Should Rewards and Punishments Be Used to Motivate Students’ Learning Essay Example for Free

Should Rewards and Punishments Be Used to Motivate Students’ Learning Essay I believe that rewards and punishments do play a key part in sustaining children’s interest and motivation to learn. However, I feel there are other key factors and methods that could be used to greater effect and am inclined to disagree with the question at hand. a) There are many educational theories on the topic of motivation but I believe the Self-Determination and Self-Efficacy theories cover some key aspects that deserve to be mentioned. The Self-Determination theory, in a nutshell, discusses the extent to which people validate their actions upon reflection and engage in them willingly. It assumes that every individual seeks personal development and undertakes challenges to build up their self-esteem (Rochester, 2008). According to Eggen and Kauchak, learners have three ‘innate psychological needs: competence, autonomy and relatedness’. The need for competence suggests that learners have to feel confident in their ability to match up with their peer’s performances, with determining factors like praise and attributional statements regarding the reasons for their performance. The need for autonomy basically talks about learners wanting to feel in control over their learning environment; this can be achieved by pushing them to be committed to their goals and providing detailed feedback after assessments. Finally, the need for relatedness stems from learners wanting assurance with regards to their relationships with the people around them and feeling deserving of care and respect. Eggen Kauchak, 2007) The Self-Efficacy theory is similar to the Self-Determination theory in certain aspects; basically, it focuses on learners’ confidence in their capability to achieve success, which in turn determines how you tackle challenges. (Wagner, 2008) The four factors influencing self-efficacy are past performance, modelling, verbal persuasion and psychological state. Past performances, the most important factor of the four, determine a person’s initial confidence in handling the task at hand while modelling gives learners a sense of the benchmark expecte d from them, thus giving them greater confidence in their preparations. Verbal persuasion, when used appropriately, can help spur learners on when they are in determining their progress and, eventually, their success. (Eggen Kauchak, 2007) What impact do these two theories have on learners’ motivation to learn? To put it simply, both theories believe that by acknowledging their innate needs and boosting their confidence, learners will most likely be more motivated to learn. Learners aged 7-11 are in the concrete operational stage and are ‘increasingly conscious of cognitive capacities and effective strategies’ (Berk, 1999); this means that they are more aware of what they can do based on their current level of ability as well as what can be done to improve their performance. Hence, it would make sense that we should aim to build up their confidence such that they can truly perform to the best of their capabilities. There are, of course, some concerns about there being over-confidence as a result of being ‘overly-encouraged’. Also, there is a limit to the effectiveness of verbal persuasion in really motivating students to press on with the task at hand. (Eggen Kauchak, 2007) However, a crucial point to note is that any effort to boost their confidence is to increase their self-belief, to believe that they can succeed if they put in the necessary amount of effort; that way their mindset towards challenges will be a much healthier one. Thus, the Self-determination and Self-Efficacy theories show that rewards and punishments need not be the sole factor in motivating learners. ) The Self-Determination and Self-Efficacy theories discussed earlier were schools of thought belonging to cognitive theories of motivation. The use of rewards and punishments in classrooms is a behavioural view of motivation. It states that learning is a ‘change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience’ and thus, ‘an increase in studying or learning behaviours is viewed as evidence of motivation’. ( Eggen Kauchak, 2007) There is some debate over the effectiveness of using rewards in classrooms and whether it really boosts learners’ motivation to learn. On the one hand, some argue that using rewards can lead to a whole host of problems, the first being that rewards give learners the wrong impression about the true meaning of learning and undermines their ‘motivation to be involved in an activity for its own sake’, or intrinsic motivation. Others believe that behaviourism alone does not fully account for learners’ motivation as they rely on extrinsic motivators, or ‘motivation to engage in an activity as a mean to an end’, meaning that cognitive factors like learners’ expectations are not accounted for. Eggen Kauchak, 2007) According to Berk, ‘children think in an organized, logical fashion only when dealing with concrete information they can directly perceive’ (Berk, 1999); this indicates that using methods based on behaviourism, namely rewards and punishment, will not serve much purpose in helping learners deal with abstract concepts and higher-order skills. Rather, methods base d on cognitive development could be used to greater effect. Also, the presence of so many variables in today’s learning environment means that the success of using behaviourism-based strategies is quite beyond our control. All this only serves to affirm that the use of rewards and punishments would not necessarily be effective in motivating learners’ learning. On the other hand, Piaget’s explanation of knowledge acquisition shows that behaviourism does indeed aid cognitive development; Piaget himself believed that knowledge is ‘constructed or created gradually, as maturing individuals interact with the environment’, or constructivism in simple terms. By rewarding or punishing learners, their physical learning environment is affected, which in turn has an impact on their creating and re-learning of new knowledge. Indeed, by making use of rewards for tasks that learners do not find too intrinsically