The profession of Arms (Army)

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The Army is the American Profession of Arms. According to the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP), Professions are members of occupation with relatively high status who apply their knowledge and expertise in a specific field of endeavor to solve a problem. The Army, as Profession of Arms, consists of experts entrusted to defend the interests and the rights of the American people under the service of the civilian authority. The members are assigned essential tasks of fighting both collectively and individually to protect the plight of its citizens.

The Army offers security services to the people of America. It has been granted the autonomy of using lethal force by the representative government on behalf of the Americans. Besides, the Army has already earned the trust of the civilian leaders, American people, as well as other junior professionals. Trust can be earned through ethics. The Army uses the Uniformed Code of Military Creed, justice, and oaths to regulate their behaviors (Cobbin & Burrows, 2018). Also, it possesses a comprehensive military form of judgment from the ethical application of land power-knowledge. The members of the Army are required to acquire that expertise through experience and continuous education. Every leader and solder must remain a steward of the profession of arms to re-earn the trust each day and to ensure the provision of effective services in the country.

The critical component of the Profession of Arms is the American Army culture. These include values, attitudes, goals, behaviors, and beliefs embedded in customs, traditions, and courtesies. While the personality depends on an individual, the culture is based on the organization. Influenced by leadership, the culture plays a critical role in shaping how the Army adapts to meet both the future and existing challenges and how they view the environment.

Reference

Cobbin, P. E., & Burrows, G. H. (2018). The profession of arms and the profession of accounting numbers–Accounting, the military and war: A review. Accounting History, 23(4), 487-520.

 

 

Early Twentieth-Century Art

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Introduction

Dadaism refers to a movement in literature and art grounded on deliberate negation and disavowal of traditional artistic values. The movement was established in the early twentieth century in Zurich and Switzerland. It was formed by artists who were against the modern capitalist society to express their discontent towards war, violence, and nationalism. They used the publication of literary/ art journals, demonstrations as well as public gathering. Artists Such as John Cage, Joseph Cornell drew a vast influence on their work from Dadaism. Inspired by Dada art, Dadaism proved to be one of the heroic revolutionary movements of the early 20th century.

Origin of Dada movement

Dadaism was started in response to World War I. The primary principle behind the Dada art movement was the modern age (Bigsby 56). Due to war, several intellectuals, artists, and writers, mostly from Germany and France, relocated to neutral Switzerland. Furious with the rise of capitalist culture, simultaneous degradation of art and war; the early 1910s artists started the exploration of new art commonly referred to as “anti-art” led by Marcel Duchamp. The idea of non-art was brought by the argument that art in society had turned meaningless. Avant-garde movements like Futurism, Cubism, Expressionism, and Constructivism also hugely influenced the Dadaism movement. The Dadaists sought the artistic medium as a way of demonstrating. To contemplate the art definition, the artist utilized the opportunity to experiment with the established object. The output of Dada art was miscellaneous, ranging from sculpture to painting, photography, collage, poetry, and performance art. Clever shots and humor supported the art. Besides, the artistic attitude of nationality and materialistic mockery proved a powerful inspiration for artists in several cities like New York, Berlin, Paris, Cologne, and Hanover. The question of the role of art in the modern age became more pertinent across the cities. Though the Dada movement was dissolved in the early 1920s, it significantly influenced many trends in the visual art field with the most popular one being Surrealism.

Influence of Dadaism on John Cage and Joseph Cornell Works

Dada and Surrealist movement put forth a significant influence on the music of the twentieth century, particularly on the New York-based avant-garde composers. The composers included John Cage and Stefan Wolpe, among others. Led by Cage, the composers cleared the way for the Dadaist artistic titled normative Dada, whose revolutionary portrayed a unique character from its European counterparts. As a result, Cage was influenced to initiate the Neo-Dada movement alongside Robert Rauschenberg and Merce Cunningham in the 1950s. The movement comprised of the American artworks between the 1950s and 1960s, serving as a reminiscent of the Dadaist’s artistic work. Neo-Dadaist like Cage used absurdist contrast and prevalent imagery as stout dada echoes of the 1950s and 1960s happenings. Also, Cage flagged several specific ideals like the artistic control of the art creation and definition as well as the role of chance in art creation, thus, defining the Neo-Dada (Bigsby 78). Cage inventive ideas on performance and composition influenced not only painters but also musicians and chorographers. He released a controversial, extremely spontaneous, and paradoxical work of art 4’33” in 1952, challenging the whole idea of music composition. Indeed, 4’33” followed the Dadaist tradition drawing on Dada poetry and Gertrude Stein influences. Other works of Cage included: X (1983), Theme and Variations (1992), Empty Words (1979), as well as M (1973). Successively, Cage created semi-coherent and evocative poetry with the assist of the computer. In other cases, he designed some pieces of performance, which went hand in hand with his music while reading them out loud.

