Cross Culture Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cross Culture Marketing - Essay Example Cross- cultural marketing calls for markets to be conscious and sensitive to the differences in culture, and to respect the consumers' cultural rights in different cultures and in the marketing places. Marketers have to realize that consumer's deserve the right to their culture. Hofstede (2001) carried out studies in more than 100 countries and concluded that there are five basic value elements which are; individualism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, power distance and long term verses short term orientation that affects consumer's behavior. Thus, for the marketer to be conquerors in the cross-cultural marketing they have to create marketing mix which meets consumer's cultural values and norms. (Hofstede, 1991) This paper will deal with First Computers Inc. as a computer hardware and software company. The company manufactures, supports, develops and sells a wide variety of products and services including; PCs, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals etc. The paper will investigate the current business strategies used by the company to conquer cross- cultural business in two countries which are China and Germany examine cultural aspects in this two countries and analyze the ways the company is using to be succeed in its business. Due to modernization and advancement in technology, most businesses are beginning to explore international markets for better profits and opportunities. Cullen & Boteeah (2005) notes that, in the recent past trading has become increasingly global in some way because of the need to gather and increase the company's financial bases. Advancement in technology including communication efficiency and better international relations has contributed to the promotion of the international trade. Competition has however become a great challenge to the success of international trade but most companies are rising to the challenge, to achieve greater investments and better market opportunities in the international market. Other rationale reasons for venturing in global market for the company are; The computer hardware manufacturing industry has become one of the industries that have grown tremendously over a very short period of time. Thus it is possible to have the products from this company sell quite easily in oversees market. As Cullen & Boteeah (2005) observers computers have become a major attraction for an improved social life and also in the communication and technology arena. Computers have also become one of the most sorts after kinds of machines among the world population and any other sector in the world today. Coupled with the fact that the Chinese and Germany population are one of the largest and most sophisticated in the world, it is possible to achieve a very huge market share for this company compared to other countries with somewhat lower population. A description of the product/service; This company offers a wide variety of products including the manufacture, assembly, and maintenance of computers and other computer devices. The company has risen from being a retailer of used computers to become one of the improved companies in the sector. The company has been for the past two years getting recognition and that it believes it has met the needs for the domestic market and now it needs to explore the international market to China and Germany. The distinctive cultural difference(s) of the China and Germany

Brief Description Of The Negative Service Encounter Marketing Essay

Brief Description Of The Negative Service Encounter Marketing Essay In recent times call centres play a vital role in the service chain. Further they are the first point of contact for the customers. This invariably means that performance management is of prime importance to organisations with special focus on customer satisfaction. If organisations are not successful in providing value to their consumers, there will a long term loss for the stakeholders and so it is vital to pay full attention to them and adopt strategies to improve upon the services provided. In this report the way organisations rationalise and manage customer satisfaction in a call centre setting is explored. Out of many things revealed it is crucial to note that current measures of performance are often counter-productive to reaching customer satisfaction. An attempt has been made to review customers purchasing, its after sale services and other related factors through which they feel satisfied and follow it up with recommendations to improve the same. Many call centres consider that operating procedures such as call extent are pointers of customer satisfaction Evidence indicates that they are not; they are only measures of proficiency, which in turn is seen as basis of commercial performance. Most call centres seem to miss the important link between employee satisfaction, service quality, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Formal Introduction: The Saudi Telecomminicaiton (STC) group offers mobile network, fixed land line and broadband communications facilities to more than millions of customers across the world. In the last few years, STC underwent a massive expansion plan across the world. Further, it formed a network of businesses and investments in a number of countries including Asia and Africa. Out of many international