Dmitri Shostakovich and the Soviet State Essay -- Soviet History

Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. He achieved fame, but with much hardship along the way. He was censored and threatened with not only his life but that of his wife and children by playing the role of a public figure in Soviet Russia. The question is was he a committed communist or a victim? The events in his life, good or bad, shaped the music that he created and led to one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century, his Fifth Symphony. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia on September 25, 1906, Shostakovich was the second of three children born to Dmitri Boleslavovich Shostakovich and Sofiya Vasilievna Kokoulina. His father was of Polish descent but both his parents were Siberian natives. Dmitri was a child prodigy as a pianist and composer. He began taking piano lessons from his mother at the age of nine. He displayed an incredible talent to remember what his mother had played at the previous lesson and would get caught pretending to read the music, playing the music from his last lesson instead of what was placed in front of him. In 1919, at the age of thirteen, he was allowed to enter the Petrograd Conservatory in Saint Petersburg and studied piano with Leonid Nikolayev. Because the conservatory was poorly funded, it did not have heat; the students had to wear coats, hats and gloves constantly only taking off their gloves when composing. Because of these poor living conditions Dmitri developed tuberculosis of the lymph glands in spring 1923 and had to have an operation. Nevertheless, he completed his final piano examinations at the conservatory in June with his neck still bandaged. Shostakovich, though very intelligent and talented, was seen as immature in his fin... ...alled. Works Cited †¢ Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A history of western music. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print. †¢ Fanning, David. Shostakovich studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print. †¢ Hurwitz, David, and DmitriÄ ­ Dmitrievich Shostakovich. Shostakovich symphonies and concertos: an owner's manual. Pompton Plains, N.J.: Amadeus ;, 2006. Print. †¢ Norris, Christopher. Shostakovich, the man and his music. Boston: M. Boyars, 1982. Print. †¢ Volkov, Solomon, and Antonina W. Bouis. Shostakovich and Stalin: the extraordinary relationship between the great composer and the brutal dictator. New York: Knopf, 2004. Print. †¢ David Fanning and Laurel Fay. "Shostakovich, Dmitry." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 14 Apr. 2012 .

