Wednesday, April 1, 2020

E-commerce Market Essays - Marketing, Pricing Strategies

E-commerce Market The firm's objectives can be met and a go?ahead is suggested subject to addressing the recommendations. Macrosegmentation of the market identified machinery, wood, base metals and plastics as target markets for the firm. Revenue expectation based on a 0.4% market share is $329,000. Break even is $259,000 and requires contributions from 17 customer projects at an average billing of $15,000. The budget set for implementing the promotional mix is $100,000. Target ROI = 15%. The following recommendations must be considered before start-up: 1. Protect service names and marks. 2. Conduct a microsegmentation analysis to refine market segment intelligence. 3. Develop multisegment targeting strategies for the chosen markets. 4. Ensure that funds are in place for first year's operation. 5. Develop a decision support system including customer details, candidates for networking and reciprocity. 6. Complete 3 ? 4 assignments at cost to establish a credible portfolio. Use as a source of referrals. 7. Obtain ISO 9000 certification ? "walk the talk". Apply benchmarking standards. 8. Develop assessment and promotional tools using the firm's service. If the service is to work for the client it should work for the firm. 9. Finalize details of the promotional plan. 10. Develop influence as a trade mission co-ordinator. Organizational Mission The firm's mission is to provide innovative and effective global marketing services to British Columbia industries. They focus on E-business as a primary means of achieving client objectives and measure their effectiveness in terms of customer satisfaction and referral business. Market Opportunity Analysis Analysis of the size and sustainability of various market segments. The segmentation basis used is demographic. Primary descriptors are geography, customer type, growth rate and size. Demographics ? (BC Statistics) There are 13,700 small and medium exporters in BC ? 4.6% of all businesses in British Columbia. They account for $3.7 billion or 13% of British Columbia's total export value. The average small and medium exporter typically exports $269,500 annually. Rising trend ? small and medium exporters 1000 per annum and export $200+ million per annum. British Columbia's small and medium exporters typically ship "value added" products ? less susceptible to economic slowdowns. During a recent slowdown they actually increased their exports by $12 million. 79% of small and medium exporters are dependent on the United States as their primary export market. Environmental Scan (Purchasing On-line) Social Forces Increasing competition is forcing higher standards in the global marketplace ? TQM, ISO 9000. Globalization of trade increasing competitive pressure on domestic producers due to foreign competition ? simultaneously offering new opportunities for export. Small and mid-sized businesses often lack vision and resources to develop world class enterprises ? need help. Political/Legal Forces Various Governments are attempting to stimulate business on the Internet ? taxation moratorium, privacy protection, copyright protection and fewer regulations. Technology Dramatic increase in Internet use for business ? 73% of corporate buyers use the Internet. Opinion leaders such as IBM are shifting their entire purchasing systems onto the Internet. Vendor analysis is more efficient ? faster and more comprehensive comparison of supplier alternatives. Distribution improvement ? intermediaries become redundant as suppliers and buyers connect directly. Purchasing cycle time reduced ? RFQ's that used to take 20 days to process now take 20 minutes. Shipping/Logistics ? tracking, price brokering, inventory/shipping integration are streamlined. Real-time Supplier/Purchaser dialogue and co-operative design over the Internet eliminates waste, reduces costs and speeds up new product development. Internet not expected to be significantly affected by Y2K problems in either North America or Europe. Perceptions of transaction security remain a concern. (This perception is rapidly diminishing) Suppliers are ill equipped to provide E-commerce ? (Actually a plus for Global Reach Inc.) Heterogeneity of service is a concern as buyers are confronted with numerous unfamiliar suppliers and engage in extensive, high-involvement decision-making. ? (Actually a plus for Global Reach Inc.) Competitive Analysis (Business in Vancouver, The AD Pages, telephone survey) There are 51 Marketing Consultants operating in the Lower Mainland. Average market share of 1.9% is inferred ? no data available. Web page development and media promotion are standard. Larger firms have the capacity to develop E-commerce solutions but are focusing on expensive EDP and Intranet strategies ? suitable for only the larger exporting firms. Some are involved in E-commerce on the Internet ? no significant impact on the market. Methods of charging for services are fixed price quotations, cost plus arrangements, often with performance bonuses. Assume average annual billing per client is $15,000. Fee range = $25 ? $200+ per hour. Target Market Profile