customers it has its presence in Kuwait, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, South Africa and Bahrain. Background: STC services are divided into three broad categories: Jawal (mobile network), Kitaf (landline  network), and  Internet services. Call centres are changing the way companies communicate with customers and are a strategic asset in delivering exceptional service quality. Companies that focus on customer loyalty are increasingly using their centres to differentiate their product or service offering and drive customer satisfaction. (Miciak et al, 2001) STC  is the only provider for telephone lines in  Saudi Arabia. For this reason customers have to pay two fees, one to  STC  for activation of the  ADSL  service across the telephone line, and a second to an  ISP  to provide Internet service across the  ADSL  line.  STC  has been highly criticized for their service in providing  ADSL  access as customers had to wait many months to receive ADSL service on their phone lines. Out of the many reasons considered for their service being unpopular the major reasons are the excessively expensive prices and unable low-quality service. In few countries its services have been refused due to lack of experience, unprofessional staff, and outdated usage of equipment. Module 4: It is important to have an extraordinary customer service to materialise a deal. When customers are not made to feel important, welcomed or wanted they would not prefer to invest their time and money into a product. This requires a good knoweldge of correct forms of customer service and detail knoweldge of service marketing. It seems as though the lack of good customer service in the telecommunications industry is leading to people withdrawing from purchases and contracts.  Ã‚  The youth are more likely to leave their service providers behind, compared to older customers who are more set in their service provider ways.  However with the upsurge of social media and improved consumer awareness, the cost of customer frustration is sizeable. Parameters to judge the customer satisfaction in the above case. The figure clearly depicts the customer expectation in terms of service offerings. It shows the parameters on which the customer bases the services and these are the major fail points where the organisations is not able to stand up to the customers expectations. The lesson is clear. In order to turn first time customers into repeat customers and repeat customers into lifetime customers, you need to ensure every call is handled efficiently and politely. You need to be different-and better-than the average contact center today. Brief description of the negative service encounter While recalling the service of STC it is disappointing to state that the waiting time was over the phone was too long and at times the maintenance problem would take more than 24 hours to resolve. The complaints used to pass through a long hierarchy. Travellers used to suffer a lot due to bad connectivity and most of the time the connectivity used to be very weak. No satisfactory explanation was provided of new services when a customer gives a call, instead he is directed to check it online. Module 5: Customer service is perceived as most important, even more important than product value while deciding on customer loyalty and behaviour while making a purchase. Customer service is, indeed, more important than perceived product value in predicting customer loyalty, the amount of money spent in the visit and the range of products purchased (Leung,2006). In this case the price of the services was not declared properly and many times the bill used to have many hidden charges. The invoice that used to come at the end of the month was far beyond the actual usage. The value of a product reflects the owner(s)/buyer(s) desire to retain or obtain a product. An individuals level of desire to retain or obtain a product depends on how much the product details and/or its performance agree with the value system of the individual (Neap, 1999) However the customers were quite annoyed since the service did not match its value outcome. Module 6: An IMC strategy comprises carefully merging and synchronizing the various fundamentals and tools of the communications mix to convey a clear and reliable message. (Hoffman et al, 2010, pp.169) In this case the organisation promised too much than they could deliver and and raised the expectations to unrealistic level. It should improve upon its communication pattern, which can be done through Module 7: An organisations exterior appearance, interior design and othe tangibles objects create a compendium that surrounds the service. (Hoffman et al, 2010, pp.201) The service scapes directly influence the organisms behaviour. Remote, self-service, the service settings ambience, overall expectations and emotional and mental state to moderators and environment are the major factors of it. However there was total neglect of sensory cues in this case. The organisation had not changed its interior and exterior design since last many years and the furniture and fittings looked very old and out-dated. Even the entrance gate was cluttered and the main board was rusted and not even painted properly. Module 8 The boundary spanning personnel are also the organisations personal representatives. They accumulate material from the surrounding and transfer it back into the organisation, and they also communicate