Competition between local and foreign products

One of the fastest growing countries in the East. This results from unavoidable phenomena of globalization that bring together global companies becoming one market including in Malaysia. Consumers are presented with a variety of international brands such as Apple, Mercedes-Benz, and Role watches. Therefore, it increases the degree competition between domestic and foreign product. Generally, the competition Involves three distinct aspects such as the taste and preference, quality and price range. Foreign and local brands are occupying the local market competitively.Customers' references for both brands differ in some ways and one of it is the brand personality. Asker, 1996 mentions that customers' preferences are subject to the emphasis of brand personality. For example, consumers are much more exposed to international brands as these products are Intensely advertised globally to make them more recognizable worldwide (Hassle, 2004). As compared to local labels; which only limited in s tores, foreign labels are way desirable. Other than that, customers' preferences are subject to the location and environment where the products are available.Both local and foreign merchandises have specific places as where to get heir products. For example, there are plenty of street stalls offering local foods meanwhile people will have to go to decent places for non-local ones. Customers who prefer more choices will most likely buy local ones. On the other hand, for those who are willing to spend a bit go for non-local ones because of the ambiance plus It Is more hygienic compared to street foods. Accessibility in which customers can reach those products also plays an important role in assisting consumers' decision.There is easier access to get local brands compared to foreign brands. For example, customers can just go to their nearby small groceries shops to buy local products. Foreign products such as pasta or seasonal fruits Like apples are only available In supermarkets or hy permarkets. Practically, both products have their own uniqueness and strategies to meet customers' wants and preferences. Furthermore, quality Is also one of the aspects in the competitive markets between local products and foreign products.Persona and Mediumistic have been competitors in term of safety and structure of the vehicle in an automotive industry for years. ‘Ixia' were developed in Malaysia automotive manufacturer in the name of Persona ‘s company, while ‘Mirage' developed In Japan automotive manufacturer named Mediumistic Motor company. Both cars share some similarity In terms of safety ‘s quality. It has 5 doors hatchback, point settable, antiknock system with electronic break-force distribution, brake assist, and SOFIA system.Besides that, the differences of safety features for Ixia are dual airbags, solar and security window film and the key with integrated remote control. For Mirage, it has 7 airbags which include front and side bags for drive r and passenger seats, side curtain bags over front and rear window and knee airbag for driver, usual suite of electronic safety system that consists of stability motorcar is rarely different. In this modern era, the facilities of the motorcar are getting more compact and it is fully equipped with modern design and technologies devices.The inner design of Mirage is far more behind than Ixia in the new market arena. For instance, Ixia has touch screen DVD player with Bluetooth and Navigation system, the tissue component behind the front passenger seats as in it interior while the turning signal been located on the retractable mirror as it exterior compare to Mirage which only side mirror deflector, push start button and also smart key as its special features. Similarity, both cars have leather seat and leather-wrapped steering wheel.Therefore, Persona Ixia has reached the value of quality where the price met the expectation of a product. The most noteworthy difference is the price be tween the local product and foreign product in Malaysia. Commonly, the price of foreign product is more expensive than the local product because it is imported from other places which involving shipping fee, money exchange and taxes for importing goods. For example, when we exchange Ringing to foreign money such as Singapore dollar, the Ringing value is becomes lesser and causing the item has higher price in Malaysia.According to Nikkei Official website 2014, there is an $8 shipping fee will be charge per shoes. Other than that, Malaysia also charges higher tax on foreign product than local products. A motor vehicle is one of the examples that we can speak about. Lee (2013) mention that due to the reason on combination of high duties and tax cars plus decreasing loss from outflow of ringing to foreign country, Malaysia is one of the countries that has some of the highest car prices in the world. ENG (2013) said that there is a 65% to 105% excise tax, plus 10% sales tax was charged o n motor vehicle in Malaysia.It is obviously can be seen that the price plays major role in the competition between local products and foreign products in Malaysia. It is unquestionable, there is a strong competition between local and imported product that offered in our country. Therefore, Malaysian citizen should support the Government initiative through the ‘Buy Malaysia Product Campaign'. The implementation of this campaign is to promote interest among the Malaysian consumer to purchase more local brands. In conjunction with that, it helps the local entrepreneurs to grow and compete in producing more quality and standardized product.As a result, it boosts the domestic economy as we can export Malaysian product to another country, at the same time to promote our local products in the global market. One of the examples of successful Malaysian product is KIND, which invented greatest electrical home appliances and making millions of sales from exporting to over 50 countries (K IND, 2010). Hence, consumers should not underestimate our local products but build a positive perception and buy Malaysia made products.

