by the University of Queensland is an example of such independent endeavours taken by the state governments. The introduction of Australian curriculum in the national academic sectors of the country has brought many ramifications with it as it has provided many opportunities to all sorts of stakeholders. Internal stakeholders of the schools such as the teachers, the students and the administrative personnel are directed to apply the national curriculum in different academic and pedagogical levels so that overall development of the students is executed and generated through empirical study method. The Australian curriculum ensures that every student, irrespective of region will receive equal academic service with similar syllabi and teaching method. The curriculum follows the teaching and academic technique of the twenty first century as it broadens the scope of knowledge procurement through e learning and interactive sessions. One of the most effective programs initiated for the vindication of Australian Curriculum is the implementation of NAPLAN (The National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy) test. NAPALAN test is set to assess the basic eligibility of the students pertaining to the learning of language and number. The assessment result of NAPLAN leads to the judgment of ones foundation to advance learning (NAPLAN, 2017). However, there always remains a question regarding proper implementation of the proposed structure of the assessment and the assessment review. Whether the students are actually judged, whether contextual development programs are formed- are always in doubt. Since teachers are the most effective force in the classroom in providing better curriculum opportunities to the students, the governing authority needs to confirm cent percent involvement of the teaching faculties in accepting technological advancements inside the classrooms. Here lies the issue of lacuna between technological implementation and acceptance in the classrooms. Most of the old school teachers are found to reject the implementation of ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Such rejection of modernity in the classrooms, especially in the junior and middle schools often creates a huge gap between the objective of Australian Curriculum and its practice. The following diagram shows different dimensions of the Australian Curriculum. Australian Curriculum has been formed in order to meet student diversity. Standing on the twenty first century, Australia has become a global hub of higher education. The foundation of higher studies and academic quality is solely dependent upon the pedagogical and formative excellence in the middle and junior schools. The national curriculum of the country does not only focus on the native Australian students, it also puts equal emphasis on those who arrive to the country in order to gain knowledge and facility of world class education in different genre. A critical view to the overall incident may incur huge argument because of lack of prudence in the action of the formation of ACARA. Only one phase if Australian Curriculum was implemented and before any further implementation, it was put under review. Such indecisive approach to the education system is highly commendable. ACARA reviews are seen to have raised questions instead of giving proper solution to them. The purpose of the Australian curriculum is to set a paradigmatic example in every sphere of academic activity. The curriculum does not intend to reject or hinder any student from enjoying global academic facilities. The national curriculum extensively adheres to the terms and regulations of The Disability Discrimination Act of 1992. The curriculum has set a standard for the physically challenged students. It shall be the obligations of the academic providers and facilitators like the teachers, the Principals and other educating factors to approach every student on the same b asis. Present day structure of the Australian Curriculum is multi-dimensional. The authorities and the educators are highly obligated to advance the potential of every student. This is how the objectives of the curriculum can be met. Reference: ACARA - Curriculum. (2017). Acara.edu.au. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum aph.gov.au. (2017). aph.gov.au. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/sp/schoolsfunding.pdf Ditchburn, G. (2015). The Australian curriculum: Historythe challenges of a thin curriculum?.Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education,36(1), 27-41. educationtoday.com.au. (2017). educationtoday.com.au. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.educationtoday.com.au/_images/articles/pdf/article-pdf-1005.pdf F-10 overview - Structure - The Australian Curriculum v8.3. (2017). Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 5 April 2017, from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/overview/structure Lynch, T. (2014). Australian curriculum reform II: Health and physical education.European Physical Education Review,20(4), 508-524. NAPLAN. (2017). Nap.edu.au. Retrieved 5 April 2017, from https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/the-tests Review of the Australian Curriculum. (2017). Students First. Retrieved 4 April 2017, from https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/review-australian-curriculum Thomas, V. (2015). The Australian Curriculum: Secondary considerations.Learning to Teach in the Secondary School, 86. White, S. (2014). Union responds to Australian curriculum review.Newsmonth,34(2), 5.