with the environment on behalf of the organisation. ((Hoffman et al, 2010, pp.232) Role, client and interclient conflicts are the main sources of struggle. A service organisation must satisfy its workforces in order for customer satisfaction to become a unfailing reality and the venture made in this will surely pay off. The contingencies which managers should rate to their service organisations depends on the its business strategy, technology, its tie with the customers, the environment of the business and the type of leadership. The main characteristics of service leader are that they lead by example and inspire their service employees to deliver high levels of customer service. Service leaders are enthusiastic about doing the service right the first time. They value the goal of zero deficiencies, motivated continually to improve the consistency of service. (Zeithmal et al, 1990, pp.15) Module 9: The service encounter was not satisfactory in the above case due to the hindrance by the consumers in the exchange process. They were not effectively managed because the relationships were unhealthy due to long waits and dissatisfaction in compliant solving. Eight principles of waiting are given to minimize the customers frustrations related to long waits. A customers degree of satisfaction with waiting or with the service received in its whole is reliant on on the actual performance of the delivery system, the customers anticipations regarding that performance and the customers sensitivity of the service encounter.  (Mark M. Davis, Janelle Heineke, pp.21 34, 1994) The ultimate way to handle difficult customers as stated by Peppers Rogers is through exceptionality. Every relationship is different. The organisation must be prepared to participate in different exchanges, remember different accounts and engage in different behaviours towards different customers. (Peppers D Rogers M., Managing Customer Relationships: A Strategic Framework, pp.56, 2004) Recommendations: For delivering customer service it is increasingly important to focus on Call Centre performance. The performance should not be judged in isolation from the whole organisation. It is vital to note that they are not disconnected procedures with an unsociable mission of bringing down costs. They form a fundamental part in delivering of services and contribute to the value chain. Therefore, the performance measures of call centres need to reflect the strategic direction of the entire organisation. A more balanced approach to measuring performance based on strategic objectives is valuable, especially if visual representations of service delivery and value creation are used. This facilitates easy communication of overall performance and puts productivity aims in consideration. Best practice seems to lead and the following areas of performance as well as their consumer satisfaction increases when companies meet four key needs: proficiency, suitability, positive commitment and customization.   The following measures help to track quality of call centre service. (Feinberg et al, 2000) At the outset by reducing the average speed of answer, followed by the time caller is in the line for answer. Subsequently the percentage of callers or abandoned the call prior to answer should be analysed. Further the average work time after call needs to be speeded. The service for customers who receive call block message may also be improved. Lastly the organisation needs to develop a professional attitude in its functioning and make the customers feel appreciated.

John Keats To Autumn Essay -- John Keats Autumn Essays Poem Poetry

John Keats' "To Autumn" Life is a beautiful thing that should not be wasted. Life must be lived without warning; it is not to be taken for granted. We will never fully understand life, not even in a million years. The theme of John Keats' "To Autumn" is to enjoy life, even as you grow old and it begins to move away from you. He spreads his message through the time frame, imagery, and diction of the stanzas. To begin with, the time frame of the stanzas begins to prove the theme. By itself, it doesn?t prove the theme, but, when added with the imagery and diction, it gets the job done. The second and third proofs build off of the time frame. The time frame of the stanzas progresses through autumn and a day as a person?s life does. It shows that autumn and a day are being paralleled to a person?s life. The first stanza is set in early autumn and the morning. This is shown is passages from the poem. For example, season of mists and warm days will never cease show this time setting. Season of mists prove morning because mist forms in the early morning. Warm days will never cease proves early autumn because this is the hottest and most humid time of the year. The first stanza clearly takes place during the morning in early autumn, and those are paralleled to childhood in life. The second stanza is set in mid-autumn and the afternoon. This is evident in the poem. In example, while thy hook, gleaner, and on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep show the time frame is mid-autumn and afternoon. While thy hook and gleaner show mid-autumn because these quotes deal with the harvest, which happens in mid-autumn. On a half-reaped furrow sound asleep proves afternoon because the furrow is half-reaped, thus half way through the day, or the afternoon, and naps are usually taken during the