What is Earmark Spending in the US Congress

Earmark spending; also called pork barrel spending, is funding inserted into the annual federal budget by individual legislators in the U.S. Congress for special projects or purposes of interest to their constituents. Gaining the approval of earmark spending projects typically helps the sponsoring legislator earn the votes of his or her constituents. The Government’s Definition of Earmark Spending A 2006 report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the research arm of Congress, on earmark spending noted that there was no single accepted â€Å"definition of the term earmark accepted by all practitioners and observers of the appropriations process†¦Ã¢â‚¬  However, the CRS did conclude that two types of earmarks were common: hard earmarks, or â€Å"hardmarks,† found in the actual text of legislation, and soft earmarks, or â€Å"softmarks,† found in the reports of  congressional committees  on legislation. Appearing in enacted laws, hard earmark spending provisions are legally binding, while soft earmarks are not legally binding, they are often treated as if they were during the  legislative process. According to the CRS, the most commonly accepted definition of earmark spending is, â€Å"Provisions associated with legislation (appropriations or general legislation) that specify certain congressional spending priorities or in revenue bills that apply to a very limited number of individuals or entities. Earmarks may appear in either the legislative text or report language (committee reports accompanying reported bills and joint explanatory statement accompanying a conference report).† Often tucked as amendments into the larger annual appropriations bills of the federal budget, earmark spending projects often come under criticism as being rushed through Congress without the full debate and scrutiny devoted to the larger parent bill. Perhaps most significantly, earmark spending often results in the expenditure of large sums of taxpayer money to help a limited number of people. For example, in 2005, $223 million was earmarked by the Senate Committee on Appropriations chair Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to build a bridge to connect an Alaskan town of 8,900 to an island with a population of 50, saving a short ferry ride. Creating an uncharacteristic uproar in the Senate, the earmark nicknamed the Bridge to Nowhere, was removed from the spending bill. Criteria to be Considered Earmark Spending To be classified as an earmark spending, at least one of the following should apply: The requested funding is not specifically authorized as necessary for the basic operations of the government in the annual budget.The funding is requested by only one chamber of Congress.The funding was not included in the Presidents Budget Request.The funding results in a substantial increase over the amounts projected in the presidents budget.The funding is for a project that will benefit a small population or a narrow special interest. Financial Impacts of Earmark Spending Unlike Sen. Stevens Bridge to Nowhere, many earmarks make it into the approved budget. In 2005 alone, over 14,000 earmark projects, costing about $27 billion were approved by Congress. The House Appropriations Committee receives about 35,000 earmark spending requests per year. In the ten-year period from 2000 through 2009, the U.S. Congress approved earmark spending projects worth about $208 billion. Attempts to Control Earmark Spending Over the past several years, several members of Congress have attempted to rein in earmark spending. In December of 2006, the Chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Committee, Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) and Representative David Obey (D-Wisconsin, 7th), with the support of incoming Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), vowed to put into place reforms to the federal budget process designed to bring transparency and openness to earmark spending.Under the Obey-Byrd plan, legislators sponsoring each earmark project would be publicly identified. In addition, the draft copies of all bills or amendments to bills proposing earmark spending would be made available to the public -- before any votes were taken -- at every stage of the legislative process, including the  committee consideration and approval process.During 2007, earmark spending dropped to $13.2 billion, a significant decrease from the $29 billion spent in 2006. In 2007, nine of the 11 annual s pending bills were subject to a moratorium on earmark spending that was enforced by House and Senate Appropriations Committee under the chairmanship of Sen. Byrd and Rep. Obey. In 2008, however, a similar moratorium proposal failed and earmark spending jumped to $17.2 billion. Earmark Spending in 2018 According to the independent watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste, 232 earmark spending provisions were approve in the Fiscal Year 2018 federal budget, a 42.3 percent increase over the 163 in FY 2017. The cost to taxpayers of earmark spending in FY 2018 was $14.7 billion, an increase of 116.2 percent from the $6.8 billion in FY 2017. Since FY 1991, Congress has approved 110,861 earmark spending projects, costing a combined $344.5 billion. Earmark Spending Fast Facts Earmark spending or â€Å"pork barrel† spending is generally considered to be any request for funding added to the annual budget of the federal government by members of Congress to pay for projects of interest only to the residents of their state or congressional district.Lawmakers typically see gaining the approval of their pet earmark spending projects as a â€Å"feather in their political caps† helping them win the future votes of their constituents.Earmark spending is often added into lager annual general appropriations bills in the form of amendments.Earmark spending is often criticized as being rushed through Congress without adequate consideration, and for spending large amounts of taxpayer money on only a few citizens.

