The Recessions Effect On Consumer Behaviour Commerce Essay

The Recessions Effect On Consumer Behaviour Commerce Essay A recession is a negative decline in economic activity over a period of time. This is usually defined as a decline in Gross domestic product for two or more consecutive quarters. GDP is a measure of the countrys overall economic performance over a period of time. It is made up of consumption, investment, government spending, and exports minus imports. Consumer behaviour is the study that looks at all the reasons why people purchase products and where and when they purchase them. The credit crunch first started with the USA mortgage market and the collapse of the global housing bubble. Individuals were taking out mortgages that they could never afford to pay back. It all went wrong when the house prices in the USA started to fall. This in turn caused the value of securities connected to house prices to fall. The financial institutions all over the world were damaged. This put uncertainty regarding banks ability to pay its debts. The banks panicked and there was a rapid decline in credit availability. The investors confidence also declined and this had an impact on global stock markets. It was argued that investors did not accurately put a price on the risk involved with mortgage-related financial products. This causing the whole finance market to fail. The recession has caused banks to tighten credit availability. This has caused massive problems to secure credit for big ticket items such as cars and holidays. [1] The recession has had a major effect on many peoples consumer behaviour. There are many industries that have been hit by the recession. One important sector hit by the recession is the car industry and a knock on effect to companies that supply the car industry. Due to people finding it hard to secure finance they are unable to purchase new cars. So the sales of new cars have dramatically declined. An example of this is the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. It has always been at the top of its game for many years. It has been producing exceptionally reliable cars and always at the cutting edge of technology. While in the recession the chief of Toyota Mr Katsuaki Watanabe produced the final annual figure which showed a loss of $4.4 billion. This was the companies first loss since 1950. This shows just how bad the car industry has been hit by the recession with many other firms in the industry achieving even bigger losses. [2] Another area that has been hit is the trade associated with the housing market. Due to problems with getting a mortgage people are unable to purchase new houses. So the development of new properties has fallen. Many house building companies such as Redrow and Barretts actually stopped building new houses on their sites when they realised they could not sell them. So all the labour associated were now unemployed. The Steel industry has also been hit hard. This is due to the car industry and house industry not needing the amount of steel they used to demand. With the recession affecting the whole economy the government has tired to use monetary policy to fix our situation. The government has tried to alter the supply of money by lowering the interest rate. But in doing this it has affected other sectors of the population. It will have a massive effect on people who rely on good returns from money they have invested. An example of this is the older population using their savings to give them an income to live on. At the moment the interest rate is at 0.5% compared to 4.5% in 2006. So the return they will receive on their investment has declined. The consequence of this is that their disposable income will fall causing them to purchase less. The government has also reduced Value added tax from 17.5% to 15%. This is a monetary policy that aims to increase the purchasing of consumers in the economy. The recession has also caused the exchange rate to fall against the pound. This means that the price of imports increase and price of exports de crease. This in turn has caused the import of raw materials for manufacturing to increase for many businesses. Due to the fact that the UK does not produce a lot of goods we rely heavily on imports. These now cost more than what they did before. This means that the consumer is getting less value for their money. The recession has had varied effects on different demographics within the economy. How people are affected depends on age, gender, occupation and location. The highest unemployed age appears to be the 18-24 category. This may be due to their lack of experience. A company would prefer to employ people who are skilled in doing their job. The older workers (45-64) will find it harder to obtain a new job if they are made unemployed. The current unemployment rate is at 7.8%. During a recession unemployment is a serious factor that affects consumers behaviour. Even if the individual consumer is not facing unemployment themselves they will still be affected psychologically. This is because other people around them such as family and friends may be affected. It will give them a thought that it may actually happen to them soon. It will affect their consumer confidence. With people having less consumer confidence they are more likely to save money rather than spend. So this makes the recession worse because it will reduce GDP more if consumers are not spending. Consumer behaviour is related to consumer motivation. Motivation is a basic concept in human behaviour. There is believed to be tension that arises as a result of unfulfilled needs that we have. The needs that are unfilled will move a consumer away from homeostasis