Dont Swim Against the Arithmetic Currents on the GMAT Quant Section

When I was a child, I was terrified of riptides. Partially, this was a function of having been raised by unusually neurotic parents who painstakingly instilled this fear in me, and partially this was a function of having inherited a set of genes that seems to have predisposed me towards neuroticism. (The point, of course, is that my parents are to blame for everything. Perhaps there is a better venue for discussing these issues.) If there’s a benefit to fears, it’s that they serve as potent motivators to find solutions to the troubling predicaments that prompt them. The solution to dealing with riptides is to avoid struggling against the current. The water is more powerful than you are, so a fight is a losing proposition   rather, you want to wait for an opportunity to swim with the current and allow the surf to bring you back to shore. There’s a profound wisdom here that translates to many domains, including the GMAT. In class, whenever we review a strategy, my students are usually comfortable applying it almost immediately. Their deeper concern is about when to apply the strategy, as they’ll invariably find that different approaches work with different levels of efficacy on different problems. Moreover, even if one has a good strategy in mind, the way the strategy is best applied is often context-dependent. When we’re picking numbers, we can say that x = 2 or x = 100 or x = 10,000; the key is not to go in with a single approach in mind. Put another way, don’t swim against the arithmetic currents. Let’s look at some questions to see this approach in action: At a picnic there were 3 times as many adults as children and twice as many women as men. If there was a total of x men, women, and children at the picnic, how many men were there, in terms of x? A) x/2 B) x/3 C) x/4 D) x/5 E) x/6 The moment we see x, we can consider picking numbers. The key here is contemplating how complicated the number should be. Swim with the current   let the question tell you. A quick look at the answer choices reveals that x could be something simple. Ultimately, we’re just dividing this value by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Keeping this in mind, let’s think about the first line of the question. If there are 3 times as many adults as children, and we’re keeping things simple, we can say that there are 3 adults and 1 child, for a total of 4 people. So, x = 4. Now, we know that among our 3 adults, there are twice as many women as men. So let’s say there are 2 women and 1 man. Easy enough. In sum, we have 2 women, 1 man, and 1 child at this picnic, and a total of 4 people. The question is how many men are there? There’s just 1! So now we plug x = 4 into the answers and keep going until we find x = 1. Clearly x/4 will work, so C is our answer. The key was to let the question dictate our approach rather than trying to impose an approach on the question. Let’s try another one: Last year, sales at Company X were 10% greater in February than in January, 15% less in March than in February, 20% greater in April than in March, 10% less in May than in April, and 5% greater in June than in May. On which month were sales closes to the sales in January? A) February B) March C)  April D)  May E)  June Great, you say. It’s a percent question. So you know that picking 100 is often a good idea. So, let’s say sales in January were 100. If we want the month when sales were closest to January’s level, we want the month when sales were closest to 100, Sales in February were 10% greater, so February sales were 110. (Remember that if sales increase by 10%, we can multiply the original number by 1.1. If they decrease by 10% we could multiply by 0.9, and so forth.) So far so good. Sales in March were 15% less than in February. Well, if sales in Feb were 110, then the sales in March must be 110*(0.85). Hmm A  little tougher, but not insurmountable. Now, sales in April were 20% greater than they were in March, meaning that April sales would be 110*(0.85)*1.2. Uh oh.   Once you see that sales are 10% less in May than they were in April, we know that sales will be 110*(0.85)*1.2*0.9. Now you need to stop. Don’t swim against the current. The arithmetic is getting hard and is going to become time-consuming. The question asks which month is closest to 100, so we don’t have to calculate precise values. We can estimate a bit. Let’s double back and try to simplify month by month, keeping things as simple as possible. Our February sales were simple: 110. March sales were 110*0.85   an unpleasant number. So, let’s try thinking about this a little differently. 100*0.85 = 85.   10*0.85 = 8.5. Add them together and we get 85 + 8.5 = 93.5.   Let’s make life easier on ourselves   we’ll round up, and call this number 94. April sales are 20% more than March sales. Well, 20% of 100 is clearly 20, so 20% of 94 will be a little less than that. Say it’s 18. Now sales are up to 94 + 18 = 112. Still not close to 100, so we’ll keep going. May sales are 10% less than April sales. 10% of 112 is about 11. Subtract 11 from 112, and you get 101. We’re looking for the number closest to 100, so we’ve got our answer – it’s D, May. Takeaway: Don’t try to impose your will on GMAT questions. Use the structural clues of the problems to dictate how you implement your strategy, and be prepared to adjust midstream. The goal is never to conquer the ocean, but rather, to ride the waves to calmer waters. Plan on taking the GMAT soon? We have  GMAT prep courses  starting all the time. And be sure to follow us on  Facebook,  YouTube,  Google+  and  Twitter! By  David Goldstein,  a Veritas Prep GMAT instructor based in  Boston. You can find more articles written by him  here.