Why Students Cheat and How to Stop It

Cheating in schools has reached epidemic proportions. The vast majority of young people (and adults for that matter) believe that cheating is wrong. Yet, by nearly every poll, most young people cheat at least once in their high school career. Why students cheat poses a challenging question for educators and parents. Here are some answers to these questions followed by possible solutions to minimize or eliminate cheating. Why Students Cheat Everybody does it: Its disturbing to discover that young people in middle school and high school think that it is acceptable to cheat. But the majority of tests that educators give encourage this behavior. Take multiple-choice tests, for example. They literally invite students to cheat. Unrealistic academic demands: The public education sector is accountable to the government. State legislatures, state boards of education, local boards of education, unions, and countless other organizations demand action to correct the real and imagined failings of the nations public education system. As a result, students must take standardized tests so that officials and parents can compare one school system to another nationally and at the state level. In the classroom, these tests mean that a teacher must achieve the expected results or better, or she will be viewed as ineffective, or worse, incompetent. So instead of teaching students how to think, she teaches them how to pass standardized tests. The temptation to plagiarize: Years ago cheaters lifted whole passages from an encyclopedia and called them their own. That was plagiarism. Plagiarisms current incarnation is even easier: The students simply points and clicks his way to the website with the relevant information, copies and paste it, reformats it somewhat, and passes it off as his own. Possible Solutions Schools need to have zero-tolerance policies concerning cheating. Teachers must be vigilant and alert to all of the newer forms of cheating, particularly electronic cheating. Smartphones and computer tablets  are powerful tools for cheating. Fighting the tools that make it tempting to cheat can be challenging, but if the stakeholders are willing to take the necessary steps, they can help reduce cheating. Teachers:  The best solution is to make learning exciting and absorbing. Teachers should make the learning process student-centric. They should allow students to buy into the process and empower them to guide and direct their learning. Teachers can encourage creativity and critical thinking as opposed to rote learning. There are some specific steps teachers can take: Model integrity, no matter what the cost.Dont assume young people know why cheating is wrong, both from a personal and corporate perspective.Enable students to understand the meaning and relevance of an academic lesson.Foster an academic curriculum that perpetuates real-world applications of knowledge.Dont force cheating underground—let students know that you understand the pressures and, at least initially, be reasonable in responding to violations. Parents:  Parents have a huge role to play in combating cheating. Thats because children mimic almost everything parents do. Parents must set the right sort of example for their children to emulate. Parents must also take a genuine interest in their childrens work. They should ask to see everything and anything and discuss everything and anything. An involved parent is a powerful weapon against cheating. Students:  Students must learn to be true to themselves and their own core values. They should not let peer pressure and other influences steal their dreams. Parents and educators should emphasize that if students are caught cheating, there will be serious consequences. Also, this might seem simplistic, but students need to understand why cheating is wrong. Dr. Thomas Lickona, a developmental psychologist and education professor, defined a few points to emphasize to students about cheating. Lickona says that parents and teachers should explain to students that cheating: Will lower self-respect because you can never be proud of anything you earned by cheating.Is a lie because it deceives other people into thinking you know more than you do.Violates the teachers trust and undermines the whole trust relationship between the teacher and his class.Is unfair to all people who arent cheating.Will lead to more cheating in other situations later in life—perhaps even in personal relationships. Foiling Electronic Cheating When essay topics are generic, there seems to be more opportunity to cheat. By contrast, when the essay topic is specific to class discussions and/or unique to the courses stated goals, it becomes more difficult for students to go to web sources to lift material or download papers. When the teacher expects the papers development to follow a step-by-step process that requires students to document their topic, thesis, outline, sources, rough draft, and final draft, there are fewer opportunities to cheat. If there are regular in-class writing assignments, a teacher can come to know the students writing style, allowing him to recognize plagiarism when it occurs. There are a few steps teachers can take to combat and prevent plagiarism and other electronic cheating: Use a plagiarism detection service like  Turnitin.com  to catch plagiarism.Forbid the use of smart devices in exam rooms.Secure the grade program and database.Look for crib notes anywhere and everywhere. Teachers need to be vigilant. Trust but verify. They must be aware of the possibilities for cheating which are all around them. Sources Lickona, Thomas. â€Å"Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues.†Ã‚  Amazon, Simon Schuster, 2004.Niels, Gary J. â€Å"Academic Practices, School Culture and Cheating Behavior. Winchesterthurston.org.â€Å"NMPLB: Cheating. FlyLady.net.â€Å"One Third of Teens Use Cellphones to Cheat in School.†Ã‚  U.S. News World Report, U.S. News World Report.Sperling, Melanie. â€Å"Cheating: Todays High School Norm?†Ã‚  Wayland Student Press.Wallace, Kelly. â€Å"High-Tech Cheating On The Rise At Schools.†Ã‚  CBS News, CBS Interactive, 17 June 2009. Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski

Pan s Labyrinth And Heroic Ofelia Essay - 1407 Words

Pan’s Labyrinth and Heroic Ofelia The hero is one of the most commonly seen archetypes throughout literature and film. While there are many different types of heroes, there are particular characteristics that identify a character as a hero. These characteristics are largely not in regards to who the hero is: personality traits, beliefs, or values – rather, these attributes concern the hero’s journey and the actions the hero takes while on that journey. In Guillermo Del Toro’s film, Pan’s Labyrinth, Ofelia is an archetypal hero because she is born into royalty, leaves her family and land, goes on an adventure, receives supernatural help, proves herself many times, and is rewarded spiritually when she dies. The first indication that Ofelia is a heroic character is that she is born into royalty and then leaves her family and land. According to Bryan Davis, two characteristics of an archetypal hero are that their birth occurs under unusual circumstances – such as being born into royalty – and that the hero leaves their family and land, and goes to live with someone else (Davis). At the beginning of Pan’s Labyrinth, the narrator tells a story about a princess who dreamt of the human world. The princess escaped from her family and went to the human world, where she was blinded by the sun and her memory was erased. The story continues to state that the princess eventually died in the human world, but her father (king of the underworld) believed that her soul would one day return

Effects of Free Essays

Marina Less, an 18th century female writer, gets plenty of fan mail, yet she only rarely replies. She feels compelled to answer to one woman in particular, Pierce, an older female dreaming to be a writer. Less’ inspires Pierce by relating to her in many ways. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of or any similar topic only for you Order Now Being a female writer in (1866), she appeals to her character and credibility by sharing personal experiences and shared values. She also informs Pierce about the qualities that she herself has that helped her to succeed. Time and wisdom is what Less feel is necessary to become a successful writer. By making a personal connection between the two women, Less is able to tell Price what it takes. The most important qualities that Less says are needed are wisdom and experience. With that being said, one gains wisdom through experience- you cannot make your writing believable without it. Using loaded words such as â€Å"genuine, trashy, and unripe†, Less expresses the importance of waiting until you have been more fulfilled in life. Less also appeals to Pierce’s emotions by â€Å"stooping to her level† to con next more strongly with Price. In this way, Price will take Less’ advice more to heart. Because this letter is written in 1866, the reader is lead to imply that women had very little rights. Women were given no respect in general, much less while being a woman author. Still today is the 21st century; women authors are using pen names so that their readers will see them as equals. They feared their male readers would not want to read her books because she is a woman. Considering all of this plus the time period, Price is at a disadvantage. In order to connect to on a more intimate level, Less uses feminism to unite their goals in a world run by men. Less reassures Price that even though she is a woman and although she is monotony she can still do whatever she puts her mind to. Although the reader is unaware of Pierce’s writing abilities, Less feels confident in her and uses her own credibility to relate the two writers together in order to boost Pierce’s confidence as a writer. Informing Pierce of their common ground, Less’ persuades her by tapping into her emotions. Because she feels compelled to respond, she also succeeds in motivating Pierce by using rhetorical schemes such as personal experience and the two women’s shared values. How to cite Effects of, Papers