Analysis of Music Pieces in Terms of Rhythm, Melody, and Texture

Rhythm, melody, and texture are some of the significant basic elements of music that can be found in literally any musical piece. Yet, those elements differ dramatically from piece to piece, thus creating the individual image of each composition and making it unique.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Music Pieces in Terms of Rhythm, Melody, and Texture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The present paper focuses on analyzing the rhythm, melody, and texture in a selection of two musical compositions and discovering both the similarities and differences in the way those musical elements appear in the compositions. The works under discussion come from different styles of piano music. The first piece, Allegretto Graciozo from Piano Sonata K333, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the golden age of Classical tradition in 1780s. The second piece, Fantaisie-Impromptu op.66, was created by the Romantic geni us of Frederic Chopin in the first half of the nineteenth century. The rhythmic peculiarities of Mozart’s Allegretto Graciozo reflect the graceful nature of the piece, announced in its name. Streaming through the simple quadruple time signature alla breve, the movement proceeds in the steady rhythm of quarter-notes and eighth-notes, with a significant rhythmic accent placed on the first beat of the bar by placing a dotted crochet rest there (Mozart 00:00, 00:08). The stability of rhythmical scheme is somehow enlivened by a triplet of sixteenth-notes appearing in the variation of the initial motif (Mozart 00:08). A more obvious shift from duple to triple rhythm is observed in the fourth realization of the main theme, with its final bar breaking out in a series of four eighth-note triplets (Mozart 00:22–00:24). Mozart uses the method of rhythmical variation quite widely, with the second theme diversified by a small syncope during its repetition (Mozart 00:38–00:40 ). In addition to these small rhythmical variations, the overall diversity in rhythm is achieved through altering more stabile rhythmic schemes of quarter-notes and eighth-notes with more agitated patterns of sixteenth-notes (Mozart 00:41–00:51). As it is typical of music written by composers of Viennese Classic period, the melody of Allegretto Graciozo is based on the sounds of chords. For example, the first bar of the piece features a melody highlighting the tones of a triad, and in the second bar it outlines the tones of a seventh-chord.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Due to this peculiarity, the first motive is characterized as disjunct melody (Mozart 00:00–00:04). In contrast to this part, the final motive of the phrase moves in intervals of seconds, and therefore features a conjunct type of melody (Mozart 00:05–00:07). The significance of the initial p hrase is emphasized by the fact that it is repeated four times at the beginning of the piece (00:00–00:24), then in the middle of the piece (01:00–01:21), and then developed in a different mode (02:15–02:25), returning in the original variant two more times (02:44–03:05 and 05:15–05:25). In the traditions of the Classical period, the texture of Allegretto Graciozo is homophonic. The main melody is placed in the top layer of the texture, the highest pitches. Although the rest of the layers sometimes demonstrate interesting melodic lines, they do not represent an independent melody. Therefore, those subvoices cannot be viewed as equally significant melodic materials and should rather be classified as accompaniment. Inside this homophonic texture, however, there are fragments of polyphonic dialogue between the voices, imitating each other’s motifs (Mozart 01:30–01:33 and 04:21–04:24). Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu for piano represents a curious piece of music from the point of view of its rhythmical scheme. The basic time signature of the composition is simple quadruple, but it is almost leveled by the intricate polyrhythmic pattern: the right hand of the pianists plays passages in four sixteenth-notes per beat, and the left hand of the pianist performs triads of eighth-notes per beat at the same time. This creates an original effect of continuous and quite irregular movement. Rhythmic organization also helps to divide the form of the piece: the polyrhythmic pattern of four sixteenth-notes against eighth-note triads gives place to another polyrhythmic pattern of two eighth-notes against eight-note triads in the middle section of Fantaisie-Impromptu (Chopin 01:03–02:55). It is hard to talk about the melody in the two parts of Fantasie-Impromptu located around the middle. In fact, the real melody appears only in the middle part, featuring a melodic line of a wide range and both conjunct and disjun ct movement (Chopin 01:03–02:55). The large leaps in melody increase the expressiveness of the piece by enlarging the melodic range to almost two octaves (Chopin 2:25–2:27).