balance. The Homeostasis See-Saw shows that a consumer needs a balance between Need satisfaction and Deprivation. The balance between these two is believed to be the homeostasis state. There are four drives that take us away from this equilibrium. Biogenic drives are such things as hunger and thirst that we automatically think we need. Psychogenic drives which drive us to achieve a certain status. These will depend on social and cultural environment that a person is used to. Cognitive motives are those that stimulate people to adapt to the environment and achieve a sense of meaning in society. Affective motives are associated with the need of obtaining emotional goals and the ability to achieve a satisfying feeling state. In a recession all these motives would be affected. Peoples purchasing pattern and ability to purchase certain products would follow a different pattern. In a recession when times are hard it could be potentially difficult to reach the homeostasis balance.[3] An impact the recession can have on consumer behaviour is the Lipstick Effect. When times are hard within an economy a consumer will stop spending money on big ticket items such as Expensive holidays or a new car. In order to achieve the feeling shopping brings consumers simply trade down to cheaper items to make them feel happy and content. The recent sales figures from cosmetic companies such as LOrà ©al and Revlon show that the lipstick effect is in operation within our economy at the moment. LOrà ©al showed sales growth of 5.3% in the first part of the year when the recession started. It shows that when consumers budgets are tightened that people just substitute larger luxury goods such as a new fur coat for small luxuries such as expensive makeup. [4] Some consumers in the recession are choosing to drop a brand level in their weekly shop. This means that rather than purchasing the brand products such as Heinz and Kelloggs they are choosing to purchase supermarkets own brands or no frills brands. It is said to save on average 33% on your weekly shop by dropping one brand level.[10] Brand loyalty has less effect in a recession due to consumers not being able to afford to be loyal if there is a cheaper close substitute. While in a recession there are many consumer behaviour trends that start to emerge. One example of this is Sellsuming. This is a trend where Consumers are very creative in selling products or services that they have to offer. With need to generate extra income consumers become inclined to sell things they dont need or want anymore. An example of this is the use of eBay the online auction site to sell unwanted products. Some consumers may even go as far as renting out parking spaces. Another trend is the Increase of  online services and social media usage. With the unemployment rate increasing and jobs not being very secure, people spend more time looking for job advertisements on the internet. Consumers are also being sensible when they are shopping. The consumer is continuously looking for very good deals both online and offline. Consumers are looking for the best price and the best value available to them. Internet shopping has become the best channel for a consumer to achieve this with price comparison websites such as kelkoo.com and comparethemarket.com. Kelkoo is a shopping portal that compares many retailers and shows the best place to purchase a product depending on the cheapest prices found. Another trend in a recession is skills enhancement and  training. When people feel unsure about the future they believe that increasing their knowledge and skills is a good way to keep in them employable. The younger generation are also not entering the jobs market and choosing to increase their prospects for the future. Examples of this are the figures that show almost an 8% increase in applications for full-time study at universities in 2009. This is the biggest growth in eight years. The recession and rising unemployment have been blamed for this substantial increase.[6] While the economy has been in recession there has been an increase in the number of people searching dating agencies. According to the New York Times Online and offline matchmakers are reporting that dating interest is up, way up. Match.com, for instance, had its strongest fourth quarter in the last seven years. There may be a few reasons for this increase. People may now have more time on their hands due to being unemployed. Also meeting a potential partner on the internet is easier and more affordable than socialising in other ways such as going to the pub. A major trend of consumer behaviour in a recession is Escapism. Consumers are said to be spending money on products and services in order to distract themselves from the economic hardship. The entertainment industry should in theory be experiencing an increase in attendance. This would be such services as bowling and cinema. The figures show that in 2009 cinemas are up 13% year on year. Fast Furious tore up the record for the most lucrative opening weekend for a movie released in April 2009.