afternoon hours. Obviously, the second stanza is set in the afternoon during mid-autumn. Mid-autumn and afternoon compare to adulthood in life. The third stanza is set in late autumn and the evening. The proof is in the poem. For instance, gathering swallows and hedge crickets sing prove the time frame is late autumn in the evening. Gathering swallows proves late autumn because that is the time when birds gather to migrate to warmer climates. Hedge crickets sing proves evening because crickets produce their patented sound in the evening hours. Certainly, the setting of stanza th... ...s fullest. The first stanza contains active imagery, while the second uses passive. The third stanza is expected to contain even more passive diction, but instead uses a mix of both active and passive. The active diction is used a little bit more. The diction in the third stanza is what makes this poem so great. If you add this proof to the first two, you get life slipping away as it progresses, with the individual being active even as he is dying. In other words, the person is enjoying his life as it slips into death?s hands, which is the theme of the poem. The theme of John Keats? ?To Autumn? is to live your life actively until darkness consumes your body. The time frame, imagery, and diction of the stanzas prove this. The time frame shows that life is progressing, while the imagery is paralleled to life being taken away from the individual. The diction proves that the person is active during childhood, passive during adulthood and slightly active during the elderly years of life. The proofs clearly show what the theme of the poem is, proving every part of it thoroughly. This was a wonderfully written poem, and it gives a great message that everyone should learn and live by. John Keats' To Autumn Essay -- John Keats Autumn Essays Poem Poetry John Keats' "To Autumn" Life is a beautiful thing that should not be wasted. Life must be lived without warning; it is not to be taken for granted. We will never fully understand life, not even in a million years. The theme of John Keats' "To Autumn" is to enjoy life, even as you grow old and it begins to move away from you. He spreads his message through the time frame, imagery, and diction of the stanzas. To begin with, the time frame of the stanzas begins to prove the theme. By itself, it doesn?t prove the theme, but, when added with the imagery and diction, it gets the job done. The second and third proofs build off of the time frame. The time frame of the stanzas progresses through autumn and a day as a person?s life does. It shows that autumn and a day are being paralleled to a person?s life. The first stanza is set in early autumn and the morning. This is shown is passages from the poem. For example, season of mists and warm days will never cease show this time setting. Season of mists prove morning because mist forms in the early morning. Warm days will never cease proves early autumn because this is the hottest and most humid time of the year. The first stanza clearly takes place during the morning in early autumn, and those are paralleled to childhood in life. The second stanza is set in mid-autumn and the afternoon. This is evident in the poem. In example, while thy hook, gleaner, and on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep show the time frame is mid-autumn and afternoon. While thy hook and gleaner show mid-autumn because these quotes deal with the harvest, which happens in mid-autumn. On a half-reaped furrow sound asleep proves afternoon because the furrow is half-reaped, thus half way through the day, or the afternoon, and naps are usually taken during the afternoon hours. Obviously, the second stanza is set in the afternoon during mid-autumn. Mid-autumn and afternoon compare to adulthood in life. The third stanza is set in late autumn and the evening. The proof is in the poem. For instance, gathering swallows and hedge crickets sing prove the time frame is late autumn in the evening. Gathering swallows proves late autumn because that is the time when birds gather to migrate to warmer climates. Hedge crickets sing proves evening because crickets produce their patented sound in the evening hours. Certainly, the setting of stanza th... ...s fullest. The first stanza contains active imagery, while the second uses passive. The third stanza is expected to contain even more passive diction, but instead uses a mix of both active and passive. The active diction is used a little bit more. The diction in the third stanza is what makes this poem so great. If you add this proof to the first two, you get life slipping away as it progresses, with the individual being active even as he is dying. In other words, the person is enjoying his life as it slips into death?s hands, which is the theme of the poem. The theme of John Keats? ?To Autumn? is to live your life actively until darkness consumes your body. The time frame, imagery, and diction of the stanzas prove this. The time frame shows that life is progressing, while the imagery is paralleled to life being taken away from the individual. The diction proves that the person is active during childhood, passive during adulthood and slightly active during the elderly years of life. The proofs clearly show what the theme of the poem is, proving every part of it thoroughly. This was a wonderfully written poem, and it gives a great message that everyone should learn and live by.

