Sunday, December 29, 2019

The Sociological Definition of Anomie

Anomie is a social condition in which there is a disintegration or disappearance of the  norms and values that were previously common to the society. The concept, thought of as â€Å"normlessness,† was developed by the founding sociologist,  Ãƒâ€°mile Durkheim. He discovered, through research, that anomie occurs during and follows periods of drastic and rapid changes to the social, economic, or political structures of society. It is, per Durkheims view, a transition phase wherein the values and norms common during one period are no longer valid, but new ones have not yet evolved to take their place. A Feeling of Disconnection People who lived during periods of anomie typically feel disconnected from their society because they no longer see the norms and values that they hold dear reflected in society itself. This leads to the feeling that one does not belong and is not meaningfully connected to others. For some, this may mean that the role they play (or played) and their identity is no longer valued by society. Because of this, anomie can foster the feeling that one lacks purpose, engender hopelessness, and encourage deviance and crime. Anomie According to Émile Durkheim Though the concept of anomie is most closely associated with Durkheims study of suicide, in fact, he first wrote about it in his 1893 book  The Division of Labor in Society.  In this book, Durkheim  wrote about an anomic division of labor, a phrase he used to describe a disordered division of labor  in which some groups no longer fit in, though they did in the past. Durkheim saw that this occurred as European societies industrialized and the nature of work changed along with the development of a more complex division of labor. He framed this as a clash between the mechanical solidarity of homogeneous,  traditional societies and the organic solidarity that keeps more complex societies together. According to Durkheim, anomie could not occur in the context of organic solidarity because this heterogeneous form of solidarity allows for the division of labor to evolve as needed, such that none are left out and all play a meaningful role. Anomic Suicide A few years later, Durkheim further elaborated his concept of anomie in his 1897 book,  Suicide: A Study in Sociology. He identified anomic suicide as a form of taking ones life that is motivated by the experience of anomie.  Durkheim found, through a study of suicide rates of Protestants and Catholics in nineteenth-century Europe, that the suicide rate was higher among Protestants. Understanding the different values of the two forms of Christianity, Durkheim theorized that this occurred because Protestant culture placed a higher value on individualism. This made Protestants less likely to develop close communal ties that might sustain them during times of emotional distress, which in turn made them more susceptible to suicide. Conversely, he reasoned that belonging to the Catholic faith provided greater social control and cohesion to a community, which would decrease the risk of anomie and anomic suicide. The sociological implication is that strong social ties help people and gr oups survive periods of change and tumult in society. Breakdown of Ties That Bind People Together Considering the whole of  Durkheims writing on anomie, one can see that he saw it as a breakdown of the ties that bind people together to make a functional society, a state of social derangement. Periods of anomie are unstable, chaotic, and often rife with conflict because the social force of the norms and values that otherwise provide stability is weakened or missing. Mertons Theory of Anomie and Deviance Durkheims theory of anomie proved influential to American sociologist Robert K. Merton, who pioneered the sociology of deviance and is considered one of the most influential sociologists in the United States. Building on Durkheims theory that anomie is a social condition in which peoples norms and values no longer sync with those of society, Merton created the structural strain theory, which explains how anomie lead to deviance and crime. The theory states that when society does not provide the necessary legitimate and legal means that allow people to achieve culturally valued goals, people seek out alternative means that may simply break from the norm, or may violate norms and laws. For example, if society does not provide enough jobs that pay a living wage so that people can work to survive, many will turn to criminal methods of earning a living. So for Merton, deviance, and crime are, in large part, a result of anomie, a state of social disorder.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

A Study On Sub Saharan Africa - 1051 Words

Imagine yourself living in the worst conditions ever in Africa where many people live less than a $1 a day. Your living conditions are so bad that you are deprived of the most basic human needs where you don’t even have access to clean water, shelter, medicine and food. Now imagine where hundreds of millions of people in Africa living like this. What you think about such a horrible living condition? Before I started my work on this topic, I was already aware that poverty is a tremendous issue in Africa through my research in reading articles online. What I didn’t know was that the scale of poverty was so tremendous and that it’s very widespread in the continent. But in my paper, I will be focusing primarily on Sub-Saharan Africa. Before I started this research, I didn’t have much focus on this issue, but after learning this, I became more interested in it. By conducting this research, I want to know exactly how big this problem is. I want to know the potential solutions to help solve this issue. I want to find out the best and most effective solution to solve this issue and not just solving it, but improving the lives of the people and community. So my question is: What can we do to effective combat poverty and what are the effective solutions to solve poverty in Africa and preventing it from happening? Story Of My Search My research began in class during the third advisory. I started reading articles that are useful for my research as sources. I wrote a summary forShow MoreRelatedWhat Role Does Foreign Aid Play? Developing Countries?1466 Words   |  6 Pages This is specifically not the case in countries in sub-Saharan Africa that have won their freedom from colonial powers in the last 50 years. The issue of foreign aid in Africa is a major debate that is taking place in the world today most likely because of the lack of developed democratic regimes that exist on the continent today, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. There have been many studies taking place over foreign aid and sub-Saharan Africa since foreign aid initially began after World War 2Read MoreA Brief Note On The Sub Saharan Africa1342 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Sub-Saharan Africa is a resource-constrained region that suffers a top-heavy share of the world s burden of disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 12% of the world s population live in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the region suffers 27% of the world s total burden of disease [1]. To make the matter worse, the same region with a high burden of disease still lags in health information technology (HIT) which is vital in ensuring improved patients care [2,3-7]. TimelyRead MoreThe Internationalisation Of Emerging Market Multinationals ( Emncs )1621 Words   |  7 PagesThe study of the internationalisation of emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) has gained prominence in the last two decades, as a result of increased internationalisation of firms from emerging markets (EM). These internationalisation phenomena have resulted in a surge of interest from international business (IB) scholars (Cavusgil,1980; Hoskisson, Eden, Lau, Wright, 2000; Jormanainen Koveshnikov, 2012). This surge in EMNCs internationalisation is due to the economic growth and transformationRead MoreSocial Services During Sub Saharan Africa951 Words   |  4 PagesServices Provided in Sub-Saharan Africa have had a Positive Impact on People Infected and Affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Summary Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a disease that has evolved over time into an epidemic. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world with the highest population of infected individuals and some of the lowest access to resources needed provide preventative education, treatment, and support for the disease. This study examines five studies conducted withinRead MoreThe Poaching Of The Sub Saharan Africa1094 Words   |  5 PagesAnimals in Sub-Saharan Africa and its Effects on the Locals and the Economy Introduction Topic: The poaching of animals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thesis: The illegal activity of killing animals in Sub-Saharan Africa has caused many short and long terms affects for this continent. Importance: This is important because poaching has affected the local people, the environment, and the economy and will continue for future generations. Topic Sentence: Trafficking animals in Sub-Saharan Africa has greatlyRead MoreCausal Effects Of Gender Quotas On Sub Saharan Africa With A Cross Case Analysis Essay1470 Words   |  6 Pages Section 1: What do you propose to do / what question(s) do you hope to answer? For my research project, I intend to investigate the causal effects of gender quotas in Sub-Saharan Africa with a cross-case analysis. I am currently in the first semester of a two-semester independent study with Professor Holmes where I am researching this topic. The first semester is focused on building a literature review, while the second semester is devoted to creating and implementing a research design to investigateRead MoreChallenges Faced By Prevention Of Malaria Essay1428 Words   |  6 Pagesreport that argues that most people in the sub-Saharan Africa cannot access diagnostic malaria testing and treatment because of lack of awareness in the community and among caregivers (2015). †¢ Economic Burden of Malaria on Health System In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria costs makes up to 40% of public health expenditure with nearly $300 million being used to manage cases (Ntonifor Veyufambom, 2016; World Health Organization, 2015). In a comparable study, Singh, Brown and Rogerson (2013) citedRead MoreMalari A Treatable And Preventable Disease Essay1525 Words   |  7 Pagesmalaria cases and more than 430,000 malaria related deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 88% of the new cases and 90% of the deaths, with pregnant women and children under five being at the highest risk of infection. Malaria is a devastating disease that accounts for about 10% overall disease burden in Africa and more than 40% public health expenditure (Ntonifor Veyufambom, 2016). The high malaria incident rate in sub-Saharan Africa is attributed to high transmission rates from highly efficientRead MoreMaternal And Community Hiv / Aids : Evidence From The Demographic And Health Surveys845 Words   |  4 Pagesmalnutrition in sub-Saharan Afric a: Evidence from the demographic and health surveys† was written by Monica A. Magadi (2011). The article explores if and how children under five years of age who are living with an HIV/AIDS positive family member are negatively impacted. The study was intended to find the correlation between childhood malnutrition and an HIV/AIDS positive family member living within the children’s households. The incidences of reported cases of HIV/AIDS are significantly greater in sub-SaharanRead MoreReligion And Africa By Jenny Trinitapoli And Alexander Wienreb1414 Words   |  6 PagesIn the book Religion and AIDS in Africa by Jenny Trinitapoli and Alexander Wienreb, describe the role that religion plays in interpreting, preventing, and coping with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In my view, the variation across countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is due, in part, to different health care and political/government systems. The variation that is seen in healthcare across SSA, where Botswana where programs and access to antiretroviral therapy compared to Zambia. The other variation

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Product Strategy and Chocolates Management