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Music Pieces in Terms of Rhythm, Melody, and Texture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Emphasizing the romantic nature of the piece, the melody of the middle part is rich with various embellishments like trills and ornamentation (Chopin 01:10, 01:20, 01:30). Contrasted to this obvious melody in the middle section of Fantaisie-Impromptu, the outer sections represent a constant movement of sounds without a definite melodic line. However, even in this sound entity, there emerge certain melodic impulses, allowing to link sounds together in an audible melodic line (Chopin 00:20–00:38 and 03:07–03:24). The texture of Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu is obviously homophonic i n the middle part where a definite melodic line is accompanied by figurations in the bass (Chopin 01:03–02:55). On the contrary, the texture in the outer parts does not possess an outstanding melodic line. The texture there is quite thick due to the figuration in the parties of both the right and the left hand of the pianist. However, since the material played by the right hand prevails in the hearing perception of the listener, it can be assumed that in the outer parts the texture is homophonic as well. Despite the difference in style between Mozart’s Allegretto Graciozo and Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu, there is certain similarity in the way the two compositions are organized rhythmically. On the one hand, both pieces maintain one and the same type of time signature, the simple quadruple one. On the other hand, when comparing the ways the composers handle repetitions of the main melodic line, it becomes apparent that with each repetition the theme is varied rhy thmically. By theme here is meant the initial phrase in Mozart’s Allegretto Graciozo and the melodic phrase that opens the middle part of Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu (Chopin 01:03–02:55). Rhythmic variation as a means of development is thus common to both pieces. In terms of melody, the pieces are similar in that they both possess distinctive melodies that combine both conjunct and disjunct movement. Again, in case with Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu melody is discussed in terms of the middle section (Chopin 01:03–02:55). Both of the compositions feature repetitions of melodic phrases in order to emphasize the significance of the given melody as the main theme of the piece. Moreover, Mozart, like Chopin, employs the techniques of ornamental embellishment as variation in consequent repetitions of the melodic phrase (Mozart 00:15).Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Remaining within the conventional tradition of Classical and Romantic music, both Mozart and Chopin write their pieces in homophonic texture. The melody clearly dominates over the accompaniment, however interesting subvoices the latter may feature. The accompaniment of both pieces is mainly based on supporting the melody by harmonic structures that actually represent harmonic chords expanded in separate sounds. Therefore, the subvoices merely fill in the harmony and cannot be viewed as independent melodic structures. Along with the similarities, the music pieces under discussion demonstrate significant differences in terms of rhythm, melody, and texture. The differences in rhythmic organization of the two compositions are apparent in the fact that Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu demonstrates a bright example of polyrhythmic music, with its outer parts featuring a collision between triple and quadruple rhythmic structures. Such conflict of simultaneously sounding rhythms creates a conflict and dramatic character of music itself. On the contrary, Mozart keeps his piece in relatively steady rhythms, occasionally introducing a series of triplets or syncopes to diversify the rhythmic scheme. This placidity in rhythm contributes to the graceful nature of music announced in the title of Allegretto Graciozo. The melodic organization of Mozart’s and Chopin’s pieces demonstrates a difference in terms of the expressive effects of the melody. While Mozart keeps the main melody of his composition emotionally neutral by sticking to the standard pattern of following the sounds of triad, Chopin appears more creative in his approach to melody. In the two outer sections of his Fantaisie-Impromptu, the composer conceals the melody in the streaming passages of sixteenth-notes and only rarely lets the audience trace intonations that resemble a melodic line (Chopin 00:20–00:38 and 03:07–03:24). Such veiling of the melody in the outer parts makes its appearance in the middle section ever significant. This melody of the middle part differs from Mozart’s melodic structures by a much wider range and length of phrase. The difference in the texture between the two pieces reveals itself mainly in the level of texture denseness. In Mozart’s Allegretto Graciozo, the texture is mainly light and almost transparent, since it is only limited to the melodic line and a simple accompaniment with either chords played together or figurations on the sounds of chords. In Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu, the texture is seemingly based on the same principle of melody with accompaniment. However, it seems much denser to the listener due to the accumulation of multiple sounds sustained on one pedal. In addition, the lack of melodic clarity in the outer parts of Fantaisie-Impromptu contributes to the loadening of texture, as the listener intuitively connects the many tones into one reverberating whole. Upon comparison of the two piece s, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Allegretto Graciozo from Piano Sonata K333 and Frederic Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu op.66, it becomes obvious that certain conclusions should be drawn from the analysis. On the one hand, the similarities in rhythm, melody, and texture prompt that there exist certain artistic standards common for every style in music. Rhythmic variety as a principle of development, repetition of melodic fragments in order to emphasize the significance of a certain melodic theme, homophonic texture as dominant in both pieces, – all those features appear universal principles in classic music. On the other hand, composers individualize their works by employing various patterns of rhythmic organization, a narrower or wider range of melodic lines, and a more or less transparent texture. Singling out the common and the different in music compositions helps to realize the universal and the individual in art. Works Cited Chopin, Frederic. Fantaisie-Impromptu op.66. Perf. Vladimir Horowitz. 