appealing, like word problems and emphasising greater competence as the reason for rewards, learners could indeed be more motivated to learn. Eggen Kauchak, 2007) Hence, it might be best to acknowledge that while rewards and punishments may not necessarily be the most effective way to motivate learners, it would not be ideal to eradicate them from teaching strategies too. Thus, the emphasis should be on appropriate implementation of rewards and punishments so as to motivate learning. c) There are many different strategies that can or should not be in place to facilitate the motivation of learners and they fall under different approaches: cognitive, humanistic and behaviourism. One critical cognitive theory known as the Expectancy ? Value theory suggests that learners feel encouraged to participate in a task only to the point where they believe they will succeed multiplied by the importance they feel this particular success is worth. The Expectancy ? Value theory has two influencing variables: expectancy for success and task value. To help learners be more confident about their chances of success, we can try to change their opinion of the challenge a particular task poses as well as their preconceptions of their own abilities. This can be done by nurturing expectations of success by providing just enough assistance for learners to make headway on challenges. Also, we can enhance the task’s value by increasing intrinsic interest, the tasks importance and utility value. To achieve this, tasks will have to be linked to real-world situations and appeal to learners in terms of its usefulness and novelty. A simple way of achieving this would be to make use of ‘concrete examples’ to raise enthusiasm and stress the specific usefulness of the task. (Eggen Kauchak, 2007) What should not be done, then, in the terms of cognitive theories? According to Eggen and Kauchak, there is another influencing variable that influences learners’ perception of a task’s value: cost. It is defined as the ‘negative aspect of engaging in a task’. There can be emotional and psychological costs that hinder learners performing according to their true abilities (Eggen Kauchak, 2007) and it is up to the teacher to be aware of the situation and help to the best of her abilities. Metacognition, the ‘ability to think about thinking, to play with thoughts and to monitor and deploy mental effort strategically’ (Forsyth, Forsyth, Schickedanz, Shickedanz, 2001), is almost like multi-tasking; learners have to juggle many different kinds of thought processes. It is crucial in the all-round development of learners and the presence of emotional or psychological costs in their learning environment can have an adverse impact on their motivation to learn. Thus, it is vital that teachers do not ignore the presence of these factors. The humanistic view of motivation has to do with our desire to achieve maximum potential as humans. (Eggen Kauchak, 2007) We look to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to help explain motivation from a humanistic viewpoint. Maslow believed that basic needs lower down the pyramid have to be fulfilled before needs higher up the pyramid can be fulfilled. (Hierarchy of needs, 2007) What this means is that teachers have to create a positive and secure learning environment to satisfy learners’ basic and growth needs. By treating everyone in the same positive manner by focusing on their ‘intrinsic worth’ and viewing them as ‘developing human beings’, one can be assured that learners will find the motivation to learn. However, critics of Maslow’s theory argue that insufficient research has been conducted to support these claims and that his hierarchy of needs does not always hold true as individuals can achieve higher needs, like aesthetic appreciation, without fulfilling their basic needs. With disability becoming an ‘emerging priority’ in Singapore, there is an even greater need to ‘succeed in valuing and practising a cohesive spirit’ so as to ‘meet future challenges’ (Lim, Thaver, Slee, 2008); which is why it is vital for teachers to ‘treat students as people first and learners second’. Eggen Kauchak, 2007) By striving to create an inclusive classroom, it will be easier motivating learners. Finally, we come to behavioural views of motivation. Earlier in the essay, rewards and punishments were said to be behavioural methods. This can be done in a learning-focused environment, which ‘emphasizes effort, continuous improvement and u nderstanding’. To do that, we can help learners to self-regulate their behaviour and structure the learning environment using climactic and instructional factors. When self-regulation takes place, learners will take more pride in their work and be more committed to the goals they set. Teachers can aid the process by modelling responsibility and help learners set guidelines in place. Climactic variables like encouraging success and handling challenges also play a key role in creating a motivating environment. By providing sufficient help in challenging tasks and highlighting the reasons for assignments, the learning environment will be better suited for motivation to learn. Instructional variables are key to capturing learners’ interest, which determines how much effort they place on the task in turn. Involving students in personalized tasks and providing detailed feedback helps to build their intrinsic motivation to learn and succeed. (Eggen Kauchak, 2007) In any classroom, there will always be distractions that threaten to impair any carefully-laid lesson plans. Thus, learners should not be left out of the drawing up of classroom rules and expectations; they would then be familiar with any signals from the teacher indicating a disturbance or lack of attention. Also, not every interruption needs to be addressed immediately; by ignoring minor disruptions occasionally, it serves as a subtle cue for the offender to not resort to similar tactics to gain attention. (Divaharan Wong, 2008) Teachers should not get into the habit of jumping into a new topic immediately too, as a novel introductory focus (an appealing and scaffolded structure of the lesson) will appeal to learners’ interest and prior knowledge, thus motivating them intrinsically.