Question: Discuss about the Product Strategy and Chocolates Management. Answer: Introduction Haighs Chocolate Company is known as the largest brand in Australia as it produces the varieties of chocolates and also flavours of chocolates. It also has largest store in Australia. Haighs Chocolates is founded by Alfred Haigh who has small ice cream and dessert shop in 20th Century. Now, it is a family business along with constant management style nada their business are associated strategically. This chocolate brand is mostly famous and successful brand in South Australia as it is made up of handmade chocolates. This company is famous for its long term relationship and strong maintained relationship with its loyal customers and target customers. This company is considered as the fourth generation chocolate producer where raw cocoa beans are poured in the German machine for the purpose of using it in Festive season. Here, the researcher will make a report about the competitive advantages and positioning of Haighs Chocolate Company, along with this; it will also describe the strength and weakness of the company through applying SWOT analysis. The paper will show the marketing objectives and target market of the firm, by showing all the designs and posters used by the company, the report will show how Haighs Chocolate uses its promotion and product strategy to gain its objectives. Analysis and Evaluation of brand (SWOT Analysis) Strengths Weaknesses It reduce labour cost It has high growth rate It provide monetary assistance and support It create barriers of market entry The company gives future trends of about 30% to 55% (Baker, 2013). The firm is much more robust of about 27% to 55% than any general economy The company shows a strong relationship with the partners and the suppliers The company has an inability for expanding its business Due to inability to expand the business the company cannot be able to establish certification from the fair trade foundation. The company does not have future profitability (Haigh, 2017). The company faces some of the barriers Opportunities Threats The company has an opportunity for new markets The company also ventures capital The industry has the opportunity of profitability and growth rates (Haigh, 2017). The firm has new technologies that are available at reasonable rate of about 10% to 48% The industry faces a recovery The company has the threat of increasing costs Automation is unknown for the company The industry a strong level of competition, also from the other chocolate firms (Haigh, 2017). In order to maintain high quality the company has the challenges towards perishable goods Competitive Advantage and Positioning The main competitors of the firm include Cadbury, Mayfield Chocolates and Nestle with the entire firms that operates in a highly competition food producing industries. These are the known competitors of the firm that are framed while the market is meeting the demands and requirements and also the management if supply chain works with the perception for making much greater competition in the market. Haighs chocolate is the mere chocolate producer which delivers high standard and branded chocolates. The company aims to regulate the quality of chocolate successfully (Njuguna, 2009). Competitors of the company deal with the development and also it signifies for adopting the corporate behaviour for long term surviving. The requirement for attracting the customer and employees and also innovation along with a respect to right type of talent establishes high level of development (Njuguna, 2009). The company also maintains standard quality as well as introduces new trendy products and goods each and every year which maintains the culture of its family successfully. The companys competitors such as Nestle, produces wide ranges of products like breakfast cereals, packaged water, chocolate drinks and also baby foods while Haighs functions only with varieties of chocolates. The company is functioning successfully and owns a brand image as high quality products are provided by the company. The firm gives the customer delight through giving a huge varieties of chocolates in many different flavours such as milk chocolate, liquor chocolate etc (Njuguna, 2009). The company operates towards strong interaction that establishes along with the public by visiting to the factory in order to observe the manufacturing procedures. The firm even sales through online, as well as e-commerce on the basis of platforms that provides opportunity for expanding the sales to new markets. The firm also develops the shares of the market through expanding in the global markets. Marketing Objectives When the Haighs is considered as the integrated producer then with it the retailers are able to make control where the delivery is made on the design of the standard forum of return then there is created the phenomenon of the distribution packaging (Haigh, 2017). The procedure is utilized for the purpose to represent the goods and commodities which are to be made distributed in a random manner. The action which has been executed is for the five years that covers the years from 2011- 2016. The main marketing objectives of Haighs Chocolate are to manage the brand awareness and also featuring goods from dark decadence range and varieties as a first step to sign loyalty (Njuguna, 2009). The company even has short term objectives under which it targets to work closely along with joint ventures for advertising brand. This chocolate industry has long term objectives under which it creates brand awareness and set this as a benchmark that is to be accomplished in each and every new market. The company use joint venture that is TV advertising campaigns. The firm has the objective for compiling with competition and consumer Act 2010. The industry aims at increasing the shares of the market of cocoa delight gourmet chocolate by 18% in each and every Australian capital city (Baker and Hart, 2011). It also has the aims to comply with vision of dominance in the market as it targets to establish market. The company also has the objective for developing markets that will allocate 20% advertising cost for the brand awareness and along with this 30% of sales of machine made chocolates which will signifies the new markets that are on track for achieving the target of sales. Target Market A target market is the group of people whose needs and preferences are examined by organisations to match the product range of them. Determining an appropriate target market is great approach for benefit for a company. Determining a target market helps in creating a specific marketing campaign, enhance sales and also in decreasing the number of competitors in the market. Having a well-defined target market is now very much important for the companies (Januszewska, Viaene and Verbeke, 2001). The target market that Haighs plays is the targeting customers who are seeking high quality premium chocolates (Santich and McAllister, n.d.). The company is among the few providers of premium chocolates but the quality of the brand ensures its dissimilarity from other chocolate brands. Here is the market segmentation for Haighs chocolate: Geographic segmentation: It is the first segmentation strategy. In average, an Australian consumes an average of 7kg of confectionary annually in which 77% of the confectionary sales are related to chocolates, which makes Australia a market of more than $2 billion (Santich and McAllister, n.d.). Haighs must use the nature of its country citizens and countrys climate to promote its brand. Demographic segmentation: Demographic segmentation variable includes the age, gender, family size, income and many more (Januszewska, Viaene and Verbeke, 2001). Australia is among the richest countries around the globe and the citizens are always in hunt of luxury lifestyle. Haighs must use its premium chocolates to ensure that rich people of its country only buys its premium chocolate products. Psychographic segmentation: This segments the target market according to their lifestyles. Its variable includes activities, opinions, attitudes and values. The lifestyle of Australians are quite luxury so Haighs will have no difficulty in selling costly products. Behavioural Segmentation: this segmentation is based on customer actual behaviour towards the product. The brand loyalty of Haighs in chocolate is quite solid among its consumers. Benefit segmentation: This segmentation requires marketers to divide the market based on the perceived benefit of the product or service. This form of segmentation is usually applied in all forms of industry (Baker and Hart, 2011). Some of the benefits that consumers expect from Haighs chocolate management are simple payment procedures, high quality premium chocolates, rewards and discounts in online shopping. Target market of the company looks out for high quality products, exclusive brand image, good service and helpful store staff. Usage rate segmentation: This segmentation divides the consumers according to how much they consume the product. In average, an Australian consumes an average of 7kg of confectionary annually in which 77% of the confectionary sales are related to chocolates (Shekhar and Raveendran, 2013). Thus, Australians consumes a lot of chocolates which is helpful for Haighs to enhance its revenue. Product strategy The management of the company gets its technique of high quality premium chocolates from Swiss in the year 1950, and with it, it has managed to design its store and promotion successfully. By this way, the company has produced the basis of international chocolate brand for the chocolate of Haighs brand (Shekhar and Raveendran, 2013). The company aims in remaining attractive and operates under the model of high vertical supply chain model. The majority of the mass sold in the business are purchased as raw materials and most of them are sold from own network of stores (Shekhar and Raveendran, 2013). Its vertically integrates supply chain has excellent governance over the products and has high level of independence to promote superiority in reprocess of in-between packaging. In this packaging design, chocolates are placed in paper cups by hands rather than plastic melded trays. It is a bio plastics cardboard which is 100% biodegradable. The packaging of this form includes down-gauging cartons to reduce the material consumption and to increase the recycle content (Shekhar and Raveendran, 2013). It is done in this way to promote the fact that fibre in the carton board is sustainable. Haighs mainly develops collectable and reuse gifts pack from fabric bags, wooden containers and tinware to reduce the amount of disposable packaging (Sondhi and Chawla, 2016). This way, it also offers a unique range of ever-changing seasonal gifts. For having a unique product in its chocolate range, Haighs could invent a new chocolate bar with different fillings in it. This chocolate bar would have different fillings inside combining the different chocolate varieties from its premium chocolate range into a large chocolate bar. It could contain different types of truffles, dark chocolate, Turkish and Italian taste and many more into it. Pricing strategy Haighs Chocolate industry has fixed their price along with the classification of the products where the products are creating the use of it. They are fixed with the selection of the consumers as well as the law of supply and demand-chain is made applicable (Jovanov-Marjanova, 2012). The company believes that with the quality comes price. As the quality of the chocolates is quite high so it requires continuous marketing to be on the top and the price of the Haighs products is also much high in few cases, on the other hand it is quite reasonable (Baker and Hart, 2011). Products like, Haighs dark chocolates, milk chocolates and liquor chocolates give the taste of raw chocolates at reasonable price. Haighs chocolates are considered to be premium brand of chocolates because of the positioning but still for the purpose of lower priced chocolates, it is even agreed around several target segments. Haighs chocolates have wide varieties of products in the chocolate segment as well, as the pricing of each chocolate is quite distinct on the basis of the kind of the customers and choice of the customers who can buy it (Blocher, 2007). In all these circumstances, the Haighs chocolates brand is the clear winner which is priced in high and also low variants; the brand has the position of gifting and also the selling sales volume highly at higher prices. Place strategy (distribution) The products of Haighs chocolate operate under high vertical incorporated model of supply chain. The collection of products sold with the business with respect to raw materials with the number of stores. The small amount less than 5% is sold with the wholesale through the help of retailers which functions in niche market location and promotes as well as enhance the sales of the networking stores (Gabrielli and Baghi, 2014). The company is placed at Adelaide along with the factory as well as the visitors centre and it is available from Monday to Saturday for the tourists. The visitors and the tourists have the opportunity for dealing with the fresh quality of chocolates and also high premium chocolates after visits (Januszewska, Viaene and Verbeke, 2001). There are even particular places in Australia where all these chocolates doesnt get advertise as well as fit the promotion of these products the places are selected in a way for maximizing the product capacity in various entire locat ions (Hatch and Schultz, 2008). Due to the channel distribution, the costs of Chocolates are quite high but still on the basis of the demand in the market, the cost are going to be high. Promotion Strategy The Product of the company outlines a continuous communication with its customers on packaging and sustainability through promotions, social media and advertisements. Promotion is defined as the publication of a producer, organisation or venture in order to increase the sales or public and brand awareness (Hatch and Schultz, 2008). It is an activity that supports or encourages a cause or aim. Some of the tools that Haighs utilises are advertising, sales promotion, public relation and direct marketing. Company does the advertising through different types of media such as newspaper, television, direct mail, magazine and the internet (Sondhi and Chawla, 2016). It also uses the sales promotion activity top grab the attention of new customers, in order to reward the existing customers and also to increase the consumption of occasional customers (Hatch and Schultz, 2008). The promotion strategy of the company helps in attracting new customers and also in increasing the market share. It assists companies by enhancing the sales and by increasing the value to the customers. Conclusion From the above report the researcher has found that the main competitors of the firm include Cadbury, Mayfield Chocolates and Nestle with the entire firms that operates in a highly competition food producing industries. These are the known competitors of the firm that are framed while the market is meeting the demands and requirements and also the management if supply chain works with the perception for making much greater competition in the market. It has been also found that The firm even sales through online, as well as e-commerce on the basis of platforms that provides opportunity for expanding the sales to new markets. The firm also develops t5he shares of the market through expanding in the global markets. The report has found that the Company use joint venture that is TV advertising campaigns. The firm has the objective for compiling with competition and consumer Act 2010. The industry aims at increasing the shares of the market of cocoa delight gourmet chocolate by 18% in each and every Australian capital city. It also has the aims to comply with vision of dominance in the market as it targets to establish market. The company believes that with the quality comes price. As the quality of the chocolates is quite high so it requires continuous marketing to be on the top and the price of the Haighs products is also much high in few cases, on the other hand it is quite reasonable. Products like, Haighs dark chocolates, milk chocolates and liquor chocolates give the taste of raw chocolates at reasonable price. References Baker, A. (2013). Teaching Quality Control with Chocolate Chip Cookies. Teaching Statistics, 36(1), pp.2-6. Baker, M. and Hart, S. (2011). Product strategy and management. 1st ed. New Delhi: Pearson Education. Blocher, M. (2007). Market Testing und Target Costing. Verwaltung Management, 13(4), pp.199-204. Gabrielli, V. and Baghi, I. (2014). Online brand community within the integrated marketing communication system: When chocolate becomes seductive like a person. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(4), pp.385-402. Haigh, S. (2017). HAIGHS CHOCOLATES. [online] Available at: https://www.qad.com/documents/case-studies/haighs-case-study.pdf [Accessed 3 Apr. 2017]. Hatch, M. and Schultz, M. (2008). Taking brand initiative. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Januszewska, R., Viaene, J. and Verbeke, W. (2001). Market Segmentation for Chocolate in Belgium and Poland. Journal of Euromarketing, 9(3), pp.1-26. Jovanov-Marjanova, T. (2012). Marketing research of the chocolate market in Macedonia. Marketing, 43(1), pp.62-76. Njuguna, J. (2009). Strategic Positioning for Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An Organizational Learning Approach. KCA Journal of Business Management, 2(1). Santich, B. and McAllister, P. (n.d.). Haigh's chocolates. 1st ed. Shekhar, S. and Raveendran, P. (2013). Chocolate Packaging and Purchase Behaviour: A Cluster Analysis Approach. Indian Journal of Marketing, 43(6), p.5. Sondhi, N. and Chawla, D. (2016). Segmenting and Profiling the Chocolate Consumer: An Emerging Market Perspective. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 23(2), pp.123-143.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Global Innovations Challenges free essay sample