Critical Challenges Implications and Management Skills

Question: Discuss about the Critical Challenges for Implications and Management Skills. Answer: Introduction: In this article bigger organizations of New Zealand have been surveyed, where their chief executives of 265 large organizations belonging to various sectors have been surveyed (Boxall Purcell, 2011). This article tries to analyse the biggest challenges and risks that are faced by chief executives of these large organisations that belong to private, public and not-for-profit sectors, while examining the implications for their management skills. The article suggests clearly that the income and the productivity gap in comparison to Australia is major concern for New Zealand . The results of the survey indicate that with the rapid changes in technologies and markets the chief executives in New Zealand are also facing several challenges, on one hand they have to face war of talent both nationally as well as internationally and then they have to adjust to constrained funds on which they have very less control (Yukl et al., 2002). Thus in this economic environment where the costs are escal ating and the climate of higher demands prevails some major challenges that they have to face are : management of partners stakeholders; managing renewal and uncertainty as well as managing resources along with people . The article states that the HR specialists of the organizations have a major role to play in the entire development process. This essay will critically analyse the various aspects like strengths and weaknesses, thesis statement/ questions in the article along with my personal viewpoint on the subject. A particular statement that is able to provide the summary of the major idea of entire research paper while expressing it ion clear cut manner , what is the main purpose for conducting research in relation to specific topic of study is called as Thesis statement . Thus it helps in finding out the particular topic that is to be studied and analysed and the aim that the paper will serve (Purdue University, 2016). Thus on the basis of the definition given above the thesis statement or the research question that has guided the above article is: Finding and examining the highest level major challenges that the chief executives of large organizations in New Zealand face in the current business environment, while also discussing their managerial implications for the management skills of New Zealand, while considering the manner in which the human resource practitioners can promote and support such kind of skill development (Hutchison Boxall, 2014). Some of the major strengths and weaknesses that have been found in this article while analysing it in-depth have been discussed below: One major strength of this research article is that the topic chosen for study that is the critical challenges facing New Zealands chief executives : implications for management skills is very much conducted timely because after the global financial crisis ( GFC) that occurred in 2008-09 in New Zealand (Bcker Poutsma, 2010) , the country just like other nations has been experiencing lower economic growth. Then the literature review that has been conducted completely provides an outline of the organizational landscape as well as key features of New Zealand, while reviewing the maximum existing researches conducted on management capabilities. The article has also conducted a clear cut and valid comparison with not juts neighbouring countries like Australia but also the economically stable nations like UK and US. Then the research also considers various sectors that are very successful as well as the sectors in which the nation is lagging behind have also been considered (ResearchGate, 2010). The main focus of the literature review is to fund the research gaps while mentioning the previous research that have focussed on related topic of study , considering the various opinions of chief executives who are capable of understanding these challenges in much better way (Randolf, 2009). Chief executives have been chosen as the population for study because they are the major decision makers in the management and all the three sectors have been covered for study including private, public and not-for-profit organizations. Thus the sample chosen for study is well representative one comprising of wide range of organizational sizes as well as range of industries as well (Salant Dillman, 1994) . The survey used mixed methods for conducting research that is combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used. The quantitative section of questionnaire had questions on which respondents need to rate the challenges and risks on Likert scale. A pilot test was also conducted before sending the questionnaire to the respondents on MBA executives. The qualitative section of survey questionnaire has five open-ended questions that helped in getting elaborate responses from the respondents (Bergman, 2008). Thus by using qualitative method the researcher has been able to get different yet quite insightful perspective regarding the topic. It has been found that mixed methods provides an opportunity for exploring both the worlds permitting an in-depth discovery related to various kinds of indigenous practices, traditions as well as patterns that can be discovered (Collins O'Cathain, 2009). Moreover higher level of generalization done during mixed methods survey provides adva ntages through large scale empirical research at the same time. The article has major weakness that although it identifies the need to manage the uncertainty as the major and critical management skill but it has not been