Joseph Cornell, on the other hand, got inspired by several surrealist artists like Alberto Giacometti, among others. He began using his old books cuts illustration to create collages. In 1932, Cornell displayed his first exhibition “Objects by Joseph Cornell: Minutiae, Glass Bells, Coups d’Oeil, Jouet Surréalistes” at Levy Gallery (Reynes-Delobel and Mansanti 13). Cornell exhibited his work alongside the surrealists, who were a significant influence on the Dada movement. Also, Cornell’s participation in the New York Fantastic Art, Dada, and Surrealism in 1936 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was enormously influenced by Dada (Reynes-Delobel and Mansanti 13). Just like Dadaists, his creation involved juxtaposition and poetic imageries. An example is the shadow boxes, which were best known as poetic theatres or memory of boxes. Cornell’s famous shadow of boxes comprised of an enigmatic arrangement of collagen elements, poetic objects. The ideas and themes in Cornell’s work included music, astronomy, seashells, birds, souvenirs of travel, and broken crystals. Cornell used his inspiration from the surrealist to expose his dark childhood past, which was bombarded with a series of violence and overtly sexual abuse through the use of iconography. According to Reynes-Delobel and Mansanti, his Untitled Soap Bubble Set, featured in MoMA, became the heart of Cornell’s massive installation of his work (14). It was dubbed The Element of Natural Philosophy.

The Role of Marcel Duchamp Dada Movement

Marcel Duchamp was a French-American writer, chess player, sculptor, and a painter. His work is associated with conceptual art, Dada, and Cubism. Though he was indirectly associated with Dada groups, he had a considerable impact on both the twentieth and the twenty-first century. Duchamp, along with Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, played a significant role in the definition of the plastic arts revolutionary developments in the early twentieth century. Those innovatory were useful in the developments of sculptures and paintings. However, Duchamp’s motive for using art was serving the mind rather than pleasing the eye. The different attitudes towards art saw Duchamp reject the work of his fellow artists by World War I. While Dadaists turned into the development of art supported by scattered humor, soft obscenities, and everyday objects, so did Marcel Duchamp. Among Duchamp’s creation was an outrageous mustache painting, with scribbled obscenities and placed on a copy of Mona Lisa (Shusterman 64). Duchamp, alongside Man Ray, contributed his humor and notions towards the New York activities concurrent with the creation of The Large Glass and his Ready-mades.

In 1917, Duchamp got a breakthrough in his artistic work. The fountain urinal emerged as Duchamp’s prominent example of his linkage with the Dada upon its submission for the 1917 exhibition to the Society of Independent Artists. The fountain was, however, rejected by the show committee as it was argued to be a non-art. The incident led to the resignation of Duchamp from the board of the independent artists (Shusterman 64). Eventually, Duchamp, alongside Beatrice Wood and Henri Roche, published a Dada magazine labeled The Blind Man, which was built in commentary, humor, literature, and art. Those events marked the end of Duchamp’s participation in the Dada group.

Conclusion

Dada’s movement inspired by Dada art remains the most prevalent, unique revolutionary movement of the early 20th century. Besides, the art influenced other artists in portraying their work through poetic imagery and juxtaposition, among other forms.

Works Cited

Bigsby, Christopher William Edgar. Dada & surrealism. Vol. 22. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

Reynes-Delobel, Anne, and Céline Mansanti. “Americanizing Surrealism: Cultural Challenges in the Magnetic Fields.” Miranda. Revue pluridisciplinaire du monde anglophone/Multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal on the English-speaking world, 2017.

Shusterman, Richard. Performing live: Aesthetic alternatives for the ends of art. Cornell University Press, 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social Psychology

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Social psychology is the study of how the social environment influences people’s feelings, thoughts, as well as actions. The way an individual perceives themselves in the context of others plays a significant role in their beliefs, behaviors, and choices. Hence, other people’s opinion affects the way an individual perceives themselves and their behavior. Psychology relates to personal life in several aspects. Some of these aspects are; an individual’s way of thinking, their mental and physical health, as well as relationships. Social psychology is essential in solving everyday life challenges.