Global Innovation’s Challenges Based on the case, Peter Vyas had a hard time to decide whether he will support or reject their request for the $2 million in funding for RIMOS. Vyas and his team still believe that the product will be successful despite of the failures they encountered during the product’s development. Peter has Strong Leadership character. He Immediately focused on fixing low morale and growing turnover and carefully selecting entrepreneurial minded individual to fill up the gap created prior to his taking this role. Vyas was successful at keeping his team engaged throughout the planning and development stages of their new product. Cynthia Jackson, Vice President Water Management Division, is also looking forward with the RIMOS project although she heard lot of negative comments from other managers about the Filtration Unit. She also helped the team to solve some issues that might lead to failure of the product for the third time. We will write a custom essay sample on Global Innovations Challenges or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She is very specific in some points in the proposals in each phase. She throws questions and challenge the team but she do express her concerns and ideas. The team made a three-phase process proposal as what Jackson has been ordered or challenged. On the first phase which is about the General Product Concept and Market Analysis, the team failed to indicate data on their target markets. Their proposed retail price which is $2000 for RIMOS is expensive. Many people can’t afford to buy the product. On this phase, Jackson requested the team to reduce the production cost. In the second phase, the team started to design the actual product. They made more efficient designs at the same time decreases the manufacturing costs. On the third phase, the team

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Leading Life with Smiles On The Face Essays - Facial Expressions

Leading Life With Smiles On the Face Do you ever know that what makes life joyful, happy or even full of pleasure? Smiling is the answer. Instead of showing a gloomy face, why don?t we begin our everyday lives with a warmhearted smile? It will certainly make our lives much better and wonderful. Smiling indicates a sign of happiness on us. Smiling not only shows that we are contented, it will also make other people feel blissful and relaxed. In fact, there is one famous quote created by an American inspirational writer, H. Jackson Brown, Jr. about smile., that is ?Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day?. When we smile at somebody, they might even smile back at us. Smiling simply means that we are delighted, and by showing others our cheery grin will certainly make all lives happy. Therefore, smiling will make others put a grin on their faces. Life seems to be full of obstacles and hardship. Smiling is the ultimate solution to work out the problem. Smiling makes you look successful indeed. Smiling will also grant you the feeling of hope and faith, as smiling can fill you up with the strength and confident to survive. Hence, be sure to show your smiley face, especially when you meet a disheartened person. This will be the best cure for them. Besides that, do not feel depressed even when you face difficulties. As the saying goes, ?there is always light at the end of the tunnel?. In fact, you should just smile and problems might become simpler. Also, there is a saying that goes, ?A smile can brighten the darkest sky?. Thus, smiling definitely makes you look at the brighter side of a bad situation. An amiable grin will absolutely place you in a positive position all over the place. Smiling shows that you are a friendly person and it also gives you a child like innocence. Furthermore, with a smiley face, you will be more contagious to the people around you. Two persons will get closer to each other when they start to smile at each other. You look gracious when you smile and thus, people will like to stay together with you. In addition, smiling is important in bringing the whole world together. An American philosopher, Max Eastman says that, ?a smile is the universal welcome?. For that reason, all people in the world should smile everyday to ensure world peace, as peace begins with smile. Lastly, smiling prolongs life. Smiling relieves all the tensions and pressures in lives, thus causing us to feel relieved. Getting angry for the whole time will surely disrupt our nervous systems and this results in the shortening of lifespan. Smiling functions as a natural drug that eases all pains without producing negative offshoots. It is believed that smiling can get rid of feeling of annoyance and promotes human flourishing. Moreover, smiling builds up attractive and appealing looks. Research actually shows that smiling also makes us look younger. Next, smiling tends to adjust our moods. We will feel better when we smile and we can have a good mood. As a result, we should always put a smile on our face to ensure a healthy lifestyle. In a nutshell, we should lead our lives with smiles on our face. We must not hesitate to smile at other people since smiling is a virtuous act. Life is just the resemblance of a mirror, we will always end up getting the greatest consequences when we smile at it. Therefore, let us smile together till the end of the world.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Facts and Figures on Christians of the Middle East