Admirations of Love Essay -- Poetry Analysis

Delight me, tickle my senses, I dare you! To be delighted-- isn’t that something we all wish to enjoy. Taking a walk in Edward E. Cummings’ poem, titled; â€Å"[S]omewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond†, where he embraces his reader upon revealing a rainbow of â€Å"colour[ful]† techniques-- making my mind dance over hills of wild flowers (Cummings 742). With each new flower giving form to a jumble of abstract emotions, he conveys a more pronounced diction. And though I may color myself a portrait with perfect admirations of love, history has a funny way of telling me differently. â€Å"[S]omewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond/ any experience,your eyes have their silence: / in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, / or which i cannot touch because they are too near† (Cummings 742). In the first verse Cummings presents meter, but discontinues this method in the next four verses. When metering the first verse, it sets it apart, --like an introduction to a story-- laying down a path to the rest of the poem. Reading from one verse to the next, we see Cummings’ love for another become unraveled piece by tantalizing piece. His thoughts begin to break down into open words on the page, but still remain embodied within a quatrain structure. Perhaps telling us his love is uncontrolled, but composed. In the first verse, lines one and two are separate from lines three and four with a colon. A colon, in its most simple of ways, separates Cummings’ topics from his explanations. The first two lines of verse one, tells me of a place which he desires to travel, but has never been. The third and fourth lines in verse one describes that destination and why he must not go. In the fourth verse he entices me ... ... and the depth in which he sees her, is his understanding. So where does this leave me now? I have followed Cummings’ path from technique to technique. Even took a closer look through his use of words. Grasping ahold of an image I clearly see, but then questioning my thoughts when reading Cummings history during that time. One thing still remains clear to me; he has admirations of love for this person, and only the innocence behind it-- for me-- remains open for interpretation. Works Cited Cummings, Edward. â€Å"Somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond.† Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. Campion, Donna. United States: Kennedy X. J., Dana Gioia, 2010, 2007, and 2005. 742. Print. Reef, Catherine. â€Å"E. E. Cummings a poet’s life.† USA: Houghton Mifflin Company imprint, 2006. Print