[7] But this can also be seen in related companies such as the American-based chain of DVD and video game rental company Blockbuster. Their sales have increased over the recession with people choosing to rent. This may be due to the reduction in layout cost of actually purchasing the DVD yourself. It could also be another form of entertainment for people. Another business that is doing very well in the recession due to a change of customers behaviour is Dominos pizza. They are benefiting from con sumers trading down on their choice. A consumer who would have usually gone out for a meal now stays in and purchases a dominos pizza. [8] Consumers in recession also tend to talk more about their purchases and experiences. The OTO Research confirms 54% of consumers say that their primary source of information when choosing a brand is the Consumer Generated Content about the product and brand experience. Due to people being careful with their money they want to make a good purchase that will satisfy their needs. In a recession people will be more likely to tell their family and friends about good deals. This is compared to in a boom consumers tend to boast how expensive a product they purchased was. Consumers are also taking out more insurance policies during the recession. It appears that the desire to protect property becomes a high priority in a recession. This may be due to the fact that people are worried about replacement or repair costs if something does go wrong.[9] People are more likely to repair items if they break when the economies in recession. Such businesses as cobblers are seeing more and more people bringing in worn shoes. Before the recession consumers would of thrown them in the bin and purchased a new pair [12]. In order to try and reduce the effects of the recession the government introduced a scrappage scheme. It aims to increase the purchase of new cars. The consumer is offered a  £2000 incentive if they have a car that is over 10 years old and are willing to scrap it. The government has also tried to increase the money in the economy by offering lower vat of 15%. This is not really much of an incentive unless you are purchasing big ticket items. They have also dropped interest rates down to 0.5%. This provides people with mortgages lower repayments. This gives them more disposable income which they could potentially spend in the economy. In the recession not all companies are being affected. Some companies are actually doing better than they did before. Examples of people doing well in the recession are supermarkets, Amazon, dominos, cinemas, pawnbrokers. The best strategy to follow in a recession is cost leadership. By keeping your costs to a minimum you can maximise profit and be competitive. The best way to get consumers to purchase your products is by giving them an irrefutable offer. During a recession companies should try to increase positive motivation in a consumer. You can do this with a good use of advertising. If a consumer has increased positive motivation they are more likely to want to purchase your products. Overall it is important to realise that consumer behaviour and the recession are linked and have an effect on each other. But the effects will depend on the industry, products and the people it involves. Businesses need to be proactive in a recession in order to be successful. They must be able to change their strategy quickly and efficiently. 1 His journal 2 Ian Rowley (May 8th, 2009) Toyotas Loss Is Worse Than Expected, Available at http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2009/gb2009058_991777.htm , [Accessed 16th December 2009]. 3 book- SEE SAW 4 Larry Elliot (December 22nd 2008) Into the red: lipstick effect reveals the true face of the recession,http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/22/recession-cosmetics-lipstick , [Accessed 16th December 2009]. 5 Yulia V Smirnova (June 16th 2009) Top 10 Emerging Consumer Behavior Trends in Recession, http://www.memesponge.com/2009/06/top-10-emerging-consumer-behavior-trends-in-recession/, [Accessed 21st December 2009]. 6 Nicola Woolcock (February 16th 2009) University applications rise by 8% as recession bites,http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article5741496.ece, [Accessed 21st December 2009]. 7 Alain Portmann (April 16th 2009) Consumer Behavior During the Recession, http://webliquidgroup.com/knowledge/consumer-behaviour-during-the-recession-four-key-consumer-trends/, [Accessed 29th December 2009]. 8 Chris Moore (17 February 2009) Recession hots it up for Dominos Pizza, http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=476450HYPERLINK http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=476450in_page_id=3HYPERLINK http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=476450in_page_id=3in_page_id=3, [Accessed 29th December 2009]. 9 Nick Elliman (September 1 2009) Consumer behaviour in the recession, http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising-measures/13183075-1.html, [Accessed 29th December 2009]. 10 Martin Lewis (January 2 2010) Supermarket Shopping Downshift more, halve weekly bills, http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-supermarket-shopping, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 11 CBI (June 2009) Employment trends 2009 Work patterns in the recession,http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/38e2a44440c22db6802567300067301b/56ebefb25149a68b802575da00308471/$FILE/CBI%20-%20Harvey%20Nash.%20Work%20Patterns%20in%20the%20Recession.%20June%202009.pdf, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 12 Sunday Times (November 23, 2008) Riding the recession: how some businesses are doing well in the downturn, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/article5213280.ece, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 13 Charlie Makin (December 23, 2009) 10 key pointers of consumer behaviour in a recession revealed http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/e_article001261803.cfm?x=b11,0,w , [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 14 Philip Atkinson (2009) Customers Consumer Behaviour in 2009 http://www.philipatkinson.com/change-customer-consumer-behaviour-millennial.htm, [Accessed 2nd January 2010]. 15 16

The Various Roles of the US President