Facts and Figures on Christians of the Middle East The Christian presence in the Middle East dates back, of course, to Jesus Christ during the Roman Empire. That 2,000-year presence has gone uninterrupted since, especially in the countries of the Levant: Lebanon, Palestine/Israel, Syria- and Egypt. But its been far from a unified presence. The Eastern and Western Church dont quite see eye to eyehavent for about 1,500 years. Lebanons Maronites split off from the Vatican centuries ago, then agreed to return to the fold, preserving to themselves rites, ​dogmas, and customs of their choice (dont tell a Maronite priest he cant marry!) Much of the region either forcibly or voluntarily converted to Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries. In the Middle Ages, the European Crusades attempted, brutally, repeatedly but ultimately unsuccessfully, to restore Christian hegemony over the region. Since then, only Lebanon has maintained a Christian population approaching anything like a plurality, although Egypt maintains the single-largest Christian population in the Middle East. Here’s a country-by-country breakdown of Christian denominations and populations in the Middle East: Lebanon Lebanon last conducted an official census in 1932, during the French Mandate. So all figures, including total population, are estimates based on various media, government and non-government organizations’ numbers. Total population, including non-Christians: 4 millionPercent Christian: 34-41%Maronite: 700,000Greek-Orthodox: 200,000Melkite: 150,000 Syria Like Lebanon, Syria has not conducted a reliable census since French Mandate times. Its Christian traditions date back to the time when Antioch, in present-day Turkey, was early Christianity’s center. Total population, including non-Christians: 18.1 millionPercent Christian: 5-9%Greek-Orthodox: 400,000Melkite: 120,000Armenian-Orthodox: 100,000Small numbers of Maronites and Protestants. Occupied Palestine/Gaza the West Bank According to the Catholic News Agency, â€Å"In the last 40 years, the Christian population in the West Bank has slumped from about 20 percent of the total to less than two percent today.† Most Christians then and now are Palestinians. The drop is a result of the combined effect of Israeli occupation and repression and a rise in Islamic militancy among Palestinians. Total population, including non-Christians: 4 millionGreek Orthodox: 35,000Melkite: 30,000Latin (Catholic): 25,000Some Copts and a small number of Protestants. Israel Israel’s Christians are a mixture of native-born Arabs and immigrants, including some Christian Zionists. The Israeli government claims 144,000 Israelis are Christians, including 117,000 Palestinian Arabs and several thousand Ethiopian and Russian Christians who migrated to Israel, with Ethiopian and Russian Jews, during the 1990s. The World Christian Database puts the figure at 194,000. Total population, including non-Christians: 6.8 millionGreek Orthodox: 115,000Latin (Catholic): 20,000Armenian Orthodox: 4,000Anglicans: 3,000Syrian Orthodox: 2,000 Egypt About 9% of Egypt’s population of 83 million are Christians, and most of them are Copts- descendants of Ancient Egyptians, adherents to the early Christian Church, and, since the 6th century, dissidents from Rome. For more details about Egypt’s Copts, read â€Å"Who Are Egypts Copts and Coptic Christians?† Total population, including non-Christians: 83 millionCopts: 7.5 millionGreek Orthodox: 350,000Coptic Catholic: 200,000Protestant: 200,000Small numbers of Armenian Orthodox, Melkites, Maronites and Syrian Catholics. Iraq Christians have been in Iraq since the 2nd century- mostly Chaldeans, whose Catholicism remains deeply influenced by ancient, eastern rites, and Assyrians, who are not Catholic. The war in Iraq since 2003 has ravaged all communities, Christians included. A rise in Islamism diminished Christians’ security, but attacks on Christians appear to be receding. Nevertheless, the irony, for Iraqs Christians, is that on balance they were far better off under Saddam Hussein than since his downfall. As Andrew Lee Butters writes in Time, About 5 or 6 percent of Iraqs population in the 1970s were Christian, and some of Saddam Husseins most prominent officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz were Christians. But since the American invasion of Iraq, Christians have fled in droves, and constitute less than one percent of the population. Total population, including non-Christians: 27 millionChaldean: 350,000 – 500,000Armenian Orthodox: 32,000 – 50,000Assyrian: 30,000Several thousand Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, and Protestant. Jordan As elsewhere in the Middle East, the number of Jordan’s Christians has been declining. Jordan’s attitude toward Christians had been relatively tolerant. That changed in 2008 with the expulsion of 30 Christian religious workers and an increase in religious persecutions overall. Total population, including non-Christians: 5.5 millionGreek Orthodox: 100,000Latin: 30,000Melkite: 10,000Protestant Evangelical: 12,000

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Comparing and Contrasting the legislative, executive, and judicial Essay

Comparing and Contrasting the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the American government and the government of Kuwait - Essay Example In this paper we are going to compare and contrast the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the American government and Kuwait government. The constitution of the United States government is aimed at ensuring a strong and fair national government while at the same time ensuring the freedoms of individuals are protected from abuse by the government. America is a presidential system of government with three branches; the executive, legislature and the judiciary. Each arm of the government has its own function but its powers are checked by the other arms of government. For example, the legislature makes laws while the judiciary ensures the laws are in line with the constitution. The executive arm of government is headed by the president who is democratically elected by the entire country. The president serves for a term of four years whereby fresh elections are held to elect a new president. The president is the head of state and government and is also the commander in chief of the armed forces. He/she is also entrusted with the duty of negotiating treaties on behalf of the government. The president has the power to appoi nt or remove cabinet ministers, Supreme Court judges and other government officials. The executive also comprises of the vice president and cabinet ministers who are nominated by the president. The cabinet consists of fifteen members who represent the government departments. The role of the executive is to enforce laws which are formulated by the legislature. The president signs bills into law making the laws official and enforceable (USA.gov). Unlike the American government, the executive branch of Kuwait government is headed by a constitutional hereditary emirate. The Amir is the head of state while the prime minister is the head of government. The Amir is not elected by the entire nation but inherits the position from the Al Sabah family. Kuwait does not have a

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Final_ProjectWK5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final_ProjectWK5 - Essay Example In the promotion of such brands it is highly essential to have customers or consumers which are greatly influential in their social circle. This is for the reason that the promotion of a brand that takes place through the word of mouth or by sharing experiences from the current user or customer is more reliable and trustworthy than any other source. In addition, hosting parties at some client’s place and then targeting some new prospects will also lend a hand to the emerging company to gather new customers. For this important purpose, the company can ask out their clients to throw a party that would be arranged and sponsored by the company itself and invite their friends which fall under the target market. One of the representatives from the firm can become the part this party and introduced this brand to them. Hence it would be really impressive as people would be able to directly deal with the company’s representative and satisfy their queries. As the Tailgetters are mainly focusing on promoting their products and services through hosting different theme parties, therefore the channel management in this case is very simple. This is for the reason that they are selling their brand directly to their customer with the involvement of any marketing intermediaries like distributor, wholesaler, retailer etc. But on the other hand, for this reason the company needs to have a very strong and well trained and developed selling department. Sales people must be effective and efficient enough to persuade and influence the prospects to buy their products. At an introductory stage of Tailgetters it would be a smarter move if they prefer to keep their channel as short as possible and direct marketing would be highly effective. That means that the channel must only comprise of two parties that is the company and the consumer. However, a longer channel will only be good if the company intends to expand the business outside their

Monday, November 18, 2019

The Catholic church teaching of homosexuality Research Paper

The Catholic church teaching of homosexuality - Research Paper Example Homosexuality is a troubling moral and that has been addressed with relative frequency by the Catholic Church in recent years. In certain countries, advocated by civil groups in particular, this practice is tolerated in guise of human rights equality and right to chose way of life without interfering with the larger society and in other countries, legal recognition has since been granted to such unions including the legal possibility of such couples adopting children. The Catholic Church stands by the Biblical condemnation of homosexuality stating, â€Å"Basing itself on sacred scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complimentarity. Under no circumstances are they to be approved.† (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357). Nonetheless, in line with Christian teachings of tolerance, homosexuals, according to the Catholic Church, â€Å"must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.† This tolerance however must not be mistaken to imply that the Catholic Church favors homosexuality since the church is openly against such acts. Governments are reminded of the need to control and restrain the phenomenon in order to safeguard public morality and avoid spread of the degeneracy and exposing the society and future generations to such sexual perversions and laws recognizing such unions in certain countries and states must be vehemently opposed as such laws are in opposition to the right reason as they confer legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, to unions between persons of similar sex. Therefore the states, by granting legal recognition to such unions fails in its sworn duty to defend marriage and family institutions as the foundation and pillar of the society. The society owes its continued survival to the family, founded in marriage and consequently, legal recognition of such unions would mean redefinition of marriage to become an institution without elements as essential as procreation and children. This would result in serious impacts on the societies and the human race at large, to say the least. â€Å"The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and can not be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it.† The Catholic Church stands that homosexual unions do not deserve any institutional recognition as they equally do not serve any public interests unlike marriage couples that ensure continuity of the human race. It is the Church’s view that civil laws determine the principles, behavior, thoughts and tendencies of those it governs either positively or negatively as it is, influencing incoming generations’ views and regard of the forms of lifestyle. Legal recognition of homosexuality would thus inevitably water down some essential and basic moral values and degenerate the institution of marriage. The Catholic Church argues that the lack of biological and anthropological elements in homosexual relations mean that they are unable to play role in the God commissioned and mu ch necessary procreation and continued survival of the human race.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Kaiser Meyer Olkin Measure Of Sampling Adequacy Media Essay