Sunday, March 8, 2020

How to Win Friends and Influence People essays

How to Win Friends and Influence People essays Dale Carnegies book How to Win Friends and Influence People gives methods of instruction and examples as to how to triumph in the social world. It includes chapters on how to handle people, how to make people like you, how to win people to your way of thinking, and how to be a leader. The book begins with a preface of suggestions on how to get the most of the book. These include reviewing it periodically and taking the suggestions with an open mind and sincerity. The first chapter exposes the reader to the technique of how to handle people successfully. It emphasizes that in order to understand people one must regard the situation from their point of view. Most people have reasons for deciding what they do. Those who commit crimes and rob stores do not view themselves as bad people. Gangsters such as Al Capone regarded themselves as unappreciated and unrecognized public benefactors, not as enemies of the state. People do not condemn themselves, so why should one condemn others? Lesson one explains to the reader that one should never criticize, complain, or condemn other people. Principle two suggests that you give people your sincere and honest appreciation. A person should not think of his accomplishments or successes, yet compliment others on theirs. The most important thing one can give another is his genuine appreciation. I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. -Charles Schwab You can threaten people by force or harsh words, but the only way to get others to do what you wish is to give them what they want. What do they want? Appreciation. Principle three in the fundamental techniques of handling people deals with how to arouse in the other person an eager want. It is easy to tell people your needs, but no one wants to hear them. People are only intere...

Thursday, February 20, 2020

British imperialism and Kipling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

British imperialism and Kipling - Essay Example Dravot being singled out as "neither God nor Devil but a man!" (p, 67). The result of their action was hostility from the natives. In a similar way, the ambitions and fantasy of the British was similar to that of Peachy and Danny. Danny and Peachy through their ill ambitions, sets off for to a foreign land of Kafiristan, â€Å"where no white man has ever been since Alexander the Great† (p, 18), in pursuit of power and wealth. This explains various British Imperialist in many parts of the world such a in Africa and India where they acquired colonies. Similarly the tendencies of the British Imperialist ended as altruism surface faded under the need to conquer and exploit natives. This was the case of Carnehan and Dravot in their fantasy. Nonetheless, the Britain strategy differs in strategy to achieve the common goal. As exemplified in the paper and looking at the events that unfolded in the book Kipling had a contradicting opinion to the subject of imperialism. More specifically, the work of Kipling explores the power tied to imagination. In other words, he dislocates or deviates from reality and concentrates on fantasy. The very attribute and structure of his work explores the coinciding binary that exist between reality and fantasy. Kipling is rather negative concerning to the imperialist mission and its detrimental impact. In Kipling view, Imperialist actions had various negative consequences. This explains his attitude towards "the

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Special Teacher Training in Saudi Arabia Thesis Proposal

Special Teacher Training in Saudi Arabia - Thesis Proposal Example From the discussion it is clear that the government of Saudi began to incorporate deaf students into regular public schools following pressure from the public. The move was not accompanied by measures to train teachers on how to handle deaf students alongside those without hearing impairments. This placed deaf students in public schools at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to the normal learners. The author believes that the move was a good one. Secluding deaf learners in their schools as a form of discrimination. However, the Saudi government needs to review the curriculum for ordinary teacher training to incorporate the skills necessary for teachers to handle deaf students.As the report declares  until recently, institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia did not admit deaf students because they lacked the facilities needed to support them. This scenario forced deaf students who wanted to pursue higher education after high school to seek opportunities abroad. Another effect of the failure of Saudi colleges and universities to admit deaf students was that they (the deaf students) were locked out teaching deaf students at primary, secondary and higher education levels. Instead, the instruction of deaf students was left exclusively to hearing teachers. This situation has persisted despite research conducted elsewhere indicating that the instruction of deaf students is more effective if it is undertaken by deaf teachers.