Micro Econ Exam Review

Characteristics of competitive markets (3): There must be many buyers and sellers, none of whom can have a large market share, a few players cannot dominate the market. Firms must produce a standardized product, buyers must see all their products as equivalent. (Identical (Homogeneous) Products), Firms and resources are typically fully mobile, allowing free exit and entry. These three conditions make all consumers and producers price- takers. Models: Section 12. 2 Market Market Assumptions: Firm The firm is a profit maximizing firm.The individual firm can sell all they can at the market price. Each Individual firm supplies only a small portion of market supply, and therefore can't manipulate the market price. The firm Is a price-taker: they take the market price as given. 2. Profit Minimization: The firm will maximize profit at the output level that has the greatest difference between Revenues + Cost. The firm can/will profit maximize where Marginal Revenue (MR..) = Marginal Cost (MA C). Since the perfectly competitive firm is a price taker P=MR†¦ Therefore, the profit maximizing condition can be written MR..=MAC or FEM.. (SameCondition). If MR.. > MAC then Increase Output. If MAC > MR.. Then Decrease Output. Model: Section 12. 3 Finding the Profit Maximizing Level of Output Model: 1 OFF Determine if the firm is generating economic profits, economic losses, or Zero economic profits. NOTE: cost curves include both implicit + explicit costs + can therefore be used to determine economic profits or losses. 4 Step Process: 1 . Determine the profit maximizing level of output (where MR..=MAC). 2. Calculate total revenue = Price x Quantity 3. Calculate total cost = TACT x Quantity (TACT is always U Shaped) 4. Compare TRY + ETCIf TRY > ETC then Con. Profits If ETC > TRY then Con. Losses If TRY = ETC then Zero Con. Profits 5. Models on next page. Section 12. 4: Economic Profits Economic Loss Zero Economic Profits Economic Profits: firm is generating enough revenue to cover accounting cost + opposing cost of resources employed. (Covering both explicit + implicit costs) Indicates an efficient allocation of scarce economic resources. Economic Losses: firm may be covering act. Cost but they are not covering the pop. Cost of resources employed. Indicates an inefficient allocation of scarce economic resources. Long – Run Analysis: If existing firms are generating economic profits: it will result in outside firms/ resources to enter the market. Models below: Section 12. 5 Individual Firm Individual firms will continue to enter the market until all economic profits have been competed away. In long-run equilibrium all firms will be left generating zero profit. If existing firms are generating Con. Loss: Left with 2 options: 1. Continue operating 2. Shut down (temporarily stop producing) If the firm is at least covering bag. Variable cost (PVC) they would be best off to

Marshall & Gordon

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Assignment 2 Marshall & Gordon: Designing an Effective Compensation System Situational Analysis Paul Nasr is the president of Morgan Stanley (MG) who has nearly 20 years of experience in the capital markets business. He assumed the leadership of the newly created Capital Markets Services division. The Capital Markets division is an interdisciplinary entity created to serve as a link between the Investment Banking division and the sales and trading arms of the firm, Equity and Fixed Income.The division is created to provide the clients with more focused attention and service. The employees in this division were also expected to generate business from organizations that were not previously clients of Morgan Stanley. Nasr hired Parson who is a successful, young banker and has a proven track record in the financial sector. He believed Parson is the right person in growing the capital market services arm of the firm. Parson had ten years of experience and possess es strong relationships in the banking and insurance industries.He didn’t have the Ivy League background that other employees in Morgan Stanley had had but he has the required experience working in bank and investment houses. He quickly rose up the ranks to become the Managing Director of a small firm. He is assigned the title of Principal and is expected to give analytical solutions to complex problems, have good client relations, understand the clients’ objectives and constraints and identify and create business opportunities for MG. He should possess excellent negotiation skills and also be a team supervisor and leader of the Investment Banking Department. 60O FEEDBACK PROCESS This process is a feedback solicited from superiors, peers, subordinates and internal clients as well as self-evaluation of an employee to gauge his/her performance. The inputs from this feedback helps in understanding and quantifying an employee’s strength, his/her deficiencies as well as gives cues for required developmental trainings and appraisal/promotion. This process minimizes the perceptional evaluation from a single source and gives a sense of ownership and fair judgment to one’s self perception.During the performance evaluation before his supposed promotion to the managing director or partner of the firm, Parson is credited for his good marketing skills, knowledge of the market and product, aggressiveness in making the deals with clients, his ability to cross-sell products to the clients. But he also got some very negative comments for being judgmental, not being a team player, not being professional at times. Nasr, though, defended that Parson is still young in MG and needed time to align himself with the firm’s values. Problem DefinitionNasr is staring down the barrel on whether to promote Parson as a Managing Director/Partner of the firm or give him more time. He also did not want to lose Parson who might leave the firm if he did not get the promotion. Options Nasr has three ways of coming out of this quagmire: a. Promote Parson and assume that he will get better with time. b. Hold his promotion till the next evaluation and give him a chance to overcome his shortcomings. c. Terminate his employment because his work doesn’t align with the firm’s core values. Evaluation Criteria:The following criteria should be used to evaluate the options available to make a fair decision: a. The employee should be result-oriented b. He should have good interpersonal skills c. He should bring new business to the firm d. He should be able to win the confidence of the clients e. He should possess both the market and product knowledge f. Understand the needs of the clients and utilize his market knowledge to work with the product specialists in providing a new product g. He should be a good team player h. He must possess good analytical skills to solve complex issues. Evaluation of Options a. ) Promote ParsonRob Parson is an excellent employee who has turned around the Capital Markets Services division in Morgan Stanley in an unconventional way and brought in new business through his aggressive marketing skills. He is instrumental in improving the market share from 10th position to 3rd position, during which the market share rose from 2% to a substantial 12. 2%. Since the division is new, he had to adopt these methods to win the clients’ trust. He introduced clients to his colleagues and also is able to cross-sell products. He might not always be social given his responsibilities but he is not antagonistic towards anyone.Moreover, Parson acknowledges that he is poor at self-promotion and is not in sync with the organization’s goals. b. ) Hold his promotion Nasr is in a position of responsibility and authority. If he chose to promote Robert Parson just on the basis of results, it would create a wrong precedent to other employees that they can bypass the Morgan Stanley culture and still get promoted. In addition, Rob Parson is personally recruited by Nasr and, giving a promotion to Parson despite the interpersonal issues indicates adaption of unfair practices in the performance evaluation.Also, the newly implemented 360-degree feedback stresses on culture of the firm rather than goal orientation. In this case, Parson is more goal-oriented than organization-oriented. So, his promotion being put on hold could be a viable option at this juncture. c. ) Terminate his employment Parson came from a background where he ought to be more result-oriented than being a cultural-fit in pursuing his goals. By adapting this strategy, he had created an internal notion that employees can bypass the core values of an organization to achieve one’s goals.This could undermine the very working culture of the firm and would lead to internal conflicts within the employees. So, his employment could be terminated to maintain the stability within the organization. Recommendation It can be concluded that he is a valuable asset to the firm given his contributions and should be promoted to the Managing Director position. He could undergo trainings on team building and interpersonal skills to further improve himself. The 360-degree performance evaluation can be used to give feedback to Parson on both his strengths and areas where improvement is needed.