Kaiser Meyer Olkin Measure Of Sampling Adequacy Media Essay 21stcentury has witnessed the advent development of a lot of technologies. Due to the advent of technology it becomes easier for people to take the advantage of the same. The role of television as a media is increasing day by day. Now we can see a lot of people opting for DTH, now we dont have to rely on the cable to see the programmes. Due to this the viewership of people has increased to a greater extent. There was a time when people enjoyed watching religious serials, educational programmes, movies songs which provided entertainment. But now the meaning of entertainment seems to have changed and now a day reality shows has become the flavor of small screen. The small screen has been flooded with reality shows, namely X Factor, Just Dance, Little Champs, MTV Roadies,  Emotional Atyachar, Ratan Ka Rishta,  Comedy  ka maha mukabala, MTV Stunt Mania, Kaun Banega Crorepati, etc. and the list goes on. Moreover, most of the reality shows have been hosted by one celebrity or other. The basic assumption underlying celebrity hosting the reality show is that the value associated with the celebrity is transferred to the brand of the reality show and therefore helps to create an image that can be easily referred by consumers. Consequently by association the reality show can very quickly establish the Creditability, get immediate recognition and improved viewership. However, there are many risks associated with such hosts. The viewership could slide down just as quickly as it moved up the consumers mind due to some problem in celebrity image, career graph etc. Literature Review (Khatri, July-Dec. 2006) has opined that celebrity endorsement does not itself guarantee sales. It can create a buzz and make a consumer feel better about the product, which in turn has to come to expectation of customers as a real star by delivering the promise. (Ogunsiji, 2012) has pointed out that Global brand endorsements demand a global brand management team. Thus regional and international organization is in place to maintain brand leadership through proper effective celebrity endorsements. So, companies with large brand portfolios need to have separate managers for each brand and its promotion. (S.K.Dube, 2011) has observed that in India today, The use of celebrity advertising for companies has become a trend and a perceived as winning formula of corporate image building and product marketing. The use of celebrity for brand promotion is increasing day by day but it cannot be treated as an assured strategic tool to enhance market share, demand of the product or even profit because it mainly depends upon suitability of celebrity with a product and brand as well. (Kineta Hung, 2011) found that findings from a survey involving 1,030 respondents from a national panel of consumers, showed that consumer celebrity worship is a significant antecedent to endorser effects; over-endorsement by a celebrity is an important moderator; and the model is robust across both sports and entertainment celebrities. (Gouranga, 2011) concluded that celebrity is an important factor of interest to generate more positioning of interest in the minds of consumers rather than message and background set up at the time of recall in advertisements. So celeb rity acts as an effective component of advertisement to make the advertisements more effective. (Jayant Sonwalkar, 2011) Observed that in a country like India, celebrities act as major opinion leaders and since awareness levels are low, celebrities play a major role in brand recall. Celebrities are helpful in initiating a desired state need among people. The respondents usually pay attention to those advertisements using celebrity icons. The study conducted by him also revealed that to some what extent celebrities initiate an action to buy that product. (PiligrimienÄ-, 2011) has found that the sport celebrity can be used when its possible to find a link between the product and sport, or when the company wants its customers to relate the product with the sport, active and healthy life style. (Ibrahim, 2010) Observed that using celebrity where the measurable results of such high cost strategy do not justify the amount of money that companies spend on utilizing celebrities. The allocated budget for using celebrities needs to be reallocated in other marketing areas such as marketing research and marketing insights to understand customers needs in more details. (Datta, 2010) has concluded that there are lots of challenges involved in finding in right celebrity match with product or service. Further he opined that for the success of celebrity endorsement right fit between celebrity and band endorsed is must. Objectives Aims and objective of the study: In this changing world consumers preferences toward reality shows is increasing and they are finding these reality shows as a good source of entertainment. Most of the reality television programmes are getting good response due to their respective hosts. How much an effective a particular host is? Does the response of consumers change due to change of celebrity host? Is the personality of the host is matching the personality of television programme? This study can help the sponsors and producers of programmes to choose an appropriate host for their reality show. Further this study can help in enhancing the viewership of reality programme. Objectives of the study 1. To know the factors affecting consumer preference towards Indian reality shows 2. To study the reason of variation of viewership in program Kaun Banega Crorpati between year 2000 to 2011 3. To study the compatibility of host personality (Amitabh Bacchan Shahrukh Khan) with respect to Kaun Banega Crorpati Need of the Study Reality shows has become important part of the many peoples life. Now a days we are seeing a lot of Indian reality shows on television. Now most of the channels who wants more TRP are coming up with a new reality shows. Competition in this field has also increased to a greater extent. So producers of reality shows start hiring super stars for hosting there show. Producers are spending millions of rupees on hosts. Different people have different perceptions regarding the celebrity hosts. Some people might enjoy seeing a particular host in a reality show, but some people do not like that host.Every celebrity is having his/her own personality. A marketer needs to know that whether the hosts personality is matching to the personality of the program he is hosting. This research can help the marketer to know that what kind of host would be appropriate for his show. If the marketer can make the right choice in selecting the host for his program, he can beat the competition and can have highest TRP for his/her reality program. Scope of the Study: The scope of study is confined to Indian reality programs and data has been collected from people residing in Jalandhar and Phagwara region of Punjab. In this study we have taken one of the most popular Indian reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati.Here researchers has tried to find the factors which affects consumers preference towards Indian reality shows. Further, researchers have tried to find the reason of variation in viewership of Kaun Banega Crorepati from 2000 to 2011 along with host compatibility with programme Kaun Banega Crorepati. Research Design: Here, by and large descriptive study has been followed. Researchers are trying to discover the insights that how the host personality is affecting the consumer preferences towards the Indian reality shows. Survey method with the help of structured questionnaire will be used for the data collection the data collected will be analysed quantitatively and this also qualifies that our research design is descriptive in nature. Here we are also trying to find out the reason of variation of viewership for this researcher will conduct one focus group discussion to find out the aforesaid objective. So our research design is also exploratory to some extent. Sampling Design Target Population: People residing in Jalandhar and Phagwara, who watch Indian reality show like Kaun Banega Crorepati Sampling Technique: In this research Convenience sampling has been used. This is a type of Non Probabilistic sampling. As everyone dont watch reality programme like KBC, so only those people have been surveyed who watch these programmes. Sample Size and data collection: In this research Sample size 300 respondents from Jalandhar and Phagwara of Punjab region has been collected. Researchers has used structured questionnaire for this purpose. In the questionnaire for measuring attitude five point Likert scale has been used. Few dichotomous questions have also been used to understand respondents behavioral pattern. A focus group of 11 people consisting different age group and occupation was conducted to find out the reason of variation in viewership of KBC during 2000 to 2012.Secondary data has been collected from Internet, books, periodicals, magazines etc. Time period of Data: The data is collected in between the time frame of month January 2012 to June 2012 across Phagwara city and Jalandhar city and its suburbs. Pilot testing: Researchers have done pilot testing by using convenience sampling technique. A sample of 35 was taken for this purpose. A questionnaire containing Likert Scale was instrumented for this purpose. Reliability testing for the pilot survey was decent with Cronbachs Alpha 0.697. Some necessary changes as per requirement were made in the questionnaire after conducting pilot survey. Data Analysis: Demographic variables like Gender, Age, Occupation etc. has been used for profiling of the customer. Also, profiling has been done on the basis of variables like does respondent watch reality programmes on television, does respondent watch KBC etc. from literature survey lots of variable has been found which affects consumer preference towards Indian reality shows. So, Factor analysis has been used to identify the important factors out of several variables. Apart from this a Focus group was conducted to know the reason of variation in viewership of KBC from 2000 to 2012. Brief Summary of tools used for analysis: 1. Descriptive Statistics: For profiling of customers. 2. Factor Analysis: To identify important factors affecting consumer preference towards Indian reality Show 3. Q Score: To understand host compatibility with popular show KBC 4. Focus Group: To understand the reason of variation in viewership of KBC from 2000 to 2012. Frequency Distribution Here frequency distribution of the 300 respondents has been displayed who prefer to watch different reality shows. Researcher has found that out of 300 respondents, 127 respondents most preferred Indian reality show is Kaun Banega Crorepati. However in response we have also found that all the 300 respondents were aware of Indian television reality show Kaun Banega Crorepati and they have watched it at least once. 2.Can you tell the names of celebrities who have hosted the show? Researchers provided different option of celebrities name for this question, in which again all the 300 respondents were able to answer this correctly. Respondents were able to identify both hosts of KBC Amitabh Bachhan and Shahrukh khan. Who is the better host Amitabh Bachhan or Shahrukh khan for KBC. Researcher has found out that out of 300 respondents 254 has chosen Amitabh Bachhan as a better host only 46 has chosen Shahrukh Khan as a better host. FACTOR ANALYSIS Factor analysis was performed to know which are important factors which affect respondents preference towards watching Indian reality show. Questionnaires were administered to a sample of 348 respondents, after scrutiny researcher has removed 48 questionnaires due to errors in response. The data based on Likert scale, which was meant for measuring respondents preference was entered into SPSS data sheet. Before applying Factor analysis Reliability test was performed and then data was subjected to Factor analysis by using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) method. KMO Value which determines the sample adequacy was found .816 which was highly satisfactory. Varimax rotation for orthogonal factors with Kaiser Normalization was considered to get the % of variance explained for 13 statements in the questionnaire. To find the relevant factors Eigen value of greater than 1 was considered. A table of Rotated Component Matrix is generated with the help of SPSS and three factors were derived. H ere Factor loading above 0.50 are considered for Factor analysis. Then, the factors are derived based on the statements that have gone into each factor. The list of factors along with the supporting statements is displayed in Table 4. KMO and Bartletts Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .816 Bartletts Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 1.322E3 Df 78 Sig. .000 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test is applied to check out the adequacy of data. Here, it has been found more than 0.816, which is more than desired value of 0.5. Rotated Component Matrixa Component 1 2 3 1.Influence of host personality .079 .070 .857 2.For the sake of knowledge -.034 .445 .662 3.Just for Enjoyment .326 .264 .331 4.Come on my favourite channel .786 .190 -.094 5.Because of peer influence .856 .208 -.032 6.Family Influence .816 .142 .135 7.Perfect timings .611 -.061 .467 8.Content of the show .054 .289 .629 9.Match with my personality .302 .529 .260 10.Like the way of portraying .359 .099 .070 11.For viewers questions .271 .709 .158 12.Challenge human capabilities .083 .854 .094 13.Platform for common people .150 .730 .243 Factor List Channel, peer family influence competition and connect with common people Host Knowledge Come on my favourite channel Match with my personality Influence of host personality Because of peer Influence For viewers questions For the sake of knowledge Family influence Challenge human capabilities Content of the show Perfect timings Platform for common people Description of the factors Factor 1, refers to, Channel peer and family influence and contributes to 33.978% variance. This factor is described in terms of Favorite channel, peer influence, family influence, and perfect timing of the show telecast. Factor 2, describes the competition and connect with common people contributes to 14.352% variance. This factor refers to Questions for viewers, challenge human capabilities, match with my personality and platform for common people. Factor 3, focuses on Knowledge and content and it contributes to 8.865% variance. This factor includes statements like influence of the host personality, for the sale of knowledge and content of the show Focus Group discussion to find out the reason of variation in viewership of KBC: To find out the reasons in variation of the viewership of reality show KBC, focus group was conducted.in focus group 11 people from different age group and back ground were selected. Main finding of the focus group has been summarized below: It was observed during the discussion that, Change in the host of KBC from Amitabh Bachchan to Shahrukh Khan for Kaun Banega Crorepati has a great inverse impact on variation in viewership. During focus group participating people noted saying that Amitabh Bachchans personality matches with the personality of show. Most of the people felt that, Kaun Banega Crorpati is a kind of Quiz show where seriousness of the host, proper discipline and intellectuality of the host is required. These all are the qualities possessed by Amitabh bachhan., which can be attributed to the success of Amitabh bacchan as a host of KBC. A lots of other reality shows like Dus Ka Dum, Khatron Ke Khiladi etc. came on silver screen after the intial success of KBC, which also impacted the viewership of KBC. However, most of the Quiz show hosted by other super stars was similar in nature. Four participants of focus group discussion who were female observed that as KBC was coming on Sony television from 9 PM to 10 PM on week days, and a lot of family serials were also being telecasted on different television channels on same time slots. Here, these female participants felt that they preferred watching family serial rather than KBC. Five participants, who were doing jobs, found that KBC show used to come on working days and these people after coming exhausted from office looking for some refreshment programs, they were not interested in watching a show where they need to apply their mind. It was also observed that most of the participants were agreeing that voice quality, overall personality and matureness of Amitabh bachhan was very good which was lacking in Sahrukh khan as a host of KBC, however later was observed charming and informal. Q score Technique Applying the Q score technique to determine the familiarity, popularity and compatibility of two stalwart (Amitabh Bachhan and Shahrukh khan) among Indian celebrities as a host of KBC based on feedback from the respondent from different demographic background will be very relevant and useful for producers and directors in identifying and selecting the appropriate celebrity as a host of their respective reality shows. Q score to help choose the right celebrity host for reality show Q Score is normally used by marketing firms to select the right celebrity for endorsing their product/ services and determining the popularity ranking of the celebrities as per the consumers response. The Q score answers the question how appealing and popular is the celebrity among those who do know him or her? Advertisers and advertising agencies can refer to Q rating score of a celebrity for choosing the right celebrity. In this process respondents are asked to indicate two things first Whether they have seen / heard about the selected celebrities? Secondly, if yes- then the respondents are asked to rate the celebrities on a five point Likert scale scale that includes One of my Favourite, Very Good, Good, Fair or Poor. Calculating Q ratings:- Q rating is calculated by taking the percentage of respondents who indicate that a celebrity is ONE OF MY FAVOURITE and dividing that number by the percentage of respondents who indicate that they have heard of that Celebrity. Here, researcher has calucated Q score to check the compatibility of host personality (Amitabh Bacchan Shahrukh Khan) with respect to Kaun Banega Crorpati. Q scores for Amitabh Bachchan: A= How many people know Amitabh Bachchan as a host for KBC/ Total number of respondents Here all 300 respondents were aware about Amitabh Bachchan as a host for KBC So A= 300/300 = 1 B= how many respondents rate Favourite/ total number of respondents As 184 respondents answered favourite Amitabh Bachchan as a host for KBC So, B=184/300 Q Score = B/A= 184/300*100 = 61.3 Q scores for Shahrukh Khan: A= How many people know Shahrukh khan as a host for KBC/ Total number of respondents Here all 300 respondents were aware about Shahrukh khan as a host for KBC So A= 300/300 = 1 B= how many respondents rate Favourite/ total number of respondents As 70 respondents answered favourite Shahrukh khan as a host for KBC So, B=70/300 Q Score = B/A= 70/300*100 = 23.3 Analysis: Based on survey researcher find that Amitabh Bachchan is having a Q score of 61.3 Shahrukh Khan has a Q score of 23.3. Generally Q score more than 50 is considered good. This indicates that Amitabh Bachchan is a better host for Kaun Banega Crorepati rather than Shahrukh khan. Summary of research findings Compatibility of host personality with the reality show is one of the most important factor for the success of reality show. Apart from compatibility show timing, nature of show, content of the show also contributes towards success of the show. Factor analysis concluded that Channel peer and family, competition connect with common people and knowledge content are the important factors which affects people preference towards watching reality show. As a host of KBC, overall personality and matureness of Amitabh bachhan was very good which was lacking in Sahrukh khan as a host of KBC, however later was observed charming and informal. This is one of the main reasons of the success of Amitabh Bachhan as a KBC host. Based on focus group we found came to conclusion that the reasons of variation in viewership of KBC between 2000 to 2012 are timings of the show, change of host of show, coming up of new reality shows, the content of the show is same from last five seasons which has created a boredom, increase in the number of channels etc. Based on Q score analysis it can be derived that : Based on survey researcher found out that Amitabh Bacchant is having a Q score of 61.3 Shahrukh Khan has a Q score of 23.3. This indicates that Amitabh Bachchan is a better host for Kaun Banega Crorepati rather than Shahrukh khan Conclusion After conducting this research it can be concluded that competition connect with common people, Channel, peer family influence and Knowledge content are three important factors which affect the consumer preferences towards Indian reality shows. Apart from the fact that KBC is being hosted by Amitabh Bachhan, reality show like KBC has become popular due to the reason that it is a platform for common people and the knowledge of the people is also increasing by watching this kind of show. Researchers come to the conclusion that the reasons of variation in viewership are primarily because of timings of the show is not appropriate because this show used to come on a time slot of 9 PM-10 PM which is a prime time and due to this clash of timing between different popular shows. People were in a habit of watching Amitabn Bchchan in the KBC as a host,but in the third season Shahrukh Khan came into picture the TRP of the show fell drastically. Most of the people think Amitabh Bachchans pers onality best matches with the show and change in the personality show caused sharp decline in viewership. This research will go a long way in helping the advertising agency, directors producers of reality show, who can make this, research a basis in selection of the celebrity for endorsement and celebrity as host for reality shows. Future Research The scope of this research study may be further enhanced by incorporating different reality sho in the research. This research can also be extended further for deciding celebrity for endorsement purpose.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Medieval Morality Plays Essay -- Mystery Plays History Historical Essa