Monday, January 27, 2020

The Outline For Urie Bronfenbrenners

The Outline For Urie Bronfenbrenners Urie Bronfenbrenner theory is based on ecological theory, which is focusing on environmental factors (Santrock, 2011). The Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological theory is explained how natural environments can be a big influence to the development of persons. In other words, the development of persons can be affected by the surroundings from home to the wider context such as culture. Bronfenbrenner stated that there were many different levels and types of environment effects that might affect how a child grows and develops (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). There are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. The microsystem refers to the interactions between a person and the people surroundings him or closes to him. To put in differently, it is the small and immediate environment where the person lives in for instance a persons family, school, peers, neighborhood play area and work. The second of Bronfenbrenners environmental layers is the mesosystem. The mesosystem is defined as the relationship or connection between different parts of the microsystem like the relationships between family and teachers, family and peers, and teachers and religious group. Next is the exosystem. The exosytem level has the less interaction or may not have it all between the children or adolescents and the other people or places but they may affect the development of the person herself, for instance parents work environments, extended family members and neighborhood. Last but not least is the macrosystem. Bronfenbrenner defines that the macrosystem consists of cultural, subcultural, or social class context ( Shaffer Kipp, 2010). It is wide, and the largest level in this theory but still it has a great influence to the person. The macrosystem includes the economy, government, wars, the relative freedoms and cultural values. Therefore, the persons can get the positive and negative impact from this level. Finally is the chronosystem. The chronosystem is about how the pattern of individuals life is changing over time depending on the environmental events. Besides, the environmental changes caused by cognitive and biological changing that occur at the puberty as well as the age of the individual. How the Bronfenbrenners ecological theory apply to child development Family, teachers and community members play important role in raising children with applying values and customs to socialize them so they can contribute something to the society. From the views of Barbour, Barbour and Scully (2011), children develop some attitudes by observing actions, hearing words and surmising the feelings of significant others in their environment. At this point, family, peers and religious group are located in the Bronfenbrenners innermost environmental layer, or microsystem. It means people in the microsystem are the major influence of the child especially at the early age. Childrens perceptions and behaviors can be developed early from home and the direct interactions take place in the microsystem like the interaction between a child and parents, siblings, teachers and peer group. Besides, the good environment and better encouragement to the child will affect how better the child will grow up (Oswalt, 2008). According to Oswalt (2008), Each childs special genetic and biologically influenced personality traits, what is known as temperament, end up affecting how others treat them. Another case is how some parts in microsystem having the connections or interrelationships among them like parents, teachers and peers. For example, a childs parents have a good relationship with teachers will have a major influence on childrens learning and acceptance of school. Also parents and teachers support the childrens interest and the competition that they participate. As a result, it will help the childs overall growth. The child might feel confident about her talent and ability consequently will affect her performance in study and have good relationship with other people. This kind of interaction between different parts of the microsystem is called the mesosystem. . According to the Shaffer and Kipp (2010), Bronfenbrenner argues that development of a child will be effective if the connections between microsystems are strong and supportive. Conversely, if the connections are non-supportive, it can produce trouble on child. For the third environmental layer or exosystem, this may not have contact with the child but might affect the development of the child. As an illustration, parents work environment. If both parents have their own careers, it might cause the conflict between the caring for children and the responsibility at the workplace. The conflict is largely happened to the mother because beside responsibility for children, they also have full participation at the workplace. Therefore, this will give the impact to the children and the time for family interaction will decrease, increased dependence on child care and fewer choices in recreation. As a result the family will have less information about the childrens activities and the children only depending on her friends who can be good or bad friends. Oswalt (2008) states that the child at home can possibly be affected by a parents experience at work. Then, another environment is about the larger context called the macrosystem. For example, the family role in culture, how children should be treated, what they should be taught and the goals they should achieve. The styles of interaction within family will reflect the roles expected of children (Barbour, Barbour Scully, 2011). For instance, in most European American families encourage their children to go outside and find and establish other relationship. While in Asian families cultures, they pay respect for elders and the children are expected to be family oriented and encouraged to work hard for the family. To sum up, very family has different styles in raising their children and from that it will influence their behavior. Lastly is the chronosystem. The chronosystem is about how the feeling, perceptions and attitudes of child can be changed over time. This model includes a temporal dimension (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). It is focusing on the ecological context of development or the transformation of the child can influence the way that development is likely to take (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). For instance, when the child is found out he is an adopted child, he will feel rejected and abandoned. He will have low self -esteem and struggle with identity development issues. This event may affect the child for a few years, but after he has grown up, the curiosity, sensitivity and the rebellious are becoming