6 Jul. 2010. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x93pwAvUkAA. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Allegretto Graciozo from Piano Sonata K333. Perf. Vladimir Horowitz. 6 Jul. 2010. Web. This essay on Analysis of Music Pieces in Terms of Rhythm, Melody, and Texture was written and submitted by user Virginia H. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Indus Civilization Timeline and Description

Indus Civilization Timeline and Description The Indus civilization (also known as the Harappan Civilization, the Indus-Sarasvati or Hakra Civilization and sometimes the Indus Valley Civilization) is one of the oldest societies we know of, including over 2600 known archaeological sites located along the Indus and Sarasvati rivers in Pakistan and India, an area of some 1.6 million square kilometers. The largest known Harappan site is Ganweriwala, located on the bank of the Sarasvati river. Timeline of the Indus Civilization Important sites are listed after each phase. Chalcolithic cultures 4300-3200 BCEarly Harappan 3500-2700 BC (Mohenjo-Daro, Mehrgarh, Jodhpura, Padri)Early Harappan/Mature Harappan Transition 2800-2700 BC (Kumal, Nausharo, Kot Diji, Nari)Mature Harappan 2700-1900 BC (Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Shortgua, Lothal, Nari)Late Harappan 1900-1500 BC (Lothal, Bet Dwarka) The earliest settlements of the Harappans were in Baluchistan, Pakistan, beginning about 3500 BC. These sites are an independent outgrowth of Chalcolithic cultures in place in south Asia between 3800-3500 BC. Early Harappan sites built mud brick houses, and carried on long-distance trade.The Mature Harappan sites are located along the Indus and Sarasvati rivers and their tributaries. They lived in planned communities of houses built of mud brick, burnt brick, and chiseled stone. Citadels were built at sites such as Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Dholavira and Ropar, with carved stone gateways and fortification walls. Around the citadels were an extensive range of water reservoirs. Trade with Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Persian gulf is in evidence between 2700-1900 BC. Indus Lifestyles Mature Harappan society had three classes, including a religious elite, a trading class class and the poor workers. Art of the Harappan includes bronze figures of men, women, animals, birds and toys cast with the lost was method. Terracotta figurines are rarer, but are known from some sites, as is shell, bone, semiprecious and clay jewelry.Seals carved from steatite squares contain the earliest forms of writing. Almost 6000 inscriptions have been found to date, although they have yet to be deciphered. Scholars are divided about whether the language is likely a form of Proto-Dravidian, Proto-Brahmi or Sanskrit. Early burials were primarily extended with grave goods; later burials were varied. Subsistence and Industry The earliest pottery made in the Harappan region was built beginning about 6000 BC, and included storage jars, perforated cylindrical towers and footed dishes. The copper/bronze industry flourished at sites such as Harappa and Lothal, and copper casting and hammering were used. Shell and bead making industry was very important, particularly at sites such as Chanhu-daro where mass production of beads and seals is in evidence.The Harappan people grew wheat, barley, rice, ragi, jowar, and cotton, and raised cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and chickens. Camels, elephants, horses, and asses were used as transport. Late Harappan The Harappan civilization ended between about 2000 and 1900 BC, resulting from a combination of environmental factors such as flooding and climatic changes, tectonic activity, and the decline of trade with western societies.   Indus Civilization Research Archaeologists associated with the Indus Valley Civilizations include R.D. Banerji, John Marshall, N. Dikshit, Daya Ram Sahni, Madho Sarup Vats, Mortimer Wheeler. More recent work has been conducted by B.B. Lal, S.R. Rao, M.K. Dhavalikar, G.L. Possehl, J. F. Jarrige, Jonathon Mark Kenoyer, and Deo Prakash Sharma, among many others at the National Museum in New Delhi. Important Harappan Sites Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, Dhalewan, Mohenjo-Daro, Dholavira, Harappa, Nausharo, Kot Diji, and Mehrgarh, Padri. Sources An excellent source for detailed information of the Indus civilization and with lots of photographs is Harappa.com. For information on the Indus Script and Sanskrit, see Ancient Writing of India and Asia. Archaeological sites (both on About.com and elsewhere are compiled in Archaeological Sites of the Indus Civilization. A brief Bibliography of the Indus Civilization has also been compiled.