Social psychology influences social thinking through social cognition. Cognition applies to every part of human social life (Fiske, 2018). It involves the processing of the information for use in decision making. People develop social knowledge over time. This knowledge comprises information about other people, self, social groups, and social relationships. The two pieces of knowledge in social psychology, Schemas and attitude, greatly influence an individual’s social behaviors and the way they process social information. People can, therefore, comprehend how personal feelings, individual behaviors, and thoughts are influenced by the indirect, imagined, or the actual presence of others. Social influences are essential in an individual’s daily lives. People attend to both self and other people’s concerns. This not only assists in making accurate and informed decisions but also helps in accepting those people we care about, hence, increasing the level of acceptance.

Social psychology is also useful in enhancing relationships. Given that personal relationship issues are inevitable, social psychology forms the basis of the improvement of social relations with others. Personal relationships are crucial to an individual’s happiness. Through social cognition, individuals can understand how openness, validation, and complimenting others help to increase relationship bonds with colleagues, friends, and family. Social cognition also enables one to learn how refraining from toxic behavioral patterns of social comparison and jealousy can increase one’s ability to get close to others. Besides, social psychology enriches individual understanding of themselves and the surrounding environment (Fiske, 2018). By getting knowledgeable on how people perceive others, how people behave in groups, and how attitude is developed, one can appreciate the influence of individual functioning by social relationships.

Lastly, social psychology plays a significant role in an individual’s mental and physical health. These go hand in hand with each other. In everyday life, people experience different situations which trigger emotions such as sadness, happiness, pride, anger, embarrassment, among others. Such effects can be harmful if not controlled or attended. Good moods are likely to influence appropriate behaviors based on the situation or individual perception. The level of social interaction and creativity is higher. On the other hand, creativity and interaction are likely to suffer in a bad mood. When students are faced with challenges like bullying, implicit bias, and prejudice, they are likely to suffer from a mental breakdown. Mental state distortion results in impaired physical shape, which can lead to ailments and physical pain. Social support is instrumental in providing emotional support to help cope with stress, depression, and anxiety (Fiske, 2018). A strong social network also helps in dealing with crises such as poor grades and unaccomplished goals. Besides, social support helps people in staying motivated and adopting healthy behaviors and choices.

Social psychology relates to people in everyday life. Besides enriching individual’s relationships in their professional and personal lives, social psychology influences one’s thinking as well as their mental and physical health.

Reference

Fiske, S. T. (2018). Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. John Wiley & Sons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numi Tea

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Numi Tea was founded in 1999 by Reem and Ahmed Rahim who are sister and brother. The company is named after citrusy, a dried lime tea from the Middle East, which the founders used to drink in their childhood days. The joint enterprise centered in Oakland, California, is famous for its range of organic, herbal, and certified teas, as well as its fair trade. As a result, Numi Tea has developed to be one of the most influential organic tea brands. The company relies on technology as its primary advertisement tool for its products and its distribution in the market.

Importance of Business Relationships to the Marketing in Numi Organic Tea

A healthy business relationship with stakeholders is vital to the success of any business. The actions of several stakeholders contribute to the success of a company. Different stakeholders have a significant impact on the market at different levels. It is, therefore, essential for the business to be ethically accountable while considering how to influence the stakeholders. A mutual benefit relationship produces goodwill, which can result in lasting success in marketing. Business relationship with all stakeholders is, therefore, equally important; as it has a significant impact on how the business is flourishing. Furthermore, great connections and communication with both the producers and customers assist in generating a quality product. Hence, Numi’s relationship with both its producers and customers is equally significant in their marketing.

Numi’s relationship with their producers is vital to their marketing. Numi has always worked on establishing an extraordinary relationship with their producers. Creating the product, knowing the process involved and the complete product details; makes Numi stand out as a knowledgeable and reliable company (Honeyman & Jana, 2019). While various producers across the world dedicate themselves to supplying superior raw material to the enterprise, Numi Tea makes it their responsibility to build an ethical supply chain. Besides taking certification seriously, the enterprise is also attentive in building authentic relationships that enable them to comprehend the needs and the challenges of the cultivation of tea. Even though Numi’s primary filter is their direct relationship with the producers to whom they have mutual values, they are open to expand their markets and work with other producers who may lack certifications in the beginning. However, the enterprise is keen on using their hands-on model during the market expansion. In this case, they not only conduct a vigilance assessment to determine whether the producer is worth their investment but also assist the producers in getting where the enterprise desires (Honeyman & Jana, 2019). By doing this, Numi creates a mutually beneficial partnership that positions both parties for positive growth and sustainability.