Free Essays on Affirmative Action; The Noble Concept Of Equal Opportunity

Affirmative action policy in professional and university atmospheres was first implemented by an initiative in the Department of Labor under the administration of Richard Nixon as to purposely create equal educational and employment opportunities. However, since its official establishment in 1969 and long before, affirmative action has increasingly become the subject of conflict and dispute in American culture. Though its intentions were noble, affirmative action has become a clouded issue surrounded by controversy. Even in 1969 affirmative action was nothing new, in 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled on Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas the African American community had legal restraints removed that had long kept them at a distinct disadvantage. Minorities had long been imposed to prejudice, especially from the greater white population. However the Brown decision failed to cease many white advantages and professional supremacies; â€Å"it merely allowed Blacks to enter the arena of competition,† (Greenberg 300).† The Brown decision only cracked the door of segregation of public facilities it did nothing to help minorities in the workplace. After the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 minorities were no longer prohibited from the use of public facilities and job discrimination was no longer legally sanctioned. It became apparent that certain business traditions, such as seniority status and aptitude tests, prevented total equality in employme nt. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a major step in reducing de jure or law based discrimination but was unable to cease deep seeded de facto or actual discrimination in American society. The Civil Rights Act did not require employers to prove that any discriminatory policies were or were not used in the hiring of personnel, â€Å"Instead, the burden of proof was on the woman or minority group member who had been denied a particular job,† (Patterson 161). A... Free Essays on Affirmative Action; The Noble Concept Of Equal Opportunity Free Essays on Affirmative Action; The Noble Concept Of Equal Opportunity Affirmative action policy in professional and university atmospheres was first implemented by an initiative in the Department of Labor under the administration of Richard Nixon as to purposely create equal educational and employment opportunities. However, since its official establishment in 1969 and long before, affirmative action has increasingly become the subject of conflict and dispute in American culture. Though its intentions were noble, affirmative action has become a clouded issue surrounded by controversy. Even in 1969 affirmative action was nothing new, in 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled on Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas the African American community had legal restraints removed that had long kept them at a distinct disadvantage. Minorities had long been imposed to prejudice, especially from the greater white population. However the Brown decision failed to cease many white advantages and professional supremacies; â€Å"it merely allowed Blacks to enter the arena of competition,† (Greenberg 300).† The Brown decision only cracked the door of segregation of public facilities it did nothing to help minorities in the workplace. After the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 minorities were no longer prohibited from the use of public facilities and job discrimination was no longer legally sanctioned. It became apparent that certain business traditions, such as seniority status and aptitude tests, prevented total equality in employme nt. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a major step in reducing de jure or law based discrimination but was unable to cease deep seeded de facto or actual discrimination in American society. The Civil Rights Act did not require employers to prove that any discriminatory policies were or were not used in the hiring of personnel, â€Å"Instead, the burden of proof was on the woman or minority group member who had been denied a particular job,† (Patterson 161). A...