Effective Communication Essay - 1904 Words

Communication is essential for an organisation to operate effectively and efficiently. Effective communication helps to ensure that information is relayed accordingly and accurately within the organisation. If the relay of information is inaccurate, the organisation’s productivity may be affected. This essay will describe the concept of communication in relation to management and explain how effective communication is undermined by barriers such as cultural differences, generational differences and filtering of information by referring to academic literature such as journal articles. Furthermore, an example will be used to explain how managers can increase the productivity and performance of their organisation by developing an effective†¦show more content†¦The reason for this is because, they did not understand the information passed to them by their English speaking co-workers or the English speaking co-workers did not understand their accent (Tagreed 2012). This ma y result in inaccurate information being relayed. Generational Diversity is also a barrier for effective communication as different generations have different ways of relaying and processing information. Tolbize (2008) states that generational diversity has made the workplace more rigid and demanding. The author further states that the four main generations in the current workforce are the Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. Kyles (2005) notes that people communicate differently to others even if the difference in age is five years. The Veterans are also known as the traditional generation. The reason for this because the Veterans are strict followers of formality and authority (Tolbize 2008). The author further states that the Veterans and Baby Boomers do not question authority and use formal methods and language when communicating. Generation X and Y are more flexible in their work life (Tolbize 2008). 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Reverticalization of Outsourcing and Offshoring Term Paper

Essays on Reverticalization of Outsourcing and Offshoring Term Paper The paper "Reverticalization of Outsourcing and Offshoring" is a great example of a term paper on finance and accounting. Emergently, U.S. companies are shifting their focus from outsourcing and offshoring their operations and subsequently relocating them to the United States. According to Noreen, Brewer, and Garrison (2014), the reversal of the offshoring and outsourcing practice has gained prominence as the leading companies opt to re-strategize their operations by relocating foreign subsidiaries back into the country. This essay is aimed at discussing the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing and offshoring versus the re-establishment of companies back into the United States.   Outsourcing/ OffshoringAdvantages Outsourcing and offshoring practices have been characterized by key advantages that have led to their widespread adoption. Outsourcing enables companies to transfer production tasks to specialized vendors with the expertise and resources in a particular field. The model, therefore, leads to high-quality products and saving on time. In addition, offshoring facilitates steady growth with limited overhead costs (Noreen et al. 2014). Through offshoring, firms are exposed to low-cost labor and readily available raw materials. On the other hand, outsourcing enhances risk-sharing as companies shift selected responsibilities to other vendors. In relation to corporate tax, foreign subsidiaries have provisions to defer paying corporate tax until the earnings are transferred back into the United States. Subsequently, the demerits of outsourcing and offshoring practices have been the focus of public debate in light of the recent economic recession.Reverticaliza tion of Outsourcing and Offshoring Offshoring majorly leads to the transfer of employment opportunities to the emergent market. This is in contrast to the emergent trend of re-verticalization that is rooting for the relocation of key companies into the US. Re-verticalization positively contributes to the creation of job opportunities in the country and revitalization of the economy through the 35 % corporate tax (R. Hira A. Hira, 2008). The relocation of firms in the US further underlines the effective management of confidential data by eliminating third parties as opposed to offshoring that majorly avails recruitment and payroll information to offshoring vendors. Re-verticalization further eludes risks associated with hidden costs resulting from international transactions and contracts that add up to the overhead costs. Consequently, re-verticalization of the key operations of companies also advances the company’s focus on customers. With offshoring, vendors engaged with nu merous organizations thereby failing to meet client-specific needs of an organization (R. Hira A. Hira, 2008). In contrast, re-verticalization concentrates on the core operations of an institution based on the corporate and business strategy of the company.