Numi customer relationship is excellent for their marketing in the long run. Doing business with people who understand the company is worthwhile. The enterprise has built relationship marketing that emphasizes on establishing a long-term connection with the customers. Traditionally in transaction marketing, a buyer may perhaps select a brand once and fail to remain loyal to the brand in the future. As an alternative, they may look for other options each time they require to buy a similar product. However, when a company works on enhancing customer relationships, it encourages customer’s loyalty to the brand, thus, retaining the client. Relationship marketing not only helps in nurturing a two-way communication, but also assists in tracking the customers’ actions as well as giving customized information founded on interactions. Numi Tea excellent relationships with its customers have built the capacity of the enterprise to retain their old customers while still following buyers or chefs to their new restaurants.

Similarly, learning everything about your customer’s needs and working towards value addition in every aspect of business interaction is vital for the success of relationship marketing. Numi has regularly targeted its marketing on young customers in college campuses. This is because such clients are more likely to be interested in organics, sustainability, and fair trade.

Use of technology in Enhancing Customer Relationships in Numi Tea

The success of an enterprise is determined by marketing and the business relationship with the customers. This means that the success of a business is built on the foundation of customer loyalty. Companies depend on the customer’s connections to grow and flourish. It is, therefore, essential to keep engaging the customers. The primary tool that keeps the conversation going is marketing. With technology advancement, most of the companies today count on technology in building a strong rapport.

Numi uses technology such as Twitter and Facebook as a marketing tool. This helps it in building a reputation, create and maintain demand, and to remain competitive. The company has opened accounts on Twitter and Facebook for Numi fans. The enterprise uses staffers to monitor the sites and address any issues or queries raised regarding their products. For exemplary performance, the company’s founders Rahim and Reem often chip in by giving their personal touch via personal stories, experiences, and art. The engagement entails the provision of relevant information about the business and the product to the customers. Besides, words are the most potent and credible advertising medium (Honeyman & Jana, 2019). It’s all about coming up with new content.

 

Numi Tea management can also use other social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook to reach their customer. For instance, Numi can consider buying some advertisement time on Facebook, YouTube, as well as other social media websites. Such platforms can be used to inform the customers of what’s new and what they may not be familiar with about the company. The adverts should be interesting, to engage the customers fascinatingly fully. Undoubtedly, social media platforms are one of the best options which companies can utilize to engage their customers.

Also, the management should consider the use of various humor-laden tricks and short videos to engage their customer. By doing this, the customers can quickly develop a sense of belonging in the marketing.

Lastly, bloggers could also be used to reach customers. Numi management team can send their tea samples to different bloggers across the world, to enable them to take the pictures of the samples, which they can use to advertise Numi teas on their behalf. Possibly, they can even make some arrangements with the group on allowing them to sell their teas at a discounted price.

Methods that Numi Tea Can Use to Collect Customer Data

Numi can use survey as a method to collect data from their customer. The use of questionnaires is an excellent way of obtaining information about the customers. Such data could include gender, age, contact number, and location. Numi management team can consider making the customer identity partially anonymous throughout the process, where they exclude the contact number and the name. They can, however, include the location and age as an alternative to enable the company access where their clients come from and their age range.

The company can also use online surveys to collect customer’s data through various social media platforms. Since most of Numi customers are from college campuses, they are likely regular users of such online platforms (Khadka & Maharjan, 2017). These could involve the use of their Facebook page to create polling while still using their tweeter account to tweet some questions. The process is very swift and can easily assist both the customers and the producers. Besides, it is cheap to administer since a single member of the staff is sufficient in representing the enterprise online.

Numi could also use other social media platforms like Instagram. Through Instagram, Numi can circulate information by posting pictures of their teas as well as organizing some online contest to their followers. Social media websites can play a significant role wherever companies access the profile of their customers (Khadka & Maharjan, 2017). This can assist in tracking customer purchasing habits as well as the users’ preferences.

Lastly, Numi can consider hosting giveaways, where they distribute their samples. In this case, the customers could be requested to fill a form that warrants their entrance. Giving something in return is, no doubt, the best approach of manipulating the customers to share their personal information with the company.