The US President is the head of state of the United States, the chief executive of the federal government, as well as the commander in chief of the US armed forces. As such he is probably the most powerful person in the world who wields considerable powers derived from the US constitution, the super-power status of the US, and the influence and prestige of his office. The office of the US Presidency has evolved over the years and is no more the same as envisaged by the country's founding fathers; the powers of the President now depend as much on the constitutional provisions as on historical precedents, the nature of the times, and the qualities of the president himself. This essay briefly describes the various roles of the US President with specific reference to the presidency of George W. Bush. 1.Expanded Role of the Presidency: From the time of the first US President (George Washington) to the end of the 19th century, the presidency had a limited role restricted mainly to the execution of policies made by the Congress. As the US became a world and industrial power in the 20th century, a stronger presidency was required for managing the country's foreign policy and its growing domestic economy. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War saw a further expansion of the President's role-a role that persists to date. Apart from the force of circumstances-industrialization, war, depression, terrorist attacks etc., certain strong presidents, e.g., Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt helped to expand the powers of the office by the force of their personalities and decisive actions at appropriate times. (Greenberg and Page, 355-359) 2.Ceremonial Role: The President of the United States is the head of the government as well as the head of state, unlike in most other democracies in which the two duties are usually shared by a monarch and a prime minister or a president and a prime minister. Hence the US president also fulfills a ceremonial role such as attending funerals, celebrating anniversaries etc. otherwise reserved for the head of state. (Ibid. 360) 3.Executive Role As chief executive of the federal government, the US President is invested with broad executive powers to run the day-to-day affairs and working of the government. He does so mainly by issuing executive orders that carry the force of law, to the heads of federal agencies for directing their operations. Other types of executive orders may be national or homeland security directives issued by the President. Under the executive powers, the President nominates, and the Senate confirms, the heads of all executive departments and agencies, together with hundreds of other high-ranking federal officials. For example, one of the first executive orders of President G.W. Bush was the nomination of John Ashcroft as the Attorney General in December 2000.1 Other types of executive orders issued by the US President include implementation of important policy matters, especially in times of national emergencies. For example, Franklin Roosevelt ordered the internment of japanese-Americans during WW2 through an executive order; Presidents Johnson and Nixon used executive orders to lauch the affirmative action programs, and President Bush established the Office of Homeland Security in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. (Ibid., 371) 4.Legislative Role: Although the US Constitution gives the powers of legislation exclusively to the Congress, the President has come to play an important role in this sphere too. Much of the legislation is drafted by the Congress at the initiative of the President who gives his proposals through his annual State of the Union Address, or through special messages to the Congress. The President's powers of persuasion, plus his ability to influence public opinion are critical in getting his proposed legislation passed by the Congress. In addition, his veto powers-he can veto any act of the Congress that stands unless the two-thirds majority of both houses over-ride the veto- is also gives a substantial say in the making of laws. (â€Å"Powers of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) If the same Party as the President's controls the Congress, as at present, the requirement of veto seldom arises as the Congress endorses most of his proposed legislations.2 For example, President Bush has been able to get the PATRIOTS Act passed comfortably despite its controversial curtailment of the American citizens' civil liberties. 5.Foreign Policy Leader and Commander-in-Chief: Article II of the US Constitution grants a lead role to the President in the foreign policy domain and his position as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces further consolidates that role. US Presidents have complete powers to formulate the country's foreign policy and do not require endorsement of the Congress in the area. For example, Roosevelt and Nixon did not need any permission, for recognizing the governments of communist Soviet Union and China respectively, even though their acts were reversal of long-standing US policies (Greenberg & Page, 364). Similarly, President Bush has introduced a policy of ‘pre-emption' as opposed to the long-standing US foreign policy of containment without the need of endorsement from any other agency. 6.Economy One of the key responsibilities of the President in the domestic area is the management of the country's economy. Such a role has become obligatory for the President since the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the government started to play a greater role in the regulation of the economy. President Bush's policy of major tax cuts and increased defense expenditure has resulted in record budget deficits but inflation still remains low. 7.Judicial Role The US President has the constitutionsl powers of nominating federal judges including those of the Supreme Court, subject to confirmation by the Senate. He can also grant pardon to anyone breaking a federal law. Most Presidents have used these powers to appoint judges of like political thinking, e.g., conservative/ Republican Presidents appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court while liberal/ Democrat Presidents do the opposite. For example, President George W. Bush has nominated John Roberts Jr. as Chief Justice to the Supreme Court and Samuel Alito as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. (â€Å"George W. Bush† Wikipedia)