Medieval Morality Plays   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout time, there have been many books, plays, songs, pamphlets, sermons, lectures, etc. written. These writings were all written with some kind of purpose to either inform, persuade, entertain, or teach their audience. One such form of literature not too widely known about is that of the medieval morality plays. These plays were not aimed to entertain, but to teach morals and religion to the uneducated lower classes of people in medieval Europe. The morality plays were also quite necessary to teach and inform the underclass people, through the thoughtful persuasion of play entertainment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Morality plays, as said above, were most popular and most widely present in medieval times. They were also found in the early times of the renaissance, but in those times they were aimed more for entertainment rather than their original purpose of teaching and informing. (Warren 2). Location wise, most morality plays were written by French and English playwrights, but they can be found throughout Europe at that time. (1). An early predecessor of the morality plays were the mystery and miracle plays of the earlier medieval period. (1). Of the two, morality plays were more similar in the aim of the messages and such to the miracle plays rather than the mystery plays. (1). The main difference between the morality and the miracle plays is that the morality plays were allegorical, not historical like the miracle plays. (1). The morality plays were also known to be more on the entertainment side than the miracle and mystery plays. (1). The content of the morality plays is what played a hand in the persuasion of its audience. They taught their audiences because their main object was both religious and ethical and easy to grasp for the uneducated population whom largely went to its productions. (Warren 1). The plays also often examined the Christian character so that the flaws and strengths can be pointed out. (1). The plays were centered mainly on faith, dogma, and the application of the Christian doctrine to common folk life. (1). The characters of the morality plays were usually abstract qualities such as greed, friendship, love, death, etc. (1). There were many other cases when the characters of the morality plays were not abstract qualities. These alternative roles were ones of angels, devils, priests, doctors, fools (found usua... ...ordinary because they not only taught the uneducated, but they also influenced many forms of western drama down the line. (1). In conclusion, the morality plays of the 14th, 15th, and 16th century medieval periods have a rich history behind them. The morality plays did not only entertain the higher, educated classes of the medieval times, but they taught Christian morals and values to the uneducated lower class of people. Without the morality plays, the underclass people would of never learned about their religion and in result many things in the church may not be how we know it now. The morality plays also persuaded modern drama and that too, may of been very different from what it is today if it wasn't for the medieval morality plays. All in all, morality plays were important for the cultural growth of the western world. Works Cited Dohrn, Lori. Religion and Medieval Literature: A Look at Morality Plays. 14 Feb1999. Hanning, Robert W. "Miracle, Mystery, and Morality Plays." The Encyclopedia Americana.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1997 ed. Morality Play. 22 Feb 1999. Morality Plays. 22 Feb 1999. Warren, K.M. "Moralities (Morality Plays)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. 1998 ed.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Organizational Theory Final Paper Essay