The Essay Experts 2015 Media Year in Review

The Essay Experts 2015 Media Year in Review 2015 was a full year of speaking engagements where I put out some of my best information about LinkedIn, resume writing, and college essays. In case you missed the live events, I thought I’d highlight some of the appearances that you can still watch! LinkedIn Tips Most recently, I was one of 30+ expert presenters at the LinkedIn Success Summit, a 5-day information-packed event on how to generate leads, sales and profit from LinkedIn. Although you can no longer access my talk for free, if you want to get lifetime access to all the interviews of all the Summit speakers, you can purchase a pass for $147 now through December 31. For  a different type of presentation with more nuts and bolts about LinkedIn profiles, you can view this webinar which I delivered for Beyond B-School’s Get Hired Boot camp on February 18: LinkedIn: The Enhancements That Open Doors. To see me in action, critiquing the LinkedIn profile of Rob Hart, plus giving some other tips on cat photos, check out this  October 28 appearance on Chicagos WGN Radio. Listen here (at about 14:45)! Finally in the LinkedIn Tips  category, the year started off with a January 26 podcast with Angela Copeland of Copeland Coaching: â€Å"Mastering LinkedIn: Secrets from Brenda Bernstein’s Book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile† (Podcast #36). LinkedIn was definitely the most popular topic of the year! But there was more! Resume Writing Tips I have only one recorded opportunity from 2015 on the topic of resumes, from a December 9 TV appearance on Fox 6’s Studio A. Preview: I sing New York, New York in this one! If you want more on resumes, please watch my signature webinar, How to Make Resume Writing FUN! (Yes, it can be done!) College Essay Tips If you’re interested in college essays tips for yourself or an upcoming college student, here’s a quick interview for Channel 3 TV on that topic from July 31: View the interview here! To view all of my past TV and radio appearances, visit my TV Radio page. And to catch future events, keep posted with The Essay Experts Calendar of Events and my email/social media announcements. Enjoy the â€Å"TV Watching† over the holidays – I hope the items in this post will balance out other favorites like A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life. If there’s a topic you’d like to see me speak about for any group to get my 2016 media year in full swing, please let me know. I’ll be happy to consider opportunities!

Report on current strategic marketing plan for Sonic Drive Ins Assignment

Report on current strategic marketing plan for Sonic Drive Ins - Assignment Example The company also aims at increasing its revenues and market share as it becomes the preferred destination for fast drive in restaurant. Sonics drive in style of service as well as the unique menu and orders delivered by Carhop makes it highly differentiated and preferred in the quick service restaurant industry. Moreover, the unique signature menu items made when one orders like six inch premium beef hot dogs, foot long quarter pounds Coney’s and chicken sandwiches makes it competitive (SONICÃÆ'‚ ® Drive-In, n.d.). The company also derives its strength from the fresh made onion rings, tater totes and over a million drink choices. The variety of foods and drinks offered gives customers a wide range to choose from. Sonics customers also enjoy the drive-thru services and patio dining at most of their locations. The company’s also brags of continued increase in the financial performance amidst expansion plans adopted in 2013. In 2013, the company noted an increase of 2.3% in sales of system-wide same store, a 60$ basis point improvement in drive-in level margins and a 20% rise in the earning per share on an adjusted basis (SONICÃÆ'‚ ® Drive-In, n.d.). Good financial performance has made the company remain competitive in the industry. Finally, the company boasts of their innovative products, friendly service and their ability to engage with the customers through effective advertising and better media effectiveness which increased sales. Other areas that makes the company competitive is the focus made on healthier options with the introduction of freshly brewed diet green tea and premium chicken sandwich and egg burritos (Panczel, 2010). The company has a marketing function charged with the role of creating awareness of the company’s products. Currently the department runs a â€Å"Two guys† creative campaign geared at reaching the greatest number of customers through advertising. The company has a central