Dehydration of Methylcyclohexanol Essay

A common Sophomore Organic Chemistry laboratory experiment that has great potential for further research is the acid catalyzed dehydration of simple alcohols. The classic dehydration of 2-methylcyclohexanol experiment that was introduced in Journal of Chemical Education in 1967 Taber(1967)JCE:44,p620. The rather simple procedure of distilling an alcohol with an aqueous acid has spawned several investigations that have resulted in formal journal articles. At the same time, the experiment has retained its popularity in the Sophomore Organic Chemistry laboratory curriculum. In one line of inquiry it has been observed that a mixture of 2-methylcyclohexanol diastereomers gives rise to a mixture of three isomeric alkenes Todd(1994)JCE:71,p440; Feigenbaum(1987) JCE:64, p273; Cawley (1997) JCE:74l, p102. Explaining the presence of the three alkene products requires an intense synthesis of information communicated in a typical SOC textbook. The continued popularity of this experiment is corroborated by the observation that Googling the phrase â€Å"Dehydration of 2-Methylcyclohexanol† on January 13th, 2008 returned no less than 20 hits for online student handouts and/or guides for this SOC laboratory experiment. Moreover, this experiment provides fertile ground for experimentation and innovation that has not yet been fully explored. At Dominican University, the SOC students performed this experiment during the Fall 2007 semester with not only the dehydration of 2-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 153087) but also the 4-methyl (Aldrich 153095) and 3-methyl (Aldrich 139734) positional isomers. The reaction products were submitted to GC-FID analysis. As predicted from the Journal of Chemical Education articles, three methylcyclohexene products were observed. Their relative abundance measured by peak height was 80, 16, and 4%. The alkene products represented by these peaks apparently correspond to 1-methycyclehexene, 3-methycyclehexene, and methylenecyclohexane respectively. [pic] The dehydration of 4-methylcyclohexanol produce two products, that can be distinguished by our current GC column, at 90 and 10% with retention times that match 3-methycyclehexene and 1-methycyclehexene respectively. My current theory is that the retention times 3 and 4-methycyclohexene could not be distinguished with GC column and temperature program. However, there is still the issue of how 1-methycyclehexene is produced from 4-methylcyclohexanol. [pic] The dehydration of 3-methylcyclohexanol yields two products, that can be distinguished by our current GC column, at 80 and 20% with retention times that match 3-methylcyclohexene and 1-methycyclehexene respectively. [pic] Samples of 1-methyl and 3-methyl cyclohexenes purchased from Aldrich chemical confirmed two of compound assignments for the dehydration of 2-methylcyclohexanol. Obviously, it remains to separate the 3 and 4-methylcyclohexene by GC. There are several advantages of studying the dehydration of methylcyclohexanols in the first semester of Organic Chemistry: 1) The experiment involves reactions that are typically studied during first semester: E1, E2, and the 1,2-hydride shift. It is a time-tested protocol that has been run in hundreds of labs by thousands of students. 2) Analysis of the experiment involves the understanding of all three mechanisms mentioned previously and how they may compete with each other. In other words, it is a simple experiment that demands a rather involved interpretation of results. 3) It shows that textbooks â€Å"rules† such as the Zaitzev’s rule in this case, are not necessarily rules as such, but rather astute observations of general trends that can vary experimentally depending on the reactant and the reaction conditions. 4) Analytically, we are observing/measuring the presence of 3 known methylcyclohexene and methylenecyclohexane products that can be separated and detected by Gas Chromatography. I believe that the product mixtures can also be analyzed by NMR. 5) The reaction lends itself to an inquiry format that involves the study different reactants and reaction conditions on the ratio of products. In fact, this experiment, in my opinion, is an ideal candidate for a multi-institution collaborative study that combines and interprets student data. want to pursue point #5 further by first grappling with the current literature concerning the â€Å"Evelyn Effect.