Due to the recent and anticipated changes the U.S. government has made and continues to make in procedures regarding contract awards, as well as external market pressures from the economic downturn, I submit this proposal as a new approach to the existing organizational structure. Because talent and loyalty are at such a high premium in today’s workforce, I submit that the workforce be modified structurally rather than a full-scale reduction. This economic crisis will not last long and our current reaction and decisions will determine our longevity in the market. So the main objective of this restructure will be to make the best and most beneficial use of our employees that are committed to moving forward and to continue to build goodwill with our employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers. Changes in technology are not an issue for this particular proposal. The very nature of this company enhances flexibility in technological changes and even spear-heads changes in some aspects of industry. There may be mild behavior changes needed, but only to coincide with structural changes. The structural changes should prove to be positively accepted, as underutilization and overutilization issues should be resolved. The outcomes expected are: * reduced costs by realigning talent to appropriate duties * redefining merits for bonuses and certain benefits * offering more flexible working conditions for higher performance * creating diverse teams based on goals and projects * redesign Marketing division, re-evaluate goals, re-evaluate performance Forces Driving Change: * Characteristics of workforce have changed * The organizational structure of this company embraces military-like order. Modification of this approach is needed to empower team structure and welcome more civilian business approaches as â€Å"staff and middle management are better networked, more mobile, and smarter about their value and their options in the market.† (PWC) * Labor supply has changed * Much of the upper management and specialized employees are retired military, bringing them closer to a second retirement. While current conditions have delayed this trend it still exists. Competing companies aggressively recruit educated and experienced managers and industry specialists so we must create conditions that will foster satisfaction and loyalty. * Government contract allocation procedures have changed * More attention and emphasis must be put on other areas of the company’s businesses for wealth building. Government contracting has adjusted rates and opened the door for smaller companies to compete for Defense and Aerospace teaming contracts. * Economic downturns have caused readjustments in businesses and education * The Business Services company needs to update and integrate new business-to-business consulting approaches, enhancing and adding to our strict Six Sigma training. * The Advanced Visualization Solutions division needs to develop their products to serve beyond educational facilities, as most facilities are not currently able to invest in state-of-the-art technology. These products need to be streamlined to bring the cost of production and cost to customers down. * The Construction Company needs to focus on developing more domestic business. The international projects need to be managed by on-site managers via patriots or expatriate assignments. This will reduce expensive unplanned international travel as well as build goodwill with the natives of the country the project is based in. * The Marketing/Communications division has become obsolete, using old approaches of only upgrading the company website and only attending industry exhibitions and conferences. Marketing has become isolated from the energy that exists in the whole of the company, not working cooperatively or creatively with each subsidiary company. This is possibly due to absence of the sense of meaningfulness in the managers, thus lack of motivation. * The Core Divisions need more cohesion in their performance. Due to the overlap of duties between HR, Contracting and Accounting, there must be less antagonism and more cooperation between the managers. The executives rely on authoritarian leadership and â€Å"job-scare† tactics to motivate operations of these departments, thus the managers isolate themselves into their own responsibilities by not sharing information or working as cohesive teams to resolve challenges. Obviously, most of these problems have their origin in the culture that has been created in the company. While there are a few who remain loyal to the mission statement of the company and endeavor to sustain a family-like atmosphere, most managers and employees have become dissatisfied with not only the culture but with their own sense of meaning within the company. Thus, the owners and executives must be the first to revisit the mission statement and goals first set forth by the owners, create a more cohesive and safe culture and implement their own change of perspective. â€Å"Far too often, leaders ask everyone else to change, but in reality this usually isn’t possible until they first change themselves†. (De Smet, et al) One of the strengths to having retired military personnel in leadership and production is their ability to follow orders and to learn quickly. Most of their experience in military life was often being given an order (goal) and some of the necessary resources (most of the time), but little knowledge on how to execute it. Much of our nation’s greatest technology has come from such situations. For example, John Shergill itemized 10 American technological advances accomplished during wartime. One of the most outstanding was the development of a virtual environment, or the internet. â€Å"Conceived and designed in the late 1970’s during the height of the cold war as a defense against nuclear war. The thought was that if vital government information could be stored in a virtual environment, it would be impossible to take out communications at one location. The effect of this advancement is obvious to anyone reading this†. (Shergill) Necessity being the mother of invention was also observable when a young officer was given command over the technology department where he was deployed. Not only was the technology obsolete, but he had no idea how a computer worked. His order was to update and repair the system. Period. He quickly learned and implemented all he could and was successful in not only updating but enhancing new technology for that particular base. Today, as a retired Navy colonel, he is a professor of Networking, computer software and hardware at an outstanding US college. So the ingenuity and problem solving skills that exists within the retired military community is priceless, but their instinctive command-and-control leadership styles have become outdated and ineffective in a civilian business world, especially with civilian employees. Six Sigma approaches have been attractive to the Business Solutions department because it continues to embrace the command-and-control management skills; focusing on optimal production and very little on optimizing producers. Therefore I propose comprehensive and all-inclusive leadership-development training. I understand this may be especially opposed by our Business Services division, as these instructors consider themselves experts in the field of leadership. But it is vital that leaders stay ahead of trends in leadership especially if they train other leaders. Their expertise in traditional instruction of management mixed with the evolving principles will not only enhance, but possibly lead to more forward thinking and new approaches as they implement them. Again, it would be quite in character for the retired military leaders to take what they learn in this area and create even more valuable tactics and approaches that will enrich business leaders the world over. Thus creating a new benchmark for our company and creating a new competitive edge. In the April 2012 online edition of McKinsey Quarterly, three experts in the field of leadership training wrote of their findings in making leadership training the heart of large organizational change. The authors described the situation of one global company as â€Å"While the need for operational change was clear—the performance of the company†¦was inconsistent and in many cases far below that of competitors in terms of efficiency, productivity, and cost—so too were the organizational obstacles. Drives for improvement, for example, carried a stigma of incompetence; current performance was considered â€Å"good enough†; conflict tended to be passive-aggressive or was avoided entirely; and†¦employees felt that they were treated as cogs and that their supervisors were enforcers. The effect of all this on employees was disengagement, a lack of trust in senior management, and a pervasive fear of making mistakes—a worry reinforced by the company’s strong culture of safety and of risk aversion†¦ (So) the senior team had to look beyond technical improvements and focus on helping the company’s leaders to master the personal behavioral changes needed to support the operational ones. To that end, the company mounted an intense, immersive, and individualized leadership program† (De Smet, et al). The authors note that the program took four months for each participant, and included two week-long training programs and ongoing coaching to integrate what they learn with their work experiences. In the span of three years the return on investment in the participants has been tenfold for each leader. The program has increased the company’s income by almost $2 million, and the new leadership behavior has been crucial to the company’s success and is believed to have made the total organizational changes that were made more effective. So the development program I suggest needs to include: * Integrating leadership training with a BHG (big hairy goal). Without personalizing training it will be ineffective. Without an obtainable and desirable goal training will be a waste of time and effort. * Recognize the strengths and successes our company has and build on them. Bring in our strongest and most dedicated leaders (not necessarily formal managers) and train them in how to skillfully influence change by engaging everyone involved in the organization. These leaders may need to be considered as new or replacing current ineffective management or at the very least as team/discussion leaders. They are the bridge between corporate office and employee satisfaction. Use our Company Philosophy, found in our Employee Handbook, to employ our Core Competencies to realize our Vision Statement. * Any change in our organization must be based on honesty. Every employee of our company possesses, or at one time possessed, an expectation of good from us. Being a part of this organization was highly esteemed in the community and upon hiring, the employees felt important and distinct in their field because of our decision to employ. After being employed for about 3 years, the most common feature of the dissatisfaction that begins to set in is the irregular dispersion of information and a feeling that Corporate is not being honest or forthright with them. While this may be a military â€Å"need-to-know† approach to employee management, it is no longer efficient, as our employees are no longer military and they expect inclusion. The â€Å"leaks† and rumors that circulate on all of our job-sites and offices are much more damaging than the truth given from a trusted leader could ever be. * Common language and vocabulary used by leaders must be adopted. The language of a common vision is powerful, so leaders must be allowed to emerge and reassigned to influence the entire company. Success is contagious so the empowered managers will be able to empower employees. * Evaluate managers’ skills and interests and place them in the appropriate department. Technology can be learned, but it won’t be learned by a dissatisfied manager. * Modify benefits. Currently all employees derive their motivation from our bonus plan. Employees have been willing to accept the absence of sick leave, the infrequency of pay raises, and the absence of certain benefits in favor of expecting the year-end bonus. The Employee Handbook indicates that bonuses are â€Å"discretionary profit-sharing and performance-based rewards provided to employees base on a review of the factors previously mentioned in addition to management’s recommendations† (Our Company Handbook, pg. 11). It should be noted that every employee has different needs and motivations for working with us. We should modify our benefit offering by allowing them to make the decision of whether they would rather have a raise, receive a bonus or an enhancement to their provided benefits. * Subsidiary companies’ Business Development departments and company-wide Marketing/Communications must begin to work more cooperatively, beginning with information sharing and frequent interaction. Up to this point, these two departments have functioned exclusively of the other, relying only on each other for necessary information or for marketing tools for conventions/meetings. While BD has relied heavily on personal contacts networks, it must begin to utilize the principals and power of marketing. Marketing/Communications must begin to pursue the good of each BD department to enhance their efforts. The commitment to the structural changes, development of leaders and employee happiness must begin with the owners. It must also be an ongoing commitment, as sporadic attempts will only reinforce skepticism and heighten dissatisfaction. Leadership training must become a systemic process, not an event (Day, pg 8).