less and the interaction with family will be more stable. After all, the environmental factors like age, cognitive and biological changing play a major role in human development. How the Bronfenbrenners ecological theory apply children in preschool and early primary levels Normally children are only exposed to the family at home until they are placed in day care, preschool classes and begin their formal schooling. When they grow up, there are more exposures from many sources to them. In the microsystem, family is one of the factors that affect children in development. Furthermore, family plays important role to the physical development of children in aspect of education and family income. Family who has good education and good income usually has awareness with their diet. Therefore, parents will model healthy eating habits for their children, who are also dependent what food is put in the table. When the child gets enough nutrition in his diet, he will develop well. Besides that, environmental factors like family and peers also affect the social development of child. For example, when a child is shy, aside from inherited characteristic from a parent, it also can be caused from interaction between parents and child. Sometimes, parents are having less in teraction with the child and the parents dont even speak to each other. It will affect the social development of child, however, the difficulty to have appropriate sociality with peers will decrease after he enters the school. It can be concluded that, parents can influence the social actions of child but it will change after being exposed to the peers, hence surely can be influential factor to the development of child. The interaction between people in the microsystem is essential for the development of child in the aspect of emotional development. For instance, family-teacher relationship that many people overlooked the importance of this relationship especially the teachers that only focus on to their relationship with children only. Children in the school always feel insecure, difficult to accept criticism, or punishment and unadaptable. Therefore, parents and teacher should work together for childs growth and development. Teacher can know the family background of the child and their culture. Furthermore, it is really important for teacher to maintain the childrens culture since cultural identity and family connectedness are critical emotional health. In addition, both teacher and parents can discuss the childrens problem in school and together helping to solve the problems that may have lifelong consequences. Also, when their relationship is good, they can inform one another and the information might be useful and has lifelong effects on the child. Invite families to the social events in school and hold a parent-teacher conferences are some of the ways to build the partnership. On the whole, this relationship can provide support to children and build childrens emotional health. Next we proceed to the level where children do not make any contact with these people and places but still have an effect on them. This level is the exosystem. Parents workplaces and mass media can be a largely affected to the children in term of emotional problems and cognitive development. Parents nowadays usually spend their time at work more than at home with their children. It will result in having less time to spend with children. They dont have time to know their childrens activities, they cant control their children and they dont have time to help their children in developing important skills. Stress at work also influences the children because they might release their stress by resting and sleeping at home and lead to have less interaction with children. So then, the emotional problem will be faced by children because dont have bond with parents. Studies have shown children who are given plenty of attention and love usually less have emotional problems than those who do. Bes ides that, mass media also influences the development of children. Children can develop and acquire the cognitive development from the good television shows. For example Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go!, and The Smurfs. Moreover, another electronic media source is internet that also contributes the cognitive development of children. It provides children to solve problems, practice skills and creativity, and widen their knowledge base (Barbour, Barbour Scully, 2011). For instance, practice chess, puzzle word and creative writing. But, as long as parents monitor their children from accessing inappropriate websites, internet can be a rich resource for childrens lives. The next layer of Bronfenbrenners ecological theory is the macrosystem. Government plays a big role to the development of children. What government can do is enacting the law for protecting the children hence to ensure the well-being of development of children. The examples of the law are Education Act 1996 [Act 550] and The Compulsory Education Act. Both are related to the compulsory for parents to make sure their children attend preschool and primary school. Preschool Education is for all children to improve their necessary skills at the early age and the programmes are provided by Government in rural and urban area. The purposes are to develop basic communication skills, and characters, moral values, doing physical activities for good health and improve critical thinking skills through senses. Besides, the Education system in preschool emphasizes on nine elements for children development like Malay language, English language, Islamic education, moral studies, civics education and childrens physical development. From the policies, personal development and the socialization process can be acquired by children and can affect children positively. Summary Children acquire many things from surroundings for their development and they depend on how good and bad of their environmental are. Adult people should know their roles as parents, teachers and societies to the development of children. Although they affect the childrens growth and development in some ways, their behaviors and viewpoints also affect their perceptions and attitudes. However, adult also can be influenced by children. The family is the major influence in the systems because they are the most trusted by children. So it is essential for family to stress on the development of children in the elements of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. The place also like home, is supposed to be the suitable place for children to develop with more tools provided and more interaction with children. Even though some environment is out of familys control, but they can do their best to develop their children necessaries skills for their lifelong consequences.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