† The JCE article by David Todd, â€Å"The Dehydration of 2-Methylcyclohexanol Revisited: The Evelyn Effect† observes a kinetic effect that can be explained by proposing that in a mixture of cis/trans 2-Methylcyclohexanol the cis isomer reacts much faster than the trans isomer to give predominately 1-methylcyclohexene. The formation of 1-methylcyclohexene from cis-2-methylcyclohexanol would involve an â€Å"E2-like† anti-elimination of proton and the protonated alcohol. The dehydration of the trans isomer would go through a E1 mechanism that requires the formation of a carbocation before elimination of a proton. A follow-up study by Cawley and Linder: â€Å"The Acid Catalyzed Dehydration of an Isomeric 2-Methylcyclohexanol Mixture† involves a detailed kinetic study. Students began with a 36.6/63.4 cis/trans mixture of 2-methylcyclohexanol with a cyclohexanol impurity (% impurity was not reported). They performed thy typical reaction+distillation and collected fractions at 4, 8, 16, 24, and 28 minutes. They also collected a 0.1 mL volume of the sample of the reaction mixture at each of these time intervals. These fractions were analyzed by 1H NMR and GC for composition. The cis/trans rate constants for the dehydration of reaction were determined to be 8.4/1.0 – much less than 30/1 ratio reported in 1931 by Vavon and Barbier. An intriguing study! It would be very interesting to have the raw (student) data on this one. Very little is said about the product ratios in the distillate fractions, they just report that they obtained 2.1% methylenecyclohexane and not the 4% previously reported. The dehydration of methylcyclohexanols provides a fecund problem to explore. The key is to develop methods to determine the distribution of alkene products in terms of % total alkenes. There are four possible positional isomers: I. methylenecyclohexane (Aldrich, Acros, 1192-37-6); II. racemic 3-methyl-1-cyclohexene (Acros, 591-48-0); III. 1-methyl-1-cyclohexene (Aldrich, Acros 591-49-1) IV. racemic 4-methyl-1-cyclohexene (Aldrich, Acros 591-47-9). Two of the alkene positional isomers contain an asymmetric carbon. The obvious place to start is by studying how the alcohol structure affects the product distribution of alkenes. There are 5 positional isomers of methylcyclohexanol: I. cyclohexanemethanol (Aldrich 100-49-2); II. 1-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 590-67-0); III. racemic cis&trans 2-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 583-59-5) IV. racemic cis&trans 3-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 591-23-1) V. cis&trans 4-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 589-91-3). Three of the alcohols are present in cis and trans diastereomer pairs: cis 2-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 7445-70-1) trans 2-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 7445-52-9) cis 3-methylcyclohexanol (5454-79-5) trans 3-methylcyclohexanol (7443-55-2) cis 4-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 7731-28-4) trans 4-methylcyclohexanol (Aldrich 7731-28-4). In addition there are 4 entaniomer pairs among the alcohol starting materials. Most of them are commercially available, for a price. [pic] Besides the structure of the alcohol, what other variables may be explored? 1) One variable for this reaction that could be investigated is the nature of the catalytic acid. Aqueous acids, such as the 85% H3PO4 typically used for this experiment, contain some water which is also product of the reaction. I may also add that, the amount of acid is not always in catalytic proportion to the substrate. In my current protocol 0.075 moles of acid is used to dehydrate 0.2 moles of alcohol. Non-aqueous acids may give different results. Acidic resins are an interesting substitute for aqueous acids. For example, John Ludeman and Kurt Field of Bradley University presented a poster at the 2006 ACS Great Lakes Regional Meeting on the use of Dowex 50WX2-100, Amberlite IRC-50S, and Amberlyst 15, for the dehydration of alcohols. 2) Another variable would be the reaction conditions. In the current paradigm, the alkene is distilled away from the reaction mixture. Presumably, it is being distilled away as it is formed. An ad-hoc observation is that students seem to get somewhat different product ratios if they distill is carefully or if they â€Å"crank up the heat† and distill it quicker. What if the reaction mixture was refluxed to equilibrium before distillation? Would we see more thermodynamic products? 3) Reaction conditions could be changed in other ways too. Microwave irradiation is currently being explored as an alternative to heating reactions. Possibly, sonication could also be performed on the alcohol. 4) Another avenue to explore may be different strategies to push the reaction towards the products other than distilling off the alkene. For example, removing water with molecular sieves may be tried. The last installment of this series will explore the logistics of â€Å"dehydration of methylcycohexanols† as a collaborative experiments. The most straightforward collaboration would be to perform the â€Å"dehydration of methylcycohexanols† experiment in the same way and compare the relative yield of alkenes as measured by GC from different starting alcohols. Comparisons could be made with past data or concurrently collected data from different institutions. This may be seem fairly straightforward, but there will most likely be discrepancies that could will need to be explored. One aspect to make note of would be the source and composition of the methylcyclohexanols used a starting materials. Sigma-Aldrich has †¢ 1-methylcyclohexanol #M38214; †¢ 2-methylcyclohexanol #66320, #215295, #178829, #24113, & #153087, †¢ 3-methylcyclohexanol #139734; †¢ 4-methylcyclohexanol #66360, #104183, #104191, & #153095; †¢ as well as just plain methylcyclohexanol #66370. An experimental variable that is hard to control is rate of heating. Students who crank up the hot plate to get done quickly (even though they were told not to) may get different results than those students who go slowly and maintain an even temperature. Different GC columns and methods may also give results that need to be corroborated.