Conclusion

Business relationships with both the producers and customers are equally important to the business market. Technology can be used to enhance customer relationships through the use of various engaging social media platforms. For proper assessment of consumer needs and preferences, Consumer data should be strategically collected through approaches that can later help to enhance the growth and sustainability of the company.

 

References

Honeyman, R., & Jana, T. (2019). The B corp handbook, (2nd ed.). Berret-koehler Publishers.

Khadka, K., & Maharjan, S. (2017). Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Centria University of Applied Sciences, Business Management.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do Video Games Improve Our Cognitive Abilities?

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Video games have quickly gained popularity in our society to the point of being recognized as a subculture. According to statistics in the USA, there were over 89 million game console users in the first quarter of 2017 (Gough). Furthermore, these gamers spend an average of 7.61 hours per week playing video games (Gough). This indulgence has raised the public eye leading to speculations on the possible effects of video games. Unfortunately, many of these effects reported by the media, including increased aggressiveness by the gamers, have cast the gaming community into negative limelight. This has prompted scientists to take up the matter and investigate the actual effects of video games. Consequently, science has proved that video games improve our cognitive abilities.

One of the cognitive abilities improved through playing video games is attention. Subramanian et al. point to the importance of attention as the primary cognitive process that induces a response to a stimulus (60). Multiple research studies suggest that video gamers are less distracted due to the level of attention required to play such games. Consequently, video games are increasingly being recommended for attention-deficit students. Studies by Tiitto and Lodder show that video games are therapeutic for people experiencing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The benefit of improved attention also extends to students in classes, enabling them to pay better attention to their teachers and books. This ensures that they achieve better grades.

Video games also improve visuospatial working memory. The visuospatial skills enable us to analyze visual and special forms in many dimensions. These skills are, therefore, crucial for depth and distance perception as well as movement. The working memory, on the other hand, enables us to maintain and manipulate information over seconds (Zacharopoulos, Klingberg, and Kadosh 107486). The older population is commonly faced by reduced visuospatial skills as well as impaired working memory. One of the studies showed that after playing 3D video games, older adults gained better visuospatial working memory (Toril et al. 206). The improved cognitive process, facilitated by neuroplasticity, was observed to persist for three months after the experiment.

Finally, research shows that video games may have a positive effect on the hippocampus. This is a complex brain structure with a major role in learning and memory. The hippocampus is also highly plastic and vulnerable to stimuli (Anand and Dhikav 239). West et al. report that 3D platform video games lead to an increased grey matter in the hippocampus (1566). However, it is noted that video games which do not engage the visuospatial working memory can reduce the hippocampus. Increased grey matter in the hippocampus translates to better memory and learning, improved spatial navigation, and better emotional behavior. Hence, conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy are avoided (Anand and Dhikav 239). These are associated with the reduced hippocampus.

Video games can improve our cognitive abilities. Some of the ways this is achieved is by improving the gamer’s attention, improved visuospatial working memory, and an enlargement of the hippocampus. Furthermore, these benefits can be applied as therapy for persons suffering from various cognitive impairments. These include the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia. Perhaps, it is time for more people to embrace video games for both the fun and the mental health benefits.

 

Works Cited

Anand, Kuljeet Singh, and Vikas Dhikav. “Hippocampus in health and disease: An overview.” Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology 15.4 (2012): 239.

Gough, Christina. “Average weekly hours spent playing video games in selected countries worldwide as of February 2019.” Statista, 18 Sep. 2019, www.statista.com/statistics/273829/average-game-hours-per-day-of-video-gamers-in-selected-countries/

Gough, Christina. “U.S. gamers – Statistics & Facts.” Statista, 7 Mar. 2019, www.statista.com/topics/3070/us-gamers/

Subramanian, Muthumeenakshi, et al. “Visualization of Brain Activation During Attention-Demanding Tasks Using Cognitive Signal Processing.” International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence (IJCINI) 11.1 (2017): 60-81.

Tiitto, Markus, and Robert Lodder. “Therapeutic Video Games For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).” (2017).

Toril, Pilar, et al. “Video game training enhances visuospatial working memory and episodic memory in older adults.” Frontiers in human neuroscience 10 (2016): 206.

West, G. L., et al. “Impact of video games on plasticity of the hippocampus.” Molecular psychiatry 23.7 (2018): 1566-1574.

Zacharopoulos, George, Torkel Klingberg, and Roi Cohen Kadosh. “Cortical surface area of the left frontal pole is associated with visuospatial working memory capacity.” Neuropsychologia (2020): 107486.