History of Worldcup

INTRODUCTION The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. The current champions are Spain, who won the 2010 tournament.The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month; this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s). The 19 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil have won five times, and they are the on ly team to have played in every tournament.The other World Cup winners are Italy, with four titles; Germany, with three titles; Argentina and inaugural winners Uruguay, with two titles each; and England, France, and Spain, with one title each. The World Cup is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715. 1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany. The next three World Cups will be hosted by Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022. HISTORY DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD CUP | |The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw. The first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, took place in 1884. As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the 20th century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition. Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition.Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals. They repeated the feat in 1912 in Stockholm. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipto n tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation.The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a â€Å"world football championship for amateurs†, and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and thirteen European teams, and won by Belgium. 8] Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional BEGINNING OF WORLD CUP Due to the success of the Ol ympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship itself. 9] With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip.In total thirteen nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America. The first two Worl d Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in doing so became the first nation to win the World Cup. [11] World Cups before SECOND WORLD WARAfter the creation of the World Cup, the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games. Olympic football returned at the 1936 Summer Olympics, but was now overshadowed by the more prestigious World Cup. The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of in tercontinental travel, and war.Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions, which Nazi Germany and Brazil sought to host, were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath. World Cups after SECOND WORLD WAR The 1950 World Cup, held in Brazil, was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against foreign influence on football, but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation.The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again after defeating the host nation Brazil, in the match called â€Å"Maracanazo† (Portuguese: Maracanaco). In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed in each tou rnament, except in 1938, when Austria was absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams. 16] Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970. The tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 1982,[17] and then to 32 in 1998,[18] also allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part.Since then, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, with several having reached the quarter-finals: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, qua rter-finalists in 1990; Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002; Senegal, along with USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002; and Ghana as quarter-finalists in 2010. Nevertheless, European and South American teams continue to dominate, e. g. , the quarter-finalists in 1994, 1998 and 2006 were all from Europe or South America.Two hundred teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds; 198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while a record 204 countries entered qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. [19] THE AWARDS AND TROPHY From 1930 to 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the World Cup winner. It was originally simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946 it was renamed after the FIFA president Jules Rimet who set up the first tournament. In 1970, Brazil's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the trophy permanently.However, the trophy was stolen in 1983, and has never been recovered, apparently melt ed down by the thieves. [23] After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven different countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14. 2 in) high, made of solid 18 carat (75%) gold and weighs 6. 175 kg (13. 6 lb). The base contains two layers of semi-precious malachite while the bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974.The description of the trophy by Gazzaniga was: â€Å"The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory. â€Å"[24] This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-p lated replica rather than the solid gold original. [25] At the present, all members (players, coaches, and managers) of the top three eams receive medals with an insignia of the World Cup Trophy; winners' (gold), runner-ups' (silver), and third-place (bronze). In the 2002 edition, fourth-place medals were awarded to hosts South Korea. Prior to the 1978 tournament, medals were only awarded to the eleven players on the pitch at the end of the final and the third-place match. In November 2007, FIFA announced that all members of World Cup-winning squads between 1930 and 1974 were to be retroactively awarded winners' medals. [26][27][28] Format AND STRUCTURE Since the second World Cup in 1934, qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament. 29] They are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FI FA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams. The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations.Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the 2010 World Cup. [30] From the 1938 World Cup onwards, host nations received automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the 2006 FIFA World Cup onward, requiring the champions to qualify. Brazil, winners in 2002, were the first defending champions to play qualifying matches. [31]The current final tournament features 32 na tional teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage. [32] In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent World Cups, and drawn to separate groups. [33] The other teams are assigned to different â€Å"pots†, usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups.Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. [34] Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. [35] The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group.Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points). THE HOSTS OF WORLD CUP Early World Cups were given to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The locations were controversial because South America and Europe were by far the two centres of strength in football and travel between them required three weeks by boat. The decision to hold the first World Cup in Uruguay, for example, led to only four European nations competing. [37] The next two World Cups were both held in Europe.The decision to hold the second of these in France was disputed, as the South American countries understood that the location would alternate between the two continents. Both Argentina and Uruguay thus boycotted the 1938 FIFA World Cup. [38] Since the 1958 FIFA World Cup, to avoid future boycotts or controversy, FI FA began a pattern of alternating the hosts between the Americas and Europe, which continued until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan, was the first one held in Asia, and the only tournament with multiple hosts. 39] South Africa became the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Brazil, the first held in South America since 1978,[40] and will be the first occasion where consecutive World Cups are held outside Europe. The host country is now chosen in a vote by FIFA's Executive Committee. This is done under an exhaustive ballot system. The national football association of a country desiring to host the event receives a â€Å"Hosting Agreement† from FIFA, which explains the steps and requirements that are expected from a strong bid.The bidding association also receives a form, the submission of which represents the official confirmation of the candidacy. After this, a FI FA designated group of inspectors visit the country to identify that the country meets the requirements needed to host the event and a report on the country is produced. The decision on who will host the World Cup is usually made six or seven years in advance of the tournament. However, there have been occasions where the hosts of multiple future tournaments were announced at the same time, as was the case for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.For the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, the final tournament is rotated between confederations, allowing only countries from the chosen confederation (Africa in 2010, South America in 2014) to bid to host the tournament. The rotation policy was introduced after the controversy surrounding Germany's victory over South Africa in the vote to host the 2006 tournament. However, the policy of continental rotation will not continue beyond 2014, so any country, except those belonging to confederations that hos ted the two preceding tournaments, can apply as hosts for World Cups starting from 2018. 41] This is partly to avoid a similar scenario to the bidding process for the 2014 tournament, where Brazil was the only official bidder. Other nations have also been successful when hosting the tournament. Sweden (runners-up in 1958), Chile (third place in 1962), Korea Republic (fourth place in 2002), and Mexico (quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986) all have their best results when serving as hosts. So far, South Africa (2010) was the only host nation to fail to advance beyond the first round. Organisation and media coverageThe World Cup was first televised in 1954 and is now the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup is estimated to be 26. 29 billion. [1] 715. 1 million individuals watched the final match of this tournament (a ninth of the entire population of the planet). The 2006 World Cup draw, which decided the distribution of teams into groups, was watched by 300 million viewers. [42] Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot or logo.World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot. [43] Recent World Cups have also featured official match balls specially designed for each World Cup. CONCLUSION To date, the final of the World Cup has only been contested by European and South American teams. European nations have won ten titles; South American teams have won nine. Only two teams from outside these two continents have ever reached the semi-finals of the competition: USA (North, Central America and Caribbean) in 1930 and Korea Republic (Asia) who reached the semis in 2002.The best result of an African team is reaching the quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. Only one Oceanian qualifier, Australia in 2006, has advanced to the second round. [51] Brazil, Argentina, and Spain are the onl y teams to win a World Cup outside their continental confederation; Brazil came out victorious in Europe (1958), North America (1970 and 1994) and Asia (2002), Argentina won a North American World Cup in 1986, while Spain won the only African World Cup in 2010.Only on three occasions have consecutive World Cups been won by teams from the same continent – Italy and Brazil successfully defended their titles in 1938 and 1962 respectively, while Spain's 2010 triumph followed Italy's in 2006. Among the national teams, Germany have played the most World Cup matches, with 99,[66] while Brazil have scored the most World Cup goals, with 210. [67] The two teams have played each other only once in the World Cup, in the 2002 final. RERENCESS

Critical Thinking in 21st Century America Essay