A Journey Through The Valley Of Literacy Coaching Essay

Currently, I am embarking on a captivating journey through the valley of literacy coaching. Before, enrolling in this program, I was apprehensive and unsure of how I would balance work, school, and home, but somehow I managed. I am roughly, two semesters away from my goal and anxiously awaiting everything to come in to fruition. Over the past two years, I have gained a great deal of knowledge and I have expanded my teacher tool-box. Focusing on adult learning, organizational change, professional development and school culture; I have learned the roles of a literacy coach and reading specialist and how they should contribute to schools. Building relationships and collaboration is essential to being a literacy coach. A key ingredient for serving as a successful literacy coach is the ability to apply adult learning principles, because coaches need to be able to provide the best possible professional development for teachers. Coaching is not linear, but rather a process of working with t eachers that did not necessarily translate into a â€Å"quick fix† for higher student achievement scores. (Kristine Tucker) The first standard of skillful collaboration, for middle and high school literacy coaches should be to develop a school-wide literacy team to conduct a literacy needs assessment. It is important to develop a cohesive team of people, which will work towards a common goal and will enforce literacy practices across all content areas. Literacy coaches primarily work with teachersShow MoreRelatedStrategic Planning Essay1607 Words   |  7 Pagesdefine the problem: Literacy blocks are not structured to ensure differentiated instruction. 3) If you can address the problem (priority), state the desired outcome, i.e.: Effective framework, with differentiated activities, implemented in 75% of blocks. 4) Do some detective work to understand the problem and to determine root cause(s). From the data analysis the team can determine the priorities. For example: Framewo rk and differentiation activities not present in 85% of literacy blocks. 5) Based onRead MoreMost Basic and Frequently Asked Interview Questions and Answers10148 Words   |  41 Pagesdown and think before I speak. Possible weaknesses: project closure frustration, I don’t like making mistakes even though I understand that they can be necessary, I don’t like to see bullying in the workplace and I find myself supporting the weak through sympathy†¦ but then follow up by saying, â€Å"but thats life isn’t it. I believe its important to understand your weaknesses so that you can overcome them effectively.† My strengths are 1stly by looking @ my work ul come 2 know m i hard worker n il tellRead MoreIntroduction of Sahara India Pariwar16656 Words   |  67 PagesTHE COMPANY A Home called â€Å"India†, a Family called â€Å"Sahara India Pariwar† SAHARA INDIA PARIWAR HISTORY: Subroto Roy, is the head of the $10bn ( £5.5bn) Sahara Group. Sahara Group has interests in banking, media and housing. Subroto Roy began his journey in 1978, when he founded Sahara in 1978 with three workers in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh as a small deposits Para-banking business. Today, the group has diversified into a giant business conglomerate with interests in housing, entertainmentRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesdevelopment in the multistakeholder context of public sector services. BBC – structural changes to deliver a better service. Sony (B) – more structural changes at the high-tech multinational. Web Reservations International – growth of an Irish SME company through its online reservation system and business model. NHS Direct – using communication and information technology to provide new ‘gateways’ to public services. Doman Synthetic Fibres – resource planning for new pro ducts in the synthetic fibres industryRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages250 Examples of Employee Involvement Programs 251 †¢ Linking Employee Involvement Programs and Motivation Theories 252 Using Rewards to Motivate Employees 252 What to Pay: Establishing a Pay Structure 252 †¢ How to Pay: Rewarding Individual Employees Through Variable-Pay Programs 253 †¢ Flexible xii CONTENTS Benefits: Developing a Benefits Package 257 †¢ Intrinsic Rewards: Employee Recognition Programs 259 Summary and Implications for Managers 261 S A L Self-Assessment Library What’s