Post Modernism Essay Example For Students

Post Modernism Essay Art Spiegelman’s Maus II is a book that tells more than the story of one family’s struggle to live thought the Holocaust. It gives us a look into the psyche of a survivor’s child and how the Holocaust affected him and many other generations of people who were never there at all. Maus II gives the reader a peek into the psyche of Art Spiegelman and the affects of having two parents that survived the Holocaust had on him. Spiegelman demonstrates the affects of being a survivor’s child in many ways throughout the book. Examining some of these will give us a better understanding of what it was like to be a part of the Holocaust. In this frame Spiegelman displays his anger with being compared to his died brother, Richieu. His aunt poisoned Richieu because she did not want the Nazis to take him to the concentration camps. The only thing his parents had to remember him by was a picture that hung on their bedroom wall. Spiegelman believed that his parents look at the picture and thought that Richieu was the perfect child. Richieu could do no wrong in their eyes and would have made his parents proud; unlike Art, Richieu would have made all the right choices. He would have gotten the right job and married the right girl. No matter what Art did, he felt that he was a failure compared to his brother. Another example of Art’s psyche coming out in the book is at his psychiatrist’s, Pavel, office. Pavel is a survivor like his father and mother where, he helps Art to deal with issue that have come from being the child of a survivor. Art has a hard time dealing with the feeling that no matter what he accomplishes it will never equal the fact his parents survived Auschwitz. Pavel tries to explain to Art that he should not feel guilt for not being there, because that is not his fault. Art struggle with this feeling throughout the book. The feeling that his mother and father did this great thing by surviving, but the truth of it is they were just the lucky. In the camps the killing was random and either one could have been killed at any minute, so the truth is they just got lucky to make it through. The last scene in the book is a very important one, it give a good look in the mind of Spiegelman. It takes place in Vladek’s bedroom after Art and Vladek finish taping a conversation. By this point in the book Vladek is becoming more and more disoriented caused by age and his failing health. His wife, Mala, is very worried about him; he is losing his way and starting to forget things. During the conversation Vladek calls Art by his brother’s, Richieu, name. Shortly after they talk Vladek passes away. This scene show us that finally, right before his father’s death, Art realizes at he is not inferior to Richieu. Vladek calls Art Richieu because he is proud of what his son has done and see no difference between the two. Art spent his whole life believing that his parents loved Richieu because he was the perfect child, never thinking that his parents loved him just as much. It took the time he and his father spend together talking about the Holocaust for them to grow close enough for Art to realize that his father did love just as much as he had Richieu. From a feeling anger for a brother he never know Spiegelman’s psyche is deeply affected by the Holocaust. Even though he was not a part of it himself, the Holocaust played a huge role in his life.

Is the Constitution Still Relevant Today Essay Example

Is the Constitution Still Relevant Today ? Essay Is the constitution still relevant today? Some would say that it is not and never has been. However, I happen to think otherwise. The constitution was written to establish our rights and freedoms as citizens. In my opinion the constitution is still relevant today. When you think of the different parts of the constitution it all makes sense. We have the amendments and our rights, the amendments clarify the duties of the government and branches. The bill of rights is focused on the people and their freedoms from the government. The rules in the constiuton are still used by our national government today. And our people are still excercising their rights, such as the right to vote and the right to bear arms. Under the amendments you have three specific branches and they are; Judicial, Executive; and Legislative. The executive and legislative come up with different rights and either branch has the right to allow or dismiss the law. The judicial branch is in charge of enforcing those laws and making sure they are withheld. Even today the president is under the executive branch, the congress and house is under the legislative, and the judges and law enforcement is under the judicial. We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Constitution Still Relevant Today ? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Constitution Still Relevant Today ? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Constitution Still Relevant Today ? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Today in our country the president, congress, or house will come up with a law and either say yay or nay . And the judicial makes sure citizens like us follow through with these laws. The bill of rights gave us citizens certain freedoms such as the freedom of speech, right to bear arms, double jeopardy, etc. Today we excercise those rights in our everyday lives. Such as the news media, they have the freedom of speech so they voice their opinions on our government and how it is being ran everyday.