The intellectual roots of critical thinking date back to the teachings of Socrates, who discovered a method of analytical questioning; known today as â€Å"Socratic questioning,† establishing that one could not rationally justify their assured claims to knowledge. Socrates established that people cannot depend upon those in â€Å"authority† to have sound knowledge and insight. He demonstrated that individuals may have power and high position and yet be deeply confused and irrational. He established the importance of asking questions and thinking deeply before we accept an idea as worthy of belief. Socrates stressed the significance of seeking evidence, closely examining reasoning and assumptions, analyzing basic concepts, and tracing out implications not only of what is said but of what is done. This, I believe, is essential to living a successful and knowledgeable life; question everything and everyone. I strongly agree with Socrates’ idea that we cannot depend upon an individual of higher power to have all-encompassing knowledge and insight solely based on their status. The use of certain words, in just the right way, is enough to make some individuals believe just about anything; most successful lawyers have built their entire careers simply by knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. Although I feel that critical thinking is a necessity throughout life, along with analyzing and questioning everything; I also feel that it is not something that is simply learned. Today, in our contemporary 21st century American society, we are certainly allowed to be and/or trained to be critical thinkers, but it is only certain individuals who will use critical thought to its highest ability to expand their knowledge and open up the mind. These individuals, sometimes rare, have the ability to reflectively question common beliefs and justifications, and use this to carefully distinguish those beliefs that are reasonable and logical from those which lack acceptable evidence or rational foundation to justify a certain belief. Socrates’ practice was followed by many great critical thinkers, such as Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek skeptics, all of whom emphasized that things are often very different from what they appear to be and that only the trained mind is prepared to see through the way things look to us on the surface, misleading appearances, to the way they really are beneath the surface, the deeper realities of life. Critical thinking, amongst many other definitions, is the ability to understand and apply, to infer and to meaningfully investigate given information; the skills needed to see equivalents, comprehend connections, identify problems, and develop justifiable explanations. It identifies bias, and a bias is not necessarily bad; it is simply a preferred way of looking at things. However, critical thinking does not necessarily benefit everyone; it can alter relationships, change attitudes, and cause family and friends to part ways. In light of our readings, many of the individuals we have discussed stress the need for a critical society, but additionally stress that it is not always beneficial, especially for those susceptible to nonsense. John Stuart Mill feared conformism among society as a whole, he saw this as a uniformity which enforced narrow-minded views and illogical rules on those individuals more open-minded and educated. A few years back while researching religion for a paper, I came across Mill’s idea of â€Å"hell belief,† where he argues that the belief in hell is made inconsistently both strong and weak by a total system failure in critical thinking; that hell belief is incompatible with the belief that God is good. He explains that the same mind set that enables them to accept a theory involving these contradictions prevents them from seeing the logical consequences of the theory. Mill’s ideas of â€Å"hell belief† are very similar to those of my own. Many, if not most, people are introduced and expected to abide by a certain religion by the time they speak their first words. Naturally, more often than not, religion and religious values are the first thing that many are taught; however religion allows little, or no room, for critical thinking. Many people carry their religious beliefs and values throughout life, where critical thinkers challenge and question it; they find the stuff that doesn’t quite make sense and demand to know where the logic lies and why exactly they’re supposed to life by these ideas. In Mill’s ideas, people come to believe in it and manage to stay sane about it for the same reason, a lack of critical thinking. In our readings, we see that Bertrand Russell emphasizes the importance of open and free analysis, and the critical need to create education systems that raise open-minded pursuit of knowledge and cautions the dangers inherent in rigid ideologies. I agree with Russell and believe that children should be taught to think critically as soon as they start their education because as adults it is almost impossible to learn, it is not simply a skill you can up and decide you want to possess. If more schools implemented a system that encourages children to keep an open mind and consistently put certain ideas and theories to the test, they would be better prepared for future education, encouraged to socialize with their peers even if they’re not from the same religious or ethnic background, and overall be well prepared for life itself; the habit of questioning everything leads to the development of well-rounded knowledge. When referencing the answers that many of us strive for, Russell explains that if philosophy cannot answer all of our questions, it at least holds the power of asking questions which increase the interest of the world, and show the strangeness and phenomenon lying just below the surface even in the simplest things of everyday life. He identifies a need for a theory of knowledge that will merge what appears to be from what really is, as well as the importance to practice knowledge responsibly. Russell explains to us that in order to make statements or hold beliefs about knowledge, we must be able to substantiate that our knowledge is accurate to reality. Although uncertainty and doubt are Descartes’ enemy, he wanted to use doubt as a tool or weapon to combat uncertainty. What, if anything, could not be doubted after subjecting all of his knowledge to the acid wash of doubt. The one thing that Descartes concluded could not be doubted was that he was doubting. There has to be an â€Å"I† who is thinking. Descartes’ famous dictum, Cogito Ergo Sum, means â€Å"I think therefore I am†.