1984 vs Brave New World Essays -- essays research papers

1984 vs. Brave New World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1984 and Brave New World, written by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, respectively, are both books that reflect the authors vision of how society would end up at the course it was going at the time of the writing of the book. Both books were written more than fifty years ago, but far enough apart that society was going in a totally different direction at the time. There are many ways to compare these two books and point out the similarities. On certain, deep levels they are very much the same, while at first glance, on the surface, they are very different. One point that in some parts is the same and some very different, is the governments in each of these books method’s of control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first thing to think about is how the governments control the newborns, infants, and children. In 1984, children are taught as early as possible all the thoughts and teachings the government wants them to. With these teachings being carved into their brains also comes intense loyalty, each child of the Party is ready and willing to turn their parents in to the authorities at the first sign of heretical thoughts. They are taught this as early as possible to keep them from having time of form independent thoughts of their own. The newborns of Brave New World in some cases are not even alive long enough to have thoughts of their own. People are no longer born, they are grown and hatched to fill a need of the so...

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Music Therapy Essay

Music therapy is the use of music by health care professionals to promote healing and enhance quality of life for their patients. Music therapy may be used to encourage emotional expression, promote social interaction, relieve symptoms, and for other purposes. Music therapists may use active or passive methods with patients, depending on the individual patient’s needs and abilities. The idea of music as a healing influence which could affect health and behavior is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. Native Americans and other indigenous groups have used music to enhance traditional healing practices for centuries. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have used music for healing. Traditional ragas (â€Å"melodic modes† used in classical music in India) have also been used to create different states of mind for healing. The 20th century profession formally began after World War I and World War II when community musicians of all types, both amateur and professional, went to Veterans hospitals around the country to play for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars. The patients’ notable physical and emotional responses to music led the doctors and nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the hospitals. It was soon evident that the hospital musicians needed some prior training before entering the facility and so the demand grew for a college curriculum. A very brief historical glimpse of this fascinating profession follows, below. The earliest known reference to music therapy appeared in 1789 in an unsigned article in Columbian Magazine titled â€Å"Music Physically Considered.† In the early 1800s, writings on the therapeutic value of music appeared in two medical dissertations, the first published by Edwin Atlee (1804) and the second by Sam uel Mathews (1806). Atlee and Mathews were both students of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a physician and psychiatrist who was a strong proponent of using music to treat medical diseases. The 1800s also saw the first recorded music therapy intervention in an institutional setting (Blackwell’s Island in New York) as well as the first recorded systematic experiment in music therapy (Corning’s use of music to alter dream states during psychotherapy). Early associations with the interest in music therapy continued to gain support during the early 1900s leading to the formation of several  short-lived associations. In 1903, Eva Augusta Vescelius founded the National Society of Musical Therapeutics. In 1926, Isa Maud Ilsen founded the National Association for Music in Hospitals. And in 1941, Harriet Ayer Seymour founded the National Foundation of Music Therapy. Although these organizations contributed the first journals, books, and educational courses on music therapy, they unfortunately were not able to develop an organized clinical profession. In the 1940s, three persons began to emerge as innovators and key players in the development of music therapy as an organized clinical profession. Psychiatrist and music therapist Ira Altshuler, MD promoted music therapy in Michigan for three decades. Willem van de Wall pioneered the use of music therapy in state-funded facilities and wrote the first â€Å"how to† music therapy text, Music in Institutions (1936). E. Thayer Gaston, known as the â€Å"father of music therapy,† was instrumental in moving the profession forward in terms of an organizational and educational standpoint. The first music therapy college training programs were also created in the 1940s. Michigan State University established the first academic program in music therapy (1944) and other universities followed suit, including the University of Kansas, Chicago Musical College, College of the Pacific, and Alverno College. I was going to pick a few of these and talk about them but, all in all, music therapy helps so many people that I will talk about the overall outcome of what music therapy does for everyone I have listed: Children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly with mental health needs, developmental and learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease and other aging related conditions, substance abuse problems, brain injuries, physical disabilities, and acute and chronic pain, including mothers in labor, plus soldiers with PTSD. Scientific studies have shown the value of music therapy on the body, mind, and spirit of children and adults. Researchers have found that music therapy, when used with anti-nausea drugs for patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy, can help ease nausea and vomiting. A number of clinical trials have shown the benefit of music therapy for short-term pain, including pain from cancer. Some studies have suggested that music may help decrease the overall intensity of the patient’s experience of pain when used with pain-relieving drugs. Music therapy can also result in decreased need for pain medicine in some patients, although studies on this topic have shown  mixed results. In hospice patients, one study found that music therapy improved comfort, relaxation, and pain control. Another study found that quality of life improved in cancer patients who received music therapy, even as it declined in those who did not. No differences were seen in survival between the 2 groups. A more recent clinical trial looked at the effects of music during the course of several weeks of radiation treatments. The researchers found that while emotional distress (such as anxiety) seemed to be helped at the beginning of treatment, the patients reported that this effect gradually decreased. Music did not appear to help such symptoms as pain, fatigue, and depression over the long term. Other clinical trials have revealed a reduction in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, insomnia, depression, and anxiety with music therapy. No one knows all the ways music can benefit the body, but studies have shown that music can affect brain waves, brain circulation, and stress hormones. These effects are usually seen during and shortly after the music therapy. Studies have shown that students who take music lessons have improved IQ levels, and show improvement in nonmusical abilities as well. Other studies have shown that listening to music composed by Mozart produces a short-term improvement in tasks that use spatial abilities. Studies of brain circulation have shown that people listening to Mozart have more activity in certain areas of the brain. This has been called the â€Å"Mozart effect.† Although the reasons for this effect are not completely clear, this kind of information supports the idea that music can be used in many helpful ways. Music affects people in ways that no other art or therapy can match; it distracts the mind, slows the body’s rhythms, alters moods, and influences behavior. It seems that music holds universal appeal and provides a bridge in a non-threatening setting between people and individuals within their environment. It facilitates relationships, learning, self-expression and communication. Music captures and helps maintain attention, it is highly-motivating and can be used as a natural â€Å"fortifier† for desired responses. Music therapy can enable people without verbal communication to communicate, participate and express themselves nonverbally. It also ass ists in the development of verbal communication, speech, and language skills. Music provides concrete, multi-layer/sensory stimulation, in visual, tactile, vestibular, and auditory. Researchers have shown that the power of rhythmic drumming helps  those with motor control illnesses, such as Parkinson’s disease. In that it uses regular tempo and rhythms to overcome their fast, slow and sometimes frozen moments. Using music in labor and delivery, helps the mother with improved abilities to walk and decreased pain in labor. In children fighting cancer exposed to singing showed an increase of the antibody IgA – a key component in stimulating immune system that helps the body fight the disease. For those with profound cognitive impairments, autism, and mental and physical disabilities, their brains respond more easily to music therapy than to speech. When in tachycardia, cardiac patients were able to reduce their heart rates to 50-60 beats per minute when listening to music that was exactly 50-60 beats a minute. Mentally handicapped children participating in music therapy programs has increased concentration, performance, self-control, and improved speech. For chronic pain patients, bringing into resonance the vibrations of pain with the vibrations of music alters the psychological perception of pain – even altering the pain or eliminating it. Increasing brainwaves has proven effective for people with ADHD and ADD, and various other learning disabilities. Slowing down the brainwaves has shown to help patients get to sleep, relax, find passion and happiness. The ability of music to change our mood seems to be related to the production of different chemicals in the brain. Endorphins triggered by music listening and music-making provide a kind of natural pain relief, where dopamine leads to feelings of buoyancy, optimism, energy and power. Impacts are even more potent for group music-making, because shared, positive experiences also release oxytocin, a brain tool for building trust. In this way, musical relationships develop encouraging non-verbal and emotional expression and building self-esteem, motivation and confidence. Symposium organizer Gabe Turow, a visiting scholar at the time in Stanford’s Department of Music, compared the effects of music therapy to taking medication. â€Å"We may be sitting on one of the most widely available and cost effective therapeutic modalities that has ever existed†, he also stated â€Å"Systematically, this could be like taking a pill. Listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medications, in many circumstances.†