able to find out what all managerial behaviours combine to form managing uncertainty and renewal (Hitt et al., 2010). Another weakness of this paper it that the scope of this paper does not discuss the manner in which all the managerial capabilities that have been stated can be best developed. Thus this analysis does have certain limitations that need to be addressed. A better and bigger picture could have been obtained by the researcher if the opinion of more than one respondent from one organization had been sought. Another weak spot of this study is that the data is very much descriptive in nature, so it does not directly measure the assessments of skill deficits or the needs of chief executives. On the other hand there might be few challenges and risks that might be different from the ones faced by chief executives of large organizations so further research can also be conducted on smaller organizations (Lin et al., 2013). Moreover just the top management chief executives have been included in the research; rather some people from middle management should also have been included in the research in order to get better insight into the research topic. As per my viewpoint the use of mixed methods for conducting study is best as it allows in depth analysis of the topic of research as it includes both qualitative as well as qualitative method of study. However I think that the reactions of chief executives regarding analysis of the management skill needs should have also been obtained by the researcher as this would have helped in finding out the presence of any kind of skill groups which this study has completely missed out. In order to further explore the extent up to which the New Zealand managers currently show the capabilities or skills that have been identified, the researcher should have added few more questions in the survey questionnaire. According to my perspective the researcher should have also included executives from middle management of the organization to gain better and in-depth view point on the topic. Moreover these are the people who are in direct contact with the employees so they would be providing much better s tance in relation to the topic of research. I feel that by implementing the right kind of policies and training modules for executives the organizations can handle the challenges and risks in better manner. This will help in making available better opportunities for the employees and this will also help in decreasing the migration of better workforce from country to Australia who move away looking for better jobs , thus making the business climate in New Zealand more innovative , stable as well as flexible for the executives. In order to handle the economic downturn as well as various other critical challenges that the current economic environment is posing for the businesses it is very much important to analyse the their implications on managerial skills so that the HR practitioners can follow the right kind of skills (Kamble, 2011). This will certainly be helpful to the organizations in New Zealand to handle the current situations like war of talent etc. and help in developing the right kind of skills. The main strength that is visible is use of axed methods and a large sample size which is very much representative of the population chosen. Moreover all the sectors of the economy have been considered for the research in order to find out the issues and risks faced by executives and their managerial implications, so that the HR practitioners can develop all these crucial skills amongst the employees with the help of proper training. However few weaknesses have also been found like too much descriptive na ture of data which does not allow direct measurement of needs or skill deficits of the chief executives of the organizations. References Bergman, M.M., 2008. The straw men of the qualitative-quantitative divide and their influence on mixed methods research. London Uk: Sage. Boxall, P. Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bcker, J. Poutsma, E., 2010. Global management competencies:A theoretical foundation. Journal of Managerial Psychology , 25(2), pp.829-44. Collins, K.M.T. O'Cathain, A., 2009. Ten points about mixed methods research to be considered by the novice researcher. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 3(1), pp.2-7. Hitt, M.A., Haynes, K.T. Serpa, R., 2010. Strategic leadership for the 21st century. Business Horizons , 53(5), pp.437-44. Hutchison, A. Boxall, P., 2014. The critical challenges facing New Zealands chief executives: implications for management skills. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 52, pp.23-41. Kamble, R.R., 2011. Managerial Skills for Organizational Performance :An Analytical Study. Indian Streams Research Journal, 1(1), pp.23-27. Lin, M., Lucas, H.C. Shmueli, G., 2013. Too Big to Fail: Large Samples and the p-Value Problem. Information Systems Research Articles in Advance, pp.1-12. Purdue University, 2016. Writing A Thesis Statement. [Online] Available at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/general/gl_thesis.html [Accessed 16 September 2016]. Randolf, J.J., 2009. A Guide to Writing the Dissertation Literature Review. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 13, p.14. ResearchGate, 2010. The Literature Review. [Online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id.assetKey. [Accessed 22 September 2016]. Salant, P. Dillman, D.A., 1994. How to conduct your own survey. John Wiley Sons, Inc.. Yukl, G., Gordon, A. Taber, T., 2002. A hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behavior. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 9(1), pp.15-32.