Costume Kyle Parham Punk Essays

Costume Kyle Parham Punk Essays Costume Kyle Parham Punk Essay Costume Kyle Parham Punk Essay Discovery Project History of Costume Kyle Parham Punk Began as a music based subculture in them mid 1970s in England and slowly started to be culturally excepted in America in the mid to late 70s, exactly which region originated punk has long debated and a major controversy within the punk movement. Within the subculture, there are many different factions, such as New Wave, 2 tone, Pop Punk, Hardcore Punk, No Wave, Street Punk, and 01. Many of the sub groups sought to get rid of the frivolous parts of being punk in the later years of the first movement. The Punk culture later dissipated and was dormant until a new version of began to spring up in the United states in the early 90s known as Grudge. Fashion for Punks has always been broken down in to five main areas, clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, body modifications, and hairstyles. Many different sources have been gathered to form what is known as punk fashion such as Glam Rock, Greasers, Mods, and Skinheads to name a few. (Hebdige, 1981) Arguably the most well-known Punk fashion designer Vivenne Westwood, who created a line of fashions in her London punk boutique, was affordable to rich and poor alike. The typical male punk look was a black leather Jacket with long hair or a bald head, tight pants usually Jeans ana rlppea clotnlng. I ne punk Temale style was comprlsea In tne Tlowlng manner, dark makeup, fishnet stockings, tight miniskirts of mostly leather, corsets and shirts, and razor blades as Jewelry. Both men and women would rip there cloths on purpose, then proceed to patch them up with their own do it your self-attitude. Most ccessorys for a shirt were random spots of bright or subdue dyes, safety-pins, huge patches of other fabrics and long lengths of metal chains. (Young rebels of, 2013) I like punk fashion because it is something I feel I understand, it is easy for me to see why it holds such a big standard for some peoples lives. I love the punk aspect of life, from the music to the life style. It is not Just about dressing weird and lessening to weird music, to me, its about standing up for something greater than yourself and believing what you like is good. I feel like I identify with the loud make up, outrageous fashion and the way punks live there life. I speaks to me on a deep level. Due to my limited budget I chose to make one of my own personal shirts in to what I feel modern day punk is. I started with a pink shirt because its a bright color that will attract attention to the person warring it. Then I began to think like a punk and thus started to craft my t-shirt in to something a punk would be proud of. I first cut the collar off of the shirt then a strip down the spine of the shirt along with the sleeves ut slightly off. I then proceeded to replace the spine section with safety pins and wire. I also reattached the sleeves with paper clips with wire as well to give it patched up feel. To continue the Patched and DYI feel I began to work on the front of the shirt making tares and holes all the while patching them with random fabrics and newspaper to give a proper punk vibe. After a lot of trial and error with the newspaper I decided to cut the newspaper. I also used zip ties to bunch shoulders ogether; I used zip ties to give the allusion of spikes on the shoulders which, to me, are an iconic look for the punk youth. Sources: Hebdige, D. (1981). Subculture: The meaning of style. Middleton, Connecticut : Wesleyan University Press. Retrieved from princeton. edu/†achaney/tmve/ wiki100k/docs/Punk fashion. html Young rebels of the 70s. the history of punk style. (2013, March 22). Retrieved from http://mw. . reporte rsvintage. com/decade/70ts-the-look-and-what-happened/139- young-rebels-of-the-70-s-the-history-of-punk-style. html

Campaign Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Campaign Analysis - Essay Example In September 2004, the campaign for real beauty was officially launched for the rise of some consciousness of all issue associate with beauties. The campaign was purposely meant to challenge the stereotypes that had been set by the beauty industry. It had numerous intentions in making as many women as possible feel beautiful every day. The campaign led to the release of the global research that explored the relationship between women and beauty and what beauty links to their happiness all across the world. It was such an effective campaign and was accompanied with much advertising that inspires the society and more especially women to think differently about the definition of beauty. The campaign was also attached with some fundraising initiatives that were aimed at helping young girls who had low self-esteem related to their beauty. The DOVE SELF ESTEEM FUND supported the fund raising initiatives. According to the campaign, every woman was to possess something beautiful and unique. Sixty eight percent of all people believe that unrealistic standards of beauty exist within the advertising world and the media. Forty-seven percent has believed that only attractive women are portrayed in the well-known cultures while eighty-five percent agree that beauty can be achieved through spirit and personal attitude. This was critically analyzed throughout the campaign period that left many individuals convinced about the associated beauty with the dove products. The associated strengths with the company include its broad market equipped with quality products. Their advertising is very much inspiring with much emotional appeal. This has created perfect public relations that give it enormous strengths compared to its competitors. The company has also a positive self-image. This act as a driving factor in motivates every undertaking within the company creates a motivating factor to all the stakeholders. They make broad