Friday, November 8, 2019

Knights of Labor Union Pioneered Labor Reforms

Knights of Labor Union Pioneered Labor Reforms The Knights of Labor was the first major American labor union. It was first formed in 1869 as a secret society of garment cutters in Philadelphia. The organization, under its full name, Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, grew throughout the 1870s, and by the mid-1880s it had a membership of more than 700,000. The union organized strikes and was able to secure negotiated settlements from hundreds of employers across the United States. Its eventual leader, Terence Vincent Powderly, was for a time the most famous labor leader in America. Under Powderlys leadership, the Knights of Labor transformed from its secretive roots to a much more prominent organization. The Haymarket Riot in Chicago on May 4, 1886, was blamed on the Knights of Labor, and the union was unfairly discredited in the eyes of the public. The American labor movement coalesced around a new organization, the American Federation of Labor, which was formed in December 1886. Membership of the Knights of Labor plummeted, and by the mid-1890s it had lost all its former influence and had less than 50,000 members. Origins of the Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor was organized at a meeting in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day, 1869. As some of the organizers had been members of fraternal organizations, the new union took on a number of trappings such as obscure rituals and a fixation on secrecy. The organization used the motto An injury to one is the concern of all. The union recruited workers in all fields, skilled and unskilled, which was an innovation.  Up to that point, labor organizations tended to focus on particularly skilled trades, thus leaving common workers with virtually no organized representation. The organization grew throughout the 1870s, and in 1882, under the influence of its new leader, Terence Vincent Powderly, an Irish Catholic machinist, the union did away with the rituals and ceased to be a secretive organization. Powderly had been active in local politics in Pennsylvania and had even served as the mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania. With his grounding in practical politics, he was able to move the once-secretive organization into a growing movement. The membership nationwide grew to about 700,000 by 1886, though it plummeted after the suspected connection to the Haymarket Riot. By the 1890s Powderly was forced out as the organizations president, and the union lost most of its force. Powderly eventually wound up working for the federal government, working on immigration issues. In time the role of the Knights of Labor was essentially taken over by other organizations, most notably the newer American Federation of Labor. The legacy of the Knights of Labor is mixed. It ultimately failed to deliver on its early promise, however, it did prove that a nationwide labor organization could be practical. And by including unskilled workers in its membership, the Knights of Labor pioneered a widespread labor movement. Later labor activists were inspired by the egalitarian nature of the Knights of Labor while also learning from the organizations mistakes.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Burberry Consumer Profile Report Essays

Burberry Consumer Profile Report Essays Burberry Consumer Profile Report Paper Burberry Consumer Profile Report Paper We look at these characteristics as they are the elements of a potential customers life that can influence customers behavior before, during and after making a purchase. The target market for Barberrys womens wear is typically a young professional female, aged between 25 and 30 with a high level of disposable income. The MRS. Social grade States that young professionals who fall into social grades A and B earn a salary of thirty thousand pounds or more per annum (see figure 1 allowing them to have a high level of expenditure, which is supported by the graph shown in appendix A. Having an income this high would suggest that these nouns professionals have completed their higher education to a degree level, or even to the level of a masters or PhD (appendix B). The professionalism of Barberrys target market is expressed through the garments they sell, with a large collection of tailored pieces on offer to cater to the consumers needs (appendix C). 2. 2 Geographic Characteristics The geographic characteristics of a consumer do not just focus on where the consumer lives, but also the type of house they live in and their neighborhood, as well as where they shop. Having this information about he consumer will allow a further insight into the kind of lifestyle an individual has. Statistics show that the the social grade and income of an individual effects the size of the house they live in, and typically the higher social grades and incomes will have a larger property (appendices D and E). The young professionals that Barberry targets tend to own one or two bed properties (appendices D and E), suggesting that they live alone, and are therefore single, or share with somebody with whom they split the cost of rent, allowing them to have a higher level of expenditure. According to Acorn, the young professionals that Barberry target Generally own flats in major towns and cities that Have been built recently and are more usually found in urban locations, particularly London (Acorn, 2014: online). Living in these areas would suggest that there is easy access to a variety of different shops and facilities allowing them to fit their shopping in around work and other commitments without it being an inconvenience. 2. 3 Personality and Lifestyle Characteristics This category contains characteristics that are much more personal than hose mentioned in sections 2. And 2. 2, such as music tastes, type/number of cars and stage in lifestyle. Companies Will look at these characteristics to help them gain an even better idea of their target consumers lifestyle, and therefore be able to market and advertise their products more effectively. Using the information stated in section 2. 1 we can tell that because they live in major towns and cities, those in Buyers t arget market do not tend to own a car (appendix F), again allowing them to have extra money to spend on Barberry products, as they do not have to spend it on car insurance, tax and petrol. Living alone in a city without a car suggests that the consumer could be considered as being in the bachelor/peacock or early nester stage of their lifestyle, meaning that they are single or have just begun living with a partner and do not have any children, again giving them a higher level of disposable income. Buyers official website has a weeping titled acoustic, where customers can go to listen to the music of nouns British bands that Barberry believes in. (A, Politicking. 2010: online). This type of music is slow and relaxed, similar to that of the music played throughout Barberry stores. There is a huge focus on music throughout the brand; this is because chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, feels that music Sets the directional mood for what were working on. (The Guardian, online: 2013). 2. 4 Attitudes, Interests and Opinions Characteristics Much like the characteristics of section 2. , the attitudes, interests and opinions can vary dramatically from consumer to consumer and looks at an individuals views, style, celebrity influences and clothing types. 3. 0 The Brand This section of this report refers to the different elements of the marketing mix to show and discuss how Barberry successfully utilize their knowledge of their target consumer and their resources to fit in with the overall target consumer environment. 3. 1 Product 3. 2 Price As Barberry is a premium designer brand the pricing of their products will reflect this. Barberry knows that their target consumer will be willing to pay high prices for their products as the high price of Buyers products suggests high quality, which is what their target consumer is after and therefore increases desirability of a product. Although all product prices are premium, Buyers price range will vary depending on which diffusion label you are purchasing from, as Barberry Proms is more expensive than Barberry London, which is more expensive than Barberry Bruit. Barberry use competitive pricing, putting the prices of their products similar to those of its competitors. Normally in an in store environment, Barberry will use the middle market approach to pricing, or a non-competitive price approach, meaning that product prices are not obviously displayed and are hidden away on labels inside the products, or not stated at all so that customers have to ask a sales assistant for a price. 3. Place Barberry sells its products to the consumer through physical retail channels, including mainline stores, concessions in prestige department stores, outlets and Barberry franchises, as well as through their own transactional website and the websites of stores such as Harrows, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and other department stores in which they have concessions. As of March 31, 01 3, the company had 206 mainline stores, 214 concessions, 49 outlets, and 65 franchise stores to be found all over the world. (Yahoo, online: no date). The fact that Barberry mainl y sell through concessions have both advantages and disadvantages. Concessions are a less expensive way for a company to sell their brand in a new area and they give the customer an idea of what kind of brand you are, for example, concessions in Selfridges would give the impression of a high-end brand. On the other hand, concessions do not allow you to have your own brand identity, it is easier for customers to compare our products with other brands and they have less stock and therefore less choice. A large majority of Barberry stores are situated in greatly populated cities and areas where they will gain most customer contact. For instance, there are eleven Barberry stores and three concessions in London alone (see appendix G). Within these cities, Barberry stores are generally placed in large shopping Centers, busy high Streets and town centers. Placing their stores in these locations means that the infrastructure around them will typically be good with decent parking facilities, public transport links and a variety of laces to purchase food and drink, making the stores easily accessible, more pleasurable and less stressful to visit, increasing the chances of customers visiting again. Another benefit of having their stores in these locations is the high footfall of potential customers, the prime locations mean that even consumers who had not planned to visit the store may decide to go in and have a browse whilst passing by. It is extremely uncommon for Barberry stores to be found in a location where the stores surrounding it are not other designer brands that would be considered Barberrys competitors. Usually, the stores that neighbor and are close by Barberry will belong to brands such as Ralph Lauren, Gucci and YES, which not only helps attract a consumer that is more likely to make a purchase but also helps to keep the brands sense of exclusivity and expense. This is because these brands all have the same target consumer and attract the same customer. It would be less likely for a Barberry store to do well and generate sufficient income if it were surrounded by high street shops like Primary, HM and Tops as they have very different target markets. 4. Promotional Methods Promotion is widely known as the fourth p within the marketing mix and is the management process responsible for communicating with customers in order to inform and satisfy their needs and wants (Easy 2002:168). This section of the report focuses on the different promotional techniques used by Barberry to increase their brand awareness and to promote their products to their target consumer successfully in such a heavily saturated market. 4. 1 Advertising Barberry uses its advertisements to reinforce its luxury, classically British image. The ads feature iconic British backdrops, British icons, typically British weather and music from British bands that can be found on Barberry acoustic, mentioned in section 2. 3. As mentioned in section 2. 1 at the beginning of the report, the target consumer for Buyers womens wear is females aged 25-30 and by using celebrities and icons who would typically appeal to women of that age bracket in their advertisements, they are able increase the interest in the brand by a great amount. For example, visuals of model Car Delivering and actor Eddie Redeemed were released at the eight of Delusiveness career and just before the release of the 201 2 film production of Less Miserable, in which Redeemed has a leading role (figure 2). Barberry is known to have their visual advertisements in a variety of high-end fashion magazines including Vogue, Ell and Harpers Bazaar, all magazines that would appeal to their target consumer, as they advertise and display brands and products of the same nature to Barberry itself. As well as in magazine, Barberry has advertised their brand through other platforms, such as on billboards in cities like London and through television adverts, also tarring a selection Of famous faces with Romeo Beckman being a more recent addition to Buyers advertising campaigns. 4. 2 Public Relations Barberrys use of celebrity endorsement is by far one of their most successful forms of PR. In the past, the brand has secured great press coverage for their products by having them photographed on celebrities that are current and popular with their target market, and by ensuring that celebrities with whom their target audience can relate to are seen in Barberry products, Barberry can gain great exposure with minimal cost. For example, when One Directions Harry Styles was pictured on the front row at Buyers London Fashion Week show this summer, the show received over 21 , 000 mentions on social media, a figure that was considerably higher than other brands. In September 201 3, Barberry gained a lot of media attention when Harry Styles, Victoria Beckman and Ell Fanning were all photographed wearing the same Barberry Proms shirt. Following the release of the photos, a number of widely read fashion magazine and websites published who wore it best articles, which not only pushed Barberry into the public eye, but increased interest in the brand as fans wanted to know